Interpersonal violence has been a fact of human existence for much of our long history – but how far is this reflected in the archaeological record? With a major new exhibition now open at the National Museum of Scotland, Matthew G Knight and Hannah Boddy examine traces of past conflicts spanning 4,000 years, and consider how to present these stories to modern audiences.
The Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) has been excavating sites along the banks of the River Great Ouse since 1994, keeping one step ahead of sand- and gravel-quarrying that is steadily transforming the landscape from solid ground to a series of lakes that will eventually form a large nature reserve. Chris Catling reports on the latest volume to emerge from this project, which brings together a series of excavations exploring a c.5km length of the river at the point where it enters the Fen marshlands near Earith in Cambridgeshire.
Many of Cornwall’s churches preserve centuries-old murals of saints and religious scenes. Laura Miucci shares some of the stories behind these colourful creations, and explores how organised Community Archaeology visits to sites like these can boost the well-being of participants.
The largest excavation undertaken in Leicester for over a decade has shed vivid new light on the city’s early Roman history, as well as revealing evidence of luxurious dwellings, including one of the biggest fragments of mosaic floor found in the city in 150 years. Gavin Speed reports.
The Llangorse Crannog is the only example yet identified in Wales of a type of artificial island settlement more commonly found in Scotland and Ireland. Scepticism about the likelihood of the site being a crannog led to its being largely ignored in archaeological literature until the early 1980s. Then Alan Lane, who had recently been appointed to teach Post-Roman Archaeology at Cardiff University, rowed out to look and found substantial oak planks protruding from the water. Chris Catling describes what happened next.
A new exhibition, displayed amid the remains of London’s Roman amphitheatre, tells the story of the gladiators who fought in its arena. Carly Hilts spoke to Kate Sumnall about what light the material record can shed on the lives and deaths of these men.
In 1653, a small Cromwellian warship was lost off the west coast of Scotland. Excavated between 1992 and 2003, the wreck of the Swan yielded finds that tell stories of cutting-edge weaponry, mishaps on board, and plunder. Now the full report has been published, Colin Martin reveals the ship’s secrets and explains why wrecks are such a valuable archaeological resource.
Dominic Green looked at the sensual paintings of the acclaimed Victorian artist Lawrence Alma-Tadema on show at Leighton House in London.
In the first of an occasional series on conflict archaeology, Anthony Rogers reports on the evidence for the epic air battle above the island-fortress of Malta during the Second World War.
Dr Hannah Higham traces the shifting influences of the ancient world on the work of Henry Moore – from Sumerian art to Greek Classicism
Dalu Jones discovers what happened to the largest amphitheatre in the world after the brutal public fights and barbaric contests ceased.
The power of the Vindolanda and Bloomberg tablets to evoke our Roman past has made them justly famous, but just how widespread were writers in Roman Britain? Hella Eckardt reveals what inkwells can tell us about the arrival of literacy.
MHM Editor Neil Faulkner analyses the RAF’s controversial strategic bombing campaign.
For over a decade, archaeological research at the Ness of Brodgar has uncovered an astonishing array of Neolithic structures, including monumental buildings and hundreds of examples of prehistoric artwork. Nick Card brings us the latest news from the Ness.
In his second article, Paul Rahe analyses Sparta’s response to the mortal challenge posed by the Persian invasions of the early 5th century BC.
While studying the Terracotta Warriors in the tomb of China’s first emperor, Professor Lukas Nickel of the University of Vienna came to some interesting conclusions about links between China and the Hellenistic World, as he explains to Dalu Jones
Well-known for his television programmes on the archaeology of South America, curator Dr Jago Cooper now focuses on the ancient cultures of the northwest coast of North America in his new exhibition at the British Museum, as he tells Diana Bentley
Jenny Davenport marvels at all the astoundingly intricate works of medieval English embroidery in Opus Anglicanum, a major exhibition currently on show at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London
Dominic Green gives us a preview of an exhibition about to open at the Getty Center in Los Angeles that shows us how the ancient world was viewed through medieval eyes
The remarkable preservation at Must Farm promised insights into day-to-day life that would revolutionise our knowledge of the late Bronze Age. As excavations at the site reach completion, it is already clear that we will never see that era in the same way again. Mark Knight, Susanna Harris, and Grahame Appleby told Matthew Symonds about life in a Bronze Age settlement.
The MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) Spitalfields Market excavations in 1991-2007 were one of Britain’s largest ever digs. Four major publications are being produced to cover the results. The latest volume concerns the post-medieval era (1539-1880), which was a period that saw vast social transformations, as Chiz Harward and Nigel Jeffries explain.
The Norman Conquest in 1066 is often described as the most famous date in English history, but 50 years earlier – almost to the day – the country had been captured by another foreign power: the Danish army of Cnut the Great. As we mark the 1,000th anniversary of these momentous events, what trace of the Viking conquest can be seen in the archaeological record? Current Archaeology’s Carly Hilts reports.
Do the spectacular burials at a huge ceremonial complex in the northern highlands of Peru signal the emergence of a ruling elite? Yuji Seki introduces the high priests and priestesses of Andean society.