As the sun has proven somewhat unreliable this summer, let’s talk about the moon instead. Stonehenge is best known for its solar alignments, but was its design also influenced by a once-in-a-generation lunar phenomenon? This month’s cover feature discusses an ongoing project that is documenting the effects of a Major Lunar Standstill in real time.
Three articles then spotlight a trio of very different site visits from June and July (we also have a News Focus drawing on a recent trip to Sutton Hoo; if you would like CA to come to your dig, do get in touch – have notebook, will travel!). We begin near Boden in Cornwall, where a long-running community excavation is uncovering the remains of an Iron Age fogou – an enigmatic form of underground passage – as well as unusual Romano-British remains nearby. Our next destination is Hadrian’s Wall, where we report on the final season of a four-year project that has been investigating the civilian settlement outside Birdoswald Roman fort. How has the story changed since our visit last year? Finally, we travel to Wessex Archaeology’s excavation on the site of Sheffield Castle, where they have uncovered impressive medieval fortifications, as well as traces of the Steel City’s influential industrial heritage.
From the urban setting of the Sheffield finds, our next article discusses something more bucolic: orchards. A long-standing feature of historic landscapes, how have they evolved in England from the medieval period to the present day? Finally, we head to Anglesey in north Wales, to learn about the excavation of a Neolithic dolmen and the identification of a previously undocumented ceremonial landscape surrounding it.
In This Issue:
FEATURES
UNDERGROUND, OVERGROUND
Excavating an Iron Age fogou and Romano-British remains at Boden
A long-running community excavation in south Cornwall has been exploring a network of Iron Age tunnels, Bronze Age roundhouses, and unusual Romano-British activity in the area.
BIRDOSWALD AND BEYOND
Investigating an extramural settlement on Hadrian’s Wall
For the last four years, archaeologists have been exploring the civilian settlement surrounding Birdoswald Roman fort. With the final digging season now at an end, how has the story developed?
FROM STRONGHOLD TO STEEL CITY
Uncovering the ‘birthplace of Sheffield’
Recenet archaeological work in central Sheffield has revealed long-buried traces of the city’s medieval castle, as well as remains relating to its influential industrial past.
ORCHARDS IN ENGLAND: A LANDSCAPE HISTORY
A fruitful wander through the agriculture of the past
A new book explored the development of orchards from across England, investigating their evolution from the Middle Ages to the present day.
ILLUMINATING ANGLESEY
Echoes of a later prehistoric ritualised landscape at Bedd y Foel
A survey of Pen y Foel, an unassuming hillock on Anglesey, has documented evidence of a previously unrecorded ceremonial landscape surrounding the remains of a Neolithic dolmen at Bedd y Foel.
STONEHENGE AND THE MOON
Exploring a Neolithic monument’s lunar links
An ongoing project at Stonehenge is investigating whether a once-in-a-generation lunar event may have influenced some aspects of the monument’s design.
NEWS
Geophysical survey identifies two Roman villas near Wroxeter; Roman horse-changing station uncovered in Gloucestershire; Exploring Fife’s spiritual home of whisky at Lindores Abbey; Inside the minds of 18th-century guards at Dover Castle; Medieval grave slabs lifted from England’s oldest shipwreck; Science Notes; ‘Cardiff’s oldest house’ stood over an even earlier structure; Finds Tray
NEWS FOCUS
Excavations have returned to Sutton Hoo, where an Anglo-Saxon cemetery that pre-dates the National Trust site’s famous royal burial ground is giving up its secrets.
REGULARS
COMMENT
Joe Flatman excavates the CA archive
CONTEXT
Commanding the coast: Pendinas hillfort, Cardigan Bay
REVIEWS
Rushen Abbey, Isle of Man: a hundred years of research and excavation; Picts, Gaels and Scots: early historic Scotland; Wicked Problems for Archaeologists; The Lost Paths; Contemplating Calanais: A Guide to the Standing Stones; 50 Finds from Childhood: objects from the Portable Antiquities Scheme
EXHIBITION
Six Lives at the National Portrait Gallery, London
MUSEUM
Museum of Cornish Life: a new archaeology display
MUSEUM NEWS
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions and key decisions
LISTINGS
Our selection of exhibitions and events, as well as historical, archaeological, and cultural resources from around the world that are available online
SHERDS
Chris Catling’s irreverent take on heritage issues
ODD SOCS
The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland
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