New details about the domestication of dogs
Dogs are man’s best (and oldest – see CA 352 and 401) friends, but how they came to be that way is still a bit of a mystery. Based on morphological changes
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Antonine Wall fortlet found
Archaeological investigations in Bearsden, near Glasgow, have revealed evidence of a previously unknown fortlet on the Antonine Wall. This is the 13th Antonine Wall fortlet to have been confidently identified, adding to
Bronze Age watering hole found near Gloucester
Excavations south of Gloucester have uncovered a remarkably well preserved Bronze Age watering hole, with many of its wooden structures surviving in situ. The discovery was made last year during investigations by
Evidence of Roman reprisals in Essex?
A recently revealed Iron Age settlement in Cressing, near Braintree in Essex, appears to have been almost completely destroyed during the second half of the 1st century AD. Dating to around the
Bronze Age monument uncovered in the New Forest
Community excavations on the Beaulieu Estate in the New Forest have uncovered an enigmatic Bronze Age monument, as well as evidence for Mesolithic activity, greatly adding to our knowledge of how this
Unusual burial discovered in Leith
A recent excavation along Constitution Street in Leith, in advance of an extension to the Edinburgh tram line to Newhaven, has uncovered hundreds of human remains from a late medieval cemetery and,
Britain’s first 5th-century mosaic identified?
New dating evidence from Chedworth Roman Villa in Gloucestershire may have identified Britain’s first-known 5th-century mosaic, researchers have announced. Founded in the 2nd century and reaching its zenith 200 years later, the
Roman discoveries at ancient Augustodunum
Excavations directed by Carole Fossurier found a range of different burial practices. There were mausoleums, a wooden building, and a tile structure, which resembled burials of the early empire, as well as five sandstone sarcophagi and 15 lead coffins.
More mummies unveiled at Saqqara
As well as the coffins, which date to the Late Period (525-332 BC) and Ptolemaic Dynasty (323-30 BC), Egyptian archaeologists found shabtis, amulets, four gilded funerary masks, and 40 statues of Ptah Sokar, a prominent god of Saqqara.
An unknown manuscript by a medieval master
‘The Lucas Psalter is of clear artistic and cultural significance, and tells a fascinating English story.’
A study in purple
Today, more than 1,000 of these mummy portraits survive in museums and collections around the world.
Paranthropus robustus
The discovery of a two-million-year-old skull in South Africa is shedding important new light on microevolution in an early hominin species, as Jesse Martin and Angeline Leece reveal.
Victims of Vesuvius
The remains of two individuals who died during the eruption of Vesuvius have been found at a suburban villa near Pompeii.
Cooking cereals in prehistoric China
A project looking at the history of crops in prehistoric China has identified differences in regional diets and changes over time, which may be connected to varying cooking practices in these areas.
Ship shape: Viking burial found
Boat burials emerged in northern Europe in the 1st century AD and disappeared with the introduction of Christianity in the 10th and 11th century. The ship burial reflects the ultimate display of status, wealth, and connection.
Rare child burial in Indonesia
A sub-adult burial dating to the early-mid Holocene, c.8000 BP, has been found in Makpan Cave on Alor Island, south-eastern Indonesia. To date, only a few complete pre-Neolithic burials have been found
Life and Death in Sefidkuh
An ongoing study in the Makran Sefidkuh region of Iran is shedding light on the culture and archaeological remains of communities in the area, stretching back to prehistory. The project, led by
English Civil War massacre ‘cover-up’ revealed
New research has attempted to establish why a brutal massacre during the English Civil War has been largely forgotten by history. The site of a Royalist garrison in Nottinghamshire, Shelford Manor was
Falkland Islands cleared of mines nearly 40 years since war
A campaign has finally cleared the Falkland Islands of thousands of mines laid during the war there almost 40 years ago. The project removed the estimated 13,000 lethal devices that were still
Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Culloden battle hoard found
It remained buried for two and a half centuries. Now a hoard believed to have been part of a supply of weapons for Bonnie Prince Charlie has been found in the Highlands
American Air Museum at Duxford granted listed status
It is the largest museum of its kind in Europe. Now the American Air Museum at IWM Duxford has been granted Grade II-listed status by English Heritage. The impressive building, which was
Rare WWII Enigma machine uncovered in the Baltic
An incredibly rare Enigma machine from the Second World War has been recovered from the Baltic Sea. Divers made the discovery at Gelting Bay, east of Flensburg, while searching for discarded fishing
Parsing the properties of Egyptian purple pigments
Between 30 BC and the 3rd century AD, during which period Egypt was a province of the Roman Empire, a practice developed of attaching a portrait of a mummified individual to their