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 event. Matthew Symonds found out more from Jasper de Bruin.
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 Graafstal, Elisabeth Krieger, Orsolya Lang, Felix Marcu, Martina Meyr, and Andreas Thiel weigh the evidence for how tower access was controlled on the European frontiers, and what it means.
Richard Hodges introduces the Emperor Augustus’ city of victory at Actium and interviews its renowned excavator, Kostas Zachos.
Japanese sword found in Berlin Excavations in the Molkenmarkt area of Berlin are uncovering a set of 20th-century basements that were backfilled after the Second World War. Amid the rubble, archaeologists found
Excavations in the ancient city of Artaxata have uncovered the remains of a church dating to the early days of Christianity in Armenia. Artaxata was the capital of the Kingdom of Armenia
Research at a site in northern Morocco is uncovering evidence for the oldest and largest Neolithic society that has yet been found in Africa outside the Nile valley. Evidence of prehistoric activity
Analysis of the brains of individuals from 17th-century Milan indicates that they were utilising the coca plant (Erythroxylum spp.) several centuries before the drug was previously believed to have reached Europe. The
A remarkably well-preserved 6th-century burial chamber has been discovered near Riedlingen, in south-west Germany. The burial chamber lies beneath a huge burial mound, which measures 65m in diameter and currently survives to
Excavations at a Moche site in north-central Peru have uncovered a throne room believed to belong to a previously unrecognised female ruler. The site of Pañamarca was first rediscovered in the 1950s,
The coin is a Henry VII ‘half groat’, believed to have been minted in Canterbury, UK.
This is the first molecular evidence of beer production in Iron Age Europe.
Early visitors to Easter Island recorded strange designs of a mysterious being. Now, using the latest technology and ancient records, Paul Horley, Georgia Lee, and Paul Bahn have restored glorious colour to the sacred site of Orongo, home of the mystical birdman.
A new app offers an opportunity to experience an ancient site in its Roman heyday.
In AD 749, the ancient city of Jerash was hit by a devastating earthquake. Excavating private houses that collapsed during the disaster has revealed a wealth of information about the Umayyad city. These, though, are just some of the finds encountered during recent archaeological work in the north-western part of the site, as Achim Lichtenberger, Eva Mortensen, and Rubina Raja reveal.
Despite travel limitations over the last year, we’ve been transported to a wide variety of places…
This is a unique find, representing the only vehicle of this type found in Italy to date.
Urajiri is in the town of Minami Soma, impacted both by the tsunami and the meltdown, evacuated as it was in the exclusion zone around the stricken power plant. Archaeology is providing a focus for rebuilding community identity.
The temples of Hawaii are renowned for their varied forms and orientations, but could it be that this veneer of irregularity masks a pattern that sheds fresh light on these monuments? Patrick Kirch and Clive Ruggles told Current World Archaeology’s Matthew Symonds what systematic study of the temple sites reveals.
One of the most breathtaking experiences in my archaeological life was to mount the steps and look out over the assembled ranks of the terracotta army.
The Antiquity paper presents a new theory about the significance of these diadems as emblems of power and suggests that they may reflect the central position of these women in the governance of Argaric society.
Abydos was not only the earliest brewery and the forerunner of the great royal cemeteries… it was also the birthplace of the funeral wake and possibly too of the mass hangover.
The photograph shows the 1935 Basilica, named after the year it was excavated and believed to date to the 6th century AD.
Delving into ancient sites to illuminate the past is generally seen as a Western innovation. But just how novel is this approach? Excavating in Papua New Guinea has prompted Chris Urwin to make the case for many different archaeologies.