Cover Story
Warriors of Rome: From soldiers to citizens in service of the Empire Rome’s military is renowned as one of the finest fighting forces of the ancient world. But what was life really like for the individuals who became career soldiers, and how much do we know about the tools of their trade?… Features
The Tomio Maruyama: Discovering the longest sword and largest mirror in ancient Japan In January 2023, the finds from excavations within the Tomio Maruyama burial mound in Nara city caused a media sensation. For the second in a two-part series examining Japanese tombs,… 
Mapping histories: Recent fieldwork at Jebel Hafeet An international team of archaeologists specialising in early prehistory has undertaken pioneering survey work in and around one of the tallest mountains in the United Arab Emirates. George Nash, Genevieve… 
Zimingzhong: The mechanical marvels where East meets West A remarkable trade between Europe and China developed in the 1700s, when an emperor with a passion for science started collecting extravagant mechanical timepieces. The results are both beautiful to… News
The power of mud bricks Ancient bricks inscribed with the names of Mesopotamian kings are offering an important opportunity to identify variations in the Earth’s magnetic field thousands of years ago. 
Exploring an Ancestral Pueblo community Recent archaeological investigations at the Castle Rock settlement complex, in the Mesa Verde region, have revealed new information about the Ancestral Pueblo community who lived here. Radosław Palonka, who led… 
Historic game boards in Kenya A collection of shallow pits carved into a rock ledge, believed to be mancala game boards, have been identified in central Kenya. Mancala is a group of two-player strategy games… 
A royal Maya burial A 1,700-year-old tomb belonging to a previously unknown Maya ruler has been discovered in northern Guatemala. The site of Chochkitam – a medium- sized Maya city with a monumental centre… 
Ritual deposits in prehistoric Poland Archaeologists in Poland have discovered hundreds of metal objects deposited in a lake by a Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age community. The site of Papowo Biskupie is located… 
A remarkable Roman residence A luxurious domus dating to the late Republican period has been discovered in Rome in the area between the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. The site, which has been… 
The origins of Rapa Nui’s mystery script The existence of Rongorongo, the complex writing system used by the historic inhabitants of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), was first documented by Europeans in 1864, but by the end of… Views
CWA #124 crossword, and answers to crossword #123 Competitions Across 6 Language spoken by the Incas (7)8 Romance language with surviving documents from the 12th century (7)10 Priests often associated with the ancient Celts (6)11 Extinct language of Italy… 
Forum: Comments and conundrums Letters Your observations, your objections, and your opinions: send them to cwaletters@world-archaeology.com 
Rehabilitating the Neanderthals Comment He told us that he was a speleologist, whose girlfriend had just left him. He was in a very sorry state of distress. 
The apogee of Monte Cassino Travel In the second of a two-part feature examining Monte Cassino, Richard Hodges examines how the monastery developed from the late 9th century onwards. 
Scandinavia’s earliest ship burial The Picture Desk With a diameter of 60m, the burial mound of Herlaugshaugen is one of the largest in Norway. New research has now revealed that it is older than was previously thought.… 
Changing conclusions Comment It might have been used as an antiseptic or… a hunger suppressant – or just because people liked the taste. 
Inscribed Roman projectile Objects What is it? This almond-shaped lead object is a type of Roman projectile known as a glans inscripta (‘inscribed bullet’). Measuring 4.5cm by 2cm by 1.7cm and weighing 71g, it… 
Reviews
The apogee of Monte Cassino In the second of a two-part feature examining Monte Cassino, Richard Hodges examines how the monastery developed from the late 9th century onwards. 
A Comprehensive Survey of Rock Art in Upper Tibet – Volume I: Eastern Byang thang REVIEW BY GEORGE NASH If I had been asked a few months ago what I knew about a vast rock-art assemblage in Tibet, I would have simply shrugged my shoulders… 
History of the Caucasus Volume 2: In the Shadow of Great Powers REVIEW BY NICK EVANS Abdudzhalil Abdudzhalilov called himself the ‘last of the Mohicans’. Until his death in 2015, he was the last inhabitant of the village of Gamsutl in Dagestan,… 
The Cities of the Plain: Urbanism in Ancient Western Thessaly REVIEW BY JOHN BINTLIFF This is a rather frustrating volume, although we need to know more about ancient Thessaly, a land of fertile plains in north-central Greece. The book focuses… 
Rethinking migrations in late prehistoric Eurasia REVIEW BY MS Migrations are back. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, large-scale population movements were frequently the go-to explanation for the appearance in the archaeological record of new… 
Iberians A collaborative exhibition explores the Iron Age people of the Iberian Peninsula. Amy Brunskill spoke to curator Laurent Gorgerat to find out more. 
From the editor
Rome’s warriors are legendary. The army that carved out the Empire is renowned as one of the finest fighting forces ever assembled. But who were the individuals that filled its ranks, and what motivated them to fight for Rome? A new exhibition at the British Museum allows the soldiers to speak for themselves, revealing a world where hope for the future could go hand in hand with extreme brutality. The weapons that these warriors wielded illustrate the lethal ingenuity that was invested in arms and armour.
Excavations in a Japanese tomb have recently unearthed a rather more unwieldy weapon: the longest sword ever discovered in the country. This extraordinary artefact is well over 2m in length, making it doubtful that the sword could have been brandished by a single individual in ceremonies, let alone combat. It was joined in the tomb by a mirror that is also the largest known in Japan, and further distinguished by its graceful decoration. We examine what the combination of these objects might signify.
Survey work in the United Arab Emirates has been springing surprises, too. A wealth of archaeological features spanning some 700 centuries has been revealed on and around an imposing landmark known as Jebel Hafeet, which means ‘empty mountain’. More than a million stone artefacts lie scattered in its hinterland, betraying the presence of a Palaeolithic workshop.
When a Chinese emperor set up new workshops at the Forbidden City inthe 18th century, he called them the Zimingzhongchu or ‘office of the self-ringing bells’. Craftsmen within laboured to combine Chinese and European clockwork mechanisms to create breathtaking mechanical marvels. These devices reveal much about Europe and China during the era, and even helped the emperor demonstrate his right to rule.
Finally, in our travel section Richard Hodges returns to Monte Cassino and chronicles how this magnificent monastery reached its apogee.
