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essays

PLEASE NOTE: This page is no longer current and is here for archive purposes only.

• May 2003: Ros Niblet on an iron folding chair from Verulanium
• March 2003: David Longley on his first undisturbed archaeological site
• December 2002: Bill Putnam on a World War II fork in a 'prehistoric' ditch
• October 2002: Rob Ixer on a lump of lead ore that made a nice paperweight
• August 2002: Val Turner on a Pictish stone that spooked a gravedigger
• June 2002: Everyone’s invited to the Neolithic party. John Lewis on the moment he realised the Stanwell cursus was a political statement.
• April 2002: Ming pottery in an African sun. Gwilym Hughes recalls finding a broken Chinese platter at Great Zimbabwe.
• February 2002: Memories of Callanish. Aubrey Burl had a 'eureka' moment in pondering Callanish.
• December 2001: Once lost, twice excavated. Richard Brewer recalls finding a discarded Roman seal-box lid packed away in a gloomy museum sub-basement.
• October 2001: This ancient land. Tom Williamson on his discovery that Iron Age field patterns still survive in the modern Norfolk landscape.
• August 2001: Thank you, Saddam. Bob Bewley on how the Iran-Iraq War led to the discovery of a complete collared urn and to a career in archaeology.
• June 2001: If it shines, it is gold. David Miles recalls finding Christian jewels in a cemetery of West Saxons newly converted from pagan beliefs.
• April 2001: Long reach of the flint knappers. Mike Pitts's find links a Suffolk pub with a South Sea island.
• February 2001: Favourite finds: Ancestors of Odysseus. Sebastian Payne on finds made during a youthful excavation in a Greek cave.
• December 2000: Favourite finds: Rognvald the Wrong. John Malam recalls finding Orcadian relics in an Essex junk shop.
• October 2000: Favourite finds: Roman haymaker. George Lambrick recalls a scrap of metal that turned into a Roman scythe.
• August 2000: Favourite finds: It's domed but it's not pottery. Gill Hey recalls the first time she found a human body.
• June 2000: Favourite finds: Where Samson pruned roses. Paul Stamper enjoyed finding a 17th century garden in a thick forest.
• April 2000: Favourite finds: Dainty dishes on a tiny isle. Anna Ritchie recalls the pottery that dated the oldest standing building in western Europe.
• February 2000: Favourite finds: I blame the champagne. Mick Aston recalls the day he stumbled on a deserted medieval village.
• December 1999: Time Team vs Sutton Hoo vs C14 dates. What was the most important event or development in British archaeology this century? Interviews by Simon Denison
• November 1999: Looking after the old village pump ... ... and gas lamps, stocks, drinking fountains, and the rest. Jeremy Milln reports.
• October 1999: So Wm Stukeley Esq was right after all. The hunt for Avebury's second avenue could easily have produced nothing - again. David Wheatley reports.
• July 1999: Rural dialects and surviving Britons. Rustic counting-systems suggest the Britons survived in large numbers in Saxon England, writes Tim Gay
• June 1999: Glaciers and the bluestones of Wales. It was not human effort that brought them to Stonehenge, argues Aubrey Burl
• April 1999: Only one way to scratch up the dirt. Paul Stamper praises the archaeologist's favourite tool - a nice, battered old trowel
• March 1999: The tale of Mr Crawford and his cap: OGS Crawford was a great man with a few eccentricities, reflects John Charlton
• December 1998: The unending story of Oxford in peril: now Oxford Castle itself is threatened by a development scheme, writes John Steane
• November 1998: Freedom fighters under a mystic cloak: there was more to Druidism in Gaul and Britain then mistletoe and beards, says Jane Webster.
• September 1998: Dating a cottage and saving a windmill: Simon Denison reports on the achievements of voluntary archaeology.
• July 1998: From deserted crofts to mud-built farms: low-budget archaeology can often produce remarkable results. Simon Denison reports.
• May 1998: Stonehenge, Merlin, and gallows humour: stories that `explain' Stonehenge have been told since the Middle Ages, writes David Hinton.
• April 1998: And spirits remain in ancient places: John Charlton recounts three uncanny experiences from a lifetime spent among ancient monuments
• February 1998: Stumbling in the footsteps of St Thomas: rock art scholars are stuck in their drug-culture phase, writes Paul Bahn
• December 1997: Is the new Globe an authentic reconstruction? Simon Denison finds out
• November 1997: Conservation in Wales should favour buildings that reflect Welsh society as a whole, says David Austin
• October 1997: Simon Denison reports on the Young Archaeologists' Club on its silver anniversary
• September 1997: Peter Ellis takes a wry look at archaeology in a recent blockbuster movie
• June 1997: Changes to buildings must refer to local traditions and detail, writes Barry Joyce
• April 1997: Understanding the past requires a feel for the land, claims Francis Pryor
• February 1997: Character, a vital concept in conservation, is misunderstood, argues John Leach
• November 1996: Simon Callery reflects on time that links archaeology and painting
• September 1996: Aubrey Burl protests at changes to the traditional names of stone circles
• June 1996: Flying up with the souls of the dead by Andrew Sherratt
• April 1996: Why is there nothing like a real fire? by GustavMilne
• February 1996: Diggers at the final frontier by Charles Thomas

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