France

Above Archaeologists believe they may have discovered the home of the Neolithic community that constructed the tumuli at Tusson, 2km from the megalithic site. below These reconstruction images show how the site might have looked in its prime, with several houses at the pinnacle of a small promontory, surrounded by natural defences, and protected by a

Uncovering the home of the monument-builders

Archaeologists have discovered a settlement site belonging to the builders of some of Europe’s earliest Neolithic monuments.

Asterix’s legacy at Alésia

Richard Hodges explores Alésia in Burgundy and the legacy of Julius Caesar’s defeat of Vercingétorix and the Gauls.

Above The two coffins found last year beneath the floor of Notre Dame cathedral were sent to Toulouse University Hospital for further analysis.

Burials in Notre-Dame undergo analysis

Following their discovery by a team from Inrap last year, the coffins were sent to the forensic institute of Toulouse University Hospital for further investigation.

The Past

Home of Neolithic monument makers discovered in France

The settlement was discovered by a team of researchers at the site of Le Peu in the Charente department, a landscape scattered with Middle Neolithic (c.3700-4700 BC) dolmens and long barrows.

Left The English longbow proved decisive to Henry V’s landmark victory at the Battle of Agincourt, depicted here in a 15th century miniature by Enguerrand de Monstrelet.

The Battle of Baugé, 1421: when the Scots saved France

One of the bloodiest encounters between Scottish and English armies took place not on British soil – but in northern France, as part of the Hundred Years War. William E Welsh describes the events that lead to the Battle of Baugé, on 22 March 1421.

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The Past

Major progress made in restoring Notre-Dame de Paris for reopening in 2024

Reconstruction of the collapsed stone vault in the north transept of the cathedral has now been completed.

New discoveries in Nîmes

The excavations revealed at least 50 burials dating to the Roman period, including inhumation graves, cremation urns, and signs of funerary pyres.

Left The Withdrawal from Dunkirk, June 1940, as painted by Charles Cundall (1890 1971) for the War Artists’ Advisory Committee.

Was Dunkirk really a miracle?

In a new book, Robert Kershaw argues that the lack of a German perspective means we have only a partial understanding of the events of May-June 1940. Here, he explains what his research tells us about a battle that changed the tide of the Second World War.

War Classic: Zola’s ‘The Debacle’

La Débâcle prefigures both the changing nature of warfare, and the ongoing struggle of France’s national identity. Within 22 years, another generation would be sacrificed defending their homeland.

The Past

Roman cemetery unearthed in Nîmes

One of the most exciting discoveries was that of a casket carved out of a single stone, which contained a glass cinerary urn, along with a wealth of stunningly-preserved funerary goods.

Above This sculpture of the tauroctony from Cordoba, Lebanon, shows Mithras in his traditional Phrygian cap.

The mystery of Mithras

An exhibition at the Musée Saint-Raymond explores the Roman cult of Mithras. Gillis Kersting visited to find out more about this enigmatic religion.

Below The estuary of the River Léguer at low tide. Like much of the coast of Brittany, these waters have been a rich food resource from prehistory to the present day because of their large tidal range. Mesolithic people collected molluscs, crustaceans, and fish, and the seaweed has been used to fertilise the soil since the Neolithic period. image: © Barry Cunliffe

Bretons and Britons: exploring prehistoric Britain’s French connection

The fact that Britain and Brittany have similar names is more than coincidental. The two places have enmeshed histories, as Barry Cunliffe discusses in his latest book, Bretons and Britons. Chris Catling reports on the periods in prehistory when the people of the two cultures facing each other across the Channel were particularly close.

The Past

Neanderthals and modern humans alternately occupied a rock shelter in southern France

The researchers discovered that there were at least four phases of alternating Neanderthal and modern human occupation in the rock shelter.

Cage cup

What is it? This cage cup, or vas diatretum, dates to the 4th century AD. The intricate, colourless glass bowl is 12.6cm tall and 15cm in diameter and has a flared rim. A Latin inscription in the central part of…

640px King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt

The Past

Hundred Years’ War

The Hundred Years' War began in 1337. For how long did it actually continue?

OPPOSITE King Edward III (r. 1327 1377). His 50 year reign saw England transformed into a major European military power.

Edward III, the Black Prince, and the Battle of Crécy

Graham Goodlad analyses the joint careers of the father and son who led England’s armies in the early campaigns of the Hundred Years War.

The Battle of Crécy, 26 August 1346

Neil Faulkner analyses the first great victory of Edward III’s new tactical system in the Hundred Years War.

FRC1808 depots en cours de fouilles photo C Fresillon scaled

The Past

Rich bronze artefact deposits found at ancient French settlement

Two deposits of spectacular bronze artefacts dating back to the 9th century BC represent the latest discoveries made during a series of archaeological excavations and surveys conducted in the Allier department of central France since 2019.

Back to the Drawing Board: the Paris Gun

Although the design was an amazing technological achievement for its day, it was little more than a very expensive propaganda weapon.

War on film: Tunisian Victory

Talk of the war in North Africa and most Brits will think of Tobruk or El Alamein, while most Americans will think of Operation Torch, the Kasserine Pass, and Tunisia. The victory at El Alamein was presented in a powerful…

Russia returns remains of Napoleonic general to France

Gudin’s one-legged skeleton was found in the summer of 2019 in a park under the foundations of a dancefloor in Smolensk.

BELOW British infantry fight against the French heavies at Corunna. Moore recognised the need for an agreed and coherent light infantry system across the whole British Army.

Sir John Moore and the Battle of Corunna

Andrew Mulholland analyses a masterful tactical defence by one of the finest British commanders of the Napoleonic Wars.

The Past

Who beheaded the emperors of Chiragan?

One of the finest collections of Roman emperors is to be found hidden away in the Musée Saint-Raymond, the archaeological museum of Toulouse, in south-western France. But where did they come from, and how did such a magnificent collection of Roman emperors come to lose their heads?

La Glacerie: excavating a prisoner-of-war camp in Normandy

La Glacerie in Cherbourg, Normandy, is the first WWII prisoner-of-war camp for German soldiers in France to be excavated and studied. How does living memory measure up to archaeological research? Robert Early compares the hard evidence with the witness accounts.

The Past

Reopening graves a widespread practice in early medieval Europe, research reveals

The practice appears to have begun in central Europe sometime before the 6th-century AD, and then spread across the continent before reaching its peak around two-hundred-years later.

Saint-Bélec Slab

What is it? This engraved stone dating to the early Bronze Age (c.1900-1650 BC) is known as the Saint-Bélec Slab. Made of grey-blue coloured schist, the slab is c.2.2m long, 1.53m wide, and 0.16m thick. New research suggests that the…

Napoleon’s tomb

Finally completed in April 1861,Napoleon’s remains were transferred into this huge object of red aventurine quartzite from a quarry in northern Russia.

Fishguard, February 1797: the last French invasion of Britain

Patrick Mercer begins an occasional series looking at some of history’s less well-known battles.

The Past

Oldest 3D map in Europe unearthed

'The Saint-Bélec Slab highlights the cartographic knowledge of past societies that we tend to underestimate in the era of the GPS.'

ABOVE Using a combination of 3D modelling, experimental archaeology, and GIS,researchers have been able to create an accessibility model for cave art.

Assessing the accessibility of Atxurra

Cave painting is one of the earliest forms of human culture, one of the first outlets of our creativity. But the meaning that these paintings had to the communities who created them remains a bit of a mystery. Who painted…

IMAGES: Ice Age Island / Natural History Museum; ALL OTHER IMAGES: Silvia Bello unless otherwise stated

Artists on the edge of the world: exploring the British Isles’ earliest art at Les Varines, Jersey

Archaeologists excavating a 15,000-year-old campsite at Les Varines, Jersey, have recovered ten fragments of stone decorated with hundreds of interweaving lines. Recently published analysis of these ‘plaquettes’ suggests that they may represent the earliest artworks yet identified in the British Isles. Carly Hilts reports.

Above This drawing depicts the Forbes’ Quarry skull (also known as Gibraltar 1), the first adult Neanderthal remains ever discovered. The skull was found in Gibraltar in 1848 eight years before the type specimen that gave Neanderthals their name was discovered in the Neander Valley, Germany and came from a woman aged at least 40. Today, it is held by the Natural History Museum in London.

Neanderthal neighbours: tracing evidence for our closest hominin relatives in Britain

Neanderthals have long been stereotyped as our less-capable cousins, but advances in archaeological research have given fascinating new insights into the lives of our closest hominin relatives and the world they inhabited, as Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes explains.

ABOVE Among the different types of burials excavated at the necropolis were five sandstone sarcophagi.

Roman discoveries at ancient Augustodunum

Excavations directed by Carole Fossurier found a range of different burial practices. There were mausoleums, a wooden building, and a tile structure, which resembled burials of the early empire, as well as five sandstone sarcophagi and 15 lead coffins.