La Tène: A place of memory

When La Tène was discovered more than 150 years ago, the site gave its name to the second half of the Iron Age across much of Europe, and objects of La Tène type are often equated with the Celts. But what was found at La Tène? Andrew Fitzpatrick and Marc-Antoine…

Liman Tepe: A bridge between worlds

For over 30 years a pioneering project has investigated the prehistory of the Izmir region of Turkey. What has it discovered? Vasıf ÅžahoÄŸlu told Matthew Symonds an epic tale of rise and fall, connectivity and technology, and the long shadows cast by devastating natural disasters.…

It was just meant to be a night out

John Lock resumes his occasional series on the ‘Butterfly Effect’ by examining another event that would have unforeseen consequences. This time, he turns his attention to Paul Revere’s ‘midnight ride’ and the events that became known as the ‘shot heard round the world’.…

The cruel siege of Siena

When the army of Europe’s most powerful monarch besieged the Tuscan city in 1554, it took terror and hunger to achieve what cannon and arquebus could not, as William E Welsh explains.…

Europe 1943: A year of arguments, decisions, and victories

It was the critical time, when the tide finally turned in the West. But even victories at Stalingrad, in North Africa, and in Sicily could not mask the tensions between the Allied ‘Big Three’. Eighty years on, Taylor Downing describes a pivotal period in World War II.…

The Bare Bones: Presenting a very regional Neolithic

During the early Neolithic period, a distinctive regional tradition of funerary architecture developed on either side of the waters stretching between Northern Ireland and south-western Scotland. Matt Ritchie explores how archaeological research and interpretation is helping to illuminate the chambered cairns of the North Channel and the people who built…

Fortress Londinium: Tracing London’s Roman defences

This summer, a museum displaying a portion of the wall that once encircled Roman London has opened, and three sections of the settlement’s riverside defences have been granted scheduled status. Carly Hilts visited the museum and spoke to Jane Sidell to learn more about Londonium’s fortifications.…

One and all: Discovering the distinctiveness of Cornish buildings

The Cornish Buildings Group recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. Dedicated to preserving and improving Cornwall’s built heritage, the Group has marked its half-century by publishing a short history of its achievements and a volume of conference proceedings that address the question: what defines Cornish buildings? Among the factors…

Lost orders: Time Team and the Knights Hospitaller of Halston Hall

The Knights Hospitaller were forged in the fury of the Crusades, providing protection, hospitality, and medical care for travellers in the Holy Land, and building fundraising communities back in Britain. Few of these sites have been excavated in detail, but Time Team have been investigating a Shropshire example. Carly Hilts…

Making a splash

How did water go from being something to fear to a place of privilege in Greece and Rome? Karen Eva Carr plunges into the cultural history of swimming.…

Secrets of their craft

Many metalworkers and ceramicists in Renaissance Europe seemingly had no qualms about killing a lizard – or other animal – for their art. Pamela Smith investigates the intriguing practice of life-casting that turned nature into art, and why artisan authors recorded practical knowledge in words.…

The gods of Dura-Europos

From the worship of local Syrian protector gods to Christianity, many different religions flourished in the cosmopolitan crossroads city of Dura-Europos. Jen Baird brings us face to face with the diverse divine through the art of this ancient site.…

All creatures great and small

Animal art over thousands of years paints a picture of the ways we live with and study different species, from Roman hunting hounds to swarms of bees, as Lucia Marchini investigates.…

Visions of Mary Magdalene

In early Christian art, Mary Magdalene was a key figure in the Resurrection of Christ, as first witness and ‘apostle to the apostles’. Diane Apostolos-Cappadona explores how her significance was set in stone, tiled on walls, and carved in wood and ivory.…

Eleusinian Mysteries

Eleusis – modern Elefsina – is in the spotlight as European Capital of Culture. Dalu Jones visits its ancient remains to enter the realm of the Eleusinian Mysteries, secret rites honouring the renewal of life.…

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