| ISSN 1357-4442 | Editor: Mike Pitts |
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features
PLEASE NOTE: We hope to have this page fully updated in the near future.
Hunting for the first humans in Britain
When did humans first come to Britain? And how did they survive? Nick Ashton reports on our first half million years
Great sites: Silbury Hill
Archaeologists have been intrigued by Europe's largest prehistoric mound for centuries. David Field reports on new work that overturns some old ideas
Supernatural power dressing
Jewellery from Bronze Age graves is normally interpreted as a symbol of status. Howevr, materials like jet, amber, faience and tin were also worn as talismans, writes Alison Sheridan
Cursus: solving a 6,000-year-old puzzle
Antiquaries thought they were ancient race-tracks. Later they were seen as processional routes. But cursuses might have been both these things and a whole lot more, writes David McOmish
Burial with the Romans
The Romans normally respected the dead. But not always. Alison Taylor reports on mutilation, child sacrifice, burial alive and other such practices
Great sites
Excavations on a farmstead in Shetland were the first to reveal the Vikings as not just raiders, but also farmers and fishermen. Anna Ritchie reports
Roman Britons after 410
Martin Henig on how Roman culture never left Britain
Bear pit to zoo
Hannah O'Regan on th history of wild animal collections
Great sites
Gustav Milne on the excavations on London's waterfront
Roads from Rome
Hugh Davies discusses Roman roads as a transport system
Shipwreck to slavery
Mike Parker Pearson on the story of an 18th century sailor
Great sites
Rosamund Cleal on the Neolithic site on Windmill Hill
When Burial Begins
Paul Pettitt on why humans began burying their dead
Chemical Revolution
Tim Allen traces the origins of the Industrial Revolution
Great Sites
Helena Hamerow on the Anglo-Saxon town of Hamwic
Fortress Britain
The Defence of Britain Project, now complete, has revolutionised our understanding of Britain's wartime defences. Simon Denison reports
Great Sites: Exeter Roman Baths
Paul Birdwell recalls the discovery in Exeter of one of the largest and most elaborate bath-houses of the early Roman Empire
Engines of Change
Railways profoundly influenced the rural and urban landscapes of Britain. David Gwyn reports
Lord of the Hrungs
Tolkien's epic may have been part-inspired by Anglo-Saxon archaeology and story-telling. David Hinton explains
Guns of the Armada
Archaeology shows the 1588 Armada failed partly because Spanish guns were no good, writes Colin Martin
Invisible Vikings
How much did the impact of Viking customs change English ways of life? Less than you might think, explains Dawn Hadley
Great Sites: Balbridie
For years, very few Neolithic settlements were known in Britain. Perhaps the ‘first farmers’ were a myth? Then a Neolithic ‘house’ full of grain was found near Aberdeen. Peter Rowley-Conwy reports
Roman
commanders Dark Age kings
When Roman rule ended in Britain, military units on Hadrian’s Wall seized control of local areas for themselves, writes Tony Wilmott
People of the
Sea
From Mesolithic times, western European peoples were united above all by one thing: access to the sea. Barry Cunliffe explains
Great sites: Belas Knap
Skeletons excavated at Belas Knap in the 19th century led to theories of a superior race of Bronze Age invaders conquering Neolithic Britain. Julien Parsons reports
Citadel of the first Scots
Alan Lane reports on recent excavations at Dunadd hillfort in Argyll, where Scotland’s early medieval kings were inaugurated
Reading the land
50 years ago, most historians thought Britain’s landscape dated mainly from the 18th century. Then landscape archaeology began, and the rest is history, says Peter Fowler
Great Sites: Meols
Meols was once the most important ancient port in the North-West. Then it eroded into the Irish Sea. David Griffiths reports on the remarkable collection of objects found in the sands by antiquaries in the 19th century
Years of pestilence
The Black Death was the greatest disaster to strike Western Europe in the historical period. Tom Beaumont James reports on how archaeology
is now adding to the story
Joining the medieval fleet
Archaeology has transformed our ideas of how, and where, medieval ships were built. Gustav Milne reviews the new evidence
Great sites: Paviland Cave
Stephen Aldhouse-Green looks at new research on the site of Britain’s best-known Palaeolithic burial, a young man who died some 26,000 years ago
Nonsuch Palace
Old ruins, new world
Lest we remember
David Gaimster recalls the excavation of Henry VIII’s most extravagant palace, which spawned the discipline of post-medieval archaeology.
Abandoned Roman sites in Britain were plundered for stone by Anglo-Saxon church builders. Tim Eaton investigates.
Funerals in the Bronze Age, as in the present, involved not just remembrance but also an element of forgetting, to place the dead person out of mind, writes Howard Williams.
The edible dead
The glory that was York
Town of tin
Great sites: Balladoole
Cannibalism is rarely mentioned in archaeology textbooks. But there is clear evidence for cannibalism in almost every society and every period, writes Timothy Taylor.
Northumbria and its capital, York, were thought to be in steep decline in the 8th century. But archaeology suggests a flourishing kingdom closely linked to Charlemagne's Europe. One of its chief figures was a great scholar and statesman named Alcuin. Dominic Tweddle reports.
Bill Bevan explores the ghostly remains of a Peak District navvy-settlement, which was designed for workmen employed to build two dams in the early 20th century.
Mark Redknap revisits a Viking boat burial site on the Isle of Man which shed light on the aggressive Viking settlement of British soil in the late 9th century
Living under a medieval field
Discovering the new Rome
Great sites: Yeavering
John Letts reports on the remarkable evidence for medieval cereal crops and weeds that survives in the thatched roofs of southern England.
British archaeologists have been involved in the first systematic survey of Constantimople, the former captial of the Eastern Roman Empire. Ken Dark and Ferudun Özgümüs report.
David Hinton recalls a 7th century royal settlement that was perhaps the most dramatic site of the Anglo Saxon World
Great sites: Trapain Law
Power drinking in Iron Age Europe
Gateway to Rome
Ian Armit recalls the discovery of an Iron Age 'tribal centre' in East Lothian which flourished during the Roman period
Iron Age leaders bolstered their claim to rule by giving feasts awash with prodigious quantities of booze, writes Bettina Arnold
Archaeologists have used ground-penetrating geophysics to map out the greatest harbour of the ancient world. Simon Keay reports.
Great sites: Hoxne
Chris Tolan-Smith recalls the brick pit where artefacts were first recognised as signs of humanity's great antiquity
Meet the metal makers
Metal came relatively late to Britain. But it was here that a remarkable new compound was perfected. It was called bronze. Paul Budd reports.
Offa versus the Welsh
Offa's Dyke used to be thought of as just a boundary line. New research suggests it was built in earnest for defence against the kingdom of Powys. David Hill explains.
Hunters in the cold
A 10,000-year-old campsite in southern Britain provides remarkable new evidence for hunter-gatherer
life after the Ice Age. John Lewis reports.
Great sites: Skara Brae
Europe's best preserved Neolithic village was dug in the 1920s and the 1970s, but it continues
to give up new secrets, writes Alexandra Shepherd
Decline and fall
Roman culture was fading in Britain from the early 200s. It had all but gone a century later.
Neil Faulkner looks at the evidence.
London at the edge of the world
Recent excavations show that early London was a rough male town where conditions were terrible but there was a lot of money to be made, writes Peter Rowsome
Great sites: Little Woodbury
Everyone thought that prehistoric Britons lived in holes in the ground rather than houses, until a German refugee began to dig a site in a Wiltshire field
Landscape of war
Historians are only now coming to appreciate the Second World War's vast impact on Britain's landscape. William Foot reports.
Great sites: Llyn Cerrig Bach
Mike Parker Pearson recalls the site that revealed the religious significance of water in later prehistoric Britain
Frobisher the Fraud
New evidence from Baffin Island suggests the explorer Martin Frobisher may have tried to defraud Queen Elizabeth I herself, writes Réginald Auger
Buried with the friars
Exceptionally well-preserved finds from an Augustinian friary in Hull have shed light on life and death in the Middle Ages. David Evans reports
Origins of war: Mesolithic conflict in Europe
The Mesolithic era is often characterised as a kind of golden age of harmony with
nature and peaceful co-existence between people. Not so, writes Nick Thorpe
On the road
New evidence suggests Chaucer's Canterbury pilgrims were following a pre-Christian tradition
at least 1,000 years old, writes Miranda Aldhouse Green
Viking Christians & Christian Picts
The Vikings and Picts brought a 9th century Christian `Reformation' to parts of Britain.
Martin Carver looks at the new evidence
Great sites: Wharram Percy
A deserted village excavation in Yorkshire transformed our understanding of medieval peasant life, writes James Bond
Odd man out: Neanderthals and modern humans
New research shows that Neanderthals were far more sophisticated than was thought ten years ago. Still modern humans wiped them out in the end. Paul Pettitt reports.
Return to the Sanctuary
In a tale of espionage, forgotten diaries and missed evidence from earlier excavations, Mike Pitts offers a new interpretation of the mysterious Sanctuary at Avebury
Great sites: Bignor Roman villa
Martin Henig returns to the site that first proved the wealth and sophistication of late Roman Britain
Dancing with the dead in a mass grave
Neolithic communities repeatedly handled the decaying bodies of their dead, writes Mary Baxter
Laid to rest on pillow of bay leaves
Research continues on the wealthy Roman woman found in London this spring. Christopher Thomas reports.
Warfare and the destruction of history
Alpaslan Özerdem visited Kosovo to assess the extent of cultural damage following this year's conflict
Hadrian's Wall amid fields of corn
Air photographs reveal that Hadrian's Wall was built in a settled, farmed landscape, writes Tim Gates
Making a spear and the Iceman's outfit
Experimental reconstructions can provide surprising insights into everyday life in the distant past. John Lord and Jacqui Wood describe recent work.
Lost facts behind the story of Macbeth
The archaeology of 11th century Scotland is almost entirely undiscovered, writes Nick Aitchison
Teaching surgery and breaking the law
Dissection was illegal until 1832, but it was done anyway. Andrew Chamberlain explains
Revising the Mesolithic at Star Carr
New excavations have shed light on one of Britain's most famous prehistoric sites, writes Paul Mellars
Hunting out the remains of Robin Hood
Several sites associated with the legendary outlaw survive. Eric Houlder reports
Here he lies, hewn down ... in the dirt
Research on Anglo-Saxon warfare highlights the use of the slashing sword and spear. Richard Underwood reports
Growth and decay of an Essex village
Finds from one of the most important excavations of the 1990s have now produced a vivid portrait of a Romano-British village, writes Mark Atkinson
All Tudor life in a disused fishpond
London's new assemblage of Tudor finds has far more to offer than just an old banana, explains Geoff Egan
History from fields and back gardens
Finds made by members of the public are now answering major historical questions, writes Simon Denison
Showing our metal
Richard Hobbs describes the background to the new reporting scheme
Britain in the age of warrior heroes
Richard Osgood looks at the nature and causes of war in Bronze Age Britain
No decline before the fall of empire
The 4th century was the Golden Age of Roman Britain, argues Guy de la Bédeyère
Uncovering the home of John of Gaunt
Medieval rubble uprooted in the Great Storm marked the site of a lost royal manor, writes Martin Papworth
Neanderthals, sex and modern humans
A boy buried 24,000 years ago proves the two species did interbreed, writes Paul Pettitt
Stonehenge and terror in the sky
Stonehenge was built to predict meteor showers, argues space researcher Duncan Steel
From ancestor cult to divine religion
Gods were first invented in the Bronze Age, argues Mike Parker Pearson
When London became a European capital
By 1300, the character of England's principal city was established, writes John Schofield
Seeing the cursus as a symbolic river
Kenneth Brophy tries to make sense of some of Britain's largest and earliest prehistoric monuments
Tolerating pagans for the sake of trade
Paganism may have survived for centuries after the arrival of Christianity, says Paul Blinkhorn
Turning a cave into a home sweet home
`Cavemen' lived in Britain as recently as this century. Chris Tolan-Smith reports
Saxon London in a tale of two cities
In his second article on London, John Schofield describes new evidence for the two Saxon towns
Bury the dead in a sacred landscape
Bronze Age barrows are often found near rivers, lakes and springs. David Field explains why
Ancient history of trips to the dentist
Archaeologists are beginning to recognise evidence for past dental treatment, says Chrissie Freeth
Fact, fiction, legend and Lorna Doone
Rob Wilson-North investigates the archaeology of Exmoor's best known fictional settlement
From frontier town to stately capital
John Schofield looks at new evidence for Roman London, in the first of three articles on the archaeology of London
Prisons that see progress in the past
The first modern survey of prisons has found that 19th century ideas are back, reports Allan Brodie
From art and tools came human origins
Evidence of modern human behaviour 200,000 years old may have been found in Africa. Larry Barham explains.
An image of ancient English woodland
Excavated wood can reveal the look of the tree and how it was tended, writes Damian Goodburn
Rethinking the Neolithic of Orkney
The old idea of separate cultures in early and late Neolithic Orkney is breaking down, says Colin Richards
Inexhaustible symbols cut into chalk
New dating methods are shedding light on the mysteries of hill-figures, writes Paul Newman
Modern diagnosis of ancient disease
Sophisticated techniques are used to extract the secrets of ancient illness, explains Tony Waldron
Luxury and design in Roman gardens
You can recreate a Classical garden wherever you live. Linda Farrar describes how
Old Absalom's wheels keep on turning
A unique Victorian pottery, unchanged for 100 years, has been saved. David Graham reports
Remembering the dead on stone markers
Churchyards have changed much over the centuries, explains Harold Mytum
An ideology that faded in a New Age
Prehistoric rock art retains many mysteries, but much can now be explained, writes Stan Beckensall
Hunting the survivors of Dad's army
Remains of Home Guard structures survive all over Britain, reports Bernard Lowry
Limits of Viking influence in Wales
Wales experienced sporadic raids, a few settlers and trade, writes Mark Redknap
Changing materials, changing bridges
Bridges were built in much the same way for centuries. Then they changed. Bill Smyth explains
Finding Beowulf in Kent's landscape
Place-names and topography locate the Beowulf story near Faversham, claims Paul Wilkinson
Seeing the past in standard images
Pictorial reconstructions have always shaped people's thinking about the past, writes Stephanie Moser
All was change, and then change again
Early maps record the multiple transformations of central Scotland in 200 years. Steve Boyle reports
Human sacrifice in Iron Age Europe
Ritual murder was a special event, but not an unusual one, writes Miranda Aldhouse Green
Catching the Salisbury Hoard looters
In two edited extracts from his new book on the Salisbury Hoard, Ian Stead describes the arrest of the nighthawks, and the importance of the hoard
Seasonal farming in the wealthy Fens
Knowledge of the Fens in prehistory has been transformed over recent decades. Francis Pryor explains.
Togidubnus and the Roman liberation
The historian Tacitus invented the `conquest' of Britain, claims Martin Henig
The lost defensive ditches of wartime
Thousands of miles of wartime ditches have been filled in and forgotten, writes William Foot
From Buttermere to the bobbin factory
The Lake District was until recently an industrial area. Bob Bewley reports.
Seeking the origins of bronze tools
The earliest metal goods probably came to Britain from Ireland.
Paul Budd reports.
Locating the birthplace of St Patrick
Ireland's patron saint was born and raised in Somerset, argues
Harry Jelley
Quarries, mines and the chapel culture
The industrial remains of Gwynedd shed light on local people's
nonconformist spirit, writes David Gwyn
All change after the Norman Conquest
Change outweighed continuity in the English landscape after 1066, claims Trevor Rowley
Miniature toys of medieval childhood
Military and kitchen toys from the past show some aspects of childhood never change, writes Geoff Egan
Vikings and the new East Anglian towns
The Vikings transformed culture and society in 9th-11th century East Anglia, writes Andrew Rogerson
When land first became private property
The spread of enclosed settlements from 1000BC marks the beginning of individual land ownership, says Roger Thomas
Discovering the lost kingdom of Radnor
A forgotten kingdom `between the Severn and the Wye' was a major player in Norman Wales, writes Paul Remfry
Landscapes preserved by the men of war
David McOmish finds prehistoric and Roman village streets, country lanes and fields on Salisbury Plain
No carefree life for Mesolithic people
Hunter-gatherers worked much harder for their living than has previously been thought, writes Rob Young
Literate culture of `Dark Age' Britain
People continued to use sophisticated Latin in early medieval western Britain, writes David Howlett
Frontier territory along the Thames
The Thames Valley today is the epitome of a peaceful landscape. It was not always so, writes George Lambrick
Centuries of Roman survival in the West
Evidence of the late survival of Roman culture in western Britain
extends far beyond the well known-remains at Wroxeter. Ken Dark reports.
Resisting the Reformation in secret
Many Catholic images, intended for destruction, were adapted or
concealed by local people, writes Sarah Tarlow
Many ways of resisting iconoclasm by Simon Denison
Monumental homes of the Hebrides
Continuing our series on recent archaeology in the regions of
Britain, Ian Armit discusses new research on the Iron Age of the
Western Isles
Executions and hard Anglo-Saxon justice
Hanged or beheaded Saxon skeletons belonged to executed criminals, who were condemned to a tormented afterlife, writes
Andrew Reynolds
When there is no end to a good game
Some board games have been played for 1,000 years. Ian Riddler reports
Cornish farms in prehistoric farmyards
In the first of a new series on recent advances in the archaeology of different regions of Britain, Nicholas Johnson
looks at Cornwall
Change and evolution in Roman Britain
How much did Britain really change under the Romans? Debbie Day reports
As Normans tore down Saxon cathedrals
St Wulfstan asserted his Saxon identity in his new church at Worcester, write Sally Crawford and Chris Guy
Stonehenge, land, sky and the seasons
As debate about Stonehenge continues, John Barrett reminds us of the point of it all
Uncovering an Anglo-Saxon `royal' manor
Finds from Flixborough have shed new light on the rich Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Lindsey, writes Chris Loveluck
Roman roads that shaped the land
Roman roads may have been resented as symbols of Roman power, writes Rob Witcher
First farmers `were colonists after all'
Colonisation, more than the exchange of ideas, took farming across Eurasia, says David Harris
Reclaiming heroism for the Bronze Age
Round barrows and epic poetry were two products of the same world view, writes Paul Treherne
The peculiar ways of defending Britain
A survey of recent military sites has brought a number of curiosities to light, writes Jim Earle
Fractures, punctures, dents and gashes
Violent head injuries persisted throughout the past. Joyce Filer reports
Digging for facts about the recent past
Archaeology has much to tell about the last two centuries, writes Keith Matthews
Lessons from Bronze Age boat-building
New evidence suggests how the Dover Boat was built and used. Peter Clark reports
On the earlier origins of English towns
England's towns were first planned at the same time as its villages, explains David Palliser
Monuments that mark out Viking land
The stone crosses of the Danelaw were erected by Vikings under threat, says
Phil Sidebottom
Lo, the conquering hero comes (or not)
Studies of genes and language can solve problems of early medieval migration, writes
Martin Evison
The first weapons devised only for war
Swords used in battle suggest war often took place during the Bronze Age, writes Sue Bridgford
Country houses behind castle walls
Some castles began as country houses, others remained so, writes John R Kenyon
In sorrow shalt thou eat all thy days
Many hunter-gatherers never wanted to farm, argues Peter Rowley-Conwy
Interpreting the landscapes of battle
Landscapes chosen for battle reflect the ideology of the age, writes John Carmen
Saxons in the first Scottish kingdom
Anglo-Saxon influence has been found at Dunadd. Alan Lane reports
Rebellion remains the decisive factor
The end of Roman Britain was largely an inside job, writes Michael Jones
When penance continued in the grave
Medieval graves often contained symbolic artefacts, writes Chris Daniell
And then came clothing and speech
In the second of two articles, Mark Roberts describes the origin of the first Europeans, and argues
they were more advanced than we thought
Tight-fisted soldiers of Roman Britain
Army pay rises did little for Late Roman Britain's economy, says John Creighton
`Man the hunter' returns at Boxgrove
In the first of two articles, Mark Roberts assesses what the Boxgrove excavations, now ending, tell us
about early human society
Wroxeter, rich in a wealthy land
The Roman town was neither a failure nor a freak, writes Roger White
Weaving the strands of a new Iron Age
The old idea of Iron Age warrior societies is fast changing, writes JD Hill
When did Neolithic farmers settle down?
Contrary to popular belief, it took a very long time, argues Alasdair Whittle
The London that records fail to show
Post-medieval remains add much to the town's history, says Geoff Egan
Social prehistoric on Scottish lochs
A clear picture of Scotland's loch-dwellers is emerging, write Nicholas Dixon and Barrie Andrian
Uncovering the prehistory of sex
The evidence for sexual activity in prehistory has been overlooked, writes Timothy Taylor
When Romans and natives didn't mix
Simon Clarke finds evidence for a slow pace of Romanisation in North Britain
Searching for the elusive first humans
There was no magic moment when humans evolved, argues Robert Foley
Urbane savages of the Western Isles
The Highlanders were more civilised than you'd think, says David Caldwell
Updating the centuries of darkness
Five years ago, Peter James and four others proposed a revolution in ancient dating. Now, he says, the
debate may be coming round their way.
Two thousand years on the same land
South Uist's parish borders could be prehistoric, writes Mike Parker Pearson
`Eco-noble savages' who never were
Prehistory contains many examples of people driving animal species to extinction, explains
James Steele
And then came farmers to the North
A new survey suggests the first farmers were immigrants, writes Chris Tolan-Smith
Dispelling medieval Scotland's gloom
History suggests medieval Scotland was backward. No so, argues Peter Yeoman.
Finding Britons in Anglo-Saxon graves
Heinrich Harke finds new evidence that most native Britons survived
Never a society that suffered no illness
Numerous ancient diseases can be seen in bone, write Charlotte Roberts
Slowly came the farming
revolution
`New farming' was uncommon before about 1850, writes Susanna Wade
Martins
Making sense of prehistoric rock
art
The purpose of rock art is growing clearer, explains Richard
Bradley
Before the first woodland
clearings
What did Britain's original, natural forest look like? Tom Clare
explains
Money for Rome's naval secrets
Roman coins show home Rome used her navy, writes John Orna-Ornstein
From modern apes to human origins
Apes and monkeys provide models for hominid behaviour, Simon Denison
reports
Among the crumbling Roman ruins
How did the Saxons deal with Roman buildings? Peter Carrington explains
Turning a fortress into a cathedral
Ian Wood looks at new evidence for the post-Roman period from York
Unmasking Alfred's false biographer
A major source for Anglo-Saxon history is a forgery, claims Alfred Smyth
To Scotland then they came,
burning
The emperor Severus attempted genocide in Scotland, writes Colin
Martin
Struggling artists of the Ice
Age
Newly-found cave art reflects man's conflict with wild
animals, writes Paul Pettitt
Reconstructing life in the Bronze
Age
We can learn much about the past by trying to relive
it, writes Jacqui Wood
What caused landscape changes in the past?
Swept along by the climate
machine
Brian Huntley looks at the effects of climate
We plough the fields and
shatter
Graeme Barker blames people
On the trail of the village
revolution
The origin of villages is growing clearer, writes Christopher
Dyer
Rethinking the Lower
Palaeolithic
`Clactonian' and `Acheulian'? Forget it, say
Nick
Ashton and John McNabb
Rubbish in the
floods
Medieval Monmouth had an unusual flood-defence
system,
explains Stephen Clarke
Defeating the archaeological
looters
Ireland now has the laws to protect its past,
writes
Eamonn Kelly
Not King Arthur, but King
Someone
Legend may be half-right about Tintagel after all,
writes Chris Morris
Power to the Pictish
ladies
Symbolic carvings on Pictish stones may support the old idea that
women had unusually high
status in Pictish society, argues Ross Samson
Show me an industry, show me a
town
Medieval towns and pottery industries seem to have developed
together.
Alan Vince looks at
new evidence from Lincoln, London and the west country
Tracing the relics of wartime
defence
Britain's 20th century wartime defences are under investigation.
Simon Denison reports on
the hunt for pill-boxes, tank traps, decoys and other remains
Ochre and sexual
deception
Red ochre, common
on Palaeolithic sites, was first used as a trick to insure sexual
fidelity, write Chris Knight and Camilla Power
Our battered
land
Historic
features of the
countryside are still under assault, writes Simon Denison
Killing the unwanted
child
Infanticide is as old
as man. Simon Mays assesses evidence from the Palaeolithic to the modern age, including new evidence from Roman Britain.
Personality most ancient
Boxgrove Man didn't speak and ignored strangers, writes Clive Gamble
Hunting the origins of Roman London
Why did the Romans found London? Clive Orton
reports on rival theories
Finders, keepers and losers
Detectorists make a huge number of finds but report few of them, and illicit detecting is rife. But liaison will bring progress, writes Simon Denison