Between 1974 and 1981 a remarkable campaign of excavations in Dublin exposed a swathe of the Viking town. From an archaeological perspective the conditions were perfect, with waterlogged layers preserving the vestiges of hundreds of houses and thousands of artefacts. But this was also a race against the clock, with public demonstrations buying more time […]

York’s celebrated Viking museum was forced to close when its galleries were flooded in December 2015, but with repairs and renovations now complete, its doors are open to the public once more. Carly Hilts explores the new-look Jorvik. Last year marked an exciting anniversary for those interested in the Viking Age – the millenary of […]

The Pictish carvings etched near the summit of Trusty’s Hill, a vitrified hillfort in Dumfries and Galloway, are as enigmatic as they are striking, located far to the south of where you would expect to find this kind of artwork. But how old are the carvings, are they even genuine, and what can archaeology tell […]

Why were Pictish symbols carved into Trusty’s Hill, far to the south of where they usually occur? Investigation of a hillfort towering over the images reveals that the site developed into a prosperous centre in the 6th century AD, and may even have been at the heart of the lost kingdom of Rheged. If so, […]

  First opened in 1886, Chester’s Grosvenor Museum has been telling the story of the historic city for more than a century. Lucia Marchini tours the archaeological collections. The Romans who founded a legionary fortress, Deva Victrix, at Chester in the AD 70s left their mark on the city. More than half of the line […]

The many achievements of Gertrude Bell (1868-1926) cover archaeology, travel, political administration, and more. She was a key figure in the formation of the modern state of Iraq and founded what became the Baghdad Archaeological Museum, yet – almost a century after her death – she is lamentably overlooked.

What were Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall for, and how did they influence everyday life in their shadow? As questions about modern borders continue to make the headlines, Matthew Symonds investigates Rome’s land frontiers in Britain. Borders are big news at the moment. We all know that a ‘great wall’ is planned along the US […]

One of Europe’s largest infrastructure projects brought with it one of the most extensive archaeological programmes ever undertaken. Lucia Marchini takes a trip through London’s buried past at the Museum of London Docklands’ exhibition of highlights from the Crossrail excavations. Tens of thousands of artefacts were unearthed at 40 construction sites dotted across London between […]

What are borders for? It is a question that has recently gone mainstream. Debate about ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ borders finds a parallel in attempts to determine whether Roman borders blocked or simply regulated movement. In this regard, the true nature of Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall remains a mystery. As the modern world is reminding us, though, the nature […]

Birthdays rarely pass without a moment of introspection. As CA reaches its golden anniversary, Joe Flatman reviews the fluctuating fortunes of archaeology in Britain through the lens of the magazine that has faithfully chronicled it since 1967. A selection of issues discussed by Joe Flatman in this month’s article can be accessed for free for […]