excavations

World news: Swedish shipwreck, Kazakh lyre, and a Roman amphitheatre

A round-up of some of the latest archaeological news stories from across the globe.

The Past

This week: Submerged cities

According to Plato, it was a fabulously wealthy island – larger than Asia Minor and Ancient Libya combined, and situated just beyond the Pillars of Hercules. Its powerful princes conquered much of the eastern Mediterranean, subjecting whole populations to slavery, until an alliance led by the Athenians staged a fightback, managing finally to liberate the occupied lands.

CWA 112 Crossword – March 2022

Crossword from Current World Archaeology issue of March 2022.

CWA 112 Letters – March

Your observations, your objections, and your opinions.

The Past

Phoenician sacred pool aligned with stars identified off Sicilian coast

Excavations revealed temples lining the basin, along with altars, votive offerings, and stelae.

New terracotta warriors discovered

Among the new statues is least one figure who appears to be a general, and another who is a middle-ranking army officer.

Roman amphitheatre found in Switzerland

The Kaiseraugst amphitheatre was discovered in the Rheinfelden district at a site known to have been the location of a Roman quarry

BELOW The Dzhetyasar instrument (LEFT) is remarkably similar to the lyre found at Sutton Hoo, a reconstruction of which is shown here (RIGHT), and

Sutton Hoo lyre has Central Asian connection

The instrument from Dzhetyasar closely matches the 7th-century lyre discovered in the 1930s at Sutton Hoo.

The Past

Time Team returns – when and where to watch the new episodes

The programme kicks off this weekend with an extended three-part extravaganza covering Time Team’s excavation of an Iron Age settlement in Cornwall.

The Past

Human burials unearthed in Gloucestershire

It appears that, in one burial, the skull of the deceased was positioned between their legs.

RIGHT The military diploma was found in the ancient city of Perrhe, in south eastern Turkey, last summer.

Military diploma dating back 2,000 years discovered in Turkey

It contains personal information in Latin regarding a soldier’s service in the Roman army, and is believed to be exactly 1,898 years old.

Remains of ‘comfortable’ British POW camp uncovered by archaeologists

Around 2,000 German prisoners were housed at this camp, research suggests.

Citadel of Hewlêr (Erbil), Iraqi Kurdistan

The Past

Kurdistan Quiz

Between which five present-day countries is the roughly defined geo-cultural territory of Kurdistan mostly now divided?

Left A small terracotta dog found in excavations in Rome.

Terracotta dog found in Rome

It was uncovered at a construction site in the Via Luigi Tosti, which joins Via Latina, home to a number of large tombs.

Oldest ink pen found in Ireland

Its discovery is significant because while there is archaeological evidence for secular literacy in the Roman and early medieval periods in Britain, this is not really the case in Ireland

The Past

Roman amphitheatre discovered in Switzerland

The remains were revealed during excavations of an abandoned Roman quarry where the construction of a new boathouse for the Basel Rowing Club is scheduled

ABOVE Excavations in a raised area of the Utzh An compound revealed a mass grave containing the remains of 25 individuals, buried with pottery and objects related to textile production, believed to be members of the Chimú elite.

Pre-Columbian mass grave found in Peru

Although the Chimú are known to have practised human sacrifice, it is currently not possible to say whether this is the case here.

ABOVE Excavations in a large suburban villa near Pompeii have uncovered a small room where a group of slaves once slept. IMAGES: Parco Archeologico di Pompei

Slaves’ room found in Pompeii

The discovery grants us a glimpse of the people who were behind the day-to-day running of the villa

Rare Roman dagger found by young amateur archaeologist in Switzerland

Inlaid with silver and brass and buried under 20 inches of soil, it was possibly placed as an offering to the gods.

World news in brief: underwater finds in Egypt, Mayan connections, and Pleistocene New Guinea

A look at the latest archaeology stories from across the globe, including a 4th century galley sunk off Egypt, evidence of social links between Mayan cities, and a study of Late Pleistocene husbandry.

LEFT Excavations at a fortified hillfort near Gannat have discovered several collections of metal objects buried inside ceramic vessels.

Late Bronze Age Hillfort found in France

Around 800 objects have been recovered so far, making it one of the richest Late Bronze Age sites in Europe.

ABOVE LiDAR examination at the Maya site of Tikal revealed the existence of a previously unknown complex that mirrors the Ciudadela at Teotihuacan.

Teotihuacan complex found in Maya city

Archaeologists exploring the Ciudadela at Tikal have discovered six phases of construction, mostly dating to the Early Classic period (c.AD 300-550).

ABOVE The theatre at Butrint lay within a sanctuary complex devoted to the cult of Ascelpius. A set of inscriptions documenting the manumission of slaves were found when the theatre was excavated in 1928. Although the inscriptions have since degraded, an important new discovery provides an opportunity to see the texts as they appeared shortly after they were unearthed.

Butrint’s slave manumissions: shedding new light on the UNESCO World Heritage city

During 2020, 'squeezes' – copies – made in the 1930s of Butrint’s exceptional inscriptions from the Sanctuary of Asclepius were rediscovered by chance. Enrico Giorgi shares the story of these texts and their facsimiles.

World News in Brief

CA explores the latest archaeological news from across the globe, including the discovery of the world's oldest Christian monastery.

The Past

This week: Tokyo

All eyes were on Tokyo this summer, as the world's most populous metropolitan area (home to an astonishing 37 million people) finally played host to the postponed 2020 Olympic Games. With its gleaming skyscrapers and ultramodern stadia, the Japanese capital made a suitably impressive backdrop for the planet's biggest sporting event.

Archaeology in Tokyo: seeking out the past of a megacity

Preparations for the 2020 Olympics saw excavations under way at numerous sites in Tokyo. Simon Kaner reflects on what archaeology tells us about activity in the area before and after the birth of a great city.

Below The archaeological park of Libarna, showing its amphitheatre (on the right), two city blocks (left), and theatre (top centre), bisected by railways and a highway.

Libarna: revealing the complex history of a colonial city

How did the Romans learn to incorporate new groups and regions into their empire? Libarna, a Roman colony in what was the Gallic part of Italy, may hold the key to answering this question. Katherine V Huntley reveals the ancient, and modern, significance of the city.

Cannonball Jeff Gage Florida Museum of Natural History

16th-century Spanish objects in Mississippi

Many of the objects found had been repurposed by the Chickasaws into tools and ornaments

The Past

Hunter-gatherer settlements excavated in Russia

A vast number of flint artefacts – including scrapers, arrowheads, and axe fragments – were recovered from all five settlements.

The Past

WATCH: Anglo-Saxon church uncovered in Stoke Mandeville

Archaeologists excavating the ruined St Mary’s Old Church in Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, ahead of the construction of HS2 have discovered the remains of what is thought to be an Anglo-Saxon predecessor

The Past

Graeco-Roman settlement and artefacts unearthed at Alexandria

The most exciting discovery was that of an intricately sculpted and well-preserved alabaster bust of Alexander the Great.

The Past

Letters from CA – September 2021

Your views on previous issues of Current Archaeology.

BELOW The project team assembles beside Trench A after the final day of digging. This area contained monumental building remains thought to represent some of the most important structures in the extra mural area.

Birdoswald: exploring a Roman town on Hadrian’s Wall

Birdoswald is one of the most-excavated Roman forts on Hadrian’s Wall, but the area beyond the fort walls has been investigated in much less detail. Following the launch of a new four-year project to explore its remains, Current Archaeology's Carly Hilts visited the excavation to hear the latest news from Ian Haynes and Tony Wilmott.