This month’s issue covers about as broad a spectrum as you can get in archaeology: from prehistory to Boudica, commercial infrastructure projects, new community archaeology research and modern conflict archaeology. CA 247 is a showcase for the diversity happening in archaeology, and we’re very proud to capture that in our pages. Prehistory has dominated the [...]
CA 246
October 1, 2010 By Filed Under: Issues
It seems the action never stops in archaeology these days, with two big stories reaching CA just as we closed the issue: the Frome Hoard, and new discoveries at Stonehenge. The first is yet another confirmation of how vital the Portable Antiquities Scheme is to British archaeology; and the second, confirmation that for as much [...]
CA 245
October 1, 2010 By Filed Under: Issues
Just as we go to press, we learn that government funding for the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre has been axed. As one of Britain’s top attractions, Stonehenge is very visible, both physically and symbolically. The message is clear: if Stonehenge can get the chop, nothing is sacred. This, however, conflicts with the public interest in [...]
CA 244
October 1, 2010 By Filed Under: Issues
This month’s issue begins with a profile of a community archaeology project located practically in CA’s back garden. The Thames Discovery Programme investigates the foreshore of London’s biggest archaeological site. How many Londoners walk past the Thames every day and never notice the archaeology right before our eyes? An important aspect of the TDP is [...]
Hoards and hoarding
October 1, 2010 By Filed Under: News
Over the last few years, several spectacular hoards have been discovered in Britain in quick succession, the most recent being the magnificent Staffordshire Hoard found in 2009 the Frome Hoard in 2010
Vale of York Hoard
October 1, 2010 By Filed Under: News
The Vale of York Hoard was initially called the Harrowgate Hoard after the town close to where it was found, and is considered one of the most important hoards discovered in the UK so far. This is because the artefacts reflect such a huge diversity of cultural influences stretching as far afield as Afghanistan in [...]
Cuerdale Hoard
October 1, 2010 By Filed Under: News
The largest Viking hoard ever found outside Russia, was discovered in 1840 by workmen repairing the embankment along the River Ribble at Cuerdale near Preston in Lancashire. Around 8,600 objects were buried in the lead-lined chest, made up mainly of coins but also including ingots, amulets, chains, rings, as well as broken-up brooches and armlets. [...]
Huxley Hoard
October 1, 2010 By Filed Under: News
Discovered by a metal detectorist in November 2004, the Huxley Hoard is made up of 21 flattened, decorated silver arm-rings and a small cast ingot. Clearly Viking, the hoard has been dated to the first decade of the 9th century AD. Steve Reynoldson was taking part in a metal detector rally, organised by the Lune [...]
Hoxne Hoard
October 1, 2010 By Filed Under: News
The Hoxne Hoard, found in November 1992, is a spectacular collection of gold and silver artefacts buried about AD 410 – just as Roman Britain came to an end.
Goldsborough Hoard
October 1, 2010 By Filed Under: News
Discovered by workmen digging drains in 1859, the hoard of Viking silver contains 39 coins and hacksilver made from fragments of brooches and arm-rings. Among the coins were three of Anglo-Saxon origin – one of which was a rare example of coin of Alfred the Great, and two were pennies from the reign of his [...]
Interview: Alice in Archaeologyland
September 24, 2010 By Filed Under: Lisa Westcott
Alice Roberts, one of the most popular presenters of archaeology on TV, discusses the bare bones of her new series with CA Editor Lisa Westcott. How did you get involved in TV archaeology? I started out in medicine and was a junior doctor in south Wales. But I wanted to indulge my interest in anatomy [...]
Heritage plaques; Heads at Westminster; Even infamy in fleeting; How much for Stonehenge?; How towns attract tourism.
September 20, 2010 By Filed Under: Chris Catling
Heritage plaques Strict rules govern the erection of Blue Plaques, the circular memorial tablets in Wedgwood blue that mark the residences of celebrated historical figures. The person commemorated must have been dead for 20 years or have passed the centenary of their birth; should be considered eminent by other members of their profession or calling; [...]
Vikings: Raiders and traders
August 25, 2010 By Filed Under: Chris Catling, Features
A group of 51 fit and battle-ready Scandinavians met a brutal death in the years between AD 910 and 1034; crudely beheaded, their remains were thrown into a mass grave near Weymouth in Dorset. Chris Catling asks how this discovery fits in with our picture of the Vikings. Recent discoveries such as the Dorset Ridgeway [...]
Conservation in the community
August 24, 2010 By Filed Under: Features
American-born conservator Dana Goodburn-Brown has worked around the world and made numerous appearances on television. Now, her infectious enthusiasm is inspiring a band of volunteers based in the unlikely location of a Kent shopping centre. CA’s Caitlin McCall went to meet her. What does a conservator do? A conservator is responsible for the care, preservation [...]
Freudian dating parties; Glamorous heritage; Archaeologist Sienna Miller?;The heritage buffs' anthem; Early Animal, Vegetable, Mineral
August 20, 2010 By Filed Under: Chris Catling
Freudian dating parties Responding to the news that the National Trust and Mills & Boon have formed a partnership to publish bodice rippers set in historic houses, several CA readers have pointed out that the link between heritage and romance is far from new: museums and galleries have been exploiting their potential as trysting places [...]
Liquid History: Excavating London’s great river, The Thames
July 25, 2010 By Filed Under: Features
Prehistoric forests, the skull of a child, the slipway of a Victorian engineering masterpiece and part of a Tudor palace jetty: all have emerged from the mud and gravel on the foreshore of the Thames, thanks to an exciting new project to record the archaeology of London’s great river. Nathalie Cohen tells CA about the [...]
Archaeology in action: Mike Heyworth
July 24, 2010 By Filed Under: Lisa Westcott
Dr Mike Heyworth, Director of the Council for British Archaeology, tells CA Editor Lisa Westcott about the CBA, pubs and politics. How did you first get involved with archaeology? When I was 14, I went along to a weekend excavation at Old Down Farm, near Andover. My main reason for wanting to go was that [...]
Sexing-up the heritage; Vexing the Viscount; The Profumo Affair; Pipe pilfering Queen
July 21, 2010 By Filed Under: Chris Catling
Sexing-up the heritage Regular readers will begin to think that Sherds is obsessed with matters amorous, but in truth this is only a reflection of the extent to which the world is becoming ever more eroticised. Even Dr Who now has a feisty heroine who makes suggestive innuendoes about how long it is since the [...]
Howburn Farm: Excavating Scotland’s first people
June 25, 2010 By Filed Under: Features
At Howburn Farm in South Lanarkshire, a scattering of flints, discovered by the Biggar Archaeology Group, turned out to be evidence of the earliest human habitation in Scotland. Tam Ward and Alan Saville explain. How far north did Palaeolithic people settle in Britain? The general belief is that they did not go much further than [...]
