Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London 88

Excavations in Southampton have discovered two rather different objects that were used to produce gold-mercury amalgam, the first stage in mercury gilding. One is a block of stone and the other a reused amphora sherd. The stone comes from a ninth-century context, while the amphora sherd's findspot is less well dated: it could have been reused in the the Late Roman or the Saxon period.

Excavation within the Gothic nave of Lichfield Cathedral in 2003 revealed three phases of masonry building ante-dating the Norman period likely to relate to the church of St Peter, which Bede described in 731 as housing the timber shrine to St Chad.A rectangular, timber-lined pit found on the central axis of the building might represent a crypt or burial chamber beneath the shrine. Buried in a small pit alongside this were three fragments of a bas-relief panel of Ancaster limestone, carved with the figure of an angel. They comprise half of the left-hand end of a hollow, box-like structure that had a low-coped lid. This is interpreted as a shrine chest associated with the cult of St Chad. The sculpture, which was broken and buried in, or before, the tenth century is in remarkably fresh condition, allowing for an in-depth analysis of its original painted embellishment and for an assessment of the monument in terms of its iconography and stylistic affinities, and thus the possible conditions of its production. It is argued that the surviving portion of the panel represents the archangel Gabriel, and that it is one half of an Annunciation scene. [Reports in detail on the analysis of the carving]. (Au Adp)

States that academic study of eleventh- to thirteenth-century high-status residence in Scotland has been largely bypassed by English debates over origin, function and symbolism. Also argues that archaeologists have also been slow to engage with three decades of historical revision of the traditional socio-economic, cultural and political models upon which their interpretations of royal and lordly residence have drawn. Furthermore, it is argued that Scottish castle studies concerned with the pre-1250 era continue to be framed by a 'military architecture' historiographical tradition and a view of the castles as an alien artefact imposed on the land by foreign adventurers and a 'modernizing' monarchy and native Gaelic nobility. The author argues that knowledge and understanding of pre-twelfth-century native high-status sites is rudimentary and derived primarily from often inappropriate analogy with English examples. He considers that discussion of native responses to the imported castle-building culture is founded upon retrospective projection of inappropriate later medieval social and economic models and anachronistic perceptions of military colonialism. The article concludes by arguing that cultural and socio-economic difference is rarely recognized in archaeological modelling and cultural determinism has distorted perceptions of structural from, social status and material values, and that a programme of interdisciplinary studies focused on specific sites is necessary to provide a corrective to this current situation.

The recent identification of whale baleen [keratinous plates which form the feeding mechanism of baleen whales] from a medieval archaeological context in Perth raises the issue of what uses were made of baleen in the medieval period. This note investigates the military uses to which this unusual material was put. Notes in particular the frequent confusion of baleen and whalebone in the literary sources.

Suggests a reconstruction of the original layout of the canopied benches at St Cross, and argues that parallels to the frieze are to be found in France, not England. PP-B

Previously unpublished correspondence and a re-analysis of events call into question William Buckland's description of his excavation of Paviland Cave in 1823, and illustrate why his interpretation of it changed prior to publication in Reliquiae Diluvianae. It is ventured that Buckland may have manipulated the archaeological evidence from Paviland in order to support his 'Diluvial' theory. A synthesis of the documentary evidence also illlustrates the unrecognized contribution made by John Traherne, FSA and others to the development of Buckland's Paviland story. Suggests that modern descriptions and interpretations of Paviland continue to be incorrectly influenced by a reliance on Reliquiae Diluvianae and that the interpretation of early archaeological excavations might benefit as much from the application of critical historiographical analyses as from the application of new scientific or theoretical methodologies.

Discusses the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the Mildenhall Treasure during WW2, based on documents held in the British Museum. (PP-B)