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currentcurrent archaeologycurrent CONTENTS i ssue 312 (Vol.XXVI, No.12) | March 2016 UP FRONT Letters Your comments, complaints, and compliments News Exploring our Anglo-Saxon ancestry; Origins of York’s ‘gladiators’ revealed; Tudor treasure from the Thames foreshore; A towering find from Hampton Court; York’s WWII writing on the wall; Expanding Roman Carlisle; Work to restore Jorvik begins; Meet the Woodbridge Wildman our Anglo-Saxon ancestry; Origins of York’s ‘gladiators’ revealed; 4 4 6 6 I s s u e 3 1 2 | M a r c h 2 0 1 6 current current THE UK’S BEST SELLING ARCHAEOLOGY MAGAZINE March 2016 Issue 312 | £4.50 March 2016 Issue 312 | £4.50 www.archaeology.co.uk www.archaeology.co.ukwww.archaeology.co.uk B r i t o n s a b r o a d | S o u r c i n g S t o n e h e n g e | M u c k i n g | A l u m i n d u s t r y Bronze Age infernoBronze Age inferno Unearthing an intact prehistoric settlement at Must Farm Issue 312 c u r r e nt a r c h a e ol o g y A Spitfire named Kerala Investigating a Battle of Britain crash site New galleries open at the Imperial War Museum 001_CA312_CoverFinal_ME.indd 1 Urban life on the edge of Empire Seeing beneath the soil at Roman Aldborough Sharing stories 60 years on 19/01/2016 16:52 ON THE COVER The roof structure of the large Bronze Age roundhouse at Must Farm. CREDIT: M Symonds; Aviva Group Archive FEATURES THE MUST FARM INFERNO Exploring an intact Late Bronze Age settlement Ongoing excavation of a remarkably well-preserved Bronze Age site, destroyed by fire and submerged in water, is providing a unique snapshot of life in the prehistoric fens. 12 ALDBOROUGH Exploring the Roman town of Isurium Brigantum What can town planning tell us about life in Britain’s Roman north? An extensive programme of geophysical survey may hold the answer. 20 ST KILDA The last and outmost isle Exploring some of Britain’s most remote islands, we bring you the latest archaeological research from this surprisingly well-connected archipelago. 26 THE FRAGRANT DEAD How to treat the departed, Roman style Expensive perfumed resins played an important role in the funerary rites of the higher levels of Roman society in continental Europe – but did this elite practice ever reach the northern outpost of Britannia? 34 A SPITFIRE NAMED ‘KERALA’ 40 Investigating a Battle of Britain training accident Excavating a Second World War crash site using archaeological methods has shed new light on how the aircraft came down, and given us a glimpse of RAF efforts to recover the pilot’s body 75 years before. a glimpse of RAF efforts to recover 20 26 34 REGULARS 50 Conference 44 Current Archaeology Live! 2016 is just weeks away. Read on for final details of the timetable and speakers, and our exciting bonus Sunday activity Reviews The Stonehenge Landscape;Rescue Archaeology;Bog Bodies Uncovered 46 Sherds Chris Catling’s irreverent take on heritage issues 48 Odd Socs Historic Pools of Britain 50 2 current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk January 2014 | March 2016 |
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www.archaeology.co.uk www.facebook.com/currentarchaeologymag twitter.com/currentarchaeo visit us online at www.archaeology.co.uk WELCOME It is the immediacy of Must Farm’s archaeology that is so startling. Walking around the site it is easy to believe that the embers have barely cooled following the disaster that overtook the settlement. Instead, the charred and tumbled vestiges of roundhouses lay in Fenland silts for almost 3,000 years. This stunning preservation will bring Late Bronze Age building techniques into sharp focus, but what lies beneath the flattened superstructure might prove even more valuable. If the Must Farm fire did claim the homes of colonists seeking to exploit the Fenland, their tragedy could revolutionise our understanding of an entire era. The Roman state indulged in colonisation on a grander scale, but the surviving relics of its empire in Britain are usually judged pale imitations of continental models. Survey of the Roman town at Aldborough in the military north, however, has highlighted hints of a surprisingly cosmopolitan approach to urban planning. St Kilda, to the west of the Scottish Western Isles, is often celebrated as an isolated archipelago insulated from the wider world. Recent research has revealed, though, that the romantic appeal of this image has obscured the islands’ links with their neighbours. Scientific analysis is demonstrating the lengths that the inhabitants of Roman Britain went to in order to forge a connection with their gods. The elite spent considerable sums importing the exotic fragrances that courted divine favour and helped mask any air of decay during funerary rites. Finally, we return to the Fens to discover what contribution archaeology can make to investigating historic aircraft crash sites. Our contributors this month MUST FARM INFERNO DAVID GIBSON AND MARK KNIGHT David is an Archaeological Manager responsible for many of the Cambridge Archaeological Unit’s large quarry projects, and Mark is Site Director at Must Farm for CAU. ALDBOROUGH DR ROSE FERRABY Rose is co-director of the Aldborough Roman Town Project. Her research also includes authorial illustration, cultural geologies of stone, and landscape writing. She currently works for Exmoor National Park. THE FRAGRANT DEAD RHEA BRETTELL Rhea is currently completing her PhD at the University of Bradford. Her main area of interest is the treatment of the dead in antiquity as revealed through the chemical analysis of organic residues. | Issue 312 archaeologycurrent Editorial Editor: Dr Matthew Symonds matt@archaeology.co.uk Tel: 020 8819 5580 Contributing editor: Christopher Catling chris@archaeology.co.uk Art editor: Mark Edwards mark.edwards@currentpublishing.com Designer: Lauren Gamp lauren.gamp@currentpublishing.com Assistant editor: Carly Hilts carly@currentpublishing.com Sub editor: Simon Coppock Editor-in-chief: Andrew Selkirk 9 Nassington Road, London NW3 2TX andrew@archaeology.co.uk Tel: 020 8819 5584 Managing director: Robert Selkirk Commercial Advertising sales manager: Mike Traylen mike@currentpublishing.com Tel: 020 8819 5360 Managing editor: Maria Earle maria@currentpublishing.com Acting business manager: Bree Forrer bree.forrer@currentpublishing.com Marketing manager: Emma Watts-Plumpkin emma@currentpublishing.com Tel: 020 8819 5575 Commercial director: Libby Selkirk Current Publishing Thames Works, Church St, London W4 2PD Tel: 020 8819 5580 (office hours) Fax: 020 8819 5589 Web: www.archaeology.co.uk Subscriptions Current Archaeology is published monthly for a subscription of £46.95 for 12 issues. Foreign subscriptions are £56.95. Subscriptions should be sent to: Current Publishing, Thames Works, Church Street, London W4 2PD Tel: (office hours) 020 8819 5580 Fax: 020 8819 5589 Subscription queries to: subs@archaeology.co.uk or online at: www.archaeology.co.uk Back issues: £5.50 each / £6.50 non-UK Binders: (hold 12 copies) £15 / £20 Slip Cases: (hold 12 copies) £15 / £20 Printed in the UK by William Gibbons Unauthorised reproduction in whole or part is prohibited without written permission. The publisher, editor and authors accept no responsibility in respect of any products, goods or services which may be advertised or referred to in this issue. Every effort has been made to secure permission for copyright material. In the event of any material being used inadvertently or where it has proved impossible to trace the copyright owner, acknowledgement will be made in a future issue. 210116190 www.archaeology.co.uk | current archaeology 3

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currentcurrent archaeologycurrent

CONTENTS i ssue 312

(Vol.XXVI, No.12) | March 2016

UP FRONT

Letters

Your comments, complaints, and compliments

News Exploring our Anglo-Saxon ancestry; Origins of York’s ‘gladiators’ revealed; Tudor treasure from the Thames foreshore; A towering find from Hampton Court; York’s WWII writing on the wall; Expanding Roman Carlisle; Work to restore Jorvik begins; Meet the Woodbridge Wildman our Anglo-Saxon ancestry; Origins of York’s ‘gladiators’ revealed;

4

4

6

6

I s s u e

3 1 2 |

M a r c h 2 0 1 6

current current

THE UK’S BEST SELLING ARCHAEOLOGY MAGAZINE

March 2016 Issue 312 | £4.50

March 2016 Issue 312 | £4.50

www.archaeology.co.uk www.archaeology.co.ukwww.archaeology.co.uk

B r i t o n s a b r o a d | S o u r c i n g S t o n e h e n g e |

M u c k i n g | A l u m i n d u s t r y

Bronze Age infernoBronze Age inferno

Unearthing an intact prehistoric settlement at Must Farm

Issue 312

c u r r e nt a r c h a e ol o g y

A Spitfire named Kerala

Investigating a Battle of Britain crash site

New galleries open at the Imperial War Museum

001_CA312_CoverFinal_ME.indd 1

Urban life on the edge of Empire Seeing beneath the soil at Roman Aldborough

Sharing stories 60 years on

19/01/2016 16:52

ON THE COVER The roof structure of the large Bronze Age roundhouse at Must Farm.

CREDIT: M Symonds; Aviva Group Archive

FEATURES THE MUST FARM INFERNO

Exploring an intact Late Bronze Age settlement Ongoing excavation of a remarkably well-preserved Bronze Age site, destroyed by fire and submerged in water, is providing a unique snapshot of life in the prehistoric fens.

12

ALDBOROUGH

Exploring the Roman town of Isurium Brigantum What can town planning tell us about life in Britain’s Roman north? An extensive programme of geophysical survey may hold the answer.

20

ST KILDA

The last and outmost isle Exploring some of Britain’s most remote islands, we bring you the latest archaeological research from this surprisingly well-connected archipelago.

26

THE FRAGRANT DEAD

How to treat the departed, Roman style Expensive perfumed resins played an important role in the funerary rites of the higher levels of Roman society in continental Europe – but did this elite practice ever reach the northern outpost of Britannia?

34

A SPITFIRE NAMED ‘KERALA’

40

Investigating a Battle of Britain training accident Excavating a Second World War crash site using archaeological methods has shed new light on how the aircraft came down, and given us a glimpse of RAF efforts to recover the pilot’s body 75 years before.

a glimpse of RAF efforts to recover

20

26

34

REGULARS

50

Conference

44

Current Archaeology Live! 2016 is just weeks away. Read on for final details of the timetable and speakers, and our exciting bonus Sunday activity

Reviews

The Stonehenge Landscape;Rescue Archaeology;Bog Bodies Uncovered

46

Sherds

Chris Catling’s irreverent take on heritage issues

48

Odd Socs

Historic Pools of Britain

50

2

current archaeology | www.archaeology.co.uk

January 2014 |

March 2016 |

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