This month’s ‘cover star’ is a medieval cameo that may have been lost by a pilgrim visiting Leiston Abbey in Suffolk. It is just one of a dazzlingly diverse range of finds and features that have been uncovered so far during extensive excavations ahead of the construction of the Sizewell C power plant. This is archaeology on a landscape scale, illuminating thousands of years of human activity – and the landscape itself plays a role in our understanding, too. Our first feature examines what people were doing in this area and how we know this, while also considering a geological ‘why’.
Our next article tells the story of the Temperance movement, exploring its lasting architectural legacy and the other material traces that we can still encounter in our day-to-day lives, from monuments to water fountains.
We then turn to Caistor St Edmund, near Norwich, where long-running investigations have been shedding new light on the regional capital of Venta Icenorum, including intriguing activity outside its walls. CA visited the Caistor Roman Project’s most recent dig last summer; here we share some of the latest findings, including a series of enigmatic burials discovered within the monumental triple ditches that encircled the settlement.
Our last two articles focus on experimental archaeology, highlighting what hands-on research can tell us about prehistoric practices. The first offers insights into the diverse uses of Late Bronze Age woodworking tools, while the second turns the spotlight on ancient arrowheads.