Cover Story
Koonalda Cave: A place of ancient engravings and flint mining Far below the Nullarbor Plain in Australia lies an extraordinary gallery of rock art. Exploration and research in Koonalda Cave has revealed much about these ancient markings, as well as mining and the early occupation of Australia, as Keryn Walshe,… Features
Weapons from the waters: Exploring Scandinavia’s first professional army at Illerup Ådal In the 3rd century AD, the possessions of an entire army were deposited in a lake in Jutland. Olympia Bobou, Ilaria Bucci, Rowan S English, and Rubina Raja examine what… 
Uncovering Imet: An ancient Egyptian city in the Nile delta Excavations at Tell Nabasha are shedding new light on life in a delta city, and the death of its great temple. To find out more, Matthew Symonds spoke to Nicky… 
Anyama revisited: Seeking early human activity in the West African rainforest A remarkable site containing Palaeolithic stone tools was found in modern rainforest near Anyama, Côte d’Ivoire, in the 1980s. The chronology of these deposits remained unclear, but could modern dating… News
Recreating a Mycenaean battle An innovative study has brought to life Late Bronze Age warfare to test the utility of a 3,500-year-old suit of armour. 
A royal burial at Caracol Excavations at the largest Maya site in Belize have uncovered a tomb believed to belong to the city’s first king. 
Intact Etruscan chamber tomb discovered An untouched Etruscan chamber tomb dating to the 7th century BC has been uncovered in the San Giuliano necropolis in Lazio, central Italy. Investigations in the area have been carried… 
An impressive Iron Age settlement Archaeologists have uncovered a large settlement from the La Tène period in the Hradec Králové region of north-east Bohemia, in the Czech Republic. The discovery was first made in 2023… 
Stone tools on Sulawesi Stone tools recently discovered on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi are rewriting the story of the early human occupation of island Southeast Asia. Perhaps the most famous hominin from this… 
The face of Lake Lednica A wooden beam decorated with a lifelike human face has been discovered in Lake Lednica, Poland. Systematic underwater archaeological research in Lake Lednica has been taking place since the 1980s… 
Communal feasting in the Central Zagros Analysis of wild boar remains discovered at a site in the Zagros Mountains in Iran points to long-distance transport of animals for a ceremonial gathering in the Early Neolithic. The… Views
World Archaeological Congress 10 What's on What was under discussion at the latest World Archaeological Congress? Stu Eve reviews events at the gathering in Darwin, Australia. 
Calling all photographers! Current World Archaeology Photo of the Year 2026 Competitions As summer comes to an end, it is the perfect time to reflect on any heritage filled travels, archaeological projects, or visits to historical sites around the world. Dig out… 
CWA 133 crossword, and answers to crossword #132 Competitions Across 7 Iron Age site at Lake Neuchâtel, discovered in 1857 (2,4)8 Huntress of Greek mythology (8)10 Genre of ancient Greek drama that parodied myths (5,4)11 Egyptian god of the… 
Monumental voyages Comment Discovered as recently as 1989, the Neolithic settlement submerged beneath the waters of Lake Bracciano, at La Marmotta, near Rome, Italy, has yielded rich evidence of life 7,000 years ago.… 
Byllis and the end of the Roman Empire Travel When I think of spring, one of the first images that comes to mind in the depth of winter is the carpet of flowers at Byllis, high above the Vjosa… 
From ruins to riches Comment A well-worn joke goes that archaeologists find their careers in ruins. This is sometimes literally true: at least since the 1970s, and in cities on all inhabited continents, crises sparked… 
Salt of the earth Comment Yesterday, I was able to cross off another archaeological site from my ‘must-see-one-day’ list. It was Hallstatt, the settlement that has given its name to the early Iron Age of… 
Brian M Fagan (1 August 1936-1 July 2025) People Professor Brian M Fagan, who has died aged 88, was a New York Times best-selling author and Current World Archaeology columnist, whose work brought the past to life for generations… 
Reconstructing a megalithic tomb The Picture Desk The Haldensleben Forest in Saxony-Alhalt, Germany, is home to a large concentration of Neolithic megalithic tombs. One of these monuments, known as the Küsterberg tomb, was the subject of excavations… 
Helmet eyebrow arch Objects Helmet parts of this date are rare finds in Denmark… What is it? This piece of a remarkable pre-Viking Age helmet comprises two fragments that fit together perfectly to make… Reviews
World Archaeological Congress 10 What was under discussion at the latest World Archaeological Congress? Stu Eve reviews events at the gathering in Darwin, Australia. Byllis and the end of the Roman Empire When I think of spring, one of the first images that comes to mind in the depth of winter is the carpet of flowers at Byllis, high above the Vjosa… 
Harnessing Horses: From Prehistory to History REVIEW BY OLIVER CREIGHTON This new, ambitious, elegantly produced volume showcases how archaeology is transforming our understanding of horses in the human past. Its purpose is twofold: to provide an… 
Bronze Age Rock Art in Iberia and Scandinavia: Words, Warriors, and Long-distance Metal Trade REVIEW BY GEORGE NASH Across Europe, during the Late Bronze Age, societies witnessed a dramatic change in economy, politics, and social behaviour. This change also had an effect on the way… 
The Hidden Lives of Viking Women REVIEW BY EMMA LOUISE THOMPSON From Norwegian courts to Icelandic households and British burial grounds, the lives of Viking women were as intricate as the worlds they inhabited. The Hidden… 
Being a woman in ancient Pompeii An exhibition at the Archaeological Park of Pompeii explores what life was like for Roman women. 
From the editor
Deep beneath Australia’s Nullarbor Plain lies Koonalda Cave. Lakes can be found within its subterranean passages, a matter of no little import in this vast semi-arid landscape. But it was not just water that drew people into its depths. Flint nodules provided easy access to a valued raw material, while the walls of the cave presented a canvas for rock art. In our cover feature, we question what these markings could mean, and examine the history of research at the site.
At Tell Nabasha, in Egypt, the archaeology is raised a little above the surrounding landscape, on a modest sandy knoll in the Nile delta. This was once home to a thriving city that housed the main cult centre of Wadjet, the goddess of Lower Egypt. Now excavations at the site are revealing intriguing glimpses of both the afterlife of the temple and daily activity in the surrounding settlement.
Somewhere that a human presence remained elusive, until recently, was in tropical rainforests before around 73,000 years ago. In 2020, a team secured samples from a site at Anyama, in the Côte d’Ivoire, which had previously produced an important set of stone tools. Ingenious dating methods have now shed new light on humanity’s early involvement with jungles.
It was interaction with water that resulted in a major collection of militaria being consigned to a lake at Illerup Ådal, Denmark. The event was surely to mark a major victory. Studying the finds reveals a force so carefully organised that it can stake a claim to being Scandinavia’s first professional army.
In our travel section, Richard Hodges visits the picturesque remnants of a former Graeco-Roman town at Byllis, in Albania. As well as delighting visitors, the archaeology of the site invites questions about why this once-flourishing settlement, centuries in the making, was abandoned in Late Antiquity.
On a final note, CWA was sad to learn that Brian Fagan, one of our former columnists, has passed away. Nadia Durrani has penned a tribute to her friend and long-term collaborator.
You must be logged in to post a comment.