current archaeology number 85

In this issue . . .

A Saxon palace has been discovered,—at Northampton! We also make one of our rare visits abroad to hear about a breakthrough at Pompeii.

The Diary looks at The War against Archaeology, the National Heritage Bill, and The Mary Rose.

At Northampton a Saxon 'Palace' has been discovered, adjacent to St Peter's church, the oldest surviving church in Northampton. Did the church start as a minster church, attached to the palace? And was this the origin of the town of Northampton?

Roman wal l paintings have been revolutionized over the past 25 years by Norman Davey, who has patiently reconstructed many of them from bits of fallen plaster. Here John Musty pays tribute to his work and reviews his new book.

Air photography by Derrick Riley has revealed a remarkable network of ancient fields between Sheffield and Nottingham. At Dunston's Clump the focus of one of these has been excavated and shown to be a Romano-British sheep farm. What is more, these humble dwellings were built in the style similar to the later Anglo-Saxon halls suggesting that these halls may not have been Germanic in origin but British.

And now, the article you have all been waiting for: The Archaeology of Garderobes, Sewers, Cesspits and Latrines. At the University of Birmingham, James Greig has been probing that vital part of our national heritage, our ancestors' refuse, and reveals the dark secrets of medieval diet, and the worms that inhabited medieval man.

Then in Books, Professor Walter Minchinton makes his annual survey of books on industrial archaeology.

At Pompeii, British archaeologists have revealed for the first time the complete history of an insula, with numerous different phase plans. This breakthrough was made possible by using the techniques of above-ground archaeology pioneered in thi s country by church archaeologists.

Then Letters look at How to teach Osteology to Archaeologists, The British Archaeological Awards, Lincoln, and The Ancient Monuments Board.

Cover photo: The Saxon palace at Northampton as seen from the top of a fire engine. In the background is the Norman Church of St. Peter's: the large office building at the top is the Barclaycard Centre!

Photo: Doug Jardine, Northampton

Development Corporation.

35 Diary

38 Northampton by John Williams and Michael Shaw

41 Roman Wall-Plaster by John Musty

43 Dunston's Clump by Daryl Garton and Derrick Riley

49 Garderobes, Sewers, Cesspits and

Latrines by James Greig 53 Books: Industrial Archaeology by Walter Minchinton 54 Ode to Ancient Glasgow by Charles Mason 55 Pompeii by Roger Ling 62 Letters