Palaeolithic portable art

A rare example of Upper Palaeolithic portable art has been found at an open-air site in south-eastern France. Bellegarde, located between Nîmes and Arles, was discovered in 2015 by Inrap archaeologists. Excavations across c.2,000m2 of the multi-phase site have produced evidence of occupation at many intervals throughout history, from the…

World’s earliest known saddle found in China?

A recent study has determined that a leather saddle found in north-western China may be the oldest surviving example currently known. Exactly when horse-riding and the use of saddles began is still a subject of some debate, but the latest research suggests that at least some people were riding horses…

Religious sites in Bolivia

Archaeological surveys in the Carangas region of highland Bolivia have identified a previously unrecognised concentration of religious sites built by the pre-Hispanic inhabitants of the area, including one site with characteristics currently unique in the Andes. The survey identified 135 circular sites located on hilltops, each defined by concentric walls…

Fusion diets in the early colonial Caribbean

Analysis of pottery from the Caribbean island of Isla de Mona, part of the Puerto Rican archipelago, is shedding new light on food and drink practices on the island at the time of its early colonisation, including what may be the earliest evidence of wine-drinking in the Americas. Isla de…

Roman body armour undergoes analysis

In 2018, a rusty lump of more than 400 fragments of iron was discovered in Germany at Kalkriese, the site of the Varus Battle, where a catastrophic defeat was inflicted on Rome in AD 9 (see CWA 104). In the five years that have passed since this material was found,…

World News

More still to uncover at Pompeii While investigations at Pompeii have been ongoing for centuries, much of the site remains unexplored, and new excavations have recently begun in one such previously unexamined section. This new project aims to uncover an area of around 3,200m2 – roughly the size of a…

Current World Archaeology 119

• Rethinking the role of Persian and Greek luxury
• Investigating the transition to settled and farming lifestyles on the Konya Plain
• Exploring Persia’s northern defences in late antiquity
• The archaeological gems of Greece’s forgotten highlands
• Grama Bay: a crossroads in the Mediterranean…

The Young Alexander: the making of Alexander the Great

Review by Matthew Symonds When we think of Alexander the Great, it is his exploits as an adult that spring to mind. He is the audacious leader who landed an army in Asia at the age of 21 in a bid to bring down the Achaemenid empire. Breathtaking victories and…

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