What can the first Bronze Age gold torc to be found in Norfolk for 25 years tell us about the influence of the region’s population 3,000 years ago?

New excavation and analysis of three crannogs – or man-made islands – in the Outer Hebrides has clearly demonstrated that they had Neolithic origins, changing our understanding of these enigmatic sites.

Remnants from the Battle of Glensheil – the Highland battle that ended the 1719 Jacobite Rising and James Francis Edward Stuart’s ambitions of sitting on the throne from which his father, James II and VII, had been deposed – were recently discovered during an excavation marking the 300th anniversary of the battle.

An excavation at Kirkton of Fetteresso near Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire has yielded some of the earliest Neolithic pottery yet found in Scotland.

During excavations at Warth Park in Raunds, Northamptonshire, archaeologists from Oxford Archaeology east made an unusual roman discovery: a wooden arm with an open right hand.

Previously, large-scale changes in population were quite difficult, if not impossible, to discern from the archaeological record. But while there are still many biases and pitfalls, new statistical techniques are starting to provide innovative ways to determine movement and migration patterns. In this month’s ‘Science Notes’, we explore some of these new techniques, and examine recent research that has utilised them to assess population fluctuations in Ireland.

The Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire was recently given UNESCO World Heritage status, making it the 32nd site to make the list in the UK.

In 2016, a single canine tooth was found at Blick Mead – a major Mesolithic site 2km from Stonehenge. Now further isotopic analyses have revealed a complicated picture of the dog’s diet and possible migration patterns.

Ongoing research into Winchester Cathedral’s mortuary chests – one of which is shown – is providing vital new evidence about the identities of the individuals interred within them, it has been announced.

Post-excavation analysis of an Iron Age bark shield – the only one of its kind ever found in Europe – is greatly enhancing our understanding of how such objects were made and wielded during this period.