Category: Antiquarian
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‘Doggerland’
Last night, we watched a Time Team Special on Channel 4, called Britain’s drowned world. Ten thousand years ago, before the melting ice from the end of the last Ice Age led to a huge rise in sea levels, the map of Britain looked very different to what it is today. In what are now…
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Early illuminated manuscripts
The Book of Durrow Its date of origin is controversial but is believed to be the late 7th century. Its origins have also been the subject of debate, with scholars arguing between Durrow and Northumbria as likely places of origin, with current scholarship leaning toward Durrow. The Cathach of St Columba c. AD 560-630 Written…
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Skin and Bones
Preston exhumes its medieval past Archaeologists have branded remains of a medieval burial site in Preston the “most significant excavation ever” in the city. Members of the team have now found 28 graves for men and children at the Marsh Lane site, thought to have been a friary between the 11th and 15th centuries.Lancaster-based Oxford…
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Ancient Halls
Above: Swtan,Ynys Môn. Whilst searching for information about Nassington, I came across The Prebendal Manor House The Grade I listed Prebendal Manor House is the earliest surviving dwelling in Northamptonshire. It forms the focus of a group of stone buildings, which includes a 16th century dovecote, a large 18th century tithe barn and a 15th…
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Here there be dragons….
….(actually, Dr Newton would describe them as wolves! ). Above: a standing reconstruction in wood, based upon the ninth-century, stone cross-shaft found in St Botolph’s Church, Iken, Suffolk. The remains of the Iken cross still has a tenon at the base for fitting into a morticed base. Stonework crosses may have been preceded by timber crosses. Joinery techniques appear to have…
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Lactase gene research
Early man ‘couldn’t stomach milk’ A drink of milk was off the menu for Europeans until only a few thousand years ago, say researchers from London. Analysis of Neolithic remains, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests no European adults could digest the drink at that time. Wellcome: research: Do you take milk?…
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London
Yesterday, I took a trip into London for an appointment at the British Museum. Taking a taxi from the station, I looked out for glimpses of London’s past, St Botolph’s church, Aldgate; St Paul’s Cathedral ; The Temple Bar in its new setting of Paternoster Square and The Museum of London, housed in the Barbican complex, with its remains of The London Wall. Later, I…
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The Society for Medieval Archaeology
The Society for Medieval Archaeology exists to further the study of the period from the 5th to the 16th century A.D. by publishing a journal of international standing dealing primarily with the archaeological evidence, and by other means such as by holding regular meetings and arranging conferences. While maintaining a special concern for the medieval archaeology of…
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Saqqara Necropolis
New finds at Egypt’s city of dead Archaeologists have been unveiling the latest discoveries from the Saqqara necropolis, or city of the dead, south of Egypt’s capital, Cairo. Two tombs dating from between 3,000 and 4,200 years ago are of a royal scribe and a butler. Another find is of sarcophaguses of a priest and…
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