Cover Story
Records of the pyramid builders: discovering eye-witness accounts of a legendary construction project How did Egypt build the pyramids? It is a question that has excited the imagination of scholars and visitors for millennia. Now papyri documenting work on the Great Pyramid are revealing fresh insights into construction work. Pierre Tallet and Mark… Features
Apollonia revisited: the story of a pioneering survey In 1958, an archaeological team set out to undertake a trailblazing survey of the submerged ruins of Apollonia. Nic Flemming looks at what was accomplished, and what changed in the… 
The Golden Fleece paradox The Caucasus were home to some of the world’s earliest and most proficient goldsmiths. Despite an association between this metal and the mountains that became so strong it was woven… 
From landscape to latex: recording rock art in the Tagus River Basin In the 1970s, prehistoric rock art was found in the Tagus River Basin, just as a dam project was set to raise water levels. In a race against time, archaeologists… 
881: a 9th-century feudal calamity In the first of a two-part piece, Richard Hodges explores the story of San Vincenzo al Volturno. News
New terracotta warriors discovered Among the new statues is least one figure who appears to be a general, and another who is a middle-ranking army officer. 
Climatic change and ancient civilisations New studies are revealing the impact environmental changes have had on ancient societies around the world. 
Roman amphitheatre found in Switzerland The Kaiseraugst amphitheatre was discovered in the Rheinfelden district at a site known to have been the location of a Roman quarry 
Archaeological study of human habitation in space launched The International Space Station as seen from the departing Space Shuttle Discovery. IMAGE: NASA. January 2022 saw the launch of a new phase in the first ever archaeological study of a human habitat in… 
Archaeologists in Peru find 500-year-old human spines threaded on to posts The vertebrae-on-posts, which have been found at indigenous burial sites around the Chincha Valley, are believed to be connected to ideas about bodily integrity after death 
Unwrapping Amenhotep I A team of scientists have used CT (computed tomography) scans to ‘unwrap’ Amenhotep I digitally and learn more about the mummy and its contents. 
Rare chalk sculpture found in Britain Radiocarbon dating of a bone from the Burton Agnes burial suggests that all of these objects were created approximately 500 years earlier, c.3000 BC. 
Sutton Hoo lyre has Central Asian connection The instrument from Dzhetyasar closely matches the 7th-century lyre discovered in the 1930s at Sutton Hoo. Views
CWA 112 Crossword – March 2022 Competitions Crossword from Current World Archaeology issue of March 2022. 
Rus – Vikings in the east Museum, What's on A new exhibition at the Moesgaard Museum in Denmark explores the often-overlooked story of the Rus Vikings. We spoke to curator Pauline Asingh about the adventures of these influential voyagers,… 
Scythian plate Objects The plate was found in 2021 at the Devitsa V cemetery in the Ostrogozhsky District of the Voronezh region, Russia. 
DNA denouements and coining a phrase Comment People investing in DNA ancestry kits should be aware that they might not get the answers they were expecting: people who want to know if they have Viking DNA or… 
Seeking a legendary lost city Comment, Places The civil war had been very disruptive. There had been looting, pillage, and social upheaval. There are records of a most heinous crime, rooting up the boundary markers of land… 
The House of the Harpist The Picture Desk A remarkable group of luxurious wall paintings has been discovered at a rich Roman residence called the House of the Harpist in Arles, southern France. The house was discovered beneath… 
Interpreting art Comment Take Roman family portraits, for example. Either they were on public display to advertise the social standing of the family, or they were objects of veneration in the cult of… 881: a 9th-century feudal calamity Feature, Travel In the first of a two-part piece, Richard Hodges explores the story of San Vincenzo al Volturno. Reviews
Rus – Vikings in the east A new exhibition at the Moesgaard Museum in Denmark explores the often-overlooked story of the Rus Vikings. We spoke to curator Pauline Asingh about the adventures of these influential voyagers,… 
Religious Practice and Cultural Construction of Animal Worship in Egypt from the Early Dynastic to the New Kingdom: ritual forms, material display, historical development Review by Salima Ikram. This book, based on a PhD thesis, focuses on Egyptian ‘animal worship’ from the 3rd to the 2nd millennium BC. In the introduction, the author states… 
Rock Art Studies: News of the World VI Review by George Nash Prehistoric rock art is very much a world phenomenon, with assemblages found in every corner of the globe. To the expert eye, each region has its own… 
Olympia: a cultural history Review by Paul Christesen Olympia is not an especially large archaeological site (the entire excavated area measures less than 1km on a side), but it is nonetheless a particularly complex… 881: a 9th-century feudal calamity In the first of a two-part piece, Richard Hodges explores the story of San Vincenzo al Volturno. 
From the editor
There are many theories about how the Egyptians built the pyramids. Now a new authority on the subject has emerged. His name is Inspector Merer, and he has a significant advantage over his competitors in the field: Merer was actually there. In an extraordinary development, the oldest papyri ever discovered include his logbook, which provides an eye-witness account of work under way on the Great Pyramid. Our cover feature looks at how this breakthrough came about, and what it tells us.
A gap between myth and reality can also be detected in the South Caucasus. Its fabulous wealth is reflected in the legend of the Golden Fleece, but in a strange twist this tale is set during an era when evidence for goldwork in the region drops significantly. Why did this happen, and what does it say about the choices societies make?
The disappearance of rock art in the Tagus River basin of Portugal, by contrast, was due to its immersion following a dam project in the 1970s. Beforehand, thousands of images were recorded in a race against time, allowing the story of this remarkable concentration of ancient imagery to be told.
Rising waters proved problematic too at Apollonia, a Greek city that now lies submerged off the Libyan coast. This was the setting for a pioneering underwater survey in the 1950s, with a return visit in 2003 providing an opportunity to see how the site had fared.
In the first of a two-part piece, Richard Hodges sets his sights on a 9th-century calamity that befell the monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno, Italy. What can archaeology add to historical accounts of its downfall?
Here I want to pay tribute to regular contributor Neil Faulkner, who passed away in February and is dearly missed by all of us at Current Publishing. This issue contains his last ‘Thinking Aloud’ column. A final instalment in Neil’s honour will follow in the next CWA.
