When I launched Current Archaeology in 1967 I never thought that we would ever reach issue 300. To my surprise, 12,000 pages and more than 1,000 articles later, issue 300 is now upon us, and so we have taken the opportunity to look back at the archaeology of these past 48 years, and to think about the future.
We begin with some reflections on the launch of CA, and recollect some of my favourite articles. We have then invited two of my fellow entrepreneurs to tell us the secrets of how they began their unexpected careers, of how David Brown started the Oxbow book-selling empire, and how Annabel Lawson set up Andante, one of archaeology’s favourite travel companies.
And then, at the heart of the magazine, three of our leading archaeologists look back at their careers. Francis Pryor tells us how he came to Peterborough, following my throwaway remark in an early issue of CA, and set about rethinking all our ideas about the Bronze Age. Martin Biddle tells us about Winchester, still probably the biggest single excavation in British archaeology. And Michael Fulford tells us how he excavated the Roman town of Silchester.
Finally may I say a big thank you to all those who have supported CA in the last 300 issues: to all those archaeologists who have told me about their excavations and discoveries; and to you, our readers. I hope to
continue to amuse, stimulate, and occasionally even to provoke you in the future, and I look forward to meeting even more of you at our conference again this year.
Andrew Selkirk
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IN THIS ISSUE:/n
FEATURES/n
CELEBRATING 300 ISSUES/n
Andrew reminisces; Friends of CA; favourite Articles
Current Archaeology magazine has reported on almost half a century of excavations. For our 300th issue, Editor-in-Chief and founder Andrew Selkirk tells the story of how it all began, and reveals his favourite articles, while friends of the magazine describe how a passion for archaeology helped them to make new inroads into the past.
WHEN FRANCIS DUG THE FENS/n
A time teeming with innovation
How have perceptions of Britain’s Bronze Age changed since the 1960s? We explore game-changing work on the Peterborough Fens with Francis Pryor.
WINCHESTER UNCOVERED/n
Revisiting one of England’s greatest urban excavations
The Winchester excavations begun by Martin Biddle in 1961 saw the birth of many of the key techniques of modern urban excavation – and analysis of the project’s remarkable finds is still ongoing.
A LIFE ARCHAEOLOGICAL/n
From Fishbourne to 40 years at Silchester
With the long-running excavations at Silchester now at an end, we look back with Mike Fulford over an extraordinary Roman site, and how the hunt for its origins began.
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NEWS/n
Racton Man: forging ahead; Unearthing the Lenborough Hoard; Beauty of the Bedale Hoard revealed; Found: Europe’s northernmost hacksilver hoard; Ravelrig: an Iron Age room with a view; Lost village uncovered in Shropshire; Rickets on board the Mary Rose
REGULARS/n
Context
Picture perfect: a spectacular mosaic from Sparsholt Roman villa
Conference
Latest details of Current Archaeology Live! 2015, including timetable updates, a bonus activity, and our Archaeology Fair.
Reviews
The Chiming of Crack’d Bells; Radiocarbon dating; Walk into the Dark Ages
Sherds
Chris Catling’s irreverent take on heritage issues
Odd Socs
The Inn Sign Society