[Photo credit Adam Stanford, www.adam-stanford.co.uk]
The winners of this year’s Current Archaeology Awards were announced on Saturday 28th February as part of Current Archaeology Live! 2026.
The awards celebrate the projects and publications that made the pages of the magazine over the past 12 months, and the people judged to have made outstanding contributions to archaeology.
These awards are voted for entirely by the public – there are no panels of judges – so we encouraged you to get involved and choose the projects, publications, and people you wanted to win.
The winners are:
Archaeologist of the Year:
Dr Jane Kershaw
Research Project of the Year
Fit for an emperor? Excavating a monumental building from Roman Carlisle (Carlisle Cricket Club)
Wardell Armstrong, Carlisle Cricket Club, Cumberland Council, SLR, and Tullie House
Museum & Art Gallery
Rescue Project of the Year
The Melsonby Hoard: exploring unprecedented insights into Iron Age Yorkshire
Durham University / British Museum / Historic England
Book of the Year
An Irish Civil War Dugout – Tormore Cave, County Sligo: archaeology, history, memory
By Marion Dowd, Robert Mulraney, and James Bonsall (Archaeopress)
For more information on the winners, and all of the nominees in each category, click on the links below:
Archaeologist of the Year 2026
Research Project of the Year 2026
Rescue Project of the Year 2026
Book of the Year 2026
Awards Photos
All photos below credited to Adam Stanford, www.adam-stanford.co.uk
