Cover Story
The Follo Line Project: Exploring medieval Oslo Since 2013, the largest infrastructure project in modern Norwegian history has granted a team of more than 40 archaeologists an extraordinary glimpse of medieval Oslo. One of the biggest questions they aimed to answer is what the medieval town really… Features
Altai rock art: Visions of the past in Mongolia Survey and excavation in a remote region of Mongolia are revealing a wealth of information about an extraordinary concentration of rock art. 
Torlonia marbles: An archaeology of a 19th-century antiquities collection The sculptures making up the Torlonia marbles provide a potent glimpse of life in ancient Rome. But this 19th-century collection is also an artefact in its own right. 
How to find your outpost on the Roman frontier How were smaller posts were distinguished? What steps did the authorities take to ensure that orders, post, goods, relief parties, or reinforcements were sent to the right place? News
CT scans reveal a pharaoh’s violent death Detailed study of the injuries to Seqenenre’s head has indicated that they were caused by several different weapons, suggesting that he was killed by multiple attackers 
‘Tower of skulls’ discovered in Tenochtitlan Excavations in Mexico City have discovered a new section of the Aztec skull rack known as the Huei Tzompantli. 
Indonesia’s oldest cave art discovered Archaeologists now believe that they have found a painting on the island of Sulawesi that pre-dates all other examples in the region, and may even be the earliest piece of… 
Ancient African ivory recovered from 16th-century shipwreck A cargo of ancient African ivory recovered from a 16th-century shipwreck is shedding light on early trade networks and historical elephant populations. 
800-year-old mistake uncovered by modern imaging A team of researchers have discovered evidence of a mistake made more than 700 years ago while investigating the painted Buddhist temples in the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, China. 
Destroyed 19th-century Alaskan fort identified The team behind a large geophysical survey in Sitka, south-east Alaska, believe they have identified the location of a 19th-century Tlingit fort, destroyed during a battle against Russian colonising forces… 
World News in Brief Domesticating dogs A study published in Scientific Reports (https://doi.org/10.1038/ s41598-020-78214-4) has proposed a new theory in the complex debate surrounding the way in which dogs came to be domesticated by… Views
Art in the Amazon The Picture Desk Hundreds of thousands of vibrant images painted on rock faces in the Serranía La Lindosa in the Colombian Amazon. 
Sailing to Ithaca? Comment, Travel Is Ithaca, in fact, Odysseus’ island, where Penelope faithfully weaved, steadfastly waiting for her mischievous prince in their well-appointed palace? 
Museo Nazionale: An Etruscan Renaissance in Florence Museum, Travel While there are impressive artefacts from all periods within, including a fantasy courtyard made from sculptural fragments of Roman Florentia, its glory is really the series of Etruscan antiquities. 
Food fads and fashions Comment At a time of food scarcity, obesity became a desirable condition… the Venus figurines represented an ideal body type. 
Archaeology and the silver screen Comment As far as I am aware, The Dig is a first. I mean a film where the whole thing revolves around an archaeological dig that really happened? This is the… 
Object Lesson: Lost Dixon Relic Objects This cigar box, containing several wooden splinters that make up a piece of cedar discovered in the Great Pyramid of Giza, was recently found in the University of Aberdeen’s collections. 
Save Burlington House! Comment, Places Rising rent may force the Antiquaries to leave Burlington House, potentially endangering its extensive collection, which includes many historically significant objects. 
Reviews
Sailing to Ithaca? Is Ithaca, in fact, Odysseus’ island, where Penelope faithfully weaved, steadfastly waiting for her mischievous prince in their well-appointed palace? Museo Nazionale: An Etruscan Renaissance in Florence While there are impressive artefacts from all periods within, including a fantasy courtyard made from sculptural fragments of Roman Florentia, its glory is really the series of Etruscan antiquities. 
Virtual visit to Wahtye’s tomb A digital 3D model offers a new way to visit this remarkable ancient Egyptian site. 
Ages and Abilities The primary aim of this volume is to address the issue of bioarchaeological age assessment and the different social responses to ages and maturing within past societies 
The Archaeology of Seeing We, as modern humans, tend to look at ancient art with a 21st-century mindset. It is all too easy to stare (in wonder) at Palaeolithic rock art and conceive some… 
Collecting Ancient Europe This short book in connection with a project at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, looking at its own forgotten ‘Ancient Europe’ collection, which was dispersed in the 1950s. 
Managing Archaeology in Dynamic Urban Centres Bringing together case studies from across Europe and beyond, this volume highlights the challenges shared by many archaeologists working in urban centres. 
From the editor
It was the railways that first fired public interest in Old Oslo back in the 19th century. Although the crumbling ruins of palaces were still visible, when navvies began unearthing the well-preserved remains of timber houses where ordinary people dwelt, it ignited an enduring interest in the settlement. Now the railway has been at it again, with the Follo Line Project opening an astonishing window on to medieval life. This work is shedding new light on Old Oslo, with what was once viewed as a relatively uniform wooden town increasingly resembling a divided city.
An extraordinary concentration of rock art in Mongolia has also been springing surprises. Dating this imagery suggested that some examples were created back in the Upper Palaeolithic – thousands of years earlier than expected. All told, the 12,000 examples of rock art currently known belong to many different eras and capture a rich array of subjects, including wild animals, riders, archers, chariots, and the moment of birth.
Art was also on the minds of the 15th-century inhabitants of Rome. For centuries, Roman sculpture abandoned among the ruins of the imperial city had either been recycled as handy raw materials or ignored. But a new interest in forging links with the Roman past prompted citizens to seek out statues and claim them as ancestors. This very present need sowed the seeds of the great aristocratic collections of Classical sculpture, including the Torlonia marbles.
Contemplating small military outposts presents a rather different side to Roman life. These no-frills installations could be both numerous and distant from home bases. Just how did Roman soldiers find their fortlets?
In our travel section, Richard Hodges ponders the true identity of Homer’s Ithaca, while Oliver Gilkes recalls going in search of an Etruscan renaissance in Florence.
