Happy New Year! I hope you had a lovely break over the Christmas period.
Winter always puts me in mind of cosy fireplaces – but when did humans first learn how to create fire for themselves, rather than relying on embers from lightning strikes and wildfires? New evidence from Barnham in Suffolk has pushed this story back hundreds of thousands of years further than previously thought. Our cover feature explores this exciting discovery, and the revolutionary biological, technological, and social changes that were sparked by being able to harness flames on demand.
We then travel to Sipson Farm, 500m from Heathrow Airport. Today the surrounding area is dominated by modern infrastructure, but a five-year excavation has revealed evidence of human activity spanning 6,000 years.
Moving from a wide landscape to small islands, our next feature explores the archaeology of Loch Finlaggan on Islay, once a key power centre for the MacDonald Lords of the Isles. Why did an apparent backwater blossom into a site of such strategic importance – and what has been learned about the area’s broader history?
Finally, we visit Hadrian’s Wall, examining these famous fortifications from a rather different perspective in our two concluding articles. What can we learn about life on the Roman frontier by examining the region’s geology, and the ways in which its occupants related to and used trees?
This issue also includes further details of our upcoming conference. CA Live! 2026will be on 28 February, run in partnership with UCL’s Institute of Archaeology.
In this issue:
FEATURES
BLAZING A TRAIL
Earliest evidence of humans making fire discovered in Suffolk
Long-running archaeological investigations at East Farm, Barnham, combined with cutting-edge geochemical analysis, have revealed the oldest known evidence for early humans deliberately making fire – a development that had revolutionary consequences for our social, biological, and and technological evolution.
REDISCOVERING WEST LONDON’S LOST LANDSCAPES
Six millennia of change and continuity at Sipson Farm
Major excavations undertaken in advance of gravel quarrying in the landscape around Heathrow Airport have uncovered a busy palimpsest of archaeological evidence, ranging from Neolithic monuments to medieval manorial activity.
LORD OF THE ISLES
Uncovering Finlaggan’s elite archaeology
The medieval Lords of the Isles commanded an extensive territory encompassing many of the western islands and part of the Highlands of Scotland, but historical records of their activities are surprisingly scarce. What have archaeological investigations on two islands in Loch Finlaggan added to our understanding?
BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
Exploring the geology of Hadrian’s Wall
How did the underlying geology of the Roman frontier zone, and the natural resources that were available to the communities who lived in this region, shape the development of its famous fortifications?
HADRIAN’S WALLS AND ITS TREES
From Sycamore Gap to the Vindolanda tablets
Complementing our geological survey above, we offer another perspective on Hadrian’s Wall, this time examining the ways in which local communities related to, and made use of, trees during its Roman occupation.
LETTERS
Your comments, complaints, and compliments
NEWS
Excavating the hidden history of the Houses of Parliament; Possibility of pits at Durrington Walls?; Interpreting the imagery of the Ketton mosaic; Unearthing an Anglo-Saxon village in East Anglia; Getting off on the right foot in Roman Canterbury; Science Notes; Wildcats in Neolithic Ireland; Finds Tray
NEWS FOCUS
Surveying Sennen: a recent field-walking and metal-detecting event in coastal Cornwall
COMMENT
Joe Flatman excavates the CA archive
CONTEXT
Not in mint condition: Mint House, Pevensey
REVIEWS
Landscape and Society in Dumnonia; Cremation in the Early Middle Ages: death, fire, and identity in north-west Europe; From Coast to Fen: archaeology in a dynamic landscape – the archaeology of the Triton Knoll Electrical System, Lincolnshire; Winchester: city of kings; The Story of English Banknotes; The Neolithic in Jersey
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 online
CONFERENCE
Find out more about our upcoming conference CA Live! 2026, including initial details of confirmed speakers and all the nominees for our annual awards
SHERDS
Chris Catling’s irreverent take on heritage issues
ODD SOCS
Cooling Tower Appreciation Society
