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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Recent research suggests that the bones found around Brading Roman Villa on the Isle of Wight could reflect violent events linked to 4th-century political upheaval. Read more here: the-past.com/news/brutali...

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

I'm not sure if these particular skeletons were directly dated. Our article just says they were buried in the 13th-century chapel. If you get in touch with the authors of the paper you linked to, they may be able to help further.

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Dear Monica, yes one child from Poulton tested positive for Yersinia pestis. It is believed that his brother may have died of plague as well since they were buried together.

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

With summer excavation season in full swing, we're curious: what dig first got you hooked on archaeology? Share your story below!

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

The Bulford discovery is a really exciting find, but it's got us thinking about how some sites naturally attract more public attention than others. Which archaeological site do you think deserves far more attention than it currently gets?

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

We would love this for our Edible Archaeology page! ‪@pollymackenzie.bsky.social‬ if you're interested, please email us at letters@archaeology.co.uk.

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Would definitely be interested in featuring it! Would you be able to send an email to kathryn.krakowka@currentpublishing.com with the original photo and some text about the event and why you're posting about it now? Thanks!

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

Hello, this is an amazing cake! We'd love to include it in the Edible Archaeology section of our next issue of Current Archaeology. Get in touch at kathryn.krakowka@currentpublishing.com

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

And thanks to all today’s marvellous speakers, to our volunteers, to everyone who came along on the day and everyone who participated online – we couldn’t do it without any of you. #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

...and to Kirker Holidays, AS Geospatial Surveys Ltd, Wessex Insurance Brokers Ltd & Hare and Tabor in the ArchaeoFair! #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Thanks to all at the Archaeofair: @uclarchaeology.bsky.social, Kent Archaeological Field School, Udig Excavations Ltd, @royalarchinst.bsky.social @archaeopress.bsky.social, Andante Travels, Hidden History Travel, @culturalexperience.bsky.social... #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Thank you, too, to @Tash_Archaeo for presenting this year’s CA Awards, and to Adam Stanford for judging and presenting the @WorldArchaeo photo competition #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Big thanks once more to our hosts, @ioe.bsky, and our conference partner @uclarchaeology.bsky.social; the CA Awards sponsors, Andante Travels, Wessex Insurance Brokers Ltd, Udig Excavations Ltd & @royalarchinst.bsky.social #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

…and that’s a wrap! CALive26 is officially over, and it’s been a blast. #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

The winner of the 2026 CA Award for Archaeologist of the Year (sponsored by Andante Travels) is… Dr Jane Kershaw (@ox.ac.uk) #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

The winner of the 2026 CA Award for Research Project of the Year (sponsored by Wessex Insurance Brokers Ltd) is… ‘Fit for an emperor? Excavating a monumental building from Roman Carlisle’ (Uncovering Roman Carlisle/Carlisle Cricket Club/SLR/Cumberland Council) #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

The winner of the 2026 CA Award for Rescue Project of the Year (sponsored by Udig Excavations Ltd) is… ‘The Melsonby Hoard: exploring unprecedented insights into Iron Age Yorkshire’ (@durham.ac.uk /British Museum/Historic England) #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

The winner of the 2026 CA Award for Book of the Year (sponsored by the @royalarchinst.bsky.social) is… ‘An Irish Civil War Dugout – Tormore Cave, County Sligo: archaeology, history, memory’, by Marion Dowd, Robert Mulraney, and James Bonsall #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

First, the @world-archaeology.bsky.social Photo competition (sponsored by @Hidden History Travel and judged and presented by Adam Stanford): the winner is Tahir Ceylan, with his photo of Savatra Ancient City #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

It’s time to announce the results of the 2026 CA Awards, which this year are sponsored by Andante Travels, Wessex Insurance Brokers Ltd, Udig Excavations Ltd & @royalarchinst.bsky.social, and presented by Natasha Billson #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Similarly, the international and collaborative nature of research into the Roman frontiers continues to flourish, David tells us #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Similarly, the international and collaborative nature of research into the Roman frontiers continues to flourish, David tells us #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

We're looking at how the Frontiers of the Roman Empire has expanded across Europe since 1987 #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

...if so, was the Vallum intended to create a temporary barrier, to seal off that area while the construction was taking place? David wonders #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

What was the Vallum for, David asks. It's one thing to build a wall and dig a ditch, build milecastles and towers - but then you need to add 16 forts on the wall line - it slows everything down, and in the centre it's difficult to get materials up onto the wall line.... #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Inscriptions tell us that Hadrian's Wall was built by legionaries, while the Vallum was created by auxiliaries, David tells us #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

We're now discussing 'the problem of the Vallum' - the great earthwork with its central ditch running behind the Wall. It appears to have been laid out from the forts and was only crossed at forts, David says. #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

What inspired the look of Hadrian's Wall? There were relatively few city walls in Western Europe, David says - but there was one in Athens, a city that Hadrian knew well (and left monuments behind). #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

David is discussing the materials and make-up of Hadrian's Wall, and the Vallum - which is also described by Bede! Talking about a 'passive' obstacle with no forts on it evolving into an active, offensive fortification #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

What happened when the Wall was attacked? David suggests the most likely thing would be to open the gates and engage the enemy in the field #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

You should also get out of your mind that the Romans were tidy, David says. The Carlisle Millennium excavations produced so much Roman rubbish! #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Comparing Hadrian's Wall to the German frontier - which is a palisade. You couldn't patrol along the top of that, David says - so why do so many assume there was a walk along the top of Hadrian's Wall? #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

We are hearing about lasting impressions of Hadrian's Wall and its function, based on artistic depictions. Currently examining an image by Alan Sorrell #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Discussions of the function of Hadrian's Wall and how the fortifications operated, how people communicated, are also still ongoing until the present day #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

The writing of 'Hadrian's Wall' came at the end of a decade where Romanists had been rethinking the dating of the Wall. Dividing its history into the Wall 'Periods' had evolved across the 20th century #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

David is telling us about his early writing partnership with Brian Dobson, which culminated in 'Hadrian's Wall', which immediately became the standard textbook on the monument #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

He spent 10 summers digging at Bearsden fort, and was instrumental in helping to make the Antonine Wall part of a World Heritage Site - the first incremental transnational World Heritage Site #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

David's interest in archaeology was sparked by forays into family history, he tells us. In 1962 he went to Durham University to study modern history - which at that time started in AD 410! His first academic tutor was Eric Birley, who invited him to join a training dig at Corbridge in 1963 #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Time for the final session, which can only mean one thing: time to introduce the keynote speaker. This year we are thrilled to welcome Prof David Breeze, who will speak about ‘A frontier for all seasons: Hadrian’s Wall from 1976 to 2026 #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

...as well as other fab people in the Fair: Andante Travels, Hidden History Travels, @culturalexperience.bsky.social, Kirker Holidays, AS Geospatial Surveys Ltd, Wessex Insurance Brokers Ltd & Hare and Tabor #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Final tea break of the day – we’re off to forage a cuppa, and to say hello to the good folks of the ArchaeoFair, including: @uclarchaeology.bsky.social, Kent Archaeological Field School, Udig Excavations Ltd @royalarchinst.bsky.social @archaeopress.bsky.social ... #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

More work to be done on it, but one of the more intriguing foreshore finds is possibly part of a Roman altar, which appears to have been reused later in its history #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Erosion on the foreshore has revealed features relating to drainage, log pipes, other timber features #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

The foreshore survey also investigated how the intertidal zone had changed over time, and asked whether the foreshore had seen erosion in recent times since 2013-2014. In some places, we have lost 2m of foreshore over time. That erosion has revealed a lot of archaeology! #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

We're looking at historical maps and photos of the Thames foreshore, talking about how integral the river was to life in London throughout its history #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

As well as recording finds in the intertidal zone, the team also recorded the river wall using photogrammetry, and took environmental surveys #CALive26

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Current Archaeology @currentarchaeology.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Diane has now handed over to MOLA's Dr Claire Harris to tell us about what was found during the project's surveys on the Thames foreshore #CALive26

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