Archaeologists working at ancient Heliopolis (Matariya, Cairo) have uncovered an almost complete funerary assemblage beneath a mud-brick burial structure. The discovery includes a collection of personal and ritual objects, including a copper mirror, alabaster kohl vessels containing traces of cosmetics,…
It was found by a walker in a rock crevice. What is it? This spectacular sword scabbard fitting dates to the 6th century, during Norway’s Migration Period. The rectangular object measures 6cm wide by c.2cm high and is just a…
Analysis of two votive offering vessels from Pompeii is enhancing our understanding of Roman domestic rituals.
Following Aidan Dodson’s history of the Libyan pharaohs of Egypt in the last issue, Roger Forshaw explores the latest discoveries from the site of Tanis, their capital city.
Colin Reader shows how ancient Egypt’s geology led to wealth, power, and influence.
The British Museum has launched a £3.5 million fundraising campaign to acquire a unique pendant associated with Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, and with the wider political ambitions of 16th-century Europe. Carly Hilts reports.
This ornate artefact is known as the Mold Cape. Thought to date to c.1900 1600 BC, it is one of the finest examples of prehistoric sheet gold-working yet found in Britain, crafted from a single ingot, which was shaped and…
A remarkable discovery in the fields near Vindelev revealed objects that are both beautiful and informative. Olympia Bobou, Ilaria Bucci, and Rubina Raja bring us up-to-date about a find shedding fresh light on runic writing, the history of religion, and royal power in Denmark.
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
A unique exhibition at the Wereldmuseum Leiden in the Netherlands explores how gold has inspired humankind throughout history. Gillis Kersting visited to find out more.
The Thracians made a keen impression on both their neighbours and the archaeological record, but how much do we really know about them? Sara E Cole and Jens Daehner introduced Matthew Symonds to an enigmatic group of peoples.
A major exhibition at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden explores a period of massive transformation in the Netherlands and beyond. Amy Brunskill spoke to curator Luc Amkreutz to find out more.
Over the course of eight decades, at least 14 separate hoards of Iron Age metalwork have been recovered from a single field at Snettisham in Norfolk. Now, following the publication of a new book describing the excavation, conservation, and scientific investigation of these spectacular finds, Jody Joy and Julia Farley describe how they came to be discovered, and reveal some of the secrets that have come to light since then.
In 2019, a metal-detectorist made a startling discovery while exploring near the edge of a stream near Pulborough in West Sussex: two curved pieces of a golden torc dating to the Iron Age. After being reported to the local Finds…
ACROSS 8 Egyptian agrarian culture of 4500-3250 BC (8)9 Son of Daedalus in Greek mythology (6)10 Édouard ….. , French archaeologist noted for his work on the Palaeolithic (6) 11 William ….. , British antiquary and author of Avebury (1743)…
What is it? This gold pendant, known to specialists as a bracteate, is 5cm in diameter and comes from a Danish hoard dated to the 6th century AD – the object itself dates to the early 5th century. The front…
Inside the cist tomb were the remains of a man and a woman, thought to have died in their 30s
Archaeologists from MOLA were excavating the site in Northamptonshire when they uncovered a group of some 30 pendants, other grave goods, and fragments of tooth enamel in a grave.
A pendant adorned with symbolic motifs linked to Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon was recently unveiled at the British Museum. Carly Hilts spoke to Dr Rachel King and Teresa Gilmore to find out more.
The Egyptian-British archaeological mission working in the Northern Cemetery (Tombs of the Nobles) at Amarna has uncovered a burial containing fine pieces of gold jewellery. The grave contained the remains of a young woman wrapped in textiles, who was buried…
The burials contained bodies that were covered with thin gold foils in the shapes of Isis, Bastet, and other deities.
This pendant, known as a bulla, was found by a metal-detectorist in the Melton district of Leicestershire in November 2021. It is hemispherical in shape and formed of two plain gold sheets, one formed into a hollow dome and the…
It was, according to Levente Bence Balázs, the leader of the Museum of London team that made the discovery, a moment that might most accurately be described as ‘an archaeologist’s dream’. On 11 April 2022, Balázs was overseeing the penultimate…
Archaeological work just outside Northampton has uncovered an internationally significant burial, furnished with a remarkable 7th-century necklace, as well as a number of other high-status grave goods. With conservation and analysis of the finds under way, Carly Hilts spoke to Paul Thompson and Lyn Blackmore about what these artefacts can tell us about the woman they were buried with, and what they could add to our understanding of early medieval England as research progresses.
The 7th-century grave of an elite woman who had been laid to rest with stunning grave goods – among them a necklace made of gold, garnets, and Roman coins – has been unearthed in Harpole, Northamptonshire.
A detailed look at one of four coffinettes which held the king's mummified organs.
The Staffordshire Hoard – the largest cache of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver ever found in Britain – is predominantly made up of weapon parts and other martial gear, including sword fittings, ceremonial objects, and fragments of a helmet (see CA…
Throughout history, gold has captured the imagination – as a glittering symbol of money, sex, power, divine love, or whatever else our hearts desire. From the Greek myth of the Golden Fleece to Titian's Danae, and from the golden objects found in Ancient Egyptian tombs to the quest at the heart of JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, the precious metal has been mined as subject matter for writers and artists across continents and down millennia.
Some of the most significant texts from around the world have been given very special treatment, with words of holiness and of diplomatic value written both in and on gold. Annabel Teh Gallop, Eleanor Jackson, and Kathleen Doyle investigate the indelible importance of the precious metal in luxury manuscripts.
Review by Chris Griffiths. Those with an interest in Bronze Age metalwork will know that the literature tends to focus on the question of why metal objects were destroyed and buried: were they deliberately broken for recycling, to serve a…
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions in the UK.
‘While gold would still have had an intrinsic value and probably could have been used for trading in any number of circumstances, it most likely wasn’t a generally recognised form of currency.’
It remains one of the best known of all Greek myths – not least, for a certain generation, because of the lurid 1963 Hollywood film adaptation. But if the story of Jason and the Argonauts' quest for the Golden Fleece continues to grip the popular imagination, the question of how far it is based in reality is also one that fascinates historians, classicists and archaeologists alike.
The Caucasus were home to some of the world’s earliest and most proficient goldsmiths. Despite an association between this metal and the mountains that became so strong it was woven into mythology, gold artefacts more or less disappear from a large part of the region for a period of some seven centuries. Nathaniel Erb-Satullo investigates why.
Twenty years ago, one of the richest Bell Beaker burials ever found in Europe was discovered close to Stonehenge. At that time, DNA analysis was not sufficiently advanced to learn more about the individual, dubbed ‘the Amesbury Archer’ – but the intervening decades have seen significant scientific advances that have shed illuminating light on this enigmatic figure, as well as his relationship to a younger man buried nearby. Andrew Fitzpatrick, Jacqueline McKinley, Alistair Barclay, Ian Armit, Iñigo Olalde, and David Reich report on what has been revealed.
At a time when even the highest-value coin in regular circulation (£2) will sometimes hardly cover the cost of a cup of coffee, it is refreshing to be transported back to an era when coins were generally much higher in…