A seemingly unassuming lump of corroded bronze has confounded investigators for more than a century, ever since it proved to contain precision gearwheels that simply should not have existed in the ancient Greek world. A new study, using cutting-edge techniques, has now revealed what this machine could do, and how…
What can an extraordinary group of sculptures commemorating the dead reveal about ancient life in Palmyra? Thousands of ancient inhabitants’ portraits once graced lavish family tombs in cemeteries just beyond the desert city. Studying this artistry can reveal much about wealth, power, family, and even the balance between local tradition…
• Palmyra: what sculpture is revealing about life in a desert city
• Secrets of Ancient Greek technology
• How DNA is solving archaeological mysteries
• Inca Empire: maintaining Central Andean suspension bridges
• Climate change at Butrint (out 26 January)
• Verulamium, Britain’s third-largest Roman city
• Norway: secrets of the ice…
For Ancient Greeks, the natural world was a source of wonder and inspiration. Philosophers pondered sundry subjects, seeking the secrets of the night sky or what makes for a satisfying tune. Such questing curiosity inspired technological advances that we are only fully appreciating today, as Jane Desborough and Matthew Howles…
A Maya Universe in Stone delves deeply into the imagery, inscriptions, and political and social contexts of several ancient Maya carved limestone lintels made in the late 8th century AD, likely in Guatemala’s Department of Peten. Eminent epigrapher and archaeologist Stephen Houston edited the book and wrote its four chapters…
The coin is a Henry VII ‘half groat’, believed to have been minted in Canterbury, UK.…
Your views and observations...…
Over the last decade, 64 glaciers and ice patches in the Innlandet region have produced over 3,500 archaeological finds, from hunting tools and textiles to zoological material...…
This solid 459-page work by John Chapman summarises his life-long work in the Balkans and, as he states in the preface, was first conceived as a synthesis of Balkan prehistory but subsequently developed along a specific research path focusing on social narratives. The book is composed of 11 thematic chapters,…
Gillis Kersting explores an international exhibition presenting hundreds of Aztec objects on loan from Mexican and European museums, now on display in Leiden.…
Weapons, pottery, charred wooden beams, and dozens of coins dating to the late 2nd century BC were also unearthed.…
Many researchers dealing with prehistoric and historic rock art tend to remain firmly entrenched within their respective comfort zones. Throughout much of the contemporary world, the application and use of rock art is a fundamental part of society; moreover, it relies on the past. Archaeologists are becoming increasingly aware that…
This is the first molecular evidence of beer production in Iron Age Europe.…
The mosaic, which measures 11m by almost 7m, once formed the floor of a dining or entertaining room within a large villa complex occupied during the late Roman period.…
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. A Latin inscription in the central part of the vessel reads ‘vivas feliciter’ (‘live in bliss’) in large…
Suspension bridges were crucial for the success of the Inca road network, but these remarkable structures needed to be regularly rebuilt. Can examining surviving examples of similar bridges reveal more about how Inca crossings were maintained, and the importance of such events for the local communities involved? Lidio Valdez takes…
Although the Chimú are known to have practised human sacrifice, it is currently not possible to say whether this is the case here.…
Radiocarbon dating has indicated that the skull is c.220 years old, making it possibly the earliest example currently known from the region…
Return to the Interactive Past offers a fascinating introduction to some of the key topics surrounding the intersection of video games / interactive media and heritage. This book, a follow-on to the 2017 publication, The Interactive Past, explores the many ways in which games and heritage interact, including the representation…
Examining ancient DNA is revolutionising our knowledge of the past. Being able to detect family relationships is revealing ever more about connections between people buried in cemeteries and even individual coffins. Caroline Arcini introduces three cases where DNA evidence has opened new windows into past lives.…
The discovery grants us a glimpse of the people who were behind the day-to-day running of the villa…
