The Lower Pecos Canyonlands, in south-west Texas and northern Mexico, are home to an extensive collection of rock paintings in what is known as the Pecos River style. These multicoloured murals cover the walls and ceilings of more than 100…
REVIEW BY JOSHUA T SCHNELL The decorated smiles of the ancient Maya, characterised by their carved, incised, and inlaid dental arches, have long fascinated those who have gazed on them, inspiring more than a century of scholarly research. Vera Tiesler…
REVIEW BY ROGER FORSHAW In ancient Egypt, death was not regarded as the end of human existence, but rather as a transition to a new state of being in the afterlife. This scholarly but readable volume explores the evolution over…
There has been much debate about the exact nature of the perceived link between the Milky Way and the goddess Nut. A new study, published in the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, suggests that rather than the Milky Way…
Archaeologists working at the Moche site of Pañamarca, which is in western Peru, have uncovered intriguing depictions of a two-faced figure among the murals of its pillared hall. This building, which archaeologists believe may have been the most important at…
The study found that the plaza would have been underwater for most if not all of the year at the time of the site’s creation.
The latest on exhibitions, acquisitions, and key decisions.
Pangu was born in the midst of an egg-like chaos. After 18,000 years, the two muddled parts separated, and the Yin (which represents the negative, feminine, cool, dark, and wet) became the earth and the Yang (representing the positive, masculine, hot, bright, and dry) the sky.
These days, we take it for granted that we carry the world – and the cosmos – in our pockets. Powerful smart phones and ever-more-sophisticated technology mean that we can summon up highly detailed maps both of the earth and the heavens above with just a few taps of the screen. It was not always like this, of course.
It was probably around 3,600 years ago that the earliest known depiction of the cosmos was buried in eastern Germany. By then, the Nebra Sky Disc had already served several roles. Repeatedly refashioning the artefact allowed it to keep pace with changing desires to express knowledge, belief, and power, as Neil Wilkin told Matthew Symonds.
The people of Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe explored their connection to the sun in a range of ways, from monumental stone circles to small gold discs. As a new exhibition opens at the British Museum, Lucia Marchini speaks to Jennifer Wexler to find out more about the ideas that linked them.
A number of imaginative solutions to the global-warming crisis were on offer this month, as world leaders gathered in Glasgow to discuss ways of tackling climate change – but one subject that was not up for discussion was human sacrifice. As a fascinating new exhibition on the history and culture of Peru makes clear, however, the Inca and other pre-Columbian civilisations of the central Andean region had no such qualms.
Chinese rulers held the disciplines of astronomy and cosmology in high regard for millennia. Dalu Jones
previews an exhibition of exquisite objects exploring the connections between Heaven and Earth.
What is it? This unique Nordic bronze piece was discovered in Denmark and dates to the Early Bronze Age, c.1400 BC. It illustrates the eternal journey of the sun, as depicted by a divine horse pulling an ornate golden disc,…