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Roman recycling at Reedham: Exploring the imperial origins of a Norfolk church
Some 12 miles east of Norwich, Reedham’s church of St John the Baptist has a distinctive appearance, dominated by reused Roman stone, brick, and tile. Mike Fulford describes how archaeological research has identified a potential source for this material: a possibly military predecessor preserved beneath the existing medieval structure.Reedham’s parish church stands out from Norfolk’s many other medieval churches due to the large amount of Roman brick, tile, and stone that has b -
Excavating the CA archives – the ships of Dover and Newport
My ‘great’ site this month comprises two sites – actually, two ships – linked by common stories of survival against the odds. In September 1992, the remains of a boat dating to the Middle Bronze Age were discovered in central Dover by workers constructing part of the A20 link road leading to Folkestone. A decade later, in June 2002, the skeleton of a mid-15th-century ship was discovered during the construction of a new arts centre in the middle of Newport. These are two o -
Current Archaeology 420 – ON SALE NOW
This month’s articles follow two main themes, highlighting the latest insights from the worlds of historic architecture and archaeological science. We begin in the latter category, with two reports drawing on recently published research. The first covers intriguing analysis of ancient adhesives and how they were used between the 5th century BC and the 1st century AD; this is followed by a recent DNA study that has transformed our understanding of migration patterns across Europe in the 1st -
Fields of Gold: Understanding the Snettisham Hoards
Over the course of eight decades, at least 14 separate hoards of Iron Age metalwork have been recovered from a single field at Snettisham in Norfolk. Now, following the publication of a new book describing the excavation, conservation, and scientific investigation of these spectacular finds, Jody Joy and Julia Farley describe how they came to be discovered, and reveal some of the secrets that have come to light since then.Overlooking the ‘gold field’ near Snettisham in winter 1990; t -
Excavating the CA archives – Fishbourne Roman Palace
My ‘great site’ this month is one close to many people’s hearts. When I think of the locations that embody the best of Current Archaeology as a magazine and British archaeology as a community, I consistently alight on Fishbourne Roman Palace in West Sussex. This site has it all – great coverage in the magazine, enthusiastic public engagement, stunning finds, and charismatic custodians.Fishbourne made the cover of one of CA’s earliest issues, which covered the excava -
Current Archaeology 419 – ON SALE NOW
Happy New Year! Our cover story takes us to Snettisham in Norfolk, where a single field has yielded at least 14 Iron Age metalwork hoards. This unique collection has the potential to transform our understanding of ancient artistry and ceremonial practices – and, with analysis of the hoards now published in exciting detail, we explore what has been revealed.
From long-buried metalwork to long-buried stories, we next examine what archives and archaeology can tell us about female experiences -
Current Archaeology 419
Happy New Year! Our cover story takes us to Snettisham in Norfolk, where a single field has yielded at least 14 Iron Age metalwork hoards. This unique collection has the potential to transform our understanding of ancient artistry and ceremonial practices – and, with analysis of the hoards now published in exciting detail, we explore what has been revealed.
From long-buried metalwork to long-buried stories, we next examine what archives and archaeology can tell us about female experiences -
Fit for an emperor? Excavating a monumental building in Roman Carlisle
Excavations at Carlisle Cricket Club are uncovering the remains of the largest Roman building ever found on Hadrian’s Wall. Carly Hilts visited the site and spoke to Frank Giecco to find out more.Ongoing archaeological work in Carlisle is revealing the remains of a monumental Roman building dating to the early 3rd century.The story of Roman Carlisle is a tale not of two cities but of two forts. Having brought much of southern England under imperial control in the years after the Claudian i -
Excavating the CA archives – Star Carr
After more than 50 columns exploring the archaeology of the British Isles through a geographic lens, I begin here a new thematic focus: that of ‘great’ sites visited by Current Archaeology down the years. As I neared the end of my tour of the four nations, I reflected on the enduring power of a ‘great’ site. Sometimes it is the physical presence of a location (Maiden Castle springs to mind here); other times, it is the discoveries made (think of Sutton Hoo, whose treasure -
Current Archaeology 418 – ON SALE NOW
This month’s cover story showcases a monumental mystery from the Roman frontier. Excavations at Carlisle Cricket Club are uncovering the remains of a sumptuous building dating to the early 3rd century. Could its construction be connected to Septimius Severus’ Caledonian campaigns?From the footprint of a massive building to footprints left by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, we then visit Goldcliff to learn about the ephemeral echoes of ancient journeys that are being documented in the Se -
Current Archaeology 418
This month’s cover story showcases a monumental mystery from the Roman frontier. Excavations at Carlisle Cricket Club are uncovering the remains of a sumptuous building dating to the early 3rd century. Could its construction be connected to Septimius Severus’ Caledonian campaigns?From the footprint of a massive building to footprints left by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, we then visit Goldcliff to learn about the ephemeral echoes of ancient journeys that are being documented in the Se -
Rescue Project of the Year 2025 – Nominees
Rescue archaeology is carried out in areas threatened by human or natural agency. We’ve collated some of the best rescue projects that have been highlighted in Current Archaeology over the past year. Below are the nominees for Rescue Project of the Year.Voting closes on 10 February and all the winners of the Current Archaeology Awards will be announced on 1 March as part of Current Archaeology Live! 2025. Click here to find out more about the event.Once y -
Research Project of the Year 2025 – Nominees
This has been another exceptional year for archaeological research. The following are some of the most exciting projects to have featured in CA over the last 12 months – the nominees for Research Project of the Year.Voting closes on 10 February and all the winners of the Current Archaeology Awards will be announced on 1 March as part of Current Archaeology Live! 2025. Click here to find out more about the event.Once you’ve made your select -
Book of the Year 2025 – Nominees
Below are some of the publications we feel most deserve to be recognised for their contribution to the field – the nominees for the Book of the Year award.Voting closes on 10 February and all the winners of the Current Archaeology Awards will be announced on 1 March as part of Current Archaeology Live! 2025. Click here to find out more about the event.Once you’ve made your selection from the nominees below, click here to cast your vote.Click here for lin -
Archaeologist of the Year 2025 – Nominees
Below are the three individuals nominated for 2025’s ‘Archaeologist of the Year’, whose achievements reflect the diverse work taking place within our field.Voting closes on 10 February and all the winners of the Current Archaeology Awards will be announced on 1 March as part of Current Archaeology Live! 2025. Click here to find out more about the event.Once you’ve made your selection from the nominees below, click here to cast your vote
Spons -
From Samarkand to Sutton Hoo: Exploring the impact of the Silk Roads on early medieval Britain and Ireland
A new exhibition running at the British Museum explores the vast network of cultural and commercial connections that spanned Europe, Africa, and Asia in AD 500-1000. Carly Hilts visited to learn how diverse ideas, materials, and people filtered along these routes to the British Isles.The ornate whalebone box known as the Franks Casket is thought to have been made in 8th-century Northumbria; its images depict scenes from Jewish, Christian, Roman, and northern European narratives.As Willibald wat -
Current Archaeology 417 – ON SALE NOW
It is not often that we at CA get to write about far-flung finds from such countries as Korea, Sweden, and Syria (though we love reading about them in the pages of our sister-magazine Current World Archaeology). However, in this month’s cover feature, which draws on the British Museum’s new Silk Roads exhibition, we explore how people, goods, and ideas travelled vast distances between AD 500 and 1000 to influence and inspire the inhabitants of early medieval Britain and Ireland.
We t -
Current Archaeology 417
It is not often that we at CA get to write about far-flung finds from such countries as Korea, Sweden, and Syria (though we love reading about them in the pages of our sister-magazine Current World Archaeology). However, in this month’s cover feature, which draws on the British Museum’s new Silk Roads exhibition, we explore how people, goods, and ideas travelled vast distances between AD 500 and 1000 to influence and inspire the inhabitants of early medieval Britain and Ireland.
We t -
Excavating the CA archives – London II
In my second column on the archaeology of Greater London, I stroll through the Saxon town, meander through the medieval city, and finally alight on some post-medieval and modern sites. There is a lot to review here, from the evidence of London’s last Romans to those who lived here in some of its most difficult of times: the Blitz during the Second World War.SAXON LUNDENWICAn excellent starting point for this column is CA 213 (December 2007), which reported from St Martin-in-the Fields chu -
Absence under overload
I was answering e-mail from a subscriber a few days ago which involved me writing the below:
I’m sorry that I have to answer this during a phase of hiatus. The problem is that I signed up for extra work from the EU, because for complex reasons my household is down to one income at the moment, and the deadlines turned out, once contract was signed, to be near-immediate and nigh-impossible. At the same time, most of my weekends are going on helping relatives clear my mother’s house whi -
Illuminating the imaginative worlds of Sutton House’s 17th-century schoolgirls
A handful of tiny paper items discovered at Sutton House in Hackney offer a unique insight into the interests of the girls who were educated there in the 17th century. Carly Hilts spoke to Nathalie Cohen, Isabella Rosner, Kate Simpson, and Abigail Winslow to find out more.These fragile finds from Sutton House, comprising five cut-out images, two scraps labelling now-lost pictures, and an intricately folded paper star, are thought to represent the work of 17th-century schoolgirls. They include d -
Current Archaeology 416 – ON SALE NOW
Children often leave only faint traces in the archaeological record, so it is always exciting to be able to piece together their experiences in the past. Our cover feature visits Sutton House in Hackney, once a 17th-century girls’ school, where delicate scraps of paper have offered unique insights into the imaginations of one group of young women.Turning from educational ephemera to the complexities of prehistoric funerary practices, we next travel to Bodicote in Oxfordshire, home to an Ir -
Current Archaeology 416
Children often leave only faint traces in the archaeological record, so it is always exciting to be able to piece together their experiences in the past. Our cover feature visits Sutton House in Hackney, once a 17th-century girls’ school, where delicate scraps of paper have offered unique insights into the imaginations of one group of young women.Turning from educational ephemera to the complexities of prehistoric funerary practices, we next travel to Bodicote in Oxfordshire, home to an Ir -
Excavating the CA archives – London I
My final geographically themed review focuses on London. I touched on some sites there in my reviews of Roman archaeology and the Thames (CA 330 and CA 343), so these columns will look more widely across modern-day Greater London. There is so much to report from the city that this will inevitably be a snapshot: this month focusing on prehistoric and Roman sites, and next month on medieval and post-medieval ones. An excellent recent ‘state of the city’ report to start with comes in C -
Medievalist in North Wales VII: older stones
I am travelling this weekend and have time only for a short post, but happily one of the two final posts from my 2021 trip to North Wales is very short, and is therefore presented herewith. This was another bit of roadsign happenstance. We were on our way to Holyhead, as will duly be told, and came to a point where the road divided. Both went to Holyhead, but one went via some standing stones. So, well, obviously…The Penrhos Feilw stones as we encountered them for the first timeThese are -
Correction V: Unifred less-beloved
Sorry about last week; deadlines, is all I will say, and we’ll see what happens. However, also a factor was that I didn’t really want to write this post. I was telling myself that’s because it would be hard or long, but it’s not really. The actual problem is that it’s one of the posts where I have to admit I was wrong. But you gotta, when you realise; so here goes.
Entrance to the Archivo de la Corona d’Aragón in 2011, where if I’d been able to sp -
Medievalist in North Wales VI: Finding the Wrong Welsh Bridge
I think there are three more of these posts from my tour round North Wales in summer 2021, and this one was going to be another fairly simple photo-dump, until the first bit turned into an evening’s research by itself… So now you get to find out what I found out! This was one of those happenstance discoveries made by following a random sign, a practice I wholeheartedly recommend. So this is the story.
It was only the most incidentally personal history that had led us to Dolwyddelan, -
Unearthing Ancient Tweeddale
‘Merlin’s Grave’ and other lost stories embedded in the landscapeOn the banks of the Tweed in the Scottish Borders is the reputed site of Merlin’s Grave, the embedded remnant of a legend long associated with the nearby village of Drumelzier. Dr Ronan Toolis explains how a community archaeology project revealed why this tale became rooted to this part of Tweeddale.The ‘morning commute’ up to Tinnis Castle, taken by members of Drumelzier’s Hiddenn Heritag -
Excavating the CA archives – The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man
Since CA 360 (March 2020) I have criss-crossed the United Kingdom, examining its history through the eyes of Current Archaeology. I have now visited every county in every country, but I have just a few geographical loose ends to tie off in this and the next column, first in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, and then in London, providing a stunning set of sites and finds on which to finish.A Magdalenian hunter gatherer campsite in Jersey made the cover of CA 333.JERSEYJersey has provided -
Current Archaeology 415 – ON SALE NOW
This month’s cover story takes us to Drumelzier in the Scottish Borders, and more specifically to a site with a wonderfully romantic name: Merlin’s Grave. A community project has been exploring the origins of this legendary link – uncovering illuminating evidence of the area’s early medieval and Iron Age past along the way.
We remain in Scotland for a special ‘News Focus’ about Stonehenge. Yes, you read that right – recently published scientific research -
Current Archaeology 415
This month’s cover story takes us to Drumelzier in the Scottish Borders, and more specifically to a site with a wonderfully romantic name: Merlin’s Grave. A community project has been exploring the origins of this legendary link – uncovering illuminating evidence of the area’s early medieval and Iron Age past along the way.
We remain in Scotland for a special ‘News Focus’ about Stonehenge. Yes, you read that right – recently published scientific research -
Number-crunching a Byzantine papyrus
I’m still on the road this weekend so will have to ask your forgiveness for another post written through the app, which I am definitely still learning. Anyway, the prompt for this one was reading for my 2022 piece on the numismatic term follis, which had me briefly looking through papyrological evidence for how people actually used the word, and this brought me to a very interesting paper by the late Leslie MacCoull, doing things with the numbers in a sixth-century Egyptian tax record.1 I -
Augustinian Dovekeeping in Medieval Wales
I’m late with this post partly because of the ongoing family situation but also because I am right now in northern Wales for real, and the supposed holiday has supposedly been coming first. Here, therefore, are some photos from two Welsh holidays previous, back in 2021 again when, more or less without prior plan, we followed a brown sign and found ourselves at the erstwhile Augustinian priory of Penmon.The west end of the refectory and dormitory as they now standClose-up on that corner and -
Further protochronism: cold war vs. hot war
This weekend I have been driving up and down the country and visiting a hospital and the time to do anything with the blog comes only at gone ten o’clock on a Sunday night, with much to fit in on Monday. Thus, the substantial post I had in mind is going to have to wait, and instead, here is a short musing on a quote I found while reading out of my period a bit.
You know, of course, that I am interested in frontiers, and in recent years I have been trying to spread my reading on them away f -
Welsh Castles for Next Time
This must be a quicker post than usual, as I am typing it beside a hospital bed; nothing too serious, don’t worry, but definitely throwing some of my plans for the weekend off. So here is a small selection of bad photos – I know, I’m selling it hard – of castles on the Welsh trip of 2021 which we didn’t get to. In fact, Dolbadarn was the only one we did get inside, but we passed by several, and sort of filed them under 'next time'. Next time has not yet come, and ou -
Count Ermengol I of Urgell was a bad man (by some standards)
I’m not going to do it just now, but you don’t have to look very far to find me saying that it is not the modern-day historian’s job to judge our subjects as moral beings. Indeed, trying to decide whether someone’s conduct in their historic life was good or bad not only imposes our own standards on people who obviously could not have shared them, since we came along later, but makes it harder to understand the standards they did have and thus why they were doing whatever -
Stonehenge and the moon
Exploring a Neolithic monument’s lunar linksStonehenge is famous for its association with the sun, and particularly with the summer and winter solstices – but did the movement of the moon also influence its design? Carly Hilts spoke to Dr Amanda Chadburn and Dr Heather Sebire about an ongoing project exploring the impact of a once-in-a generation lunar event.Moonrise at Stonehenge during the Major Lunar Standstill in June 2024.
‘Once in a blue moon’ is a phrase used to e -
Excavating the CA archives – the Ridgeway
I concluded last month’s column just east of Avebury at the Sanctuary, a Neolithic and Bronze Age site that is also the start and end point of the Ridgeway, an 87-mile route rich in archaeology that runs between there and Ivinghoe Beacon across Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire (see www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/ trails/the-ridgeway). During Easter 2024, I walked it south to north, and below I share some of the highlights from the sites I visited along the way which h -
Current Archaeology 414 – ON SALE NOW
As the sun has proven somewhat unreliable this summer, let’s talk about the moon instead. Stonehenge is best known for its solar alignments, but was its design also influenced by a once-in-a-generation lunar phenomenon? This month’s cover feature discusses an ongoing project that is documenting the effects of a Major Lunar Standstill in real time.
Three articles then spotlight a trio of very different site visits from June and July (we also have a News Focus drawing on a recent trip -
Current Archaeology 414
As the sun has proven somewhat unreliable this summer, let’s talk about the moon instead. Stonehenge is best known for its solar alignments, but was its design also influenced by a once-in-a-generation lunar phenomenon? This month’s cover feature discusses an ongoing project that is documenting the effects of a Major Lunar Standstill in real time.
Three articles then spotlight a trio of very different site visits from June and July (we also have a News Focus drawing on a recent trip -
A Welsh church diversion
The last few weeks have been uncharacteristically full of research writing, as well as a decent measure of family difficulty to keep things busy. In between those difficulties I’ve been playing article tennis with four different pieces of writing; two of them are now on the other side of the editorial net for now, though I expect rallies, and two more are yet to go though today has broken the serve of one of them. You will hear about that when I eventually win the rallies, but as a consequ -
Once as tourist, once as prisoner
I once told Professor Wendy Davies, no less, when she was threatening to get into Catalan charters as well as those from further west, that all the weirdest stories came from the archive of the near-Barcelona monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès. I suspect this is probably being quite unkind to some other archives – have I ever told you all about Ramio’s and Julio’s bread dispute, for example? Doesn’t look like it – but there is still a bit of a concentration o -
Excavating the CA archives – Wiltshire IV
After last month’s scramble through Stonehenge, this month I turn north to amble around
Avebury. I know I am not the only one to hold this site in high affection. Even on its busiest days, the circle there is rarely too crowded since it is so spread out, and, if you have the time, you can easily head out into the larger landscape.
AVEBURY VILLAGE AND HENGEThe Stone Circles at Avebury made the ‘Context’ in CA 332.
For many people, Avebury means the Neolithic stone circle locate -
Building Roman Cirencester and beyond
Roman tile production in the north Wiltshire countryside
A community excavation in the small village of Minety has found a Roman tile kiln, which marked its products with a series of stamped letters. As the investigation, led by Cotswold Archaeology, revealed, this industry was of more than just local importance – and with another season of digging set to take place this summer, Neil Holbrook and Peter Warry report on the story so far.Overlooking the community excavations at Brandier Farm -
Current Archaeology 413 – ON SALE NOW
This month’s cover feature tells the ‘story so far’ of a Wiltshire community excavation that is uncovering the remains of a Roman tilery with an impressively far-reaching tale to tell.
We then travel to early medieval Ipswich, where analysis of bone- and antler-working evidence has shed vivid light on the evolution of this craft within a single settlement – with some Viking Age surprises thrown in.Next come the results of a Leicestershire excavation from the 1990s, recent -
Current Archaeology 413
This month’s cover feature tells the ‘story so far’ of a Wiltshire community excavation that is uncovering the remains of a Roman tilery with an impressively far-reaching tale to tell.
We then travel to early medieval Ipswich, where analysis of bone- and antler-working evidence has shed vivid light on the evolution of this craft within a single settlement – with some Viking Age surprises thrown in.Next come the results of a Leicestershire excavation from the 1990s, recent -
Medievalist in North Wales, II: Post-Roman hillfort use?
Well, I am feeling somewhat better—and thankyou all for sympathetic comments, sympathetic commentators—but this weekend unforeseen, though not as unwelcome, circumstances have seen me on the road for almost all of it, so I now sit down to write for you on Sunday evening hoping to scrape a post under the weekend wire. It’s another photo post from my July 2021 trip to North Wales, and this time the destination was here.
This is the start of the footpath which leads…
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Egyptian scribes suffered work-related injuries, study says
Higher incidence of damage to hips, jaws and thumbs reveals their writing efforts may have taken a tollFrom bad backs to eye strain, office work can take its toll on the body.But it seems such perils are nothing new: researchers have found Egyptian scribes experienced damage to their hips, jaws and thumbs as a result of their efforts. Continue reading... -
Fossil of Neanderthal child with Down’s syndrome hints at early humans’ compassion
Skull anatomy shows the boy or girl would have been severely disabled, yet survived until the age of sixA Neanderthal child with Down’s syndrome survived until at least the age of six, according to a new study whose findings hint at compassionate caregiving among the extinct, archaic human species.Recent examination of a human fossil unearthed at the Cova Negra archaeological site in the Spanish province of Valencia found traits in the inner-ear anatomy which indicated Down syndrome, in th -
Stonehenge likely to be put on world heritage danger list over tunnel plan
Unesco officials recommend adding Wiltshire stone circle amid fears road scheme would compromise its integrityStonehenge is likely to be put on a list of world heritage sites that are in danger because of the plan to build a tunnel under the precious landscape.Unesco officials have recommended adding the Wiltshire stone circle and the area around it to the list because of concerns that the tunnel would “compromise the integrity” of one of the Earth’s great prehistoric sites. Co
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