Current World Archaeology 136
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Discovering Denmark: From prehistoric burials to Viking Age power architecture and beyond
Denmark is home to many archaeological marvels, including both renowned sites and world-class museums. Olympia Bobou, Ilaria Bucci, and Rubina Raja are our guides to the wealth of heritage that the country has to offer.
Surveying Falerii Novi: Rethinking the development of a Roman town
Surveying an ancient town in Italy has presented fresh insights into a key moment for Roman urbanism. Matthew Symonds spoke to Martin Millett about what can be learnt from studying an entire townscape.
Seeing the past in the past: The Historic Environment Image Resource – a rescue mission
Obsolete photographic formats can hold valuable or even unique information about ancient sites and artefacts. Such archives are, though, at increasing risk of being thrown out for being of no further use in a digital age. What can be done? Janice Kinory and Katharina Ulmschneider introduce us to a solution.
CWA #128 crossword, and answers to crossword #127
Across 8 US state, location of the Dolores Cave rock shelter (8)9 Legendary island where King Arthur was taken after his final battle (6)10 Ancient Greek historian and geographer (6)11 Persian dynasty
Forum: Comments and conundrums
Your observations, your objections, and your opinions: send them to cwaletters@world-archaeology.com
Dispersed ancient Mediterranean cities
Ancient city culture was inescapable in the societies where it prevailed. It suffused life to encompass almost everyone. Even the dead.
Execution in the absence of imprisonment: An archaeology of capital punishment in Sweden
Excavation of execution sites in Sweden has shed light on the realities of capital punishment in the country. Caroline Arcini and Emma Karlsson explain what can be revealed by examining the skeletons of those condemned to death and the sites where their sentences were carried out.
Echoes of ancient Dacia
A new exhibition at the Drents Museum tells the story of the Dacians through their spectacular treasures. Gillis Kersting visited to find out more.
A city of temples by the Pacific Ocean
For the first time in 40 years, a new effort is under way by archaeologists from the University of Toronto, in collaboration with local scholars, to document the pre-Hispanic city of Pacatnamu
Rune-inscribed knife
What is it? This broken knife blade is almost 2,000 years old. Currently preserved at a length of c.8cm, its original length is unknown, but was probably just slightly longer than this.
Dolia: The containers that made Rome an empire of wine
REVIEW BY EMLYN DODD The study of dolia, and indeed research more generally into ancient viti- and viniculture, has become increasingly popular in the past two decades. Cheung’s book fits neatly into
The Bell Beaker Phenomenon in Europe: A harmony of difference
REVIEW BY OLIVIER LEMERCIER To begin with, the Bell Beaker referred only to a small ceramic cup with a very recognisable morphology and decoration. In burials, this drinking vessel was often associated
Women in the Valley of the Kings: The untold story of women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age
REVIEW BY CAROLINE ARBUCKLE MACLEOD As a professional female Egyptologist and archaeologist, I have learned more than perhaps necessary about the so-called ‘Fathers of Egyptology’, including their discoveries, biases, and eating habits.
How the World Made the West: A 4,ooo-year history
REVIEW BY ANDREW SELKIRK Every year Professor Quinn has the task of sorting out applications from those wishing to study classics. Many of them say that they wish to study classics because
Exploring Arctic burials
New research into the burial sites of 17th- and 18th-century whalers on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard is providing rare insight into the lives of these individuals and the impact of climate change on Arctic archaeology. Project leader Lise Loktu tells us more.
Europe’s earliest inter-regional conflict?
Analysis of arrowheads from Bronze Age Europe is uncovering new details about an ancient battle that took place in the Tollense Valley.
World news in brief: From a Japanese sword to a Neolithic cellar
Japanese sword found in Berlin Excavations in the Molkenmarkt area of Berlin are uncovering a set of 20th-century basements that were backfilled after the Second World War. Amid the rubble, archaeologists found
Armenia’s earliest church
Excavations in the ancient city of Artaxata have uncovered the remains of a church dating to the early days of Christianity in Armenia. Artaxata was the capital of the Kingdom of Armenia
Discovering a new Neolithic society in Morocco
Research at a site in northern Morocco is uncovering evidence for the oldest and largest Neolithic society that has yet been found in Africa outside the Nile valley. Evidence of prehistoric activity
Early cocaine use in Europe
Analysis of the brains of individuals from 17th-century Milan indicates that they were utilising the coca plant (Erythroxylum spp.) several centuries before the drug was previously believed to have reached Europe. The
Uncovering a Celtic chamber tomb
A remarkably well-preserved 6th-century burial chamber has been discovered near Riedlingen, in south-west Germany. The burial chamber lies beneath a huge burial mound, which measures 65m in diameter and currently survives to
A spectacular painted throne room
Excavations at a Moche site in north-central Peru have uncovered a throne room believed to belong to a previously unrecognised female ruler. The site of Pañamarca was first rediscovered in the 1950s,