This volume of thirteen essays came out of a conference in December 2004 at Bristol University, to celebrate the career of Mick Aston on the occasion of his retirement. They reflect his enthusiam for landscape and monastic archaeology in particular, and range in time from prehistory to the nineteenth century. Mick's ability to communicate archaeology to the masses has rightly seen him earn the title of 'The Ambassador of British Archaeology'.

Excavations at 7-8 Broad Street, revealed part of a possible 16th- to 17th-century tavern or inn, situated behind the street frontage. Discoveries included a stone built cess pit and a cellar, built in the 16th century and demolished in the 17th century. A large collection of pottery associated with the serving and consumption of drink, fine Venetian-style glassware and a few early clay pipes were recovered from these features. Limited evidence of medieval occupation, in the form of rubbish pits, was also found, but much of the site had been disturbed by the construction of the Corn Exchange in the 19th century. Excavations in 2002 at 90-93 revealed a ditch and evidence for cultivation possibly within the grounds of the Saxon Minster; a small assemblage of early to mid Saxon pottery was recovered from later deposits. Medieval gravel pits, cess pits and a bell mould pit were founded in the back yards of tenements fronting Broad St and Chain St, immediately to the north of St Mary's Churchyard. It is likely that the bell mould pit was for the casting of a 13th-century bell for St Mary's. The pits contained exceptional assemblages of bird, fish and animal bone, suggestive of primary butchery and skinning in the vicinity, as well as the presence of a high status household. There were also notable assemblages of 11th- to 13th-century pottery and 16th- to 17th-century glass.

The third volume of the Le Yaudet excavation reports details the history and archaeology of the site from AD 300 until the present day. The promontory overlooking the estuary of the river Léguer was reoccupied in the late fourth century, possibly by a military detachment from Britain, and thereafter developed as an ecclesiastical site in the fifth to eighth centuries. In the later medieval period it became a village clustered around the chapel. The report presents the archaeological and material evidence for these periods in detail.

The gravel terraces of the river Thames have revealed a wealth of archaeological information about the evolution of the landscape of the region, the development of the settlement pattern, and past human occupation. Much of this has come to light in the course of gravel quarrying, which has been so extensive that the Thames Valley now provides one of the richest resources of archaeological data in the country. This volume provides an up to date overview of the archaeological evidence from the valley for the late Iron Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods, broadly speaking the first millennium AD. The area studied in detail comprises the Upper Thames Valley, from the source of the river to the Goring Gap, and the Middle Thames Valley, from the Goring Gap to the start of the tidal zone at Teddington Lock. A summary of evidence for the character of the river and the vegetation and environment of its floodplain is followed by a detailed account of the evolving settlement pattern as currently understood from archaeological evidence. The authors then consider what archaeology can reveal about the late Iron Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon populations of the valley, and their changing lifestyles, culture, identities and beliefs. This is followed by a review of the evidence for production, trade, transport and communication, and the archaeology of power and politics. The volume concludes with a discussion of the state of knowledge today and its limitations, and emerging themes and problem areas for future research.

In this, the first of six volumes, the main results of the excavations which the University of Oslo carried out at Kaupang 1998-2003 are presented. A completely new picture is put forward of the port that the adventurer Ohthere visited in c. 890. It is now clear that Kaupang was one of the four Scandinavian towns that were founded around the year 800. Kaupang is connected to the power centre of Skiringssal, to the Ynglings - the legendary Norwegian royal lineage, and to the King of the Danes - the dominant political actor in south-west Scandinavia. Kaupang is shown to have had several of the same features revealed in Birka, Hedeby and Ribe - i.e., a compact permanent settlement, divided into small plots, each with a dwelling. The town could have had 400-800 inhabitants. Substantial traces of trade and craftwork are proof of the main areas of occupation. Advanced geo- and environmental-archaeological analyses have played a large role in interpreting the finds. Documentary sources indicate that Skiringssal was an important royal seat in the 700s and 800s. In the book these sources are put together with the archaeological and toponymical sources which, united, show a centre of power with a clear likeness to similar places in Denmark and Sweden. A hall or sal building, presumably the Skirings-sal itself, was excavated at Huseby, near Kaupang. Nearby, a thing site is situated by a holy lake. In this, the Yngling kings' centre of power, to which many people came to attend thing meetings and sacrificial feasts, the town Kaupang was founded. In nine of the book's 20 chapters, the excavations' finds, analyses and results are presented. In three chapters, 200 years of research on Kaupang and Skiringssal are summarised, while in the remaining eight chapters an endeavour is made to re-establish the holistic approach to Skiringssal which dominated research during the first 100 years.

Archaeological rescue excavations in Southwark between 1983 and 1990 uncovered parts of the London house of the medieval bishops of Winchester. The archaeological evidence, mainly from the east part of the site, is supplemented by detailed documentary evidence. The property developed from the mid 12th century into a palatial residence, based around an inner and an outer courtyard, and enclosed by a boundary wall. In the 14th-century palace, a great hall, service rooms and kitchens occupied the north range, household and servants were accommodated around the other sides of the inner courtyard, while the bishop had his own apartments, chapel and garden. A passage below the hall gave access from the inner courtyard north to the wharves and river. Storerooms, workshops and stables lined the east boundary wall, with gardens in the west half of the enclosure. A parliamentary survey of 1647 describes the layout of the bishop's palace, which was sketched c.1644 by Hollar for his Long View of London . The site remained in the bishops' ownership until the 1640s and it was returned to them after the Civil War, but a multiplicity of tenants and subtenants occupies the palace; by 1720 it was 'disused and very ruinous'. The medieval bishop's palace became tenements and small industrial storage units; in the 19th century large warehouses were built. Fire in 1814 revealed the surviving medieval masonry of the hall and service range, and the hall's west gable wall with its rose window remains a prominent landmark today.

The San Vincenzo Project, focused upon the Benedictine monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno, in central Italy, was launched in 1980. In addition to developing the archaeological potential of the well-known ninth-century painted crypt of San Lorenzo and to defining the general character of the early medieval monastery, a major aim of the project was through a combination of survey and small-scale excavation within the territory to define the relationship between the early medieval monastery and its dependent communities. This volume summarizes the archaeology of the territory, placing emphasis upon the long settlement history of which San Vincenzo al Volturno was a part, as well as the dependent communities of the Benedictine monastery identified during the fieldwork. The volume includes an overview of the 1980-1 field survey (including investigations of the castelli in the upper Volturno valley and the survey and excavations on Monte Mare); the principal results of the extensive excavations on the east bank of the river, including the Samnite cemetery and vicus, the Samnite and Roman settlement, the early medieval industrial complex and borgo, as well as the twelfth-century monastery; reports on excavations at two hilltop sites, Colle Castellano and Colle Sant'Angelo. In addition, there are essays on the San Vincenzo community in Capua; on the upper Volturno valley in Roman times; a reconsideration of late antique San Vincenzo and an assessment of the upper Volturno valley in the early Middle Ages.

An important human trait is our inclination to develop complex relationships with numerous other species. In the great majority of cases however, these mutualistic relationships involve a pair of species, whose co-evolution has been achieved through behavioural adaptation driving positive selection pressures. Humans go a step further, opportunistically and, it sometimes seems, almost arbitrarily elaborating relationships with many other species, whether through domestication, pet-keeping, taming for menageries, deifying, pest-control, conserving iconic species, or recruiting as mascots. When we consider medieval attitudes to animals we are tackling a fundamentally human, and distinctly idiosyncratic, behavioural trait. The sixteen papers presented here investigate animals from zoological, anthropological, artistic and economic perspectives, within the context of the medieval world.

A campaign to improve visitor and education facilities at Norwh cathedral involved the construction of new buildings within the west and south ranges of the cloister, and led to excavation of the area where the medieval refectory once stood. This revealed archaeological evidence of the Late Saxon, medieval and post-medieval periods and forms the subject of this report. Excavation has confirmed the long-held supposition that this area of Norwich was populated during the Late Saxon period. Timber buildings of both post-hole and beam slot construction were present, along with rubbish pits, many very substantial in size. A rutted trackway developed into a metalled road, its discovery adding to the ever-evolving street plan of Late Saxon Norwich. It was also apparent that this area was subject to changes in the local water table, and liable to flooding. Late Saxon occupation here was brought to a sudden halt by the acquisition of the land for the building of the Norman cathedral in the latter years of the 11th century. The refectory, which has been described as one of the most magnificent in Europe, was built during the 1120s but was largely demolished during the years following the Dissolution. An extensive programme of groundworks was carried out in the 12th century, prior to construction of the refectory, with the area being levelled. Unfortunately, later use of the area has destroyed most of the evidence relating to the refectory itself. Despite this the level of the floor was established and footings for opposing engaged pillars were recorded. These would have supported an arcade, separating the high end from the main hall. Following the Dissolution, not only the refectory but many of the conventual buildings were demolished. In the period from 1538 to 1620 large pits were dug across the site of the former refectory and used for the dumping of demolition debris on a massive scale. Surprisingly, of the identifiable rubble very little originated from the refectory building itself. Architectural fragments, including some with painted designs from the infirmary and chapter house, were found along with painted window glass which probably originated from the Lady Chapel. In 1620 the western third of the site was the location for part of a prebendary's house, the remainder being established as a garden. In 1873, works undertaken specifically to reduce the risk from fire included the demolition of the prebendary's house. 'Restoration' work was carried out to the remaining medieval structure and the area which had once served as the monk's refectory was left open as a garden plot. It remained so until archaeological work began in 2001.

Carbrooke Preceptory was first established in 1173 through a grant from Matilda, Countess Clare, to the Order of St John of Jerusalem. Eighteen manors in Norfolk were eventually in their possession, all administered from Carbrooke, which remained the only preceptory in the county at the Dissolution. In addition, rents and tithes were due from a large number of locations throughout Norfolk and East Anglia, and voluntary contributions were also collected, in keeping with the role of the preceptory as a revenue-generating institution converting agricultural wealth to portable wealth. The preceptory along with the rest of the Order was suppressed by Parliament in 1540. Excavation revealed a stratified sequence of structures and deposits on the western side of the preceptory. Insights into the architectural and social history of the establishment resulted from a combination of archaeological and documentary research, the activities of the inhabitants of Carbrooke seeming, both through the material and documentary records, to bear more resemblance to those of a large baronial house than a monastery.

The countryside of Devon and Cornwall preserves an unusually rich legacy from its medieval past. This book explores the different elements which go to make up this historic landscape - the chapels, crosses, castles and mines; the tinworks and strip fields; and above all, the intricately worked counterpane of hedgebanks and winding lanes. Between AD 500 and 1700, a series of revolutions transformed the structure of the South West Peninsula's rural landscape. The book tells the story of these changes, and also explores how people experienced the landscape in which they lived: how they came to imbue places with symbolic and cultural meaning. Contributors include: Ralph Fyfe on the pollen evidence of landscape change; Sam Turner on the Christian landscape; Peter Herring on both strip fields and Brown Willy, Bodmin Moor; O. H. Creighton and J. P. Freeman on castles; Phil Newman on tin working; and Lucy Franklin on folklore and imagined landscapes.

The study of Old Norse Religion is a truly multidisciplinary and international field of research. The rituals, myths and narratives of pre-Christian Scandinavia are investigated and interpreted by archaeologists, historians, art historians, historians of religion as well as scholars of literature, onomastics and Scandinavian studies. For obvious reasons, these studies belong to the main curricula in Scandinavia but are also carried out at many other universities in Europe, the United States and Australia, a fact that is evident to any reader of this book. In order to bring this broad and varied field of research together, an international conference on Old Norse religion was held in Lund in June 2004. About two hundred delegates from more than fifteen countries took part. The intention was to gather researchers to encourage and improve scholarly exchange and dialogue, and Old Norse religion in long-term perspectives presents a selection of the proceedings from that conference. The 75 contributions elucidate topics such as worldview and cosmology, ritual and religious practice, myth and memory as well as the reception and present-day use of Old Norse religion. The main editors of this volume have directed the multidisciplinary research project Roads to Midgard since 2000. The project is based at Lund University and funded by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation.

Novgorod was a major medieval city and an important centre for trade routes between northern, central and western Europe and the Near East, and has been the subject of intensive investigation since the 1930s. This volume in a series devoted to the archaeology of medieval Novgorod, presents eleven studies of ceramic evidence in terms of chronology and technology, methodology of investigation, and international trade and contacts. The essays also reflect different approaches to studying ceramics by western and Russian scholars. Some of the subjects explored include hand-made and early wheel-turned pottery from the environs of Novgorod, Novgorod pottery from the 10th to 15th century, handling large urban pottery assemblages, pottery imported from the west and the east, amphorae from Novgorod and the wine trade.

Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History is an annual series concerned with the archaeology and history of England and its neighbours during the Anglo-Saxon period. Volume 13 can be said to be truly interdisciplinary, carrying papers from diverse areas such as place-name studies, art history, historiography and archaeology. A strong theme in this issue is the early Anglo-Saxon period, with a range of papers touching on aspects of migration. Another shared theme is the complexity and multiplicity of meaning in iconography and art, whilst military strategy and military kit take this volume into the Late Saxon period.

This long-awaited publication elucidates a remarkable monument, now preserved in situ beside the Tower of London. Excavations at Tower Hill in 1979 uncovered substantial reamins of the medieval postern gate at the junction of the City's defensive wall and the moat of the Tower of London. The postern gate was constructed between 1297 and 1308, towards the close of the reign of Edward I. It formed a defensible terminus to the City wall and a minor gateway suitable for pedestrian traffic. The base of a rectangular tower survived on the south side of the gate passage, along with a staircase turret. The structure had a cellar and a ground floor chamber with a suspended timber floor, the superstructure surviving to the level of the arrow loops. The tower must have had at least one upper floor. These remarkable remains survived because of a dramatic landslip in 1431 or 1440, when the southern part of the structure slipped at least three metres down the side of the moat. The northern part of the gate probably remained standing whilst the underpinned southern tower provided the foundation for a rebuilt postern gate. Cartographic evidence shows that a postern gate stood on the site until at least the 17th century. Thematic aspects include documentary evidence that the gate was administered by the City rather than the nearby royal castle, the question of whether there was a Roman gate in the adjascent city wall, the appearance of the gateway and the character of the Tower Hill area in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Mote of Mark is a low boss of granite rising from forty-five metres above the eastern shore of Rough Firth, where the Urr Water enters the Solway, between the villages of Kippford and Rockcliffe. The summit comprises a central hollow between two raised areas of rock and was formerly defended by a stone and timber rampart enclosing one third of an acre. The Mote of Mark appears to have first attracted the attention of antiquaries in the late eighteenth century, and first assumed national importance with Alexander Curle's major work in 1913. After the interruption of the First World War, the site was left largely alone until it was re-excavated in the 1970s. These excavations, in 1973 and '79 were designed to answer three specific questions: How many phases of activity are represented in the structural history of the defences? How many phases of activity are represented by the evidence for Early Medieval metalworking and occupation? And, how does the evidence of occupation within the defences relate to the structural history of the defences? This book presents the results of the excavations and their interpretation within the framework of these questions.