Today, Smallhythe Place in Kent is best known as a bohemian rural retreat once owned by the Victorian actress Ellen Terry and her daughter Edy Craig. As this month’s cover feature reveals, however, the surrounding fields preserve evidence of much earlier activity, including a medieval royal shipyard and a previously unknown Roman settlement.
Our next feature comes from the heavy clays of the Humber Estuary, where excavations sparked by the
construction of an offshore windfarm have opened a 40km transect through northern Lincolnshire, with illuminating results.
We then take a tour of Iron Age, Roman, and medieval Winchester, tracing its evolution into a regional capital and later a royal power centre.
Leaving urban surroundings behind, we next head out into the uplands of South Wales, searching for late Bronze Age and Neolithic rock art. What can recent discoveries tell us about how this landscape was used more than 4,000 years ago?
Our closing feature turns the spotlight on the Cerne Abbas Giant, an imposing outline cut into a Dorset hillside. What have the last few years of fieldwork revealed about the hill-figure’s date and the development of its design?
Finally, the summer digging season is rapidly approaching, and we are taking a slightly different approach with our ‘Digs Guide’ for 2024. We will be running several spreads across successive issues; if you have a project you would like to include in the next one, please email [email protected].
P.S. Details of all the content of the magazine are available on our site, The Past. Here you will be able to read each article in full as well as the content of our other magazines, Current World Archaeology, Ancient Egypt, and Military History Matters. Subscribers should see the advert inside the magazine for a very special offer!
In This Issue:
FEATURES
ROMANS, ROYAL SHIPS, AND A RURAL RETREAT
Exploring the archaeology of Smallhythe Place
Today a National Trust property in Kent, Smallhythe Place is best known as the home of Victorian actress Ellen Terry – but recent excavations have revealed much earlier activity in its surroundings, including a medieval royal shipyard and a previously unknown Roman settlement.
BETWEEN THE SALT WATER AND THE SEA STRAND
Excavating the Hornsea Project One Cable Route in Lincolnshire
Works to link an offshore windfarm to the National Grid sparked eight years of archaeological excavations in the clay marshes of northern Lincolnshire, unearthing evidence of occupation and industry spanning prehistory to the present day.
Touring prehistoric, Roman, and post-Roman Winchester
The recent publication of excavations conducted in Winchester in the 1960s and 1970s has shed light on the city’s evolution from an Iron Age trading hub to a Roman regional capital to a medieval royal centre.
DOCUMENTING A SACRED LANDSCAPE
Rock art and monuments of the South Wales uplands
Surveys of the upland areas of Glamorgan have revealed previously undocumented examples of late Neolithic and early Bronze Age rock art, and hints of a complex symbolic landscape.
New evidence for the evolution of Cerne Abbas’ chalk colossus
While the original Cerne Abbas Giant has been dated to the early medieval period, recent research has highlighted how it has evolved over time, showing that there were at least three iterations of the famous hill-figure.
NEWS
Analysis of Aylesbury’s Roman egg reveals possible contents; More exciting clues uncovered at early medieval site in the Coquet Valley; Preserving a Palmerston Fort; Confirming a 5th-century mosaic at Chedworth Roman Villa; Excavation reveals Larkhall’s prehistoric past; Science Notes; National Gallery excavations uncover more of Anglo-Saxon London; Finds Tray
REGULARS
COMMENT
Joe Flatman excavates the CA archive
CONTEXT
A spring filled with votive offerings? Llanfair-Mathafarn-Eithaf Community, Anglesey
REVIEWS
Crypt: life, death, and disease in the Middle Ages and beyond; Derrycarhoon: a later Bronze Age copper mine in south-west Ireland; The Palace: from the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 years of history at Hampton Court; Excavations at Redhouse, Adwick Le Street, Doncaster: Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman occupation; The Archaeology of Worcester in 20 Digs; The Archaeology of the Hornsea Project One Offshore Windfarm Cable Route
MUSEUM NEWS
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions
EXHIBITION
Introducing Must Farm, a Bronze Age Settlement at Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery
LISTINGS
Our selection of exhibitions and events, as well as historical, archaeological, and cultural resources from around the world that are still available online.
GO DIGGING!
An inaugural array of upcoming opportunities to get involved in archaeology this summer – get in touch to feature your project next!
CONFERENCE
A round-up of what happened at Current Archaeology Live! 2024
SHERDS
Chris Catling’s irreverent take on heritage issues
ODD SOCS
Historic Buildings & Places
Have all this delivered directly to your door every month – click here to find out more about subscribing to Current Archaeology, the UK’s favourite archaeology magazine.
