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…
Neil went on to propose using what R G Collingwood called ‘the historical imagination’ by blending data and interpretation to ‘tell the story’. He was convinced that this ‘must be done if archaeology is to be interesting and worthwhile’.…
How a research expedition in Antarctica located the lost wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, Endurance.…
'Spot' is equipped to carry out routine inspections and monitor the safety of the site.…
Many of the jar sites in Assam contain engraved stone slabs decorated with human figures and other motifs.…
What is it? This 6th-century ivory comb, which may have been used by its owner to style his hair and beard, was found in a grave in Germany, in an early medieval toiletry bag that also contained a small pair of scissors for personal grooming. The ivory comb is approximately…
Why did collecting human heads as trophies become so widespread along the south coast of Peru, and who were they being taken from? Lidio M Valdez examines the extraordinary and chilling implications of the archaeology of the Acari valley.…
Review by Oliver J Gilkes Everybody likes mosaic pavements; they are ancient artefacts that entrance and beguile the visitor at Greek and Roman sites. No matter that floor mosaics (the majority of survivals) were little more than rugs and mats, and it was the walls that mattered most to antique…
Analysis of the remains of an elderly woman buried at the Dolmen of El Pendón, in northern Spain, has identified the earliest known evidence of successful ear surgery, 5,300 years ago. The skull was discovered by researchers from the University of Valladolid during excavations of the megalithic monument, which was…
This discovery demonstrates that this calendar system has been in operation for at least 2,200 years.…
Until now, the earliest evidence for intentional human mummification came from the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, c.7,000 years ago.…
In 1958, an archaeological team set out to undertake a trailblazing survey of the submerged ruins of Apollonia. Nic Flemming looks at what was accomplished, and what changed in the decades that followed.…
Crossword from Current World Archaeology issue of March 2022.…
Your observations, your objections, and your opinions.…
Among the new statues is least one figure who appears to be a general, and another who is a middle-ranking army officer.…
• Pyramid builders: eye-witness accounts of a legendary construction project
• Golden Fleece paradox: gold in the Caucasus
• Recording rock art in Portugal
• Apollonia revisited: a pioneering survey
• Italy: a 9th-century feudal calamity
• Thailand: a legendary lost city…
A new exhibition at the Moesgaard Museum in Denmark explores the often-overlooked story of the Rus Vikings. We spoke to curator Pauline Asingh about the adventures of these influential voyagers, whose travels took them from Scandinavia to Constantinople, the Caliphate, and beyond.…
New studies are revealing the impact environmental changes have had on ancient societies around the world.…
The Kaiseraugst amphitheatre was discovered in the Rheinfelden district at a site known to have been the location of a Roman quarry…
January 2022 saw the launch of a new phase in the first ever archaeological study of a human habitat in space. The project, which began in 2015, is led by Dr Alice Gorman at Flinders University and Dr Justin Walsh at Chapman University, and aims to study the lives of…
Review by Salima Ikram. This book, based on a PhD thesis, focuses on Egyptian ‘animal worship’ from the 3rd to the 2nd millennium BC. In the introduction, the author states that the work aims to use multiple theoretical perspectives and concepts, including Egyptology, history of religions, and anthropology in order…