Research from Leiden University in the Netherlands has revealed that pyramid burials may not have been exclusively for the elite. The pyramid burials of ancient Egyptians at the site of ancient Tombos in northern Nubia, near the Third Cataract, were…
With the summer digging season rapidly approaching, we will be running a series of spreads highlighting digging opportunities across Britain and Ireland. This month features projects ranging across the South-East, the Midlands, and Wales – do get in touch if you would like to highlight your excavation to our readers in a future issue.
Traces of London’s earliest Roman basilica, where officials presided over the settlement’s legal, commercial, and administrative affairs c.2,000 years ago, have been revealed beneath a City office block. Sophie Jackson told Carly Hilts about the discoveries.
REVIEW BY JAMES O’DRISCOLL It is safe to say that I, and many others interested in the later prehistory of Ireland, have been waiting for this book for decades. This volume documents the excavations undertaken at the multivallate hillfort of…
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.
A line of pits unearthed during excavations in Dijon contained rare examples of Iron Age individuals buried in a seated position. Hervé Laganier reveals what has been found, and how it compares to other examples of this enigmatic phenomenon.
‘The unknown town now had a name… All that day “Naukratis” rang in my mind, and I sprang over the mounds with that splendid exultation of a new discovery, long wished for and well found.’ The prospect of discovering ancient cities, lost for centuries in the depths of jungles or deserts, was part of the original lure (and original sin) of archaeology.
Excavations in Egypt have identified the long-lost tomb of King Thutmose II, the fourth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty. Thutmose II is believed to have ruled for just a few years around 1493-1479 BC, and is perhaps best known as…
Ongoing excavations in Insula 10, Regio IX, at Pompeii have uncovered a luxurious private bathhouse, one of the biggest ever found in a domestic context in the ancient city. The thermal complex is the latest remarkable discovery inside the grand…
At first glance, it looks like an ornate coffee spoon… What is it? This curious object, which looks at first glance like a large, ornate, cruciform coffee spoon, is in fact rather an elegant counterpoised coin balance. Suspended on a…
Iron Age artefacts that were discovered beneath an airfield in Wales have been declared national treasure. Parts of a Celtic chariot, believed to be around 2,000 years old, were found on the site of RAF Valley in Anglesey in April…
The latest phase of excavations at Strata Florida, a former Cistercian abbey near Tregaron, Ceredigion, has uncovered a wealth of new features, some of which pre-date the abbey’s 12th-century origins. Strata Florida was established by Cistercian monks in 1184, and…
Earliest archaeological evidence of silk in China Mineralised fabric remnants found in pits at a Bronze Age burial site in the Sichuan Basin, south-western China, have undergone specialist analysis which has identified them as silk. The Sanxingdui settlement is believed…
REVIEW BY CH This beautifully illustrated book highlights the vital work of the Portable Antiquities Scheme in documenting finds made by members of the public, and celebrates the remarkable artefacts and insights that have been brought to light through the…
The discovery of a new Egyptian royal tomb in Western Valley C (adjacent to the Valley of the Kings) has been confirmed.
Karl Harris sets off on two wheels to visit the site of Amenhotep III’s palace on the West Bank of the Nile at Luxor.
REVIEW BY ROGER FORSHAW This volume is a collection of papers published in recognition of the retirement of Professor Steven Snape from the University of Liverpool. Over his distinguished career, Steven has pursued a diverse range of research interests and…
• Twelve 5-metre-high subterranean cisterns, part of an extensive Ptolemaic water supply system, have been excavated at Darazya (ancient Derhis). • TT39, the Tomb of Puyemra (Second Priest of Amun in the reign of Thutmose III), has been reopened to…
A joint Egyptian mission (from the Zahi Hawass Foundation for Heritage and Antiquities and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities) has revealed a large number of finds made at Deir el-Bahri over the last three years. An intact part of…
The beautifully painted tomb of the Chief Palace Physician Tetinebfu from the Old Kingdom reign of Pepy II (c.2278-2184 BC) has been discovered at Saqqara by a joint French–Swiss mission. The mud-brick-lined mastaba was looted in antiquity, but the walls…
In another area of Saqqara, a joint Egyptian–Japanese mission, led by Kanazawa University, has discovered a further four Old Kingdom tombs. The two mud-brick mastabas and two rock-cut tombs date to the late Second and early Third Dynasties. One of…
Thirteen mummies with golden tongues in their mouths have been discovered at el-Bahansa (Minya) by the Oxyrhynchus Archaeological Mission, a joint Spanish–Egyptian team led by the Institute of Ancient Near East Studies of the University of Barcelona. The mummies were…
A small white marble head of a Ptolemaic princess or queen has been discovered in a foundation deposit at the Taposiris Magna Temple by an Egyptian–Dominican mission. The team believes the queen, shown with a ‘melon’ hairstyle and wearing a…
In CA 419, Chris Catling reported on the history and development of kilns and oast houses used for drying the hops that help to preserve and give flavour to beer. This month, he reports on the buildings associated with the production of the malted grain used primarily in making beer and whisky, but also as an ingredient in a range of foods, from bagels to biscuits, and from vinegar to Ovaltine.
The remains of a large Roman pottery production site have emerged during major excavations at the Moors at Arne, near Poole Harbour in Dorset. Important wildlife habitats are threatened by rising sea levels, which the Environment Agency – in partnership…
A small, ornately decorated house has been uncovered in Pompeii during ongoing excavations of the Insula of the Chaste Lovers, in the centre of the ancient city. Archaeological investigations of this newly discovered residence are still under way, but it…
New Neolithic society discovered in Morocco Investigations at Oued Beht, northern Morocco, have uncovered evidence of the oldest and largest Neolithic society yet found in Africa outside the Nile Valley. Large quantities of stone tools have been recovered from the…
A joint German–Egyptian team excavating the western side of the Great Temple of Athribis (Sohag) has uncovered the remains of a temple pylon. Measuring 51 metres in length, the pylon would have been about 18 metres tall – similar in…
An Egyptian mission has discovered a military fort at Tell el-Abqain (Beheira Governorate), in the north-west Delta. The fort was a key military outpost on the western military road, an area prone to attack by Libyan tribes, and later the…
• Deliberately deformed sheep horns have been found in a burial at Hierakonpolis: the mutilation may have been to prevent the animals from injuring each other and their human handlers. • New research from Johns Hopkins University in the USA…
Excavations at Carlisle Cricket Club are uncovering the remains of the largest Roman building ever found on Hadrian’s Wall. Carly Hilts visited the site and spoke to Frank Giecco to find out more.
The Royal Collection Trust, the Department of the Royal Household that manages the public opening of the King’s official residences, has published new histories of Windsor Castle (CA 341) and St James’s Palace (CA 394) in recent years. Now it is the turn of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the King’s official Scottish residence, to be the subject of a comprehensive new history, as Chris Catling reports.
Poem to remember This poem was written at a time when I was a Chemistry Lecturer at Llandaff College of Technology and also an amateur archaeologist. At the time, I marvelled that chemists were detecting cholesterol in graves where only…
In CA 417, we described how best-practice reporting, expert archaeological work, and cutting-edge analysis were coming together to give intriguing insights into a remarkable assemblage that had lain undisturbed in the Scottish Borders for 3,000 years. Matthew G Knight, Emily A Freeman, Mary Davis, and Fraser Hunter take up the story to reveal what has been learned so far.
After more than 50 columns exploring the archaeology of the British Isles through a geographic lens, I begin here a new thematic focus: that of ‘great’ sites visited by Current Archaeology down the years. As I neared the end of my tour of the four nations, I reflected on the enduring power of a ‘great’ site.
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…