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• Excavating the CA archives – Tintagel

  07-03-2025 13:01 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  Tintagel in Cornwall can be considered a ‘great site’ for a number of reasons, depending on personal perspective. For some, the draw is its rich archaeology; for others, its links to King Arthur, or its dramatic coastal settings. Perhaps it is a combination of all of these, alongside the inevitable controversies that come with being one of the most visited historic sites in the UK. It is loved, loathed, and hotly debated: see, for example, considerations of its new bridge in CA 352 (
  
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• Excavating the CA archives – Roman Chester

  01-05-2025 13:19 via archaeology.co.uk
  Roman Chester – Deva Victrix – is one of the unquestioned ‘great sites’ of Roman Britain. This was a major military centre from its late 1st-century AD origins through to its abandonment in the late 4th/early 5th centuries AD, and significant parts of the town survive beneath the medieval and modern city. Current Archaeology has been on site there since the start of the magazine, and its repeated visits shine a light not just on the evolution of the town, but also on its
  
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• A Roman landscape revealed: Celebrating 20 years of the Culver Archaeological Project

  01-05-2025 13:17 via archaeology.co.uk
  Two decades of excavations in East Sussex farmland have uncovered the remains of an unusual enclosed settlement linking the Roman road network with the River Ouse. Rob Wallace and David Millum explain more.The Culver Archaeological Project has been investigating Roman features beside the River Ouse since 2005. Here we see a typical day in Trench 6 in 2017.
  North of Lewes in East Sussex, the Upper Ouse Valley is home to an archaeological landscape rich with Roman remains, including evidence of in
  
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• Current Archaeology 423 – ON SALE NOW

  01-05-2025 13:15 via archaeology.co.uk
  …or perhaps that should be ‘Happy Birthday’ – to the project featured on this month’s cover. Founded in 2005, the Culver Archaeological Project has for the last two decades been uncovering a fascinating Roman landscape – including an unusual enclosed settlement – beside the River Ouse in East Sussex. With the initiative now marking its 20th anniversary, we explore some of its key findings to-date.Turning from a long-running excavation to a newly announc
  
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• Excavating the CA archives – Offa’s Dyke

  03-04-2025 16:23 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  In 1978, Current Archaeology arrived on the scene of works begun six years prior by Manchester University, which surveyed Offa’s Dyke and neighbouring Wat’s Dyke.
  My column this month is on one of the least-known ‘great sites’ of all: Offa’s Dyke, the linear earthwork that stretches along the Welsh/English border. Most people know Hadrian’s Wall, and a fair few the Antonine Wall, but how many of us can say that we are familiar with Offa’s Dyke, either t
  
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• Warhorse: Discovering the archaeology of a medieval revolution

  03-04-2025 16:22 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  Mighty warhorses, as richly adorned and armoured as their knightly riders, are an immediately recognisable icon of the medieval period. Until recently, they were understood mainly through analysis of written sources – but what can archaeology add to this picture? Oliver H Creighton, Robert Liddiard, Alan K Outram, Katherine Kanne, Carly Ameen, and Robert Webley explore the key findings of their recently published research.This reconstruction of a jouster of c.1500, seated on an armoured ho
  
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• Current Archaeology 422 – ON SALE NOW

  03-04-2025 16:22 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  This month’s cover shows Aberlemno II, a 2.28m-tall Pictish cross slab in Angus. Thought to date to the 8th century, its front depicts a large, elaborately decorated ring-headed cross, while the reverse feature the vivid imagery shown on our cover. Some have suggested that it represents the AD 685 Battle of Nechtansmere between the Picts and the Angles, and while other interpretations have been offered, the stone’s detailed depiction of mounted warriors certainly makes a striking sce
  
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• Distilling a clandestine craft: Exploring the archaeology and history of illicit whisky-making

  07-03-2025 13:01 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  To avoid paying tax, in the 18th and 19th century, small-scale whisky-production went underground, moving to isolated bothies hidden in remote locations across Scotland. Derek Alexander and Daniel Rhodes describe recent archaeological fieldwork by the National Trust for Scotland, in partnership with The Glenlivet, which has been hunting down these sites across the Highlands and bringing their illicit remains to light once more.Overlooking the picturesque but carefully concealed site of Calan&rsq
  
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• Current Archaeology 421 – ON SALE NOW

  07-03-2025 13:01 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  The spectacular scenery adorning this month’s cover features a Highland site known as ‘Calan’s Bothy’ – once home to an illicit whisky still. What has recent fieldwork revealed about this industry in 18th- and 19th-century Scotland?From stunning views to a royal loo, our next feature reveals how the discovery of an early medieval latrine at Bosham in West Sussex held the key to identifying an important power centre associated with Harold II. What can this location,
  
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• Current Archaeology 421

  07-03-2025 13:01 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  The spectacular scenery adorning this month’s cover features a Highland site known as ‘Calan’s Bothy’ – once home to an illicit whisky still. What has recent fieldwork revealed about this industry in 18th- and 19th-century Scotland?From stunning views to a royal loo, our next feature reveals how the discovery of an early medieval latrine at Bosham in West Sussex held the key to identifying an important power centre associated with Harold II. What can this location,
  
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• PRESS RELEASE: Professor Joyce Tyldesley wins Archaeologist of the Year for 2025

  06-03-2025 14:16 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  Joyce Tyldesley (Winner of Archaeologist of the Year 2025) [Photo credit: Adam Stanford, www.adam-stanford.co.uk]A Professor who emphasises making archaeology accessible to all has taken home top honours at the prestigious Current Archaeology Awards, after being crowned Archaeologist of the Year for 2025.Joyce Tyldesley, Professor of Egyptology at the University of Manchester, has shown a career-long determination to make the past accessible to as wide an audience as possible, having taught arch
  
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• PRESS RELEASE: Excavations distilling the story of Scottish whisky win Current Archaeology’s prestigious Research Project of the Year award for 2025.

  06-03-2025 14:14 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  Derek Alexander and Dr Daniel Rhodes (National Trust for Scotland, winners of Research Project of the Year 2025) [Photo credit: Adam Stanford, www.adam-stanford.co.uk]A unique partnership between archaeologists and whisky distillers, investigating the illicit production of Scotland’s iconic spirit during the 18th and 19th centuries, has been crowned 2025’s Research Project of the Year in the prestigious Current Archaeology Awards.In order to avoid tax, many small-scale whisky produce
  
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• PRESS RELEASE: Excavations uncovering the ‘birthplace of Sheffield’ win Current Archaeology’s prestigious Rescue Project of the Year Award for 2025.

  06-03-2025 14:12 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  Ashley Tuck (Wessex Archaeology, winner of Rescue Project of the Year 2025) [Photo credit Adam Stanford, www.adam-stanford.co.uk]A community-centred excavation revealing the long-hidden remains of Sheffield Castle has taken home a coveted prize at the annual Current Archaeology Awards.Long before the white heat of the Industrial Revolution forged Sheffield into the ‘City of Steel’, its landscape was dominated by an imposing Norman castle, built to guard a strategic double river-cross
  
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• PRESS RELEASE: Alice Roberts’ book exploring medieval burials wins Current Archaeology’s prestigious Book of the Year award for 2025

  06-03-2025 14:10 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  Prof Alice Roberts (winner of Book of the Year 2025) via video message, with archaeologist and educator Julian Richards on stage. [Photo credit: Adam Stanford, www.adam-stanford.co.uk]A vividly written book by archaeological TV presenter, academic, and author Professor Alice Roberts, exploring the lives of ordinary people in the Middle Ages, has taken home a coveted prize at the annual Current Archaeology Awards.Crypt: life, death, and disease in the Middle Ages and beyond traces tells the stori
  
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• Roman recycling at Reedham: Exploring the imperial origins of a Norfolk church

  06-02-2025 14:34 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  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
  
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• Excavating the CA archives – the ships of Dover and Newport

  06-02-2025 14:34 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  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
  
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• Current Archaeology 420 – ON SALE NOW

  06-02-2025 14:33 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  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
  
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• Fields of Gold: Understanding the Snettisham Hoards

  03-01-2025 10:58 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  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
  
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• Excavating the CA archives – Fishbourne Roman Palace

  03-01-2025 10:58 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  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
  
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• Current Archaeology 419 – ON SALE NOW

  03-01-2025 10:58 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  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
  
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• Current Archaeology 419

  03-01-2025 10:58 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  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
  
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• Fit for an emperor? Excavating a monumental building in Roman Carlisle

  05-12-2024 12:10 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  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
  
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• Excavating the CA archives – Star Carr

  05-12-2024 12:10 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  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
  
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• Current Archaeology 418 – ON SALE NOW

  05-12-2024 12:10 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  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
  
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• Current Archaeology 418

  05-12-2024 12:10 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  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
  
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• Rescue Project of the Year 2025 – Nominees

  02-12-2024 09:56 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  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
  
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• Research Project of the Year 2025 – Nominees

  02-12-2024 09:55 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  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
  
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• Book of the Year 2025 – Nominees

  02-12-2024 09:54 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  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
  
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• Archaeologist of the Year 2025 – Nominees

  02-12-2024 09:53 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  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
  
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• From Samarkand to Sutton Hoo: Exploring the impact of the Silk Roads on early medieval Britain and Ireland

  07-11-2024 16:46 via archaeology.co.uk
  
  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
  
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