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.
Unlocking a hidden landscape: preliminary fieldwork at Qarn bint Sa’ud, Abu Dhabi
Recent survey has revolutionised our knowledge of rock art created on an imposing natural landmark in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). What can archaeology reveal about how humans used a landscape that periodically became more or less hospitable in response to climate shifts? George H Nash, Yale Fox, Dillon von Petzinger, Genevieve von Petzinger, Aitor Ruiz Redondo, Juan F Ruiz Lopez, and Yamandu H Hilbert, provide us with a first glimpse of the fruits of their work.
Maya cacao consumption more widespread than previously thought
The fact that cacao appears to have been generally available does not diminish its value, but rather suggests that its importance for the Maya people extended throughout society.
Small is beautiful: exploring the drawbacks of megacities
Haunted by Ostrogothic and Hunnic raids, Panticapaeum still survived as a Byzantine citadel. It lived through a succession of Khazar and Slavic lordships to become the modern city of Kerch, now once more trying to persist through a precarious situation in the current war in Ukraine.
Everyday Life in the Ice Age
Archaeologists tend to reserve the term ‘civilisation’ for the settled villages and towns of the Neolithic and Bronze Age. Many of the innovations that we think are characteristic of human civilisation were,
African Queen: an intact royal burial from Egypt reveals new insights into cultural connections
The identity of the ancient Egyptian ‘Qurna Queen’ remains a mystery over 100 years after the excavation of her intact burial. However, new research on her burial assemblage is revealing historic biases in interpretation and shedding light on Egypt’s place within African culture, as Margaret Maitland explains.
Elite Wari burials uncovered in northern Peru
Excavations have uncovered a significant section of the site’s necropolis, which the archaeologists are calling ‘The Gallery of the Elite Craftsmen’.
Early limb amputation in Borneo
The fossilised remains, which date to between 31,000 and 30,000 years ago, were found during excavations at Liang Tebo. Previously, the earliest known evidence of surgical amputation came from a farmer in France c.7,000 years ago
Ancient mounds in America
In the middle of Louisiana State University’s campus stand two earthen mounds, each c.5.5m tall. The LSU Campus Mounds have long been known to be among the c.800 mounds created by ancient
Tutankhamun’s Trumpet: the story of ancient Egypt in 100 objects
The title of this book is perhaps rather misleading. Although a hundred objects from the tomb of Tutankhamun (among which are counted two scenes from the walls of its burial chamber) are
The power of words: racing to read the lost secrets of Egypt
The beautiful and mysterious signs adorning ancient monuments across Egypt have excited speculation for centuries. The tale of how their meaning was finally rediscovered is just as long, and takes in many twists and turns. Success came 200 years ago, and with it a staggering insight into ancient Egyptian history, as Ilona Regulski told Matthew Symonds.
New discoveries in Nîmes
The excavations revealed at least 50 burials dating to the Roman period, including inhumation graves, cremation urns, and signs of funerary pyres.
Ötzi’s one-man show
On 19 September 1991, two hikers made an alarming discovery high in the Alps. Travelling off the beaten track, they saw a human corpse in a gulley, and imagined they had stumbled across an ill-fated mountaineer. Instead, this was just the latest twist in an extraordinary murder mystery. Investigators soon realised that the victim had met his fate in prehistory. Now, over three decades on, the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology is showcasing the vivid light shed on Copper Age life thanks to the study of this man and his possessions. Richard Hodges reports.
Study presents first evidence of use of human bone for making pendants in northeast Europe
The study aims to improve our understanding of the social identities of people living in this region between c.9,000 and 7,500 years ago by exploring what their burials can tell us about their relationships with the animals in the world around them.
Alexander the Great: the making of a myth
A new exhibition at the British Library explores the 2,000-year history of storytelling and myth-making surrounding Alexander the Great.
War, Spectacle, and Politics in the Ancient Andes
War, Spectacle, and Politics in the Ancient Andes by Elizabeth N Arkush provides a well-organised analysis of the external/environmental and internal/psychological factors that shaped pre-contact Andean warfare. More specifically, the key argument
Glass beads, ritual deposits, and laser beams: a sanctuary on Timpone della Motta entangled in networks of trade and resettling
Thousands of votive objects have been found buried in ritual deposits at a hilltop sanctuary in southern Italy. Cristina Boschetti, Jan Kindberg Jacobsen, Gloria Mittica, Eva Mortensen, and Rubina Raja take us to the excavations at the summit of Timpone della Motta and tie the findings together with the archaeology and history of the site. Our journey, though, begins in a laboratory in Orléans.
Research sheds light on major megalithic site in Spain
The site, known as La Torre- La Janera, covers an area of c.600ha near the Guadiana River in the province of Huelva.
The mystery of Mithras
An exhibition at the Musée Saint-Raymond explores the Roman cult of Mithras. Gillis Kersting visited to find out more about this enigmatic religion.
Hunters or gatherers? Women’s everyday lives in the Ice Age
Recent debate about women’s roles in the Ice Age raises questions about how much can be said about everyday lives in this era. Elle Clifford and Paul Bahn examine the evidence for who did what in the Palaeolithic.
Recreating an ancient Egyptian perfume
Experimental archaeologists have recreated a famous ancient Egyptian perfume known as the Mendesian in a lab, using ingredients mentioned in Classical sources.