A selection of the most luxurious of English embroideries, much desired by the rich and powerful of medieval Europe, have been brought together for a new exhibition at the V&A. Lucia Marchini takes a look. The Latin term opus anglicanum has been used in English to describe grand embroideries since the 13th century, and it gives much […]
Category: Reviews
The Mary Rose revisited
The Mary Rose museum at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard was reopened 471 years to the day since the sinking of Henry VIII’s flagship – for the first time giving the public a clear view of her hull. Lucia Marchini went along to find out what else is new. When the new Mary Rose museum first opened […]
Time Truck: London’s local archaeology
Today (Friday 9 September) is MOLA’s Time Truck’s last day at Bishops Square. Surrounded by tall commercial buildings, behind the high-end cosmetics shops of Old Spitalfields Market, the pop-up exhibition offers a chance to explore everyday life in east London in the 17th-19th centuries. With staff from MOLA on hand to explain the selection of […]
Book Review: Bearsden – A Roman Fort on the Antonine Wall
Bearsden: A Roman fort on the Antonine Wall David J Breeze Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, £30.00 ISBN 978-1908332080 Bearsden presents a challenge to anyone who believes that Roman forts are much of a muchness. This military base once formed part of a cordon of forts strung out along the length of the Antonine Wall, a frontier system […]
REVIEW: 50 Finds from Cheshire
50 Finds from Cheshire: Objects from the Portable Antiquities Scheme Vanessa Oakden Amberley, £14.99 ISBN 978-1445646909 This new work celebrating finds reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme in Cheshire provides an illustrated insight into the county’s archaeology, and challenges previous views on ancient life. Its chronological layout clearly charts key finds from the area, spanning […]
Rievaulx Abbey
Nestled in the green, wooded hills of the North York Moors lie the ruins of Rievaulx Abbey. English Heritage has recently opened a new museum on the site, more than doubling the number of artefacts on show. Lucia Marchini discovered how the state-of-the-art displays explore over 400 years of Cistercian abbey life. Founded in 1132 […]
Babylon
Recently I had the good fortune to spend a week in France doing babysitting duties with my grandchildren at my son’s house near Toulouse. It gave me the opportunity to read, so I so took with me a book on Babylon by Michael Seymour which we had been sent for review. Here are my thoughts. […]
REVIEW: Home: A Time Traveller’s Tales from Britain’s Prehistory
Home: A Time Traveller’s Tales from Britain’s Prehistory Francis Pryor Allen Lane, £20.00 ISBN 978-1846144875 ‘Archaeology is about the past as experienced by ordinary people,’ writes Francis Pryor. Arguing that the past is too often approached from the top down, focusing on monarchs and political events, he makes the case for a greater emphasis on […]
REVIEW: The History of Archaeology
The History of Archaeology Paul Bahn (ed.) Routledge, £24.99 ISBN 978-0415841726 This welcome book is essential reading for archaeology students, with 13 contributors exploring the discipline’s development in different countries. Bahn opens with a chapter on pre-modern views of the past, while Colin Renfrew concludes with comments on the future of archaeology. For those with […]
REVIEW: The Great Archaeologists
The Great Archaeologists Brian Fagan (ed) Thames & Hudson, £24.95 ISBN 978-0500051818 Archaeology can lay claim to its fair share of colourful practitioners. Among the 70 lives spanning over 300 years chronicled here are eccentrics, adventurers, and visionaries. Unsurprisingly, not all of them were ‘great’ in the sense that their approaches would be endorsed by […]