Providing a dedicated venue for new research on the early medieval frontiers and borderlands of the island of Britain, the Offa’s Dyke Journal (ODJ) is also the first and only open-access peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to the investigation of frontiers and borderlands in deep-time perspective. The journal’s remit spans detailed and original explorations into landscapes, earthworks, monuments and material culture. Exploring specific themes and issues in the archaeology, history and heritage of frontiers and borderlands in comparative and global perspective, ODJ is edited and produced under the auspices of the interdisciplinary research network, the Offa’s Dyke Collaboratory, and funded by the University of Chester and the Offa’s Dyke Association. The contents of this special issue comprise the proceedings of a conference held over Zoom on the weekend of 11–12 July 2020.

Providing a dedicated venue for new research on the early medieval frontiers and borderlands of the island of Britain, the Offa's Dyke Journal (ODJ) is also the first and only open-access peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to the investigation of frontiers and borderlands in deep-time perspective. The journal's remit spans detailed and original explorations into landscapes, earthworks, monuments and material culture. Exploring specific themes and issues in the archaeology, history and heritage of frontiers and borderlands in comparative and global perspective, ODJ is edited and produced under the auspices of the interdisciplinary research network, the Offa's Dyke Collaboratory, and funded by the University of Chester and the Offa's Dyke Association. Each volume to date includes both original peer-reviewed work as well as 'classics revisited' papers. The latter are articles which have been re-edited, formatted and re-published with permission, often with revised and augmented maps and images. The aim is to make these works of enduring merit available to fresh audiences and accessible through an open-access digital format for the first time. ODJ's existing editorial board has been further enhanced by leading experts in relevant themes and debates central to the journal's remit working across disciplines (see masthead for details). The editorial board will provide expert guidance and support for the editors as well as shape the direction of the journal into the future. Each issue is supported by the hard work of expert anonymous referees. Their invaluable evaluations of manuscripts have sustained the journal's character and quality.

As the first and only open-access peer-reviewed academic journal about the landscapes, monuments and material culture of frontiers and borderlands in deep-time historical perspective, the Offa’s Dyke Journal (ODJ) has a concerted focus on the Anglo-Welsh borderlands given its sponsorship from the University of Chester and the Offa’s Dyke Association in support of the Offa’s Dyke Collaboratory. Yet ODJ also provides a venue for original research on frontiers and borderlands in broader and comparative perspective. While Offa’s Dyke and Wat’s Dyke remain key foci, the contents of volumes 1 and 2 together illustrate the wider themes, debates and investigations encapsulated by ODJ concerning boundaries and barriers, edges and peripheries, from prehistory through to recent times, as well as considerations of the public archaeology and heritage of frontiers and borderlands.