The discovery of a Roman fortification high in the Alps is the most recent development in a remarkable series of findings that allow us to trace the progress of a legionary battlegroup in the 1st century BC. As well as following part of their march, we can see how they sought to control this mountainous terrain, and where they clashed with local forces, as Hannes Flück told Matthew Symonds.
Surveying an area of remote Mexican jungle that was previously devoid of Maya sites has produced remarkable results. Ivan Šprajc told Matthew Symonds how he set about discovering lost settlements in an archaeological black hole.
Obsolete photographic formats can hold valuable or even unique information about ancient sites and artefacts. Such archives are, though, at increasing risk of being thrown out for being of no further use in a digital age. What can be done? Janice Kinory and Katharina Ulmschneider introduce us to a solution.
Across 8 US state, location of the Dolores Cave rock shelter (8)9 Legendary island where King Arthur was taken after his final battle (6)10 Ancient Greek historian and geographer (6)11 Persian dynasty founded by Ardashir I (8)12 Neolithic pottery named…
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Ancient city culture was inescapable in the societies where it prevailed. It suffused life to encompass almost everyone. Even the dead.
In a deep valley below Bomarzo’s Orsini palace lies the so-called ‘Monster Park’ – the Sacro Bosco, a Mannerist gem from the later 16th century. It is surely one of the most remarkable Renaissance gardens in Italy, if not Europe.…
Excavation of execution sites in Sweden has shed light on the realities of capital punishment in the country. Caroline Arcini and Emma Karlsson explain what can be revealed by examining the skeletons of those condemned to death and the sites where their sentences were carried out.
Stonehenge is often portrayed as if it were a unique monument, which in some respects it is. No other surviving monument uses mortise-and-tenon joints to lock the lintels to the uprights that form the massive stone circle and the inner trilithons (though this kind of joint was probably used in similar monuments built from timber that have not survived).
A new exhibition at the Drents Museum tells the story of the Dacians through their spectacular treasures. Gillis Kersting visited to find out more.
For the first time in 40 years, a new effort is under way by archaeologists from the University of Toronto, in collaboration with local scholars, to document the pre-Hispanic city of Pacatnamu in the Jequetepeque Valley of northern coastal Peru.…
My first experience of fieldwork in Southeast Asia found me in Roi et province of Northeast Thailand. It was a total accident that led me to this spot. The mighty Mekong River was then in the early stages of being seriously affected by the construction of hydro dams on its tributaries.
What is it? This broken knife blade is almost 2,000 years old. Currently preserved at a length of c.8cm, its original length is unknown, but was probably just slightly longer than this. On one side, the iron blade is incised…
REVIEW BY EMLYN DODD The study of dolia, and indeed research more generally into ancient viti- and viniculture, has become increasingly popular in the past two decades. Cheung’s book fits neatly into this trajectory and complements other recent work on…
REVIEW BY OLIVIER LEMERCIER To begin with, the Bell Beaker referred only to a small ceramic cup with a very recognisable morphology and decoration. In burials, this drinking vessel was often associated with weapons (particularly daggers and archery equipment) and…
REVIEW BY CAROLINE ARBUCKLE MACLEOD As a professional female Egyptologist and archaeologist, I have learned more than perhaps necessary about the so-called ‘Fathers of Egyptology’, including their discoveries, biases, and eating habits. Their stories are of great adventurers, braving the…
REVIEW BY ANDREW SELKIRK Every year Professor Quinn has the task of sorting out applications from those wishing to study classics. Many of them say that they wish to study classics because Greece and Rome are ‘the roots of Western…
New research into the burial sites of 17th- and 18th-century whalers on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard is providing rare insight into the lives of these individuals and the impact of climate change on Arctic archaeology. Project leader Lise Loktu tells us more.
Analysis of arrowheads from Bronze Age Europe is uncovering new details about an ancient battle that took place in the Tollense Valley.
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 a heavily corroded sword, which was initially interpreted…
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 from the early 2nd century BC, and remained…
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 at Oued Beht was first noted in the…
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 coca plant originates in South America, where it…
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 a height of 2m, although it probably once…
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, and since 2018 has been the subject of…