The vessel was… packed with precious objects and placed upside down. What is it? This lidded, silver-gilt vessel is c.150mm tall, and 92.4mm in diameter at the rim. It was discovered as part of the Viking Age Galloway Hoard, filled…
A chance discovery at Liman Tepe prompted a pioneering archaeological project that is setting the submerged portions of this ancient city alongside its remains on dry land. Evidence won from the sea is revealing new stories about how a major emporium evolved over the millennia, as Vasıf Sahoglu explained to Matthew Symonds.
A small, ornately decorated house has been uncovered in Pompeii during ongoing excavations of the Insula of the Chaste Lovers, in the centre of the ancient city. Archaeological investigations of this newly discovered residence are still under way, but it…
Few experiences seem to bring us closer to people in the past than literally following in their footsteps on the streets of abandoned ancient cities, among the ruins of what they once called home. The effect can be dampened, though, when we reflect that these remains only exist because at some point the population left their houses, temples, palaces, and plazas for better or – more likely – worse.
Across 8 Ancient Greek historian and geographer (6)9 2nd-century Greek theologian, author of Against Heresies (8)10 Fabled city of South America (2,6)11 Mayan style of architecture from northern Yucatan (3,3)12 Inca citadel (9)14 Recess in the wall of a Roman…
REVIEW BY CARLY HILTS Popular imaginings of the Viking Age are often dominated by larger-than life figures – kings, warlords, explorers, poets – with the experiences of ordinary men, women, and children fading anonymously into the background. This vibrant book…
REVIEW BY BRYAN R JUST Megan O’Neil’s Memory in Fragments provides a comprehensive and nuanced presentation of a topic the author has been exploring for years, namely the myriad ways the ancient Maya interacted with monumental sculptures over their long…
REVIEW BY MARIANNE HEM ERIKSEN Human sacrifice constitutes a perennially fascinating topic for scholars and general audiences alike. It is also a research area where the risk of leaning into sensationalism and exoticisation can be relatively high. In the Darkest…
A large Viking Age burial ground has been discovered in Halland, western Sweden. Archaeologists Anders Kjellin and Petra Nordin tell us about their findings.
A curious composition New analysis of an inhumation burial unearthed in the 1970s at a Gallo Roman cemetery in Pommerœul, Belgium, has revealed that this ‘individual’ in fact comprises bones from at least four different Late Neolithic people, as well…
A specialised analytical approach has identified the first archaeological evidence for silk at the Bronze Age site of Sanxingdui. The settlement, which lies in the Sichuan Basin in south-western China, is believed to have been the capital of the ancient…
Between the 12th and the 16th centuries, the city of Bruges in Belgium was an important commercial hub, home to a number of foreign merchant communities, several of whom set up their own ‘nation houses’, which served as administrative seats…
Analysis of engraved stone slabs from the 15,800-year-old site of Gönnersdorf, located on the banks of the Rhine in west-central Germany, has identified a set of carvings that appear to depict fish nets or traps. Gönnersdorf has produced a rich…
New analysis of an ancient Egyptian ritual vessel is shedding light on the complex concoction it once held. Bes vases are a type of ceramic vessel decorated with the head of Bes, an ancient Egyptian guardian figure associated with protection,…
The remains of a unique Neolithic ceremonial site have been uncovered in the province of Skåne, in southern Sweden. Investigations were carried out in 2024 in the village of Hammar, outside Kristianstad, by archaeologists from the country’s National Historical Museums…
Rubina Raja and Julia Steding discuss a collaboration between the Centre for Urban Network Evolutions and the NGO Videnskabsklubben that has resulted in a brand new, first-of-its-kind archaeological outreach programme for schoolchildren in Denmark.
The discovery of a Roman fortification high in the Alps is the most recent development in a remarkable series of findings that allow us to trace the progress of a legionary battlegroup in the 1st century BC. As well as following part of their march, we can see how they sought to control this mountainous terrain, and where they clashed with local forces, as Hannes Flück told Matthew Symonds.
Surveying an area of remote Mexican jungle that was previously devoid of Maya sites has produced remarkable results. Ivan Šprajc told Matthew Symonds how he set about discovering lost settlements in an archaeological black hole.
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.
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 founded by Ardashir I (8)12 Neolithic pottery named…