Editor's note

The long hot summer has dried up streams, scorched gardens and kept smiles on faces all over Britain. Among those for whom this summer has been a gift are archaeologists – as the soil dries, cropmarks reveal a hidden harvest of ancient structures outlined in the fields. Aerial archaeologist Peter Halkon explains how to interpret these signs of the past.

When a person of colour with light skin rises rises to prominence, it’s often heralded as a sign that structural barriers to the progress of people of colour have been removed. But Aisha Phoneix warns that colourism – prejudice involving the preferential treatment of people with light skin – means people of colour, particularly women, are burdened with an oppressive ideal of what is “beautiful”.

There are already seven billion people on Earth and limited natural resources to share round. Some say the solution is to curb population growth, but others accuse them of ignoring global inequalities in reproductive rights and resource use. Is it even possible to talk about “overpopulation” and the environment without being insensitive? Rebecca Laycock and David Lam say it is.

Michael Parker

Membership Editor

Top stories

Unseen from ground level, this Iron Age farmstead with recognisable round house near the Yorkshire Wolds is revealed in cropmarks. The lighter green shows it was carefully placed on a gravel rise surrounded by wetter land, shown here where the crop grows a darker green. Peter Halkon

Seen from the air, the dry summer reveals an ancient harvest of archaeological finds

Peter Halkon, University of Hull

A hot summer reveals hidden history beneath the dried-out fields - but only when seen from the air.

Meghan Markle’s marriage to Prince Harry was portrayed by some as offering ‘hope’ to all people of colour. Dominic Lipinski/PA Archive

Colourism – how shade bias perpetuates prejudice against people with dark skin

Aisha Phoenix, SOAS, University of London

The racism that underpins colourism must be challenged.

Ints Vikmanis / shutterstock

‘Overpopulation’ and the environment: three ideas on how to discuss it in a sensitive way

Rebecca Laycock Pedersen, Keele University; David P. M. Lam, Leuphana University

Too often, talk of population and sustainability becomes emotionally loaded and conflict ridden.

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