Cover Story
Spoils of war? An extraordinary Roman hoard from Utrecht A cache of Roman and British coins found in the Netherlands seems to be associated with the emperor Claudius’ invasion of Britain in AD 43. Study of the hoard is shedding new light on the circumstances surrounding this major historical… Features
A key issue: Access to towers on Roman frontiers Roman frontiers are often viewed as measures to increase security, but did this concern extend to soldiers locking the doors of their towers? Thomas Becker, David Breeze, Christof Flügel, Erik… 
Forgotten voices of conflict: Examining the fate of First World War graffiti Traces of the First World War are often seen in terms of trenches, battlefields, and cemeteries, but the soldiers caught up in this conflict left more subtle testimonies to their… 
What can we learn from trafficked finds? Revealing the results of neutron tomography of Iranian swords Recovering an assemblage of trafficked prehistoric swords from Iran presented an opportunity to undertake scientific analysis of these weapons. The results reveal both the skills of ancient metalworkers and how… 
Unusual Gallic burials: Excavating bodies seated in pits A line of pits unearthed during excavations in Dijon contained rare examples of Iron Age individuals buried in a seated position. Hervé Laganier reveals what has been found, and how… News
The human race: New research is discovering how fast our ancient ancestors could run. The emergence of bipedal walking has long been recognised as a central aspect of hominid evolution, but much less is known about the development of running. Recently, a team of… 
A bishop’s palace in Bahrain? Excavations on the northern coast of the island of Muharraq have identified the first early Christian building ever found in Bahrain. Amy Brunskill spoke to project leader Timothy Insoll to… 
An unusual female burial in Ecuador Excavations in coastal Ecuador have uncovered an intriguing burial belonging to a woman who appears to have died under violent circumstances before being interred with a striking selection of grave… 
Lost pharaoh’s tomb discovered Excavations in Egypt have identified the long-lost tomb of King Thutmose II, the fourth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty. Thutmose II is believed to have ruled for just a few… 
Private baths at Pompeii Ongoing excavations in Insula 10, Regio IX, at Pompeii have uncovered a luxurious private bathhouse, one of the biggest ever found in a domestic context in the ancient city. The… 
Bring me sunshine Recent research suggests that engraved stones discovered on the Danish island of Bornholm may have been ritual offerings in response to climatic change caused by a huge volcanic eruption almost… 
Reading a new Herculaneum scroll Another advance has been made in the efforts to decipher a collection of ancient papyrus scrolls from Herculaneum that were burnt during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.… Views
Master of Actium Travel Richard Hodges introduces the Emperor Augustus’ city of victory at Actium and interviews its renowned excavator, Kostas Zachos. 
CWA #130 crossword, and answers to crossword #129 Competitions Across 7 Portico or vestibule at the western entrance of an early Christian church (7)8 Green semi-precious mineral (7)10 US state, location of the Jeffers Petroglyphs archaeological site (9)11 Covered… 
Mobility in mortuary contexts Comment Tacitus, in his book on the life and character of his father-in-law Julius Agricola, the Roman Governor of Britain from c.AD 77 to 84, makes the often-quoted observation that ‘Britons… 
Splendours of Sanxingdui Comment I have already described here the new discoveries at Sanxingdui, the great city that commanded the Sichuan Plain in China from 1200 BC (CWA 110). However, I cannot refrain from… 
Ancient theatre of Aptera The Picture Desk This theatre is part of the archaeological site of Aptera, near present-day Chania, in western Crete. The ancient coastal city-state was once one of Crete’s most important commercial centres, at… 
The exultation of discovery Comment ‘The unknown town now had a name… All that day “Naukratis” rang in my mind, and I sprang over the mounds with that splendid exultation of a new discovery, long… 
The Viking Sorceress Museum, What's on A major exhibition at the National Museum of Denmark is exploring the mysterious Viking Age Völva. 
A Byzantine coin-balance Objects At first glance, it looks like an ornate coffee spoon… What is it? This curious object, which looks at first glance like a large, ornate, cruciform coffee spoon, is in… Reviews
Master of Actium Richard Hodges introduces the Emperor Augustus’ city of victory at Actium and interviews its renowned excavator, Kostas Zachos. The Viking Sorceress A major exhibition at the National Museum of Denmark is exploring the mysterious Viking Age Völva. 
Portable and Parietal Art of Kamyana Mohyla, Ukraine REVIEW BY GEORGE NASH Given the severity of the ongoing war in Ukraine, it is no surprise that the rich prehistoric archaeology of the country has been largely forgotten, especially… 
Roman Feet and Shoes: The cultural significance of feet, footwear, and their representations in the north-western provinces REVIEW BY QUITA MOULD In this volume, the author describes a range of Roman shoe- and foot-shaped artefacts and considers the cultural significance of such representations. She summarises the ancient… 
Hunting and Fishing in the Neolithic and Eneolithic REVIEW BY KATHERINE V BOYLE This book looks at an often-overlooked aspect of European prehistory, more specifically the Neolithic/Eneolithic, but one that, fortunately, is gradually changing with work undertaken in… 
From the editor
A hoard discovered in the Netherlands presents an extraordinary first for continental Europe. The contents of this cache combine coins minted by Rome and a powerful ruler in Britain: Cunobelin. This eye-catching mixture is just one of the clues that the hoard was amassed by a person or people with first hand experience of Britain, most likely participants in the Roman invasion. Do these coins of Cunobelin, then, represent the spoils of war? In our cover feature, we explore what this hoard reveals about a major historical moment.
Relics of conflict are also apparent deep underground in France. There, former quarries were repurposed for military use during the First World War, with their rock faces providing a canvas for graffiti. Today, these marks range from pencilled names and national icons to expressions of hell, creating a corpus of forgotten voices from the conflict.
In Dijon, it is Iron Age bodies being carefully seated in pits that seem to make a statement. Excavations have revealed 13 examples of these burials, which can be added to the 50 or so known from the era. None of them have been found in formal cemeteries, while their enigmatic arrangement evokes a posture found in contemporary sculpture that seems to represent important figures.
On the Roman frontiers, it is the design of towers that has been attracting scrutiny. In particular, the placement of doorways poses questions about how easy the structures were to access, and what this implies about the wider role of these barrier systems.
Meanwhile, artefacts that have been recovered after illicitly crossing modern borders have occasioned a study into what trafficked goods can tell us. A set of Iranian swords reveals the extent to which ancient objects can be cynically modified to make them more appealing to modern audiences.
Finally, in our travel section Richard Hodges introduces us to the site of Nicopolis, in Greece, and talks to its eminent excavator Kostas Zachos.
