Ramses the Great: How a pharaoh built his legacy
Why is Ramses II considered to be ‘the Great’? An exhibition focusing on his life and times sheds light on how Ramses earned this accolade. Matthew Symonds shares what he learnt.
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Sacred activity at the summit
Evidence of Iron Age ritual activity has been discovered at the Bruchhauser Steine, a prominent rock formation in the hilly Sauerland region of western Germany. This natural landmark, which comprises four main
A rare religious site
Excavations at the ancient Egyptian port city of Pelusium have identified a unique 2,000-year-old temple believed to be dedicated to the local deity Pelusius. In 2019, archaeologists from Egypt’s Supreme Council of
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Migration, mobility, and a Mesolithic refuge
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.
Pilgrimage cities
Ritual practices have been part of human life for almost as long as we can trace archaeological remains. The supernatural and inexplicable attract, excite, and worry people, with religion and its associated rituals being one of the main ways through which humans try to make sense of the world, create structure, and seek support
Archaeology as immersive historical simulation
When I began studying archaeology nearly 70 years ago, my professor illustrated his lectures with the aid of glass slides projected through an antediluvian machine known as an epidiascope
War Classics – Just and Unjust Wars
Students of military history find much to fascinate in the subject: strategy, tactics, weapons, uniforms, battles, and the lives of the great generals. Exactly how wars come about and the ethics of combat may seem secondary issues, yet they are woven into the history
Friends of Canterbury Cathedral
The Friends have raised some £15 million towards projects as diverse as the purchase of a minibus for the choristers, the conservation of rare books in the library, the restoration of the splendid Tudor gatehouse, and the creation of a new garden in the cathedral precinct.
Finds tray – medieval lion figurine
This small lion figurine, which probably dates to c.AD 1300-1500, was found last year by a metal-detectorist on cultivated land near St Teath in Cornwall. The 6.8cm-high animal, which is made from
Investigating the Venus of Willendorf
New research into the Venus of Willendorf has shed more light on the fascinating prehistoric figurine’s construction and its possible origins. The c.30,000-year-old statue is exactly 11cm tall and depicts a stylised,
The story of an urn: investigating an unusual cremation vessel
Analysis of one of the Birdoswald cremation vessels has revealed a wealth of new information – as well as some very unusual contents. Tony Wilmott tells all.
When women ruled the world: an interview with Egyptologist Kara Cooney
Egyptologist Kara Cooney talks to Richard Marranca about her research into Ancient Egyptian queens and into funerary practice
The Chance Heritage Trust
Glassmaking was introduced to Smethwick by Thomas Shutt, who started making crown window-glass on a site alongside the Birmingham Canal in 1814. When he died in 1822, his company was sold to
Finds tray: Early Bronze Age pin
This is a unique early Bronze Age pin, made from the first phalanx (or toe-bone) of a golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). It is the only example ever found in a Bronze Age
Clare Tuffy and Newgrange
I would restore the great chambers of Boyne, prepare a sepulchre under the cupmarked stones. Seamus Heaney, ‘Funeral Rites’
War of Words – ‘Sabotage’
With Marc DeSantis
War of Words: ‘PAWN’
Pawn emerges etymologically from the Anglo-Norman poun, which itself comes from the medieval Latin pedo (‘footsoldier’), derived from the Latin pes (‘foot’).
The decipherment of hieroglyphs: A momentous achievement in Egyptology
The intricate symbols that adorn Egyptian monuments and papyri stood mute for millennia, their secrets locked away in a forgotten language. Hieroglyphs, with their captivating blend of pictorial and phonetic elements, had
In-depth features
Beyond the luxurious: Tracing the Late Antique ivory trade
Study of ivory use in the early medieval world is revealing fresh insights into how this material was viewed. The results have important implications for our understanding of the scale of the trade, and its impact on the elephants it exploited, as Rowan S English and Julia Steding explain.
Monuments of kingship: Power, memory, and belief at Jelling
Study of the monuments at Jelling has revealed much about an extraordinary royal complex in 10th-century Denmark. Olympia Bobou, Ilaria Bucci, Rowan S English, and Rubina Raja explore the evolution of the site.
Grim devastation: Roman Republican sieges in Hispania and Gaul
Roman sieges could come with serious consequences for besieged and besiegers alike. Mike Dobson examines the evidence for such warfare in Hispania and Gaul.
The day Sussex died: The Battle of the Boar’s Head, 30 June 1916
In the second part of our special, Stephen Roberts focuses on the little-known battle whose appalling casualty rate laid down a marker for the Somme.
The Somme in 10 objects
Infographics: Amy Brunskill / Images: public domain, National Army Museum, Canadian War Museum
A sideshow to a sideshow: The Great Arab Revolt, 1916-1918
As thousands died on WWI’s Western Front, a young officer by the name of T E Lawrence was among those fighting a very different war in the Middle East. Here, Nicholas Saunders reveals how a British-backed uprising proved a turning point in history.
Never surrender: The siege of the Alcázar of Toledo, July-September 1936
No episode of Spain’s bloody and brutal Civil War is more swathed in myth than the siege of Toledo’s historic Alcázar. Ninety years on, Nigel Jones tells its story.
Little Bighorn: The five key myths
One of the most talked-about battles in US history took place 150 years ago this summer. Here, Fred Chiaventone identifies some common misunderstandings about Custer’s Last Stand.
The ultimate arms race: The Iron Curtain falls – Part 6: the Atomic Age
In the final part of our series on the coming of the Cold War, Taylor Downing examines the struggle for nuclear domination.
Llanbedrgoch: Exploring a unique early medieval trading centre on Anglesey
Ninth-century Carolingian coins from the reigns of Louis the Pious and Charles the Bald are not the sort of objects you would expect to find on a remote farm on the Isle of Anglesey, so, when metal-detectorists began reporting these and other exceptional artefacts from the early medieval period, the National Museum of Wales (now Amgueddfa Cymru) sent Mark Redknap, then Curator of Medieval and Later Archaeology, to investigate. Between 1994 and 2012, Mark led ten seasons of fieldwork on the site, revealing the remains of a trading settlement with a form unparalleled in Wales. With the full report recently published, Chris Catling describes its key findings.
Lechlade’s buried secrets: Revisiting a long-lived ritual landscape in Gloucestershire
In 2017, excavations revealed an unusual Bronze Age burial alongside other signs of ceremonial activity spanning thousands of years. With some of the grave goods now on display, CA returns to the story of the Lechlade ‘chieftain’.
Time flies: Marking five years since the return of Time Team
In 2021, an archaeological household name returned to our (computer) screens, as Time Team relaunched on YouTube. Carly Hilts visited the team at their first dig of 2026 and spoke to the show’s creator and Executive Producer Tim Taylor about how technology gave the show new life – and could transform the future of how archaeological stories are told.
The warlord, the prince, and the village people: Examining three early Anglo-Saxon burial sites from Buckinghamshire
A new exhibition at Discover Bucks Museum in Aylesbury draws together antiquarian excavations and very recent finds to illuminate life and death at different levels of early medieval society. Carly Hilts visited the displays and spoke to their curator Brett Thorn.
A monumental legacy: Aubrey Burl and The Stone Circles of the British Isles
This year marks a century since the birth of the pioneering prehistorian Aubrey Burl, and the 50th anniversary of the publication of his landmark study The Stone Circles of the British Isles, which is often considered the foundational work on the subject. To reflect these milestones, Neil Mortimer offers an overview of how the book came into being – and the occasionally unconventional approach of its author.
W A Stewart’s reconstruction of Hetepheres’ furniture
In the last issue, AE 153, Peter Lacovara celebrated the meticulous work of Dows Dunham in excavating the Fourth Dynasty (c.2613-2494 BC) Tomb of Queen Hetepheres I at Giza. In this issue, marking the 100th anniversary of the tomb’s discovery, Geoffrey Killen explains how William Arnold Stewart reconstructed the furniture found in the tomb.
The tentmakers of Old Cairo
Sandra Hardy explores the work of skilled artisans who continue the long tradition of pharaonic textile production.
The painted tomb of Insneferuishetef
Wolfram Grajetzki explores rare painted scenes from an Old Kingdom mastaba at Dahshur.
Reassembling Tutankhamun’s Tomb
The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 produced one of the most detailed archaeological archives ever created. Daniela Rosenow describes a new digital platform, the Tutankhamun Spatial Archive, developed by the University of Oxford’s Griffith Institute, which brings together this vast body of records, allowing researchers and the public alike to explore the tomb, its contents, and its excavation in entirely new ways.
August Mariette
Our series highlighting often overlooked Egyptologists continues with the legacy of a founder of the discipline, reassessed by Amandine Marshall.
Hilary Wilson on… Birds in fine feather
Hilary Wilson describes the many depictions of birds in ancient Egyptian tomb scenes.