The largest hoard of Anglo Saxon gold ever found, was discovered the summer of 2009 by a metal-detectorist in a field in Staffordshire and is set to revolutionise our perceptions of life in the 7th and 8th centuries. With more than 650 items made from gold, and more than 500 in silver this is truly… [Continue Reading]
Frome Hoard
October 8, 2010 By Filed Under: News
The Portable Antiquities Scheme has today released news of the Frome Hoard, a cache of 52,503 Roman coins dating to the 3rd century, found by metal detectorist Dave Crisp near Frome in Somerset in 2010. Tony Williams, Coroner for Somerset, will hold an inquest today to determine whether the coins can be declared treasure, in… [Continue Reading]
Bluestonehenge: Stonehenge's little sister
October 6, 2010 By Filed Under: News
Archaeologists have discovered Stonehenge’s little sister, dubbed Bluestonehenge, just 2.8km away on the west bank of the River Avon.
University of Birmingham – Dig for Shakespeare
October 6, 2010 By Filed Under: News
Dig for Shakespeare The University of Birmingham Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity is an internationally acclaimed research community that brings archaeology and heritage to life. Our research and projects are exciting and diverse, and most recently have involved digging up Shakespeare! A team of archaeologists from Birmingham Archaeology are involved in the ground-breaking investigation… [Continue Reading]
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… [Continue Reading]
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.… [Continue Reading]
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… [Continue Reading]
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… [Continue Reading]
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… [Continue Reading]
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… [Continue Reading]
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… [Continue Reading]
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… [Continue Reading]
Dark Satanic mills? The archaeology of the world’s first industrial city
May 25, 2010 By Filed Under: Features
By 1850, Manchester had a population of 300,000, and most of its 172 textile mills had already been built. Cotton goods were known simply as ‘Manchester goods’. Now, archaeology is adding new insights. We report on ten years’ digging of Manchester’s industrial history. In 1814, Johann Georg May wrote: ‘Manchester is famous throughout the world… [Continue Reading]
Neolithic Temples of the Northern Isles
March 2, 2010 By Filed Under: News
Stunning new discoveries in Orkney It is an artificial mound the size of five football pitches, formed of monumental stone structures and massive dumps of waste. And it is up to 5,000 years old. Nick Card of the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology describes why we may be on the brink of a radical rethink of… [Continue Reading]
Lanton Quarry: New evidence in northern Northumberland
February 25, 2010 By Filed Under: Features
A routine investigation ahead of gravel quarrying has turned up some exciting results: has the ‘support centre’ for the elite Anglo-Saxon settlement of Yeavering been found? Clive Waddington discusses the evidence. In the very north of Northumberland lies an old, dried-out glacial lake that is surrounded by raised gravel terraces, known as the Milfield Basin.… [Continue Reading]
Magic and Mining at Alderley Edge
January 28, 2010 By Filed Under: Chris Catling, Features
Listening to tales told by his blacksmith grandfather in the semi-darkness of his fire-lit forge, Alan Garner absorbed the Cheshire folklore that he then transformed into a classic work of fiction – The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. Inspired by Garner’s story, archaeologists have recently begun to unravel the truth behind the legends of Alderley Edge, as… [Continue Reading]
Magic and Mining; the Alderly Edge Landscape Project
January 5, 2010 By Filed Under: Features
Listening to the tales told by his blacksmith grandfather in the semi-darkness of his fire-lit forge, Alan Garner absorbed the Cheshire folklore that transformed into a classic work of fiction – The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. Inspirred by Garner’s story archaeologists have recently begun to unravel the truth behind the legends of Alderly edge, as Chris… [Continue Reading]
Archaeology Awards
December 17, 2009 By Filed Under: Features
Last year in Cardiff, we launched the Current Archaeology Awards to resounding success. We’re excited to open this year’s competition and look forward to your votes – just CLICK HERE; these awards are our way of hearing back from all of you who have helped to make CA such a great success over the past 41… [Continue Reading]
