How did Egypt build the pyramids? It is a question that has excited the imagination of scholars and visitors for millennia. Now papyri documenting work on the Great Pyramid are revealing fresh insights into construction work. Pierre Tallet and Mark Lehner told Matthew Symonds how combining text and archaeology can…
Many cities have fallen to subterfuge, fire, and the sword over the millennia, so why does our fascination with Troy remain so keen? Perhaps it is because Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey have become potent examples of the power of words. These tales of derring-do and destructive depravity coloured the Greek,…
The painted limestone bust of the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, recovered from the royal city of Amarna, is familiar across the world. This bust has inspired many copies – some very accurate, some far less so – so that many of us first ‘meet’ Nefertiti via one of these replicas. Recently,…
As cities, ceremonial centres, watchtowers, and irrigation systems emerge from the Guatemalan forest, a new LiDAR survey shows that there is more to the Maya than meets the eye.…
What is it? This unique Nordic bronze piece was discovered in Denmark and dates to the Early Bronze Age, c.1400 BC. It illustrates the eternal journey of the sun, as depicted by a divine horse pulling an ornate golden disc, all on rotating wheels. The Sun Chariot is 54cm long,…
It was a splendid tour: we stayed in 9 different hotels over 16 days, which meant that we were always on the move. But this was just what we wanted, for we explored the heart of the historic country and saw – if briefly – most of the best-known archaeological…
What is it? This ceremonial yew-wood weapon – dating to the late 18th century – was made by the Nuu-cha-nulth people of the Pacific North-west Coast of Canada. Measuring 25cm in length, the club handle is decorated with black human hair and inlaid with snail-shell opercula and the teeth of…
Heritage is about more than monuments. It is also about people: how they interacted with the buildings in daily life and how their sense of belonging has shaped them. This is why organisations such as UNESCO were established to protect the world’s cultural heritage from damage through natural disaster, neglect,…
Alice Stevens ventures deep into the Mexican jungle where, surrounded by the echoing screech of howler monkeys, Calakmul rises above the canopy, and takes a stand as the most impressive Mayan temple remaining today.…
Sarah Lindsell journeys across the Albanian hills to the 3rd-century BC Greek city of King Pyrrhus.…
Do the spectacular burials at a huge ceremonial complex in the northern highlands of Peru signal the emergence of a ruling elite? Yuji Seki introduces the high priests and priestesses of Andean society.…
The results of CT imaging on Hatshepsut, Ramesses III, Tutankhamen, and a host of other New Kingdom mummies are revealed in a gripping new book by Zahi Hawass and Sahar Saleem, as Kimberley Watt illuminates.…
What is it? This splendid statue depicts Idrimi, the king of Alalakh, an ancient city near the Syrian–Turkish border. Dated to the 15th century BC, it is carved from hard, white magnesite stone, with inlaid glass eyes, and sits a metre high atop a black basalt throne, carved with two…
When earthquakes strike, the consequences can be catastrophic. Yet what do we really know about their impact on past cultures? All is revealed in Andrew Robinson’s latest unputdownable book Earth-Shattering Events: Earthquakes, Nations and Civilization.…
From Malta, we now travel to its sister-island Gozo, where Nadia Durrani encountered two new major restoration projects.…
The stupendous temple of Angkor Wat and its forested environs are currently the focus of a major project involving LiDAR aerial laser-scanning and more. The archaeology is radically changing our understanding of this staggering site, but how? Brian Fagan and Nadia Durrani get the inside story from project co-director Roland…
What is it? This divine sculpture was made on Rurutu, one of the Austral Islands in Polynesia. When it was given to British missionaries in 1821, its name was recorded as A’a. A’a was said to have been named after the ancestor who founded the island of Rurutu and who,…
Alan Outram and Adrien Hannus uncover one of the earliest communities to take up farming on the Northern Plains of South Dakota.…
Stab wounds found on Ancient Egyptian skeletons suggest corporal punishment was used at the New Kingdom site of Amarna.…
How did copper production begin in China? Li Haichao discovers a site that overturns traditional models of the emerging copper industry.…
Blood-sacrifice and ritual extravaganzas could not save the Moche civilisation, but that did not stop them trying. Jorge Meneses tells CWA about the latest discoveries in the heart of the Moche capital, evidence of the grim public displays so intrinsic to this mighty empire.…