Competition: Current World Archaeology Photo of the Year 2022
The winning image and three runners-up will be featured in CWA.
World Archaeology
News in brief from China, Guatemala, and Spain
Brief summaries of important archaeological discoveries, including the world's oldest coin mint, ancient Mayan parks, and a cave painting scene of honey-gathering.
Revealing the Lady of Baza’s true colours
The painted sculpture depicting a seated woman was found inside a burial chamber with other rich grave goods.
Great Sites of the Ancient World
This gloriously illustrated volume takes readers on a tour of 100 archaeological sites around the world. While many of the selections are familiar entries in lists of great sites – such as the Giza plateau, Machu Picchu, and Hadrian’s Wall…
Ancient shark attack
Individual 24 was found to have at least 790 wounds made at around the time of death
New dates for Machu Picchu
Radiocarbon dating of burials from the Inca site of Machu Picchu has revealed that it was occupied several decades earlier than previously thought. The famous UNESCO World Heritage site in Peru is believed to have been built after the Emperor…
Hare paenga: the canoe-shaped houses and monumental archaeology of Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
The archaeology of Rapa Nui is dominated by the Easter Island heads, but these were just one element of larger ceremonial complexes. Colin Richards explores some distinctive houses, which offer tantalising clues for understanding the celebrated statues.
Archaeology and the Early Church in Southern Greece
This book provides a brief history of Christianity in the eastern Peloponnese (including ancient sites in Corinth, such as Kenchreai and Lechaion, as well as Isthmia, Nemea, Sikyon, and Epidauros) and in Athens, from its beginnings but with a focus…
Wooden snake figurine
Snakes are rarely depicted in rock art in northern Europe, and are known to have had symbolic significance in the later world views of the Finno-Ugric and Sámi peoples
Rare Roman boundary stone
The travertine stone bears an inscription detailing Claudius’ titles and honours
Southern Levant: what was on the menu in the land of milk and honey?
Just how much can ancient diet tell us about past lives? Shyama Vermeersch considers what cuisine reveals about the southern Levant in the Bronze and Iron Ages.
Doggerland and Malta
Gillis Kersting explores the lost worlds of Doggerland and prehistoric Malta through two new exhibitions at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden.
The Warsaw Mummy Project
A multidisciplinary project that uses a wide range of techniques to study ancient Egyptian mummies is shedding new light on the secrets hidden beneath their wrappings, as Marzena Oz.arek-Szilke, Marcin Jaworski, Wojciech Ejsmond, and Stanisl´aw Szilke explain.
The Archaeology of Medieval Towns: case studies from Japan and Europe
The Archaeology of Medieval Towns is an interesting proposition: a book which aims to act as a bridge between the medieval worlds of Europe and Japan, introducing each to the specialists of the other. The editors are careful to make…
Libarna: revealing the complex history of a colonial city
How did the Romans learn to incorporate new groups and regions into their empire? Libarna, a Roman colony in what was the Gallic part of Italy, may hold the key to answering this question. Katherine V Huntley reveals the ancient, and modern, significance of the city.
Earliest Christian monastery found in Egypt
Inscriptions were also found on the walls of several buildings, with passages from biblical and early Christian texts written in Greek.
Drawn and Written in Stone: an inventory of stepped structures and inscriptions on rock surfaces in Upper Tibet (ca.100 BCE to 1400 CE)
For many thousands of years, humans have inscribed their presence on the landscape. They drew or pecked images of the fanciful, representational, or sacred on the walls of caves, rock shelters, rock faces, and boulders, as well as on structures,…
16th-century Spanish objects in Mississippi
Many of the objects found had been repurposed by the Chickasaws into tools and ornaments
Ancient human relative identified in China
The fossil human cranium, thought to belong to a male about 50 years old, was found in 1933
Excavating a Phoenician shipwreck off the coast of Gozo, Malta
The Phoenicians occupied the coast of the Levant for over 1,000 years, but knowledge of their trade network and practices remains elusive. In 2007, an ancient wreck containing a large cache of ceramic containers was discovered off Malta. This ship proved to be one of only a handful of known Phoenician vessels. Since 2014, further exploration of the site has yielded some very exciting results. Project Director Timmy Gambin and Lucy Woods reveal some of its mysteries, and the challenges of excavating a shipwreck 110m below sea level.