The Grand Egyptian Museum
Geoffrey Lenox-Smith pays a return visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum to view the new galleries.
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Bubasteion rock tombs
Three rock-cut tombs belonging to high officials of the early New Kingdom have been discovered by an Egyptian team in the Bubasteion necropolis at Saqqara. The tombs are inscribed with their biographies,
Heliopolis funerary set
Archaeologists working at ancient Heliopolis (Matariya, Cairo) have uncovered an almost complete funerary assemblage beneath a mud-brick burial structure. The discovery includes a collection of personal and ritual objects, including a copper
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Excavating the CA archive: Great sites associated with the early church
In my previous two columns I explored some of the great religious buildings of Britain; these are primarily known for their medieval and later histories, and for their towering urban architecture. This month, I will move back in time to explore some of the great sites associated with the early church that have been visited by Current Archaeology over the decades.
Major Oak has died
My recent ‘Odd Socs’ column on the Ancient Tree Forum (CA 436) proved to be unexpectedly topical when, on 18 June, it was announced that Sherwood Forest’s 1,200-year-old Major Oak had died. The expressions of sadness that followed showed that many people loved this tree and considered it an important part of our national heritage.
The copper road
For the first time in human experience, a substance could be melted and converted into something new. If you set off by car from the Volga River to Hungary, you will have
Technological evolution
A study of human remains from two cemeteries in Bulgaria, all buried with distinctively ‘Gothic’ jewellery, brooches, and belt buckles, suggests that the ancient Goths were ethnically diverse and not a single homogeneous community.
Fashioning the Viking Age
The designs of these outfits are based on two high-status graves, which contained some of the best-preserved Viking Age textiles in Denmark: a male burial from Bjerringhøj, dated to AD 970-971, and a female grave from Hvilehøj, dated to the late AD 900s.
Cambridge Past, Present & Future
Starting with the opening of the UK’s first science park in 1970, Cambridge has grown from the sleepy market town of 60 years ago into an internationally renowned centre of technical research
Finds Tray – Disc brooch
This is a cloissonné disc brooch dating from the late Anglo-Saxon period (c.AD 970-1100) and was recently found by a metal-detectorist on farmland near Winscombe and Sandford in North Somerset. While similar
Cage cup
What is it? This cage cup, or vas diatretum, dates to the 4th century AD. The intricate, colourless glass bowl is 12.6cm tall and 15cm in diameter and has a flared rim.
Ancient Tree Forum
An ancient tree is one that is in the final stage of its life and is exceptionally old for its species. Such trees typically have a wide girth and a hollow trunk
Sphinx of Hatshepsut (Cairo)
Campbell Price selects one of a pair of sphinxes from the first ‘avenue of sphinxes’, at Deir el-Bahri.
The Society for Landscape Studies
When The Making of the English Landscape by W G Hoskins was published in 1954, its author claimed that ‘no book exists to describe the manner in which the various landscapes of
Finds Tray: Early medieval brooch
This is an early medieval brooch made from a gilded silver penny, which was found over a year ago by a metal-detectorist in Wiltshire. It was recently acquired by the Wiltshire Museum
Ptah-Sokar-Osiris figurine
Campbell Price describes a statuette in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and considers what it meant to its owner.
Iain MacGregor
The MHM award-winning author and publisher on meeting Hilary Mantel, and why Abraham Lincoln is his hero.
Illuminating a far-travelled vessel
The image shown here represents a fire altar with a triple-pointed crown in the flames as a central motif, surrounded by plant scrolls containing stylised leopards and tigers.
In-depth features
Sir John Gardner Wilkinson: The ‘other founder’ of British Egyptology
Robert R Frost explores the life and legacy of the antiquary, traveller, and pioneer of British Egyptology.
Were women literate in ancient Egyptian society?
Simone Petacchi explores the often fragmentary evidence for women’s voices in ancient Egypt’s written culture.
The great carnelian mystery
James A Harrell looks into the uncertain origins of ancient Egypt’s most popular gemstone: carnelian.
Pain relief in ancient Egypt: Part 2 – Physical and magical interventions
Having explored herbal pain-killing remedies in the last issue of AE, Ira Rampil now looks at the physical and magical interventions used to relieve pain.
The Litany of Ra
Andrew Fulton describes an important New Kingdom text that invokes 75 forms of the sun god.
Hilary Wilson on… Bread, beer, and economics – Part 2
Hilary Wilson shows how the ancient Egyptians were paid in food and drink.
Full of faith: New insights into the medieval parish churches of Norwich
Norwich today has more medieval churches than any other city north of the Alps. The Brooke Commission concluded in 1970 that only six were required for parish worship and that either alternative uses should be found for the rest or they should be demolished. Fortunately, 31 remain, with half a dozen continuing to be used as churches and 18 in the care of the Norwich Historic Churches Trust. A newly published and sumptuously illustrated interdisciplinary study shows us what these churches can tell us about the city’s past and its people, as Chris Catling reports.
I’ll follow the sun: Examining a prehistoric ‘prototype’ for Stonehenge’s solstice alignment
In mid-May, the day before CA 437’s print deadline, we joined a press conference to hear about an exciting discovery associated with Stonehenge. Keen to keep to our commitment to bringing you ‘current’ archaeology, we included a brief summary of the key findings in last month’s issue – here is a fuller account of the research that was described by Phil Harding, Matt Leivers, and Fabio Silva.
Traces of the Trinovantes? Exploring recent insights from Iron Age Essex
Two recent discoveries – Britain’s largest hoard of Iron Age gold coins and a series of unusual elite burials – unearthed about 8km (5 miles) apart on opposite sides of Chelmsford, have shed vivid light on the area’s Iron Age importance, and how local communities responded to the turbulent period around the Roman conquest. Carly Hilts spoke to Angus Forshaw and visited a new exhibition of some of the finds.
The Lexden Lady: Examining a rare lead coffin burial from Roman Colchester
A recently discovered high-status burial offers rare insights into ancient funerary practices and Colchester’s late Roman past. Carly Hilts spoke to Laura Pooley at a new exhibition about the finds.
Transparent desires: Delving into the Roman lapis specularis mines
A new project is examining the traces of Roman mining associated with extracting
a particularly prized stone. Guillermo León, Catalina Urquijo, Dionisio Urbína,
José Luis Córdoba, and the spelunkers of the Cuenca Ara Club of Speleology describe the demands of archaeological investigation deep within the bowels of central Spain.
In a matter of minutes, his life was over: The violent death of a Mesolithic man
A recent discovery in Sweden has revealed details about the final moments of a Mesolithic man. Caroline Arcini, Ann Westmark, Gracijela Bozovic, and Marie-Louise Aurumskjöld take us through what unfolded.
From biplane to B-52
In the second part of our special feature, Graham Goodlad examines the changes in design and technology that underpinned the 20th-century transformation of US airpower.
US airpower
Onwards and upwards a timeline tracing the developing fortunes and many incarnations of America’s air force in the 2oth century.
American thunderbolt
In the first part of our special feature, Graham Goodlad charts the development of America’s air-arm from its earliest beginnings, while in our second article he focuses on the hardware deployed by American forces.
The Kaiser’s secret weapons
From ‘Big Bertha’ to exploding motor boats, Germany’s military engineers were the source of much innovation during the First World War, as David Porter explains.
Seizing the state: The curious history of the military coup
They were once a common method of changing governments around the world. But, as Nigel Jones explains, coups have fallen from fashion in the 21st century.
‘Destroy the foreigners’: The Boxer Rebellion, November 1899-September 1901
At the turn of the 20th century, a violent uprising swept northern China, and an international expedition was sent to rescue those trapped in Peking’s diplomatic quarter. Stephen Roberts tells the story.
Observing the Ouse: Excavating the deep history of the Cambridgeshire Fens
The Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) has been excavating sites along the banks of the River Great Ouse since 1994, keeping one step ahead of sand- and gravel-quarrying that is steadily transforming the landscape from solid ground to a series of lakes that will eventually form a large nature reserve. Chris Catling reports on the latest volume to emerge from this project, which brings together a series of excavations exploring a c.5km length of the river at the point where it enters the Fen marshlands near Earith in Cambridgeshire.
Community and congregations: Exploring wall paintings in Cornish churches
Many of Cornwall’s churches preserve centuries-old murals of saints and religious scenes. Laura Miucci shares some of the stories behind these colourful creations, and explores how organised Community Archaeology visits to sites like these can boost the well-being of participants.