Even here at CA, we are not immune to the Royal Wedding fever sweeping the nation. Issue 254 opens with our nod to the most magnificent of royal occasions, covering every angle: the venue! Thefamilies! The dress! And most importantly \u201a the dirt. Joking aside, what can archaeology tell us about royal weddings? We highlight several excavations, and examine the shift in monarchical matrimony from private political mergers to publicly inclusive love-matches.<\/p>\n
For our non-Royalist subscribers, we have included a story from the other end ofthe spectrum, with a look at two different projects examining conflict landscapes in the long-suffering Scottish Highlands. Finally, we have a dispatch from the Portable Antiquities Scheme, which has turned up evidence for a new cult celebrating the Roman soldier’s god, Toutatis.<\/p>\n
And, it is that time of year: the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and archaeologists everywhere are dusting off their trowels ahead of the summer season. Our annual Digs Guide has all the dates, details, and dos-and-don’ts you need to go digging this summer.
\nFEATURES\/n
\nTHE ARCHAEOLOGY OF ROYAL WEDDINGS\/n
\nIn search of past pomp and pageantry<\/p>\n
We have the dirt on the most magnificent of Royal occasions.
\nWESTMINSTER ABBEY\/n
\nLooking for the early abbey<\/p>\n
Mick Aston discusses excavations at the Abbey, looking for the pre-Norman structure.
\nTAMING THE HIGHLANDS\/n
\nThe palace at Stirling Castle<\/p>\n
Two projects examine the archaeology of human conflict in the Scottish Highlands.
\nTATSFIELD\/n
\nExcavating the last Welsh Prince of Wales<\/p>\n
The Medieval home of the rebel Owain Lawgoch has been discovered in a field in Surrey.
\nLORD OF THE RINGS\/n
\nRoman \u001f finger-rings and the cult of Toutatis<\/p>\n
An enigmatic series of votive rings are bringing new cult evidence to light.
\nNews\/n
\nStonehenge rocks; Stonehenge in high definition; Cheddarskull cups; Dirty rats! DNA confirms cause of plague; British Museum buys Assyrian treasures; Measures to combat heritage crime; Roman roads built on Iron Age foundations.
\nREGULARS\/n
\nReviews\/n
\nBloodline: the Celtic Kings of Roman Britain; Battles, Boats and Bones; Social Relations in Later Prehistory
\nContext\/n
\nSites, artefacts, monuments and moments: in pictures.
\nCurrent ArchaeologyLive! 2011\/n
\nConference review.
\nOdd Socs\/n
\nThe Brewery History Society<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In this issue:
\n-Current Archaeology Live! 2011: review
\n-Roman Britain: the cult of Toutatis
\n-Royal weddings
\n-Scotland: taming the highlands
\n-Tatsfield: the last Welsh Prince of Wales
\n-Westminster Abbey: the pre-Norman structure
\nPlus: News, Reviews, Comment, Diary, and more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":307,"template":"","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"","site-sidebar-style":"","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[465],"product_tag":[20],"class_list":{"0":"post-2230","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-back-issue-current-archaeology","7":"product_tag-current-archaeology","8":"product_shipping_class-back-issue","9":"desktop-align-center","10":"tablet-align-center","11":"mobile-align-center","12":"ast-product-gallery-layout-first-image-large","13":"ast-product-gallery-with-no-image","14":"ast-magnify-disabled","15":"ast-product-tabs-layout-distributed","17":"first","18":"instock","19":"taxable","20":"shipping-taxable","21":"purchasable","22":"product-type-simple"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/item323.jpg",223,300,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/item323-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/item323.jpg",223,300,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/item323.jpg",223,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/item323.jpg",223,300,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/item323.jpg",223,300,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/item323.jpg",223,300,false],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/item323.jpg",223,300,false],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/item323.jpg",223,300,false],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/item323-100x100.jpg",100,100,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/author\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"In this issue: -Current Archaeology Live! 2011: review -Roman Britain: the cult of Toutatis -Royal weddings -Scotland: taming the highlands -Tatsfield: the last Welsh Prince of Wales -Westminster Abbey: the pre-Norman structure Plus: News, Reviews, Comment, Diary, and more!","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/2230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=2230"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=2230"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=2230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}