Uncovering seven centuries of cemeteries The largest area excavation ever undertaken in Aberdeen has disclosed astonishing details about the Church of St Nicholas, also known as the Mither Kirk, and its congregation. Alison Cameron, of Cameron Archaeology Ltd, reveals four medieval churches and seven centuries of funerary fashion. In 1874 disaster overtook Aberdeen’s Kirk of St [...]

Neolithic clay figurine found during Orkney excavation Meet the newest member of a small and very special family: the ‘Brodgar Boy’. Archaeologists found this tiny clay figurine while working on a spectacular Neolithic settlement complex between two stone circles on the Ness of Brodgar in Orkney. Measuring just 30mm long with a clearly-defined head, body, [...]

  Whirlow Hall Farm is a working farm on the western edge of Sheffield. Every year over 10,000 children visit it from inner city areas to learn about various aspects of agriculture. But on 19th July archaeological excavations began, marking the culmination of a community-orientated survey project carried out through spring and summer by local [...]

Unearthing an English institution Excavations in Liverpool Street have revealed a post-Medieval cemetery. Could it contain the dead of the world’s first lunatic asylum? Jay Carver and Nicholas Elsden spoke to Matthew Symonds. In 1247 Simon Fitz-Mary, an Alderman and Sheriff of London, financed a new priory on the outskirts of the city. The site he [...]

The Norfolk Medieval Graffiti Survey Today the word graffiti carries unpleasant connotations. Articles tackling both graffiti and churches are normally reports of destruction and wanton vandalism. For one community archaeology project, however, church graffiti has shone new light on the Medieval parish, as Matthew Champion reveals. In 2010, a volunteer-led community archaeology project was established to [...]

Nothing beats the excitement of hands-on archaeology, and with the new digging season almost upon us, there is no time to lose. This is a chance to get practical experience, either before heading off to university, or putting into practice what has been studied in theory. But for most, this is simply a glorious way [...]

Excavating the Age of Steam St Pancras station famously escaped demolition in the 1960s, but what happened to the bit Betjeman did not save? Louise Davies and Hana Lewis from Museum of London Archaeology share the secrets of the Somers Town Goods Yard with Matthew Symonds. The 1960s were not kind to London’s Victorian heritage. [...]

New evidence of an Iron Age hillfort at war Excavation at a Derbyshire hillfort has thrown up unique evidence for the massacre of women and children during the destruction of the fort. Clive Waddington discusses the dig, and what this discovery means for the continuing debate about the function of these sites. Iron Age hillforts [...]

  A new generation of castleologists believe that castles were about much more than trebuchets, portcullises, galloping hooves, boiling oil, and the clash of swords on armour: instead, castles were centres of lordship, symbols of wealth, and expressions of status, alluding to the past and expressing poetic ideals. Chris Catling reports. Forget what you were [...]

Lisa Westcott Wilkins chats to Matthew Symonds, Acting Editor of Current World Archaeology for the past year, who is just about to take up the editorial reins at CA. Why did you become an archaeologist? I’ve loved archaeology for as long as I can remember. I think it started with reading archaeological fiction, like Rosemary [...]

  As Prince William’s and Kate Middleton’s nuptials this month stir up feverish national excitement, what light can archaeology shed on the pomp and pageantry of the most magnificent of Royal occasions? Brendon Wilkins goes in search of the evidence. The sound of smashing porcelain paralysed us with fear. Looking down at the kitchen floor, [...]

Scotland’s Stirling Castle has been yielding Renaissance secrets. Gordon Ewart and Dennis Gallagher of Kirkdale Archaeology report on the fashionable grandeur in which the 16th century kings of the northern realm clothed their power. Stirling Castle is one of Scotland’s most iconic sites. Perched on its great rock, it represents a sequence of fortification from obscure [...]

  Scotland Balbithan Prehistoric Landscape Project Barnhillies Exploring Perthshire’s Past Green, Isle of Eday Ingleston Motte Newbarns Project Rampart Scotland Scottish Trust for Underwater Archaeology Strathearn Environs and Royal Forteviot Wales ‘Arfordir’ Project Caer Alyn Archaeological & Heritage Project Caerleon Samian Group Cosmeston Community Archaeology Project Trellech Excavation Project Welsh Rock Art Organisation Field School [...]

Nothing beats the excitement of hands-on archaeology, and with the new digging season almost upon us, there is no time to lose. This is a chance to get practical experience, either before heading off to university, or putting into practice what has been studied in theory. But for most, this is simply a glorious way [...]

Tim Darvill and Geoffrey Wainwright’s research focuses on the very stones of Stonehenge. Here, they give us an insight into their 2008 excavation at Stonehenge and ten years of fieldwork in and around the Bluestone quarries in the Preseli Hills of north Pembrokeshire. Previous analysis of Stonehenge has focussed on its layout and construction, chronology [...]