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.
Peru: using past technologies to solve future problems
Climate change and water shortages threaten the survival of rural communities in the Peruvian Andes. Robert Early explains how ancient Inca know-how is relevant today.
Caught in the crossfire: conflict in Syria and Iraq
In 2012, CWA reported on the damage inflicted on Syria’s cultural heritage since the beginning of the civil war. Now we take an updated look at heritage in conflict in Syria and Iraq.
The bare bones: ritual violence in Denmark’s Holy Valley
Are the macabre remains at an Iron Age sanctuary evidence of sacrificed enemy warriors? CWA talks to Mads Kähler Holst, who made the grim finds.
Rare perfume flask found in Etruscan tomb
A small perfume flask was found dangling from a nail on the back tomb wall where it had been hung about 2,500 years ago
Zagreb and beyond: exploring Iron Age burial mounds on the Trail of Princes
Patrick Skinner sets out from the country’s capital on a voyage of archaeological discovery.
Butrint: finding a timeless oasis
Shortly after the end of the Cold War, exactly a decade before CWA was launched, Richard Hodges walked through the ruins at Butrint. Here, he looks back over 20 years of discovery and excavation at this ancient city that sits on the idyllic shores of the Ionian Sea.
Cyber Archaeology: how 3D modelling is unpeeling the Neolithic at Çatalhöyük
Archaeology destroys: once a site has been dug, it cannot be un-dug. Now, however, archaeologists Maurizio Forte, Nicolò Dell’Unto, and Scott Haddow, at the huge Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Turkey, have developed a process that can do just that – virtually, at least.
Thonis-Heracleion: finding a legendary port under the sea
Once gatekeeper to Egypt’s interior, Thonis-Heracleion lay forgotten beneath the sea several miles off the Egyptian coast. The legendary city, visited by Helen of Troy as she eloped with Paris, enjoyed wealth and prestige before vanishing from the face of the earth.
Olives: oiling the wheels of civilisation
Olive trees thrive on poor soil where little else will grow, which means land that would otherwise be barren can produce food. This realisation triggered a true agricultural revolution – but when and where did it take place? Colin Renfrew and Evi Margaritis believe the clues were grown on Crete.
Roman Faverdale: a frontier trading settlement
What impact did the Roman army have on the native population living in the military north? The recent publication of the report on a settlement at Faverdale, Darlington, by Jennifer Proctor provides some unexpected answers.
Sex, sport, and sacrifice: reconstructing the ancient Olympics
Forget London 2012. What about Olympia in 388 BC? Archaeologist Neil Faulkner has just published a new book that attempts to reconstruct the lived experience of the ancient games. So what were they really like?
Surviving the tsunami: archaeological sites of northeastern Japan
The deadly wave that engulfed the northeastern coastline of Japan devastated many archaeological sites and museums. Prehistoric settlers along the coast chose higher ground for their sites, perhaps passing on knowledge of the danger from earlier tsunamis from generation to generation. CWA looks at a handful of these ancient sites.
Tidal wave: the day Japan shook
Following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in Spring this year, archaeologist Simon Kaner insists there is much to celebrate about the country’s heritage – and much to mend.
The curious case of the Gua Made green masks
Sensational discoveries of metal masks in a subterranean temple have led to calls for Javanese history to be rewritten. Fiorella Rispoli investigates.
Cyrus Cylinder
The cylinder, excavated in 1879 by the archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam, was once considered to be a unique object, made for ritual burial in the foundations of the Esagila, ancient Babylon’s main temple, when Cyrus rebuilt it.
Mexican Clovis and Heavenly Hopewell
In Brian Fagan’s latest instalment of all things archaeological that are both exotic and entertaining, he reads a Jamestown tablet, gets spiritual with the Hopewell, and finds gomphotheres with Clovis points.
Captain Spratt’s Crete: the island that tipped
Crete lies in an earthquake zone. This has affected the island over the centuries, but how? Although never fully recognised, in the 1850s Captain Spratt, of the Royal Navy, worked it out. Dudley Moore explains.
Roman frontiers: on the edges of empire
The former frontiers of the Roman Empire are set to become the world’s biggest single archaeological site. UNESCO World Heritage Site status is now in prospect for the frontiers as a whole. Historic Scotland’s David Breeze is a leading advocate of the move. Neil Faulkner asked him to explain why the Roman imperial frontiers deserve such special treatment.
Olympic link on Antikythera Mechanism
In CWA 30 we reported on recent research to understand the 2,000 year old scientific instrument salvaged from a Roman ship that sank off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera