This edible portrait of Mortimer Wheeler was baked by Richard Ward, an archaeologist working on one of the Walbrook sites currently under excavation by MOLA, and sent in by his colleague Sadie Watson. MOLA have been raising money for charity by baking cakes, and as this month’s cause was (of course) Movember, they chose to depict the moustachioed former keeper [...]

This cake was made for Dr Johanna Ullrich, a phosphate-analysis specialist, to mark her departure from the University College Dublin School of Archaeology last October.  On top of the cake there is an Ogham stone, a grey box marked ‘phosphate analysis’, and the blue book is Renfrew and Bahn’s Archaeology: theories, methods and practice. Sent in by Niamh Kelly, featured in [...]

This model of Stonehenge is one of eight other Jaffa Cake creations Dominic Wilcox made to represent Britain, from Tower Bridge to the Loch Ness monster. The building blocks were made by excavating about five different Jaffa Cakes then carefully balancing them in a circle.  He created the strangely realistic reflection on the plate by shining a light through the orange cellophane packet. Sent in by [...]

This cake was made in the style of Bryn celli ddu, a Bronze Age mound and passage grave built over a Neolithic henge and stone circle on Anglesey, for the leaving do of Tanya Berks (Gwynedd Archaeological Trust illustrator and surveyor). Sent in by Matthew Jones, featured in issue 266 of Current Archaeology.

Museum of London Archaeology recently held an archaeological bake-off, raising £86.50 for Refuge: Women and Children against Domestic Violence. Entries included a festive site snow scene (with stratigraphy in section and in plan), a coin hoard buried deep within a cherry bourbon chocolate cake, a timber-framed building with impressive transverse sectional elevation, chunks of Roman road, and the winner: a trench, complete with tools, treasure, [...]

Following his brilliant group tour of Orkney, the theme for Robert Morgan’s Christmas cake had to be Skara Brae. It was the centrepiece of his Christmas dinner and was much admired by all. Sent in by Robert Morgan, featured in issue 264 of Current Archaeology.

Helen Sharp’s mother made her this Hallaton Treasure birthday cake featuring Iron Age coins and a Roman helmet. She even went to the trouble of printing off tiny images of the real coins and colouring them gold or silver. Sent in by Helen Sharp, featured in issue 263 of Current Archaeology.

Benn Penny-Mason couldn’t resist the temptation to send in a photo of a cake made with a friend for their boss at this year’s Silchester Insula IX Excavations. Cindy van Zwieten is the Head of Science on site, so fittingly they constructed a ‘micromorph’ cake shaped like a sample from a pit section for her special day. Sent in by Benn Penny-Mason, featured [...]

  Richard Stein works on Roman pumps.  His wife had this cake made for my birthday.  It is a faithful replica of the Roman wooden pump from Sablon, near Metz, found in 1905.  The (very decayed) wooden body is of oak (iced chocolate cake), and the metal liners of the cylinders are of lead (marzipan). [...]

  As Rebekah Hart enjoys baking and loves archaeology, she decided to have a go at making an Iron Age roundhouse! Sent in by Rebekah Hart, and featured in issue 260 of Current Archaeology.      

This is an image of a cake that was made for one of the previous exhibitions, The Picts Preserved, at Perth Museum. Sent in by Mark Hall, Perth, and featured in issue 259 of Current Archaeology.

In response to our call for photos of edible archaeology, some students from Exeter University sent in a picture of their Greek Temple they made for their last Art in Ancient Society seminar. Sent in by Julia Tomas and Joanna Law, MA Classics Students, Exeter University.

For Steph Turville’s 21st birthday, her parents had an archaeological birthday cake made for her – the decoration was a Roman fort and possible finds. A week after her birthday she was going to an excavation at Birdoswald Roman Fort on Hadrian’s Wall, a joint project between English Heritage and Newcastle University. Steph was one [...]

Here are some fruity shots of Stonehenge and a Celtic cross that show a real zest for archaeology! These pictures were taken in February this year at the Menton Lemon Festival, in Menton, France. The town gardens were filled with amazing life-sized models of historic importance, including: a Roman garden; the Trojan horse; a Viking [...]

                        The Norfolk Historic Buildings Group celebrated its tenth anniversary in December 2010.  Part of the party celebrations included a cake incorporating the group’s logo – Dairy Farm, Tacolneston.  Very tasty it was too! Sent in by Ian Hinton, Hon. Membership Secretary, featured in [...]

  How Romantic! An archaeologist couple sent us this picture of their wedding cake.  Now that’s commitment! Featured in Issue 250 of Current Archaeology

This cake, which was enjoyed at the 3D Archaeological Society Christmas Dinner, is of a ruined Roman floor – complete with hypocaust, mosaic fllor, walls and flues. The border mosaics display the society name, and the creature in black is a smiling squid, which we saw as part of the mosaic floor in the Roman [...]

  This cake is in the form of a section, with turf and layers, and a trowel beside it. It was made by Basingstoke Archaeological & Historical Society member Nicola Turton for a farewell party for a previous chairman, Tim Herrington. It was delicious! Sent in by Barbara Applin, featured in CA254