THE winners of the 11th annual Current Archaeology Awards were announced on recently, as part of Current Archaeology Live! 2019. The awards celebrated the projects and publications that made the pages of the magazine over the past 12 months, and the people judged to have made outstanding contributions to archaeology.

These awards are voted for entirely by the public – there are no panels of judges.

The Archaeologist of the Year 2019 was Defence Infrastructure Organisation Salisbury Plain architect Richard Osgood.

Richard’s work on the Plain and in France as well as his inspired professional input and leadership to Operation Nightingale have made him a very worthy winner.

Richard, as usual, was modest about his achievement when I contacted him:

“I was, frankly, flabbergasted to have won this accolade – and of course delighted.” He said, “Excavating and protecting archaeological sites in Wiltshire is a colossal privilege as is working alongside the British military. The fat that I have won an award for this is a lovely acknowledgement”.

Mercian manouveres

It's been a busy couple of months for 1 MERCIAN with soldiers from the battalion serving around the globe in a variety of roles.

Some are serving in the Ukraine as part of Operation ORBITAL to counter Russian aggression, while much further south (and much warmer), other soldiers are taking part in Exercise Khanjar in the deserts of Oman.

Closer to home, A Company have been conducting live firing on the Castlemartin Ranges while the Reconnaissance Platoon are running a cadre in the Brecon Beacons. Private soldiers from the battalion have joined the 2nd Battalion in Cyprus to take part in the Potential Non Commissioned Officers cadre for promotion to Lance Corporal

Sports wise, battalion soldiers have been competing in Biathlons in Sweden and Germany while novice skiers have been learning new skills on Exercise FROSTED BLADE in France.