Current Archaeology 428

You might notice that our first three features all begin with a photograph of a burial. Spanning c.3,000 years and hundreds of miles, together they highlight the diverse ways in which past populations have interacted with the dead, and what these practices can tell us about the living.

This month’s cover feature takes us to Blackburn in Lancashire, where one of the largest cemetery excavations of its kind outside London has recovered the remains of almost 2,000 men, women, and children who were laid to rest beside St Peter’s Church in the 19th century.

Despite the scale of these investigations, subsequent analysis and historical research tell a strikingly intimate story, speaking of family relationships, community aspirations, and intriguing local burial traditions.

We also visit Cladh Hallan in the Outer Hebrides: a Bronze Age and Iron Age site where farmland evolved into a cemetery and then a settlement. The dead, too, were transformed over time, with later generations revisiting and rearranging their remains, and building houses over them.

While the people of Cladh Hallan were clearly comfortable with living alongside the dead, however, our third feature tells a contrasting tale, examining historical efforts to keep the deceased in their graves, from Roman ‘deviant’ burials to 18th-century ‘vampire-killings’.

A rather different kind of burial comes next, as we tease apart the contents of two unusual Bronze Age hoards, found 150 miles apart in Scotland.

Finally, the past and present collide as we highlight ways in which experimental archaeology can help to bring even very distant worlds into sharper focus.

In this issue:

FEATURES

CLADH HALLAN

Examining life and death in the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age
Long-running investigations on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides have revealed centuries of activity on a site that evolved from farmland to cemetery to settlement

THE PEOPLE OF ST PETER’S

Encountering a community from 19th-century Blackburn
One of the largest cemetery excavations of its type outside London has recovered the remains of almost 2,000 men, women, and children. What have scientific analysis and historical research revealed about their experiences – and in some cases, their identities?

THE DANGEROUS DEAD

Exploring the cross-cultural continuity of deviant burials
In many cultures across history, the dead have not always been trusted to rest in peace. We explore archaeological evidence for the diverse ways in which communities have tried to keep the deceased in their graves.

A TALE OF TWO HOARDS

Interpreting unusual Bronze Age collections from Carnoustie and Rosemarkie
Bronze Age metalwork hoards are often found in watery places, interpreted as votive offerings. What can be learned from two unusual collections that were found within contemporary settlements?

TESTING TIMES

Examining insights from experimental archaeology
Reconstructions and replicas can shed vivid light on how – and why – objects were made and used in the distant past. We explore clues revealed through experiments with stone axes.

LETTERS
Your comments, complaints, and compliments

NEWS
Middens reveal contrasting feasting practices in prehistoric Britain; Ore mining continued in post-Roman Aldborough; Millennia of activity discovered near Eden Estuary; Studying the ‘Plastic Age’; Early evidence of hominin activity found in Kent; Science Notes; Dendrochronology provides date for Sycamore Gap tree; Finds Tray

COMMENT
Joe Flatman excavates the CA archive

CONTEXT
Curating the Mold Cape, Museum of Liverpool