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…
Graham Goodlad surveys the remarkable career of ancient history’s most successful warlord.…
Neil Faulkner analyses one of history’s greatest tactical triumphs.…
Nigel Jones explored the vexed relationship between President Lincoln and General McClellan in the first year of the American Civil War last issue. This time, he takes a look at Prime Minister Churchill’s relationship with the British generals in WWII.…
Graham Goodlad describes the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, one of the Third Reich’s most sinister figures, and its bloody aftermath.…
Andrew Mulholland analyses a masterful tactical defence by one of the finest British commanders of the Napoleonic Wars.…
This summer, the UK gained a new World Heritage site in the form of the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales, but also saw Liverpool demoted from this status. CA considers these recent changes, and takes a tour of other UNESCO-protected sites within the UK.…
On 28 July, UNESCO added the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales to its list of World Heritage sites, which currently number 1,154. Chris Catling reports on the reasons for this inscription and marvels at the human ingenuity that has left us with a remarkable landscape combining natural…
In a recent issue of Minerva magazine, Louise Stewart, Curator of Exhibitions at Sir John Soane’s Museum in London, discussed the young artist William Pars’ poetic images of the ruins he encountered on an expedition to Ionia (in modern-day Turkey) and Athens, and how his work helped shape the taste…
The rock-cut remains of Anchor Church, near Foremark in Derbyshire, have long been identified as an 18th-century folly. Recent analysis of the cave’s architectural features, though, has revealed clues to a possible early medieval origin for the site. CA reports on the newly published research.…
A long-running excavation in north-west Norfolk has revealed the remains of what is thought to be a middle-Saxon malting complex. Carly Hilts visited the site to speak to Eleanor Blakelock about what has been found.…
The origins of the imposing East Sussex hill figure known as the Long Man of Wilmington have long posed a mystery for archaeologists. Rodney Castleden discusses recent research suggesting a Tudor date for the monument – and a possible political message.…
Founded in 1846, Sussex Archaeological Society is one of the UK’s oldest county-based archaeology societies – but how did it begin? Carly Hilts spoke to Emma O’Connor to learn more about the birth of the organisation, as well as an exhibition marking its 175th birthday.…
Birdoswald is one of the most-excavated Roman forts on Hadrian’s Wall, but the area beyond the fort walls has been investigated in much less detail. Following the launch of a new four-year project to explore its remains, Current Archaeology's Carly Hilts visited the excavation to hear the latest news from…
The wife of the ‘heretic’ king Akhenaten, Queen Nefertiti is today one of the most iconic of all ancient Egyptians, thanks to her painted bust revealed to the world in 1923. Aidan Dodson charts the career of this remarkable queen, a hard-headed pragmatist who became a forgotten – and possibly…
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…
There is much we don’t know about the people who lived in Neolithic Malta, but they left their mark on the islands through vast temples and tombs. Luc Amkreutz and Sharon Sultana explore what these impressive structures and the figurines found in them can tell us about a vanished civilisation.…
With small tiles of marble and glass, Roman mosaicists created intricate mythological images, realistic scenes from nature, and other complex compositions to decorate the floors and walls of tombs, sanctuaries, and homes. Dalu Jones explores some mosaic masterpieces normally hidden in stores in Rome’s museums.…
Flinders Petrie is called the father of Egyptian archaeology; well, he was assisted on all of his excavations by his wife Hilda, who has never really achieved the due recognition that she deserves.…
In September 1224, St Francis of Assisi had a vision in which an angel marked him with the wounds of Christ. As Norman Hammond explains, this was a popular scene on plates for pilgrims, but sometimes these plates could offer up a more unusual image.…
Soon after the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC came another famous battle as allied Greek city-states fought to resist the invading armies of the Persian Empire. The Greek victory at Salamis 2,500 years ago was mythologised by Athenian playwrights and others, monumentalising their city’s role in saving all that…