This year, the Research Project of the Year award went to Recapturing Berkeley Castle: one trench, 1500 years of English history
Digging Sedgeford: A people’s Archaeology
(CA 299 –Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project)
Almost two decades of digging at an Anglo-Saxon settlement in Norfolk has shed intriguing light on early medieval settlement patterns, and raises thought-provoking questions about the development of their social order.
Burrough Hill: Signs of Life in a Midlands hillfort
(CA 301 – University of Leicester Archaeological Services)
Remarkable findings from an Iron Age fortified settlement in Leicestershire are transforming knowledge of hillforts outside the traditional focus on the southwest/Welsh Marches, with new insights into everyday life and enigmatic ritual activity.
Vindolanda: Revelations from the Roman frontier
(CA 302 – Vindolanda Trust)
Spearheaded by three generations of the Birley family, long-running excavations at a major Roman auxiliary fort just south of Hadrian’s Wall have uncovered a stunning array of finds, from evidence for nine phases of construction, to a unique set of writing tablets.
Bannockburn: Scotland’s seminal battlefield rediscovered
(CA 303 – GUARD Archaeology/Centre for Battlefield Archaeology/National Trust for Scotland)
The precise location of the 1314 Battle of Bannockburn, a game-changing moment in the Scottish Wars of Independence, has been disputed for centuries. Now, a wide-ranging project has uncovered the clearest archaeological evidence yet to where the battle was fought.
Recapturing Berkeley Castle: One trench, 1,500 years of English history
(CA 305 – University of Bristol)
During more than a decade of excavations in rural Gloucestershire, the search for one of Anglo-Saxon England’s greatest minsters has uncovered a remarkable swathe of archaeology spanning the Roman period to the Civil War.
Rewriting the origin of the broch builders: Exploring fortifications and farming at Old Scatness
(CA 308 – University of Bradford / Shetland Amenity Trust)
Long-running excavations at an Iron Age settlement on Shetland have revolutionised understanding of when brochs were built, and shed new light on prehistoric land use, telling a story of continuity that contradicts traditional views of Shetland’s past.
