With one of the UK’s major commercial units celebrating its 30th birthday this year, Carly Hilts spoke to Vicki Score, John Thomas, Jen Browning, Matt Beamish, and Alice Forward about ULAS’ journey into the past.
Wolfram Grajetzki continues his series on the Twelfth Dynasty pharaohs with one of the lesser-known kings of the Middle Kingdom: Nubkaura Amenemhat II.
In the first of two articles describing the practice of tattooing in ancient Egypt and Nubia, Renée Friedman looks at the surviving evidence from the Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom.
Aidan Dodson looks at material in Istanbul linking ancient Egypt with the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Diana Bentley traces the fates of the four children of Cleopatra VII following the Roman invasion of Egypt in 30 BC.
Simone Petacchi explores the life and work of a unique French Egyptologist.
Andrew Fulton ends his series exploring this famous Book of the Dead with a final scene featuring Hathor and Tawaret.
Hilary looks at the symbolism attached to one of the major food sources for ancient Egyptians.
Excavations at Holme Hall Quarry, between Doncaster and Rotherham, have revealed how the landscape was transformed into extensive, carefully planned field systems and farmsteads during the early Roman period. Was this development the work of local Iron Age communities, or a land grab by an occupying army? Francis M Morris, who has recently completed post-excavation analysis and publication through Archaeological Research Services Ltd, explains more.
Discovered in 1972 and excavated between 2004 and 2010, High Pasture Cave on the island of Skye has proven to have been an enduring hub of ritual activity for 900 years, from the Bronze Age to the late Iron Age. Few cave sites in Europe have produced evidence for recurrent use over such a long period of time. As Chris Catling explains, the newly published excavation report raises questions about what this site can tell us about the meaning and use of caves, and underground spaces in general, during later prehistory.
A major new exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland explores how people travelled between early medieval Ireland and continental Europe 1,000 years ago, seeking learning, refuge from Viking raids, and religious fulfilment through self-imposed exile. Diarmuid Ó Riain, Matthew Seaver, and Maeve Sikora describe how this exchange of ideas and artistic styles is reflected in the artefacts and manuscripts on display.
Recent research has shed new light on a rare group of Iron Age cauldrons, culminating in the construction of a full-sized replica. What did this process reveal about how such objects were made, maintained, and used? John Thomas, Liz Barham, and Hector Cole explain more.
An exhibition currently running at the University of Nottingham Museum showcases finds from Breedon Hill and Burrough Hill, hillforts that are both located in the East Midlands where such monuments are relatively scarce and poorly understood compared to other regions. Carly Hilts visited the displays, speaking to John Thomas, Clare Pickersgill, and Helen Sharp.
Investigating the hinterland of a timber henge in Germany has revealed a remarkable prehistoric landscape. Franziska Knoll shares the findings from an intriguing concentration of ritual monuments and settlement.
During the 13th century, a series of popes made use of the palace at Viterbo in Italy. During this period, the city hosted five conclaves, while the palace grew increasingly impressive. Tim Tatton-Brown examines the evolution of this complex and the events that unfolded there.
Establishing the origin of the lapis lazuli used in ancient artefacts has long been beyond the reach of science. Now an innovative technique has revealed, in a non-invasive way, where the precious stone was coming from. Alessandro Lo Giudice, Alessandro Re, Laura Guidorzi, Marta Magalini, Norman Hammond, Randall Law, Guy Clutterbuck, and Georgina Herrmann guide us from a laboratory in Italy to a remote mine.
What can a pair of silver cups deposited as grave goods in Denmark reveal about links with the Roman world? Olympia Bobou, Ilaria Bucci, and Rubina Raja share a story of shifting political and cultural forces.
Graham Goodlad analyses Britain’s role in the long-running struggle against French domination of the Low Countries.
Graham Goodlad reviews the military career of a ruler who gained the British throne in a bloodless coup but had to fight to retain it and then analyses in detail his part in the battle against French domination of the Low Countries.
In the last part of our series marking the 80th anniversary of World War II’s final months, Taylor Downing asks whether the Allies had any choice but to use their devastating new weapon to end the war.
In the first of three articles about celebrated military figures who changed allegiances, Nigel Jones looks at shifting loyalties in English civil conflicts.
In the final part of our series on the American Civil War, Fred Chiaventone examines the impact of devastating new weaponry and technology that emerged courtesy of the Industrial Revolution.
What would have happened if Japan hadn’t surrendered? David Porter examines the Allied plans for the largest amphibious assault of all time.
Two decades of excavations in East Sussex farmland have uncovered the remains of an unusual enclosed settlement linking the Roman road network with the River Ouse. Rob Wallace and David Millum explain more.
The system whereby coal was heated and the resulting gases purified, stored, and distributed to factories, street lamps, public buildings, and, in due course, to every home was developed in the UK in the first decade of the 19th century and exported around the world. Today the 600 remaining gasholders, once familiar industrial structures in every city and town, are being recorded by Historic England prior to being dismantled or converted to other uses, as Chris Catling reports.
Recent archaeological research in the grounds of a Shropshire stately home has added a surprising new chapter to the estate’s story. Viviana Caroli and Nigel Baker explain more.
One of the largest Iron Age hoards ever found in the UK was recently unveiled. Comprising hundreds of metal items, its contents are shedding brilliant light on this period of Yorkshire’s past, revealing how wealthy and well-connected some of its ancient inhabitants were. Carly Hilts spoke to Tom Moore, Emily Williams, Sophia Adams, and Keith Emerick.
The newest archaeological reconstruction to be unveiled at Butser Ancient Farm is a late Neolithic house, based on a structure whose 5,000-year-old footprint was excavated in Dorset. CA visited the launch event to learn more.
Judith Bunbury of the New Kingdom Research Foundation (NKRF) describes how ten years of work led to the discovery of one – possibly two – new royal tombs for the same king.
Aidan Dodson explores the family history of this short-lived king, and how the discovery of his tomb sheds light on the burials of the early New Kingdom pharaohs.
Textiles specialist Nancy Arthur Hoskins recreates royal and divine clothing from New Kingdom tomb paintings.
In the second part of an article on the symbolism attached by the ancient Egyptians to beasts with horns, Hilary looks at goats, sheep, and wild animals.
W Benson Harer Jr says we should thank the Roman legionaries for our ginger feline friends.
Sean Rigby investigates the mysterious monument that impressed Classical writers more than the Great Pyramid.
Rachel Cotton investigates why some early Egyptologists collected skulls, and shows how the analysis of one particular skull can reveal much about the deceased person’s life.
Ani reaches the end of his journey through the underworld in the fourth of Andrew Fulton’s series exploring this famous Book of the Dead.