The discovery of an anonymous shipwreck off the coast of Sussex set archaeologists on the trail of a 350 year-old mystery. Mark Beattie Edwards reports on efforts to identify the sunken vessel and to protect its historic remains, sharing a story of bravery in battle, acts of ‘piracy’, and tragic…
Archaeologists and historians tend to approach the early medieval period through the lens of what was lost after the collapse of Roman rule. In her new book on life in Wales between c.AD 300 and 1050, Nancy Edwards shows us what survived from the centuries of Roman control – in…
This spring marked 300 years since the introduction of the 1723 Workhouse Test Act, often seen as the origin of the workhouse system in England and Wales. These institutions were designed as refuges for the destitute, but ultimately became a byword for cruelty and neglect. What can archaeology add to…
Excavations by the Caistor Roman Project outside the walls of Venta Icenorum are revealing the impact on local Iron Age communities of the development of a Roman regional capital. This summer, Carly Hilts visited the site and spoke to Giles Emery to find out more.…
Sanxingdui has produced a wealth of startling Bronze Age artefacts. Many of these treasures were deliberately smashed or burnt before being buried, raising questions about what they were used for and how they met their end, as Tianlong Jiao and Shengyu Wang told Matthew Symonds.…
In 2019, excavations at Kalambo Falls in Zambia produced a range of wooden objects. These included structural elements that have been dated using cutting-edge technology to an almost unbelievably ancient era. The results force us to rethink everything we thought we knew about the capabilities of early humans, as Larry…
The rivalry between Young and Champollion in the race to translate Egyptian hieroglyphs is legendary. But what motivated these two scholars, and what qualities did they bring to the endeavour? Andrew Robinson goes in search of the personalities behind an extraordinary intellectual achievement.…
Examining artefacts from Myanmar reveals how a tale of power, wealth, people, and the rise and fall of empires played out over centuries, as Alexandra Green told Matthew Symonds.…
Stephen Roberts analyses the crucial battle that cost the life of the Swedish king.…
Stephen Roberts traces the history of the Thirty Years’ War, Europe’s most destructive conflict prior to the First World War.…
Napoleon and Hitler both drew up detailed plans for the invasion of Britain, spreading alarm among the public and forcing urgent measures from the UK government in return. Here, David Porter compares the plans, and the threat posed by the country’s two would-be invaders.…
In the second part of our series on the use of deception during World War Two, Taylor Downing uncovers the extraordinary true story of Operation Mincemeat.…
In the first part of a new occasional series, Graham Goodlad profiles Robert Blake, the republican ‘general at sea’ who laid the foundations of sea power after the Civil Wars.…
Considered by many the finest cavalry officer of the American Civil War, Nathan Bedford Forrest was also responsible for one of its worst atrocities. Edmund West examines a troubling legacy.…
For a brief snapshot of the mid-19th century, flower festivals drew thousands of visitors to Stonehenge, long before the Neolithic monument became a popular tourist attraction in its own right. Carly Hilts visited the site and spoke to Louise Crawley, Brian Edwards, and Jennifer Wexler to learn…
Located off the south coast of Ynys Môn (Anglesey), Llanddwyn Island was home to a small monastic community for more than 1,000 years. Now a decade of archaeological investigations have shed vivid light on this remote religious community, documenting the remains of a 12th-century church and its surrounding landscape. George…
In the early medieval period, Yeavering was the site of seasonal gatherings by the Northumbrian royal court, whose palatial halls were famously excavated by Brian Hope-Taylor in the 1950s and 1960s. Now, with new archaeological investigations teasing out further details of the site, and an innovative attraction …
An eight-year effort by a dedicated band of more than 100 volunteers has borne fruit with the recent opening of a new heritage attraction in the heart of the Avalon Marshes. Richard Brunning describes how Somerset’s Iron Age, Roman, Saxon, and Viking past has been brought to life…
Do archaeological remains represent static monuments, or do they remain ‘alive’ in their natural and cultural landscapes? Emily Hanscam and Cornelius Holtorf discuss how Hadrian’s Wall and the Sycamore Gap tree can encourage us to rethink the relationships between humanity, nature, and the planet.…
The Sycamore Gap tree was an immediately recognisable feature of the central section of Hadrian’s Wall. Jim Crow, who directed excavations of this portion of the Roman frontier between 1982 and 1989, investigates its archaeological and landscape history.…