Excavations at the Iron Age hillfort of Bigberry, Kent, in 1978–80 had the object of a fresh appraisal since the excavations of 1933–4 of a site customarily regarded as the first obstacle encountered by Caesar after his second landing in Britain in 54 B.C. The main defences and those of the annexe were sectioned, and a hitherto unrecorded cross-dyke also. Various magnetic anomalies located by a geophysical survey were investigated and gave evidence of internal occupation and structures. It is suggested that there was a settlement preceding the hillfort, with the cross-dyke as a possible second phase; the hillfort may have been built in the second century B.C. by newcomers from Gaul, and after Caesar's passage through Kent the occupants moved down into the valley of the Stour to the site of Canterbury, though the precise point in the second half of the first century B.C. remains uncertain.

The opportunity has been taken of a simple but complete republication of the nineteenth-century discoveries of the metalwork from the site now dispersed among museums at Canterbury, Maidstone and Manchester. It is suggested that this material represents the abandoned possessions of the inhabitants and varied aspects of their life, and industrial or ritual explanations are discounted.

Niello is a black material composed of one or more metal sulphides. It contrasts particularly effectively with the metal when inlaid or fused into a recessed design in gold or silver, but is also found on bronze and brass. X-ray diffraction analysis of niello from 180 objects spanning the period between the first century A.D. and the present, from Europe and the Middle and Far East, has established that, as a general rule, Roman niello is composed of the sulphide of one metal only, either silver or copper and, furthermore, the niello is usually made of the same metal as that of the object into which it was inlaid. Sulphides made with silver and copper together were introduced at the end of the fifth century, though silver sulphides were still being made, particularly in the areas dominated by Rome. The manufacture of niello of more than one metal represents a technological advance as, unlike the single sulphides, they can be fused into an engraved design without damaging the metalwork. Lead was added to the ingredients as early as the eleventh century A.D. in eastern Europe. This composition will flow well when melted and therefore can be used to fill more complex designs. Leaded niello superseded the other types almost completely and is still made today. Gold silver sulphide, a hitherto unrecognized type of niello, was found on a number of gold items of various dates.

The results of the first systematic excavation of a cane sugar factory attached to the Lusignan Manor of Covocle (Kouklia), combined with a comparative study of similar installations in the western part of the island, demonstrate the importance of the cane sugar industry in the economy of late medieval Cyprus. Of interest in a wider historical context is the new evidence recovered for contemporary technology and mechanical devices. At the same time, a first comprehensive analysis of the characteristic industrial pottery from the site contributes to a better understanding of the process and the organization of cane sugar production.

Surviving records afford only a very incomplete impression of the appearance of the fine Gothic cross erected by the Fraternity of the Holy Cross in the market place at Abingdon in the 1440s and destroyed by Parliamentarian troops in 1644. An early seventeenth-century painting of the Abingdon cross at Christ's Hospital in the town shows it after it had been substantially altered during restoration in 1605, but its original appearance can be partially reconstructed from what is known of the Coventry cross, set up between 1541 and 1545, which was closely modelled on the Abingdon example, the most elaborate of its type built in the fifteenth century.

Ashmole's interest in alchemy seems to have begun about 1648. He was strongly drawn to the Rosicrucian movement, whose aims were religious: to attain to a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ and of God's works, that is of nature. Chymia was the chosen branch of learning. Alchemists believed that by laboratory experiments they could discover the formula for the Philosophers' Stone which would lead them to the discovery of the secrets of nature. Ashmole considered that his best service to alchemy was the publication of alchemical manuscripts. Two of these have been identified as B.L., Add. 10302 and B.L., Harl. 2407. Both manuscripts belong to the fifteenth century and contain miniatures in pen and wash. The Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum included the Ordinall by Thomas Norton and Lydgate's Hermes Bird, both printed for the first time, and works by George Ripley, John Gower, Thomas Charnock, Edward Kelley and John Dee; also the Tale of the Chanon's Yeoman with Chaucer's portrait. Ashmole's chief engraver was Robert Vaughan. The engravings to the Ordinall show the quasireligious initiation ceremony and the alchemists with their equipment; those from B.L., Harl. 2407 show the emblems representing the theoretical aspects of alchemy, the serpent, the eagle and the basilisk; the sun and the moon; the young couple bathing in the Elixir, symbolizing eternal youth. At some time after 1658 Ashmole abandoned his delusions.

Between 1679 and 1686 the Office of Ordnance sought to strengthen and modernize the defences of the Tower and to reorganize the accommodation of the garrison within. Rather than undertaking a massive programme of reconstruction, the Office simply equipped many of the existing, essentially medieval, defences with artillery platforms, though on the north-west and south-east corners of the outer enceinte a considerable amount of rebuilding was carried out. Despite the compromising nature of much of the work, these measures represent the last major attempt to refortify the castle. By 1714, however, the greater part of the improvements was deemed worthless and in the following year artillery reductions were set in motion.