Current Archaeology 161

Current Archaeology, number 161,was published in February 1999


CA 161 Front Cover

The highlights of the magazine include:

Silchester and the end of Roman Britain.

How did Roman Britain meet its end? The current excavations reveal a very late town house where pits containing pottery at least three centuries earlier were found dug into the demolition layers. Were the late Romans looting the cemeteries to obtain these pots? If so, were they formally abandoning the town, and cursing it so that no-one would live there again?

But is it Art?

Neolithic 'art' has been long been well-known in Ireland at tombs such as New Grange, but it has not hitherto been recognised in Orkney tombs. Richard Bradley has some surprising new discoveries.

Castell Henllys

Hillforts in west Wales were often smaller than English hillforts, but they were no less dramatic. Castell Henllys was opened as a Visitor Centre in 1980, and since then   four of the buildings have been reconstructed on their original sites, while most of the fort has now been excavated. Read about gateways and guardhouses,  chevaux de frise, and How to build an Iron Age roundhouse.

Digging St Ethernan

St Ethernan is one of Britain's obscurer saints, but will recent excavations on the Isle of May, in the Firth of Forth bring him back to life?


And of course there are the usual Diary, Letters, Books and John Musty's Science Diary.


Previous issues 


Current Archaeology 160
Current Archaeology 159
Current Archaeology 158 
Current Archaeology 157
Current Archaeology 156 
Current Archaeology 155
Current Archaeology 154 
Current Archaeology 153
Current Archaeology 152
Current Archaeology 151
Current Archaeology 150
Current Archaeology 149
Current Archaeology 148
Current Archaeology 147: Special issue on the Hebrides.

Issue 161 was published in February 1999

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Revised: March 16th 1999