The year is on the turn. As summer slips undeniably into autumn, it is a time of new beginnings, not only thanks to the changing seasons but also to our associating these months with the start of the new school or university year.
There have been changes afoot at CA too; as we drift towards the end of our 50th anniversary year, this issue also marks 12 months since we launched our new look. You may have noticed that the editorial team has also undergone something of a redesign lately – this month I am thrilled to welcome Dr Kathryn Krakowka as our new deputy editor.
The onset of autumn inspires cosy thoughts of staying indoors as the nights draw in, and this issue too follows a domestic theme. Our cover feature takes us to Roman Leicester, where the excavation of two elegant townhouses has revealed one of the finest mosaics found in the city for 150 years.
Rather simpler structures, though no less significant, have emerged at Llanfaethlu, meanwhile, with the discovery of north Wales’ first early Neolithic multi-period settlement. Fenland settlements also feature prominently, as we look to the East Anglian landscape for clues to how we should viewthe fiercely debated 300 years after the end of Britain’s Roman occupation.
Leaping forward to more modern matters, we mark the 70th anniversary of the process of listing buildings by touring some of the youngest structures to be accorded this protection – many of them residential. Finally, we visit the back garden of a Berwick-upon-Tweed home that houses an enigmatic Second World War structure.
Carly Hilts
IN THIS ISSUE:/n
FEATURES/n
WALES’ EARLIEST VILLAGE?/n
Exploring a Neolithic neighbourhood at Llanfaethlu
While previously only a few solitary buildings from the Neolithic have been discovered in north Wales, recent excavations on Anglesey have unearthed the region’s first multi-house settlement.
A COLOURFUL PAST/n
Uncovering magnificent mosaics in the heart of Roman Leicester
Elaborate mosaics that once furnished the floors of elegant Roman townhouses have been uncovered during one of the largest excavations seen Leicester in over a decade. What can these well-preserved works of art tell us about life in Roman Ratae?
IN FEN AND FASTNESS/n
A journey through the Anglo-Saxon Fenland
It was once thought of as a lonely and uninhabited area abandoned after the end of Britain’s Roman occupation,but a revolutionary new study of the East Anglian Fens reveals a far more densely populated landscape, shedding new light on the transition between the Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods.
70 YEARS OF LISTED BUILDINGS/n
Protecting the past and present
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Town and Country Planning Act, an influential piece of legislation that launched the process of listing buildings. We take you on a tour of some of the surprisingly modern buildings that have made the National Heritage List for England.
LISTENING TO THE PAST/n
Decoding the secrets of a Berwick-upon-Tweed air-raid shelter
A retired archaeologist thought that the air-raid shelter in her back garden was a standard-issue Second World War structure – but efforts to unearth the building so it could be donated to a local museum have revealed that it may have played a much more important role in the war effort.
NEWS/n
Boxford’s mythological mosaic revealed; Revolutionising chronologies of Neolithic Orkney; Vindolanda’s cavalry cache; Motoring mystery on Salisbury Plain; Neolithic house at Cata Sand; Protecting historic wrecks; Clues to a catastrophe at Clachtoll Broch; Henge found at Blair Ardoch Farm?; Finds tray
REGULARS/n
Comment
Joe Flatman excavates theCAarchive
Context
Circles within circles at Avebury, Wiltshire
Reviews
Viking Britain; We Die Like Brothers; The Place-name Kingston and Royal Power in Middle Anglo-Saxon England; Ad Vallum; Ancient Oaks in the English Landscape; Iron Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon Settlement along the Empingham to Hannington Pipeline in Northamptonshire and Rutland
Museum
Scythians: Warriors of Ancient Siberia at the British Museum
Calendar
Our selection of exhibitions and events
Sherds
Chris Catling’s irreverent take onheritage issues
Odd Socs
The Laxey and Lonan Heritage Trust