Mexico: Day of the Dead
Long-held traditions evolve and gain new elements with every generation. Current World Archaeology's Carly Hilts travelled to Mexico for the Day of the Dead to find out more.
Current World Archaeology
Discovering Roman mosaics: where history meets luxury in Antakya
When hotel construction work unearthed extraordinary mosaics, the owners decided to create a new archaeological park. It showcases what is believed to be the largest known surviving Roman mosaic, as well as some stunning mythological scenes. Anthony Beeson puts us in the picture.
War, plague, and pollution from a European ice core
For millennia, fresh ice forming on a European glacier marked the passing years like tree rings. But over time these layers became compressed, preventing individual years within the depths of the ice from being examined individually. A new technology is now unlocking this remarkable repository of information, as Alexander More, Christopher Loveluck, Michael McCormick, and Paul Mayewski told World Archaeology.
Last Supper in Pompeii
The extraordinary levels of preservation at the relatively ordinary Roman city of Pompeii and other sites in the Bay of Naples, where the eruption of Mount Vesuvius devastatingly interrupted the inhabitants as they went about their daily lives, provide remarkable insights into the production, distribution, and conspicuous consumption of food and wine.
Cyclades: Homage to Dhaskalio
My trip, then, was a pilgrimage of sorts, to visit Colin Renfrew and his newly-found sanctuary.
Iran
It was a splendid tour: we stayed in 9 different hotels over 16 days, which meant that we were always on the move. But this was just what we wanted, for we explored the heart of the historic country and saw – if briefly – most of the best-known archaeological sites.
James Cook’s Thunderbird club
What is it? This ceremonial yew-wood weapon – dating to the late 18th century – was made by the Nuu-cha-nulth people of the Pacific North-west Coast of Canada. Measuring 25cm in length, the club handle is decorated with black human…
Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village: finding the first farmers on the plains of North America
Alan Outram and Adrien Hannus uncover one of the earliest communities to take up farming on the Northern Plains of South Dakota.
Cyrus Cylinder
The cylinder, excavated in 1879 by the archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam, was once considered to be a unique object, made for ritual burial in the foundations of the Esagila, ancient Babylon’s main temple, when Cyrus rebuilt it.
Mexican Clovis and Heavenly Hopewell
In Brian Fagan’s latest instalment of all things archaeological that are both exotic and entertaining, he reads a Jamestown tablet, gets spiritual with the Hopewell, and finds gomphotheres with Clovis points.
Lost languages: how to decipher undeciphered scripts
How were Egyptian hieroglyphs, Maya glyphs or Minoan Linear B deciphered? Drawing on his latest masterful book, Lost Languages, author Andrew Robinson hands us the keys to decoding the past.