The removal in 1937 of a hedge bank on the west side of Glen Avenue, Colchester, close by the footpath through Glebe Farm (N.G. Ref. TL 976253) led to the discovery of a small palstave with an amber bead adhering to the septum floor (Colchester and Essex Museum, Ace. No. 916. 1937; see pl. 1). Presumably, the palstave and associated bead came from the soil in the adjacent field from which the hedge bank was doubtless constructed.

The situation, character, and antiquarian history of South Cadbury Castle, Somerset, have already been described (Alcock (1967a); (1967b)). A reconnaissance excavation in 1966 hinted that occupation of the hilltop had begun in the Early Neolithic, and after a hiatus had been resumed sometime in the Late Bronze Age. It demonstrated that from early in the pre-Roman Iron Age there was a rich and intensive occupation, during which the defences were probably built. This appeared to have been ended by a sack at the hands of the Roman invaders c. A.D. 45. Late Roman pottery, metalwork, and coins showed that activity was renewed in the third-fourth centuries A.D. Imported pottery of well-known forms proved that the site was reused in the fifth—sixth centuries. Finally, it was refortified with a mortared stone wall as a Late Saxon burh. The reconnaissance also showed that on top of the hill (fig. 1, c) rock-cut pits and post-holes were readily discernible under the turf; that on the slopes within the defences (fig. 1, B) traces of buildings of various dates had survived many centuries of ploughing; and that in the rear of the inner rampart (fig. 1, A), a great depth of hill-wash and plough-soil overlay stratified levels of the Iron Age.

This report describes the excavation of an Iron Age and Roman farming settlement at Bottom Pond Farm, Owslebury, near Winchester (Grid Reference SU 525246). Traces of Neolithic, Early Bronze Age, and earlier Iron Age occupation were found, but the main period of occupation starts in the Belgic period with both settlement material and a small cemetery containing a warrior inhumation and Belgic cremations inside rectangular enclosures. The site continues with ditched enclosures, chalk quarries, cesspits, ovens, and burials until the end of the fourth century A.D.

The last major season in the present series of excavations at Fishbourne took place between 29th July and 2nd September, with a labour force restricted to sixty volunteers a day. This year the main effort was concentrated upon the excavation of the garden belonging to the Flavian Palace: a substantial area was examined during the main period of work, but it was not until the early spring that the final stages were completed by a small team of volunteers working in conjunction with a mechanical excavator. Several other areas were examined during the summer. By great good fortune a small site became available for study on the south side of the modern main road, providing for the first time clear evidence that the Palace possessed a South Wing. On the main site, the east front of the aisled hall was excavated together with the early levels beneath it, and further work was undertaken on the west front of the entrance hall. Finally, some time was spent finishing details of the excavation of the area lying north of the West Wing and west of the North Wing—a site which in the previous spring had been almost totally excavated, prior to the building of the site Museum and concourse.

It is common knowledge that in the reliefs on Trajan's Column the technical skill and achievements of the Roman Army received as much attention and space as did its military prowess and successes. It is clear that emphasis laid upon military engineering was felt to be one of the most effective means of conveying the triumphal concept attached to this marble volumen. Since both Trajan, to whom the reliefs were dedicated, and Apollodorus, his architect, who is likely to have drawn the cartoons for them, were inclined to regard craftsmanship and power as equivalent expressions of Roman glory, one would expect to find in the commemorative sculpture some allusion to specific technical achievements or, at least, to the most important of these.

The discovery of two fragmentary inscriptions at the auxiliary fort of Castell Collen (pl. xxia) and the newly discovered legionary fortress of Carpow (pl. xxib) has made a notable addition to the interesting group of Romano-British inscriptions in which the text is flanked by peltae, the terminals of which have been treated as birds' (or griffins') heads. The Castell Collen fragment was found during excavation of the extramural bath building in 1956 where it appeared face downwards, reused as a paving slab; the excavator suggested that it might originally have stood over the east gate of the fort and used it as supporting evidence, for reasons which will be considered below, for the view that the fort was rebuilt in stone in the Antonine period. The Carpow fragment was found during excavations of the east gate in 1964, where presumably it once commemorated the building of the fortress in the Severan period. In neither case is there enough of the inscription to identify the unit explicitly but the presence of the Pegasus and Capricorn emblems, in whole or in part, makes it clear that both fragments are to be attributed to the Second Legion Augusta.

On the 3rd of April 930 King Athelstan was holding court at Lyminster in Sussex. There, in the presence of the two archbishops, ten bishops, as many ealdormen, and twenty thegns, he issued a solemn diploma granting four hides of land to the bishop of Selsey. The text has been preserved only in a fourteenth-century copy, but the formulas are those of Athelstan's reign, and there is no reason to doubt its authenticity.

In 1713 Sir Christopher Wren, then in his 81st year, reported on Westminster Abbey and took the opportunity to enunciate a theory of great importance in regard to the origins of Gothic architecture. Referring to the new church of Henry III he wrote:

This we now call the Gothic manner of architecture … I think it should with more reason be called the Saracen style, for these people wanted neither arts nor learning: and after we in the west lost both, we borrowed again from them, out of their Arabic books, what they with great diligence had translated from the Greeks.… The crusado gave us an idea of this form, after which King Henry built his church.… The Saracen mode of building, seen in the East, soon spread over Europe, and particularly in France, the fashions of which nation we affected to imitate in all ages, even when we were at enmity with it.