This evening BBC Scotlandwill be airing the first part of a new series investigating the Bannockburn battlefield. The series is obviously timed to coincide with interest in the battle arising from the Scottish independence debate and coming referendum, but work to precisely locate the site has been ongoing for some time. The series promises to shineContinue reading “Back to the trenches: Bannockburn and battlefield archaeology on the BBC”
Category Archives: Archaeology
Journeys in the dark
When I was a small boy – probably I was eight years old – my grand-father gave me a board game for my birthday. This was no ordinary board game, however; this was Heroquest. Opening the box was like opening a portal into another world, like lifting the lid of the Box of Delights. One ofContinue reading “Journeys in the dark”
The Battle of Ashdown in Medieval Warfare
A few weeks ago, I had an article titled The Battle of Ashdown: Victory, battlefield, and the language of war published in Medieval Warfare magazine. The theme of the issue is Alfred the Great and the Great Heathen Army and thus coincides neatly with my own area of academic interest. The publication is not scholarly,Continue reading “The Battle of Ashdown in Medieval Warfare”
Book Reviews: Alfred’s Wars and Viking Warfare
Two reviews (by me) of titles published in the last couple of years on the subject of early medieval warfare can now be read online. The first is a review of Ryan Lavelle’s Verbruggen-prize-winning Alfred’s Wars: Sources and Interpretations of Anglo-Saxon Warfare in the Viking Age (Boydell 2010) which, apart from its slightly misleading titleContinue reading “Book Reviews: Alfred’s Wars and Viking Warfare”
Ringmere
Yesterday I visited the site that has long been associated with the Battle of Ringmere (as named by John of Worcester and called Hringmaraheiðr in various Norse saga accounts which include some fascinating contemporary skaldic verse relating to the battle). The connection of the battle to a remarkable geological feature – Ringmere – on WrethamContinue reading “Ringmere”
THOMAS J. T. WILLIAMS 