Where was this photograph taken? If you know, email the Editor (peter@ancientegyptmagazine.com) before 31 August with your answer, giving your full name, address, and contact number. One lucky reader will have their name selected at random from all the correct…
A new organisation has come into being in Wales, in a bold move designed to increase the capacity of the four Welsh Archaeological Trusts (WATs) to compete for major developer-funded contracts, while building on their reputation for specialist regional expertise and service delivery.
In my columns to date I have barely mentioned Stonehenge. This is deliberate: for all that I worship archaeology, I am an atheist about this most famous of sites.
CA profiles the new Perth Museum, which opened at the end of March.
• Zenobia of Egypt: when the Queen of Palmyra ruled the Land of the Pharaohs
• The last Cleopatras: their legacy as women of power
• Precise construction of funerary structures: Qubbet el-Hawa (Aswan)
• Predynastic art: Egypt’s earliest imagery
• Rediscovering Egypt: the Harrogate Collection in Swansea
• The meaning of Joseph’s Egyptian name
• Travels in an antique land: two under-visited sites in Abydos
REVIEW BY JULIA BEST This engaging volume explores human interactions with birds from the end of the last Ice Age to around 1650 AD. An expert in avian zooarchaeology and the social meaning of birds, Serjeantson balances a data-rich exploration…
REVIEW BY STEPHEN RIPPON ‘Landscape history’ is often written as a chronological story, of which there are innumerable examples at the scale of individual parishes and counties. This innovative study is refreshingly different, both in its more thematic approach and…
Nigerian archaeologists are working with the British Museum and UK colleagues to research and excavate in Benin City. Mike Pitts visited the site to learn more.
Across 6 Large knife often found among Anglo-Saxon grave goods (9)8 Fertility goddess worshipped at Carthage (5)10 ___ Wall, Roman fortification in Scotland (8)11 Extinct Tibeto-Burman language (6)12 Opponent of Greece at the battles of Thermopylae and Salamis (6)13 US…
Results We had a fantastic selection of entries sent in for this year’s photo competition, with images that took us all over the world, and back in time. Subjects range from famous monuments and spectacular heritage sites to places of…
Rubina Raja & Søren M Sindbæk on managing ressources in urban African societies.
I was in Greece, rolling off a ferry at Kyllini, about to visit its mighty castle, when I received the text message accusing me of being a Greek spy. Almost at once, I got an avalanche of emails from angry…
New discoveries on a small Australian island are rewriting our understanding of the culture and technology of the country’s early people. It has long been believed that the ancient Aboriginal peoples of Australia did not have pottery. A few examples…
REVIEW BY GEORGE NASH When we think about the history and archaeology of the north, we are immediately drawn to the Inuit or Sami peoples. We forget the vastness of the polar region, which covers at least 20% of the surface…
• Smallhythe: riverside Romans and a royal shipyard in Kent
• Prehistoric rock art of South Wales: documenting a sacred landscape
• Between the salt water and the sea strand: living in the Lincolnshire marshes
• Visualising Venta Belgarum: Iron Age, Roman, and medieval Winchester
• A tale of three giants? New evidence for the evolution of Cerne Abbas’ chalk colossus
As the days get longer and the weather gets warmer, there are lots of exciting opportunities to get out and about and enjoy the UK’s archaeology, history, and heritage, ranging from festivals and conferences to exhibitions and lectures. If you would prefer to get your fill of archaeological activities from the comfort of home instead, there is plenty to choose from as well, including digital exhibitions and virtual tours, podcasts, and games. Amy Brunskill has put together a summary of some of the options available.
Following on from CA 410, this selection of summer digging opportunities includes projects in North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Dorset, and Aberdeenshire.
REVIEW BY MIKE SHAW Northamptonshire is a county rich in archaeological remains, many of them discovered along the Nene Valley in the south of the county. Hence the present volume is valuable in looking at a transect of land in…
REVIEW BY FINOLA O’CARROLL This book details the results of research into the monument known as Tlachtga, which combined LiDAR and geophysics to build a picture of an extensive multi-phase monument, confirmed by three seasons of excavations from 2014 to…
REVIEW BY CH The N25 New Ross Bypass in Co. Wexford was designed to alleviate the notorious peak-time tailbacks that were known to extend for miles on either side of the historic town of New Ross. Its 14km route, stretching…
Excavations at Crowland, in Lincolnshire, have revealed new evidence of how this landscape was used over the millennia – from the Neolithic to the post-medieval period – and in particular how it continued to be seen as a sacred place…
A round-up of some of the latest archaeology news from around the UK.
A new project led by researchers at the University of Oxford, which has collated evidence from around the world, has shown that the human brain can remain preserved in diverse environments for at least 12,000 years. When human brains are…
REVIEW BY SARAH GRIFFITHS This new Archaeopress volume, with its eye-popping cover, is in effect a manifesto for ‘Egypopcult’, an emerging multi-disciplinary project studying ancient Egypt as reflected in contemporary popular culture, going beyond the use of Egyptian motifs, narratives,…
A team at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo has just published the results of their research showing that a traditional condiment for Japanese sushi can be used to conserve papyri. Wasabi, extracted from the rhizome of a radish, has…
This year’s CA Live! conference was our biggest yet, with more than 500 people coming together at UCL’s Institute of Education in London to share the latest news about the past. Here is a round-up of what went on.
I have now examined the archaeology of every county in Britain bar one – Wiltshire. This was no accident, for I have a confession to make: Wiltshire’s archaeology terrifies me.
A round-up of some of the latest archaeology news from around the UK.
Being able to determine changes in the environment, and how humans may have adapted to those changes, is an increasingly important aspect of archaeological study. In this month’s ‘Science Notes’, we explore a recent project, led by Dr Amy Styring…
• Celestial Harmonies: astronomical cycles at the Temple of Dendera
• Queen Tiye: Great of Dread
• The modern resurrection of the Kushite kings of Egypt
• A Taweret talisman for perilous pregnancy
• Rome versus the Egyptian priesthood
• Athribis: the Temple of Ptolemy XII
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
REVIEW BY AB The archaeological exploration of Worcester began with antiquarian works several hundred years ago, but the bulk of the research has been carried out since the mid-20th century. These excavations have revealed a wealth of information about Worcester’s…
REVIEW BY CH Infrastructure projects often offer exciting archaeological opportunities to explore an area’s past on a large scale. The construction of a windfarm off the Yorkshire coast was one such case: the cables connecting it to the National Grid…
Your observations, your objections, and your opinions: send them to cwaletters@world-archaeology.com
REVIEW BY MS Migrations are back. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, large-scale population movements were frequently the go-to explanation for the appearance in the archaeological record of new ways of doing things – be it novel building styles,…
A collection of shallow pits carved into a rock ledge, believed to be mancala game boards, have been identified in central Kenya. Mancala is a group of two-player strategy games that involve moving tokens across rows of shallow holes in…