Cover Story
Qasr Bshir: conserving a special Roman fort Deep in the Jordanian desert lies an extraordinary ruin. It is a Roman fort that can stake a claim to being the best-preserved example anywhere in the former empire. But this relic of imperial power is in urgent need of… Features
Asterix’s legacy at Alésia Richard Hodges explores Alésia in Burgundy and the legacy of Julius Caesar’s defeat of Vercingétorix and the Gauls. 
Unboxing Palmyra: the archive of Harald Ingholt The cardboard sheets, photographs, and handwritten notes compiled by Harald Ingholt bear a wealth of information about Palmyrene sculpture and architecture. As his archive in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek is… 
Mountain rock art at Saimaluu Tash: battle chariots and ploughing scenes at an altitude of 3,000m The remote, mountainous location of Saimaluu Tash has ensured that its ancient rock art remains remarkably well preserved. Some of the images, though, feature subjects such as ploughing and chariots.… 
Knossos: seeking the labyrinth Was the Minoan palace at Knossos the inspiration for myths about the Minotaur and its labyrinth lair? Delving into the archaeology of this monument and its environs reveals a reality… News
Analysis of elephant bones shines light on Neanderthal diets The assemblage of more than 3,000 elephant bones was discovered in 125,000-year-old lake deposits at the site of Neumark-Nord, in central Germany. 
New study uncovers the secrets of Roman concrete The secret of the ancient material’s durability has intrigued researchers for decades, but a new study led by a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology may have found the… 
Ancient mesopotamian tavern uncovered The recently discovered tavern, dating to c.2,700 BC, consisted of an open-air public eating area and a kitchen 
Bog bodies: complex human connections with wetlands, death, and burial New research is expanding our understanding of the human remains deposited in peatlands around Europe. 
Burials in Notre-Dame undergo analysis Following their discovery by a team from Inrap last year, the coffins were sent to the forensic institute of Toulouse University Hospital for further investigation. 
Viking Age hall found in Denmark Excavations near the village of Hune in the North Jutland region of Denmark have uncovered evidence of a large Viking Age hall. 
Research identifies the earliest bone weapon in the Americas The bone fragments were embedded in a mastodon rib found during excavations at the Manis site in north-west Washington in 1977-1979. 
Headless skeletons uncovered in Neolithic mass grave The positions of the skeletons indicate that they were thrown or rolled into the grave, and many of the remains are disarticulated or incomplete. Views
Asterix’s legacy at Alésia Feature, Travel Richard Hodges explores Alésia in Burgundy and the legacy of Julius Caesar’s defeat of Vercingétorix and the Gauls. 
CWA #118 Crossword, and answers to #117 Competitions Across 8 Germanic people who settled in the south of France and Spain (8)9 Chest used for human remains in ancient Greece (6)10 Andean city that flourished from AD 500… 
Aquincum: a museum and archaeological park in an urban setting Travel On 10 May 1894, Aquincum Museum in Budapest opened its doors to the public. Here, in anticipation of the forthcoming anniversary of that event, David Breeze recounts his connection to… 
Time to do it right Comment What Lehner’s team found was a far-flung complex of houses, storage galleries, kitchens, dormitories, and offices. The ‘Lost City of the Pyramid Builders’ saw light. 
A Peruvian fortress-temple in the desert The Picture Desk In 2022, archaeologists from the University of Toronto and the University of Trujillo began the first excavations of Cerro Prieto Espinal, a mountainside fortress-temple and settlement in north coastal Peru.… 
Life and death Comment The British Museum said that it would continue to use the word ‘mummy’, but would use the name of the mummified person wherever this was known 
The 22nd Indo-Pacific Prehistory Congress Comment Myanmar is a newcomer to the study of South-east Asian prehistory. Twenty years ago, I joined a group of colleagues to visit, at the invitation of the Myanmar government, the… 
Hand of Irulegi Objects What is it? This 2,100-year-old piece of bronze sheet cut into the shape of a life-size right hand has been dubbed the ‘Hand of Irulegi’, after the site in Spain… 
Golden Mummies of Egypt Museum, What's on An internationally touring exhibition featuring mummies and artefacts from Graeco-Roman Egypt has opened in the UK for the first time at the newly refurbished Manchester Museum. Amy Brunskill visited to… 
CWA 118 Letters Letters Your observations, your objections, and your opinions: send them to cwaletters@world-archaeology.com Reviews
Asterix’s legacy at Alésia Richard Hodges explores Alésia in Burgundy and the legacy of Julius Caesar’s defeat of Vercingétorix and the Gauls. Aquincum: a museum and archaeological park in an urban setting On 10 May 1894, Aquincum Museum in Budapest opened its doors to the public. Here, in anticipation of the forthcoming anniversary of that event, David Breeze recounts his connection to… 
Water in the Roman World: engineering, trade, religion, and daily life Review by Dylan K Rogers To say that the Roman world was overflowing with water is an understatement. Recently, scholarship has increasingly begun to explore the numerous ways water impacted… 
Animal–Human Relationships in Medieval Iceland: from farm-settlement to sagas Review by Bernadette McCooey Animals as animals is the main premise of this work, as all too often animals are reduced to their economic or social significance, both in the… Golden Mummies of Egypt An internationally touring exhibition featuring mummies and artefacts from Graeco-Roman Egypt has opened in the UK for the first time at the newly refurbished Manchester Museum. Amy Brunskill visited to… 
The Mosaics of Alexandria: pavements of Greek and Roman Egypt Review by Helen Whitehouse Originally published in French (Mosaïques d’Alexandrie: pavements d’Égypte grecque et romaine, 2019), this handsome volume now appears in an excellent English translation by Colin Clement. Excavations… 
From the editor
Qasr Bshir invites questions, as well as awe. Deep in the Jordanian desert, away from any permanent water source, the ruins of this Roman fort stand sentinel over an empty landscape. But why garrison such an inhospitable spot? Is it simply an expression of Roman military inflexibility in the face of common sense? Careful study suggests the army knew exactly what it was doing, while its remote setting has also left the fort remarkably well preserved. Even so, the passing centuries are taking their toll. In our cover feature, we look at what this fort tells us, and how it can be conserved.
When it comes to the labyrinth in Crete, the problem has always been finding something to satisfy curious visitors. Once, a stone quarry sated their interest, but in more recent times it has been assumed that any kernel of truth behind the Minotaur’s mythical lair is to be found in the maze-like palace of Knossos. Now a new exhibition is examining where myth ends and reality begins.
A rich mythology is hinted at, too, by remarkable rock art in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. There, images of ploughs harnessed to mismatched pairs of animals, beasts combining elements of different animals, and enigmatic solar beings hint at a wealth of meanings behind the images. But why was this art being created so high up in the mountains?
Images – albeit rather more recent ones – are also helping to tell the story of ancient Palmyra in Syria. A remarkable archive, which was assembled by the scholar Harald Ingholt, provides a wealth of material about the site. Delving into these records sheds new light on what was found and how it was studied.
In our travel section, Richard Hodges traverses the scene of Caesar’s siege at Alésia and weighs its legacies. Meanwhile, David Breeze is our guide to the military bases and town of Aquincum, in Hungary.
