Issue 105

Mar / Apr 2009

Contents

news

Welsh find may be key to mysterious mounds

Sissinghurst Castle has Elizabethan pavilion

Engraved stone found at ancient ritual site in Cheshire

In the press

In Brief & Phase 2

features

THE BIG DIG: Catholme
Henry Chapman on extraordinary prehistoric earthwork remains in Staffordshire

The bad teeth dividend
Karen Hardy reports important new evidence in how poor oral hygiene is key to understanding early diets

Wroxeter (Viroconium)
Roger White on 150 years since the first dig at Roman town

Shopping and Digging - NEW
James Dixon explains an unexpected archaeological story behind the changing faces of our towns

spoilheap

Pension advice from an archaeologist – theory you can trust

requiem

Our fourth annual celebration of antiquity lovers who have died in 2008

on the web

Recommended websites
The new CBA website and Caroline Wickham-Jones goes in search of world heritage sites

letters

your views and responses

Archaeology in Britain

Mike Heyworth takes stock in very difficult times with a special focus on the crisis

ISSN 1357-4442

Editor Mike Pitts

on the web

World heritage websites

Hinting that we have no need of them, in December the government launched a consultation on world heritage sites. Caroline Wickham-Jones seeks a world perspective.

Living in Orkney, I take world heritage sites for granted. They are an everyday part of archaeology, almost nothing special. I have to remind myself that others think differently. UNESCO has extensive coverage of . There is news, from the Congo to Edinburgh, a list of sites and information aplenty, though with a tacit assumption that we all know about world heritage, there is no pithy definition: "Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration."

The UK World Heritage Sites DCMS Portal is more effective, though links to individual sites are idiosyncratic. "Canterbury Cathedral" leads to the official cathedral website with no mention of world heritage on its home page; "Antonine Wall" to an anonymous, but informative, website (the clue is in the partners); "Heart of Neolithic Orkney" to a privately run, highly informed website, Orkney Jar.

Although by definition a bureaucratic concept, the idea of world heritage clearly appeals. Els Slots is a Dutch traveller whose life's ambition is to visit every site; on the way she has produced an impressive website which encourages personal accounts from other travellers. It's a "trip advisor" for world heritage, potential WHS managers take note! On the communal side, Wikipedia has useful information and fascinating statistics.

Some world heritage sites have their own web pages; possibly restricted to the UK, but that may be a function of my browser. Liverpool and Edinburgh are clear and to the point, St Kilda provides atmospheric sound effects. Elsewhere information may be found, but does not always include specific reference to the world heritage designation (eg Lascaux).

Despite the attention, all is not rosy in the world of world heritage. UNESCO cites threats to individual sites and maintains a list of world heritage in danger. Threats vary from the obvious as in Iraq, to others which may be more a matter of perception (eg Edinburgh). It is curious to think of world heritage as controversial, perhaps a mark of coming-of-age, but good to know that some are concerned enough to document the debate.

Beware, people have jumped on to the bandwagon and made use of the name – all is not quite as it seems on every website. From the commercial world of dinosaurs and teddies to the Irish community in Manchester, or world heritage student exchange programmes, the concept of world heritage can clearly be widely interpreted.

If you feel motivated to become involved there is the inevitable friends organisation. It is a worthy cause though noteworthy that one of the partners is Expedia.com. How does visiting world heritage sites affect your carbon footprint?

Finally, have your say at www.culture.gov.uk. It is your opportunity to shape our future attitude to world heritage – and that is important.

World Heritage Sites on the web

• World Heritage Site – www.worldheritagesite.org
  • Quality information, personal opinion, beautiful photographs and imaginative graphics
• World Heritage Tour – www.world-heritage-tour.org
  • Visit the sites in planophotography. Amaze yourself. Health warning – it is possible to feel travel sick just manipulating these images
• Salmons' World Heritage Sites – thesalmons.org/lynn/world.heritage.html
  • Information, photographs and personal accounts, but perhaps most useful are the eclectic links, from official web pages to news accounts
• UK World Heritage Sites – www.ukworldheritage.org.uk
  • From Henderson Island to the Heart of Neolithic Orkney: news, links and information
• World Heritage: The Worldwide Panorama – worldwidepanorama.org
  • More fantastic photographs

New life in an old friend

The Council for British Archaeology's pioneering website used to boast of "15MB of online information". Dan Hull introduces a radical new look to the CBA's present massive resource.

The original CBA website will be familiar to many. The simple, functional homepage, distinctive green and blue text and white background were used for almost 15 years. Created in 1995 (a few months younger than Yahoo, and several years older than Google, this actually replaced a "gopher" site created in 1993), www.britarch.ac.uk fast became a hub for information about British archaeology, and was one of the pioneers for archaeology on the web. After many years' sterling service, our old friend no longer served the purposes of the increasing complexity of information the CBA website provides today. We consulted our users and members, and after a year's development work, the CBA launched its new website on December 1 2008.

We created the new site entirely in-house, using free, open-source software, helping us to keep costs down and use some exciting new technology behind the scenes. The site has a fresh new look, includes many more pictures of archaeology in action, and serves up an even more ambitious range of information than it did before. From contacts, publications, events and advice on jobs and training, to coverage of current issues in archaeology, the latest news and signposts to useful resources, the site provides over 500 refreshed, revised and up-to-date pages.

The project gave us the opportunity to think anew about the site's purpose and direction. We still felt it fulfilled a role as a gateway to archaeology. There are now many, many more archaeology websites out there than in 1995, yet there is increasingly a need for informed, straight-forward advice and easy signposting to the fantastic range of resources which exist.

We also wanted to step up the site's role as the provider of the latest news in archaeology. So we created an Archaeology Latest section, using a series of feeds to serve up the latest news, blogs and research resources. A quick glance as I write this reveals that a postal museum is due to open in Swindon, that a comet exploded over America 12,000 years ago, a statue of a classical gladiator is destined for Whitby, and the Association for World War Archaeology has released a new website for the latest discoveries on battlefields. Within a few minutes, the news has changed again, keeping us all up-to-date on what is happening the second it is reported.

Our set of contacts and web links has been improved and relaunched as the Archaeology Online section, already hosting 1,100 links to local societies, community groups, contracting units, university archaeology departments and more. If you would like to be listed as a useful group or contact, do check out this section and make sure your details are there.

We have also revised and expanded the grants and awards pages, created a whole new education section, and added a Get Involved! facility offering advice to newcomers to archaeology. The publications section has been redesigned too, providing access to around 200 books and papers (over 100 of which are free), and links to other resources like Internet Archaeology, ArchLib, Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports, the British and Irish Archaeological Bibliography and this magazine. You can find out when new publications are added by signing up to one of the newsfeeds, which also tells you when new fieldwork opportunities and conferences are added to Briefing.

The launch of the new CBA website does not mean it is now static and "complete". We have exciting plans ahead for 2009: a new Young Archaeologists' Club site, an education resource hub, a new British and Irish Archaeological Bibliography service, and a new Festival of British Archaeology site are developments we are working on now.

We would really like your opinions on the new site. What do you think of the design, content and new features? What other new facilities or pages would you like to see there? Are there any links to other resources we should include? Let us know either by filling in a short online questionnaire or by emailing me.

Dan Hull is the CBA's Head of Information & Communications

CBA web:

British Archaeology

CBA Briefing

Fieldwork
Conferences
Noticeboard
Courses & lectures
CBA Network
Grants & awards

CBA homepage