Digging up Britain: Ten discoveries, a million years of history

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Digging Up Britain consists of a series of ten archaeological case studies from sites shedding light on the earliest (known) occupation of these islands to the times of the Anglo-Saxon and Viking. In each chapter, the careful and methodical recording and preservation of structures and finds is highlighted, with any new technologies that arise in the telling well-explained, and the various experts who are brought in – whether that’s people who know about pollens or people who know about human bones – are celebrated and given their space and story. We’re soon in the Bronze Age, finding that every house has its set of bronze household implements, then there’s fascinating DNA evidence of population changes during the Neolithic, with Stonehenge being built by “immigrants” and being a place of spiritual importance for hundreds and hundreds of years.

Landscapes of Predation: Exploring Hostile Social Environments in Small-Scale Societies presented by Dr. As the author says, it's a past that's not a long parade of us in funny costumes—a fascinating 5-star read. Although it’s a compact paperback and the margins are quite small, it’s really well-produced and easy to read. As the government’s national archive for England, Wales and the United Kingdom, The National Archives hold over 1,000 years of the nation’s records for everyone to discover and use.A great way to find out key information about the current state of knowledge across millennia of history and prehistory. It was fascinating to me to find out about new arrangements and legislation, too: for example, there’s a Portable Antiquities Scheme nowadays which works with detectorists to understand and record their discoveries in a national database, which has had a huge impact on the amount of data held in England and Wales on small and large finds which would have otherwise been missed by the authorities. Archaeology series exploring fascinating periods in British history as revealed by unfolding archaeological digs. What a fascinating-sounding book, Liz – so wonderful that there are all these advances in technology so we can understand a little more of the past. Sadly, in America we know all too well that acknowledging your ancestors were immigrants does not mean you will be kinder to other immigrants.

Most books of this genre work from oldest to most recent, Mike Pitts gives us ten archeological digs from newest to oldest and does so in an easily read and entertaining manner.Read all Dr Alice Roberts visits archaeological excavations around the UK, linking together the results of digs and investigations the length and breadth of the country to build up a picture of the year in British archaeology.

Elsyng Palace was one of nearly 60 royal residences owned by Henry Vlll, but for centuries its exact location was unknown. It would have been interesting if the author had included Ireland and related the findings to the classic “Book of Invasions. Extremely rare 'ancient Celtic ornament' discovered in Norway believed to have been stolen by Vikings". Bone and teeth from every site indicate the constant presence of people who came from somewhere else. In countries where there are hunter-gatherers today (often people pushed into marginal places where anyone else would find it hard to live at all), they can be treated as second-class citizens.At each of these sites we hear from the people who found and recovered these ancient remains, and follow their efforts to understand them.

Lucid and informative … conveys both the thrill of discovery and the painstaking, puzzling interpretation work that follows it. Mind you, we should be concerned that 500 000km of underground assets remain unregistered, particularly when the infrastructure boom – so neatly described in this Report – is now breaking over us. The report reiterates the ‘safe digging for all’ message, and highlights who was digging, where they were digging and why they were digging. The book works backwards through time, starting with a Viking site and ending in the mists of prehistory, parting to show us pre- homo sapiens peoples living their lives and doing their thing.Dr Alice Roberts visits archaeological excavations around the UK, linking together the results of digs and investigations the length and breadth of the country to build up a picture of the y. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site.