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 heritage, demonstrated by the unprecedented level of donations to the Staffordshire Hoard campaign. What will we show the world in 2012 – a cultureless country devoid of national spirit, or one that values and invests in its past?The Olympic visitors coming our way will not be the first influx of foreigners to grace Britain’s shores: we open this issue with a reassessment of an invading culture that greatly affected our islands’ history, followed by reports on Whithorn – finally published – and a rescue dig in York that produced unexpected results. The final feature is an inspiring story about an amateur society that challenged Margary – and won.
Features
RAIDERS AND TRADERS
New research on the Vikings
Recent discoveries are causing a re-think of the Vikings and their place in our history.
WHITHORN PRIORY
Burials at the tomb of St Ninian
Historic excavations at Scotland’s Cradle of Christianity have finally been published.
EXCAVATING ALL SAINT’S
A Medieval church rediscovered
Excavations have revealed the location of a ‘lost’ church as well as mysterious mass graves.
THE ROMAN ARMY IN THE PENNINES
Re-routing a lost Roman Road
Amateur archaeologists have found evidence that re-draws the route of Margary 712.
NEWS
Gladiator cemetery; Dartford Neanderthals; Grimes Graves Goddess returns; Dorchester’s new Roman sites; Chiswick House gardens; new Museum of London galleries open; Colchester’s UNESCO bid; East Oxford’s past.
REVIEWS
AD 410: the Year that Shook Rome; Excavations at Bowes and Lees Rigg; Visiting the Past: a guide to finding and understanding Britain’s past; Kentish sites and sites of Kent: a miscellany of four archaeological sites.
INTERVIEW
Conservator Dana Goodburn-Brown explains her revolutionary approach to archaeology conservation, deep in the heart of a suburban shopping centre.
ODD SOCS
Save our Parsonages and the Rectory Society.
