News Round Up

123.1 By Brian Fagan. Pp. xvi + 346. Yale University Press, New Haven 2017. $30. ISBN 978-0-300-21534-2 (cloth). Reviewed by Ellis E. McDowell-LoudanFagan outlines the history of civilization through human settlement and subsistence patterns…

ArticleThe statue of Aphrodite formerly in Syon House in London is an important instance of the Roman copying tradition, a phenomenon crucial to the understanding of Roman and Greek sculpture production. The statue is a high-quality product of the…

Northern England’s monetary history was quite distinct from that of the south in the pre-Viking period, and Abramson’s ambitious book is one of the few sustained discussions of it. Across eight chapters that fizz with new information, he establishes…

When we think of the First World War, our minds inevitably turn to the barren quagmires of war-torn northern France and Belgium, the squalid conditions and boredom of life in the trenches, the excitement and fear of going over the top, and what…

The traditional chronological divisions of prehistory are a useful means of breaking down a dauntingly long period of human history, but carry the risk of presenting prehistory as a series of self-contained chunks, rather than a continuum. In this…

In 1974, later prehistoric structures, including the remains of a kerb-chambered cairn, were discovered at Udal on the Hebridean island of North Uist. The discovery prompted archaeologist Iain Crawford to undertake a three-year excavation of the…

This highly anticipated volume brings together the results of excavations of Roman kilns and associated features by volunteers in a public park in the London borough of Haringey, and detailed analysis of some 1,200kg of recovered pottery. As if…

Anybody interested in the rich archaeology of London will be familiar with high-standard and detailed publications by the Museum of London and other professional archaeological companies. London’s Waterfront, published by Archaeopress, is no…

Hoards of different periods have been uncovered in many parts of Britain. A touring exhibition brings together some of these intriguing caches of objects hidden long ago, and explores the possible reasons behind their burial. Lucia Marchini…

In my column on the ‘great excavation’ of Shapwick (CA 345), I included one of my all-time favourite Current Archaeology cover photos, that of CA 151 (February 1997), where a then broken-legged Mick Aston (injured tripping over a holy well!) is…

How did the kingdoms of early medieval England evolve into a single nation?A new exhibition at the British Library combines artefacts and manuscripts to tell the story of the Anglo-Saxons in their own words. Carly Hilts reports. The post Writing…

Recent research on Pictish symbols has provided a new chronology for the carvings, transforming our understanding of their evolution. The post Rethinking Pictish symbols appeared first on Current Archaeology.

A new study analysing the teeth of adults who died in the Kilkenny Union Workhouse at the height of the Great Famine (1845-1852) has revealed some of the possible social reasons for their poor oral health, and how this may have affected their…

The remains of a settlement associated with the Roman fort of Bravoniacum has been unearthed near Kirkby Thore in Cumbria. The footprints of post-built structures were discovered by GUARD Archaeology Ltd, working with Highways England and Amey…

At the opposite end of the country to the Cumbrian settlement described above, signs of another possible extramural fort settlement have been identified at Okehampton, in Devon. Working during housing development, AC Archaeology has discovered the…

King Henry I is said to have died from eating a ‘surfeit of lampreys’, but there is no excess of these eel-like fish in the archaeological record, as their remains rarely survive. Indeed, traces of lampreys are so scarce that they had previously…

In the early days of archaeology, human remains were often treated as an afterthought, deemed unable to tell us much about past populations. As we are well aware today, though, this could not be further from the truth, and in more recent decades the…

Bronze age cists were discovered in the Kilmore area of the village in 2015 and 2017, and excavation this year has once again shown how rich the region’s prehistoric landscape is, with a third example found during an investigation ahead of a new…

Between the end of the Roman occupation of Britain and the Norman Conquest, England changed beyond recognition. Rival Anglo-Saxon kingdoms vied for primacy, but also produced objects of astonishing artistry including, after Christianity returned to…

Who deserves special recognition for their work, research, and dedication to archaeology? Below are the three nominees. Once you’ve made your choice, click here to cast your vote! Voting closes on 11 February 2019, and all the winners of the 2019…