Excavations in 2007-8, ahead of an extension to the Bon Accord Centre in Aberdeen, uncovered backlands that would have formed part of the industrial quarter of the medieval town. The excavation charts the changing nature of the area, from an industrial zone in the medieval period, to horticultural and domestic spaces in post-medieval times.

Now hard to believe, Eilean Donan Castle was once one of the largest castles in the west Highlands, known to have featured seven towers, the remains of which lie buried on the island. This book provides a refreshed view of the lost medieval guise of the castle, of its 13th-century origins and form, and of who was responsible for building it, allowing the castle to be positioned accurately in the complex dynamics of powerholding and display of the earls of Ross and associated militarized kindreds of the west Highlands during six centuries of change up to the castle’s destruction in 1719. A new history and the details of the below-ground archaeology allow us to see the lost medieval castle in our mind’s eye 500 years after it vanished. Focusing on the huge amount of archaeological material unearthed during the campaign shows the castle hosted master craftspeople including goldsmiths, shipwrights and hereditary swordsmiths. Exquisite personal items, decorative mail armor and weapons, musical instruments, gaming pieces, imported pottery and animal bones bring the castle and its inhabitants back to life.

Pits and Boots derives from excavations carried out in 2007-8, in advance of an extension to the Bon Accord Centre in Aberdeen, that uncovered the backlands of an area that would have formed part of the industrial quarter of the medieval town. The site is well-dated by dendrochronology, augmented by artefactual evidence, and indicates activity from the late 12th century AD into the early modern period, with a particularly intensive period in the 13th century. Structural evidence consists primarily of the backland boundaries, hearth/ovens, several wood-lined wells and many large pits. It is the contents of these pits and wells which forms the core of this monograph. The waterlogged conditions within the pits and wells has meant that a remarkable assemblage of organic remains including leather, wooden artefacts, textiles, animal pelts, fibres, and cordage has survived. The leather assemblage is the largest ever to be found in Scotland and has revealed a range of activities associated with the use of animal hides, from hide processing to tanning and shoemaking. The wood assemblage is also extensive and includes bowls, platters, coopered vessels and tools. Metalwork, crucibles, clay mould fragments and ceramics all testify to the industrial nature of the area, while the large quantities of animal and fishbone demonstrate that butchery on an industrial scale took place in the area. The excavation charts the changing nature of this once-peripheral area of Aberdeen, from an industrial zone in the medieval period, to horticultural and domestic spaces in post-medieval times, and has thus greatly enhanced our knowledge of Scottish urban development.

The guide explains why London is the way it is. It helps you link the historical and contemporary into a single pattern of significant places, spaces and buildings. It highlights old and new as a lively and vibrant pattern of on-going creative activity rooted in established urban patterns.

This study presents a new regional history of the middle Tiber valley as a lens through which to view the emergence and transformation of the city of Rome from 1000 BC to AD 1000. Setting the ancient city within the context of its immediate territory, the authors reveal the diverse and enduring links between the metropolis and its hinterland.

In October 2004 over 70 delegates met in the Department of Archaeological Sciences at the University of Bradford for the second International Conference on Prehistoric Ceramics. The conference was the second major biannual conference to be organised by the Prehistoric Ceramics Research Group. It is hoped that in the papers presented in this volume, readers will find much to stimulate the mind and their own directions of study even if the subject matter is not directly relevant to their own specific fields. This is the unifying beauty of ceramic research.