Current Archaeology 424

This month’s cover feature takes us to Holme Hall Quarry in South Yorkshire, where archaeologists have uncovered dramatic evidence of how this frontier region was transformed during the early Roman period. Extensive, systematically planned field systems sprang up across the landscape at this time – but do these changes represent an innovation of local Iron Age peoples, or a land-grab by an occupying army?

Innovation is a key theme in our next article, too, which traces the flow of people, objects, and ideas between medieval Ireland and Continental Europe. Some of these ‘exiles for Christ’ travelled for scholarly or religious fulfilment, while others sought refuge from Viking raids devastating their monastic homes.

We next revisit a discovery made in 2013 outside the Leicestershire village of Glenfield. Excavation of an Iron Age settlement revealed a collection of 11 cauldrons that had been placed in ditches across the site. What has subsequent conservation, research, and the construction of a full-sized replica revealed?

From buried cauldrons to subterranean ceremonies, we then travel to High Pasture Cave on the Isle of Skye, which has yielded evidence of intriguing Bronze Age and Iron Age ritual activities spanning 900 years.

Our last feature examines two Leicestershire hillforts: Burrough Hill and Breedon Hill. What can excavated evidence tell us about the experiences, activities, and interests of their Iron Age inhabitants?

Finally, I would like to offer a warm ‘welcome back’ to CA’s Deputy Editor, Kathryn Krakowka, who has returned from maternity leave, and a massive ‘thank you’ to Rebecca Preedy, who has done such a brilliant job at covering her role.

In this issue:

FEATURES

WORDS ON THE WAVE

Tracing Continental connections in early medieval Ireland
A major new exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland explores how people, objects, and ideas travelled between early medieval Ireland and continental Europe 1,000 years ago.

FIELDS AND FARMSTEADS

Organising the early Roman fronteir region in South Yorkshire
Excavations at Holme Hall Quarry have revealed how a landscape was dramatically transformed during the early Roman period.

TAKING STOCK OF THE POT

Creating and recreating the Glenfield Iron Age cauldrons
Analysis of rare Iron Age cauldrons found outside Leicester in 2013 has shed new light on how they were made, maintained, and used.

SUBTERRANEAN SKYE

Exploring the enduring signficance of High Pasture Cave
The newly published excavation report on Hight Pasture Cave provides illuminating details of how this site served as a focus of ritual activity for more than 900 years, spanning the Bronze Age to the late Iron Age. We explore some of the key finds.

A TALE OF TWO HILLFORTS

Illuminating the inhabitants of Iron Age Leicestershire
Hillforts in the East Midlands are relatively scare, and have been less intensively researched than in other regions. What can evidence from Breedon Hill and Burrough Hill add to our understanding?

LETTERS
Your comments, complaints, and compliments

NEWS
Titans of tin? The south-west as a powerhouse of tin-production in the Bronze Age; Surviving Palaeolithic Skye; New thoughts on the Thetford Hoard; Iron Age settlement and dog found at Fonmon Castle; Roman lime kiln found in Gloucester; Science Notes; Rare paintings discovered at Tudor lodge in Castle Sowerby; Finds Tray

COMMENT
Joe Flatman excavates the CA archive

CONTEXT
Taking up the tesserae: the Liberty mosaics, Southwark