In the past, most analyses of human remains have examined specific, discrete aspects of osteological data such as health, trauma, and migration. In an attempt to provide a more holistic approach to the analysis of cemeteries, researchers at the University…
Rachel Cotton investigates an extremely rare item: a linen ‘bag-tunic’ discovered by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon in 1909.
Rosalie David and Roger Forshaw consider the contribution made by ancient Egyptians to the development of surgery, and the extent to which their knowledge was transmitted to later civilisations.
A new multidisciplinary research facility has been created at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat to provide specialist micro-analysis of archaeological finds. The first of its kind in the Middle East, the new centre houses state-of-the-art technology to…
The remains of a rare Neolithic cairn have recently been excavated at Holm in East Mainland, Orkney, showing that, despite 19th-century plundering, many of its main features survived, including a number of burials. In Orkney, most chambered tombs survive as…
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
A round-up of some of the latest archaeological discoveries from across the globe.
REVIEW BY GEORGE NASH The two Cotswold-Severn Neolithic burial-ritual monuments of Penywyrlod and Gwernvale occupy the western hinterlands of the Black Mountains in Breconshire, Wales. Both monuments are only part of a handful of Neolithic burial-ritual monuments in Wales to…
REVIEW BY JENNIFER FOSTER This most useful, extensive analysis concerns Iron Age inhumed bones in eastern England. The burial types start in the late Bronze Age, with most people buried in settlements: ‘normal’ pit/ditch, crouched, and north–south orientated; disarticulated bones;…
England’s largest public display of human anatomy has reopened after five years’ closure and a £4.6 million redevelopment. Carly Hilts visited to learn more about the new displays, and the complex story of medical advances and ethical questions that they explore.
German researchers analysing 12 severed hands that were discovered at Avaris (Tell el-Dab’a) in 2011 have published their findings, suggesting that the amputations were part of a ritual, rather than a punishment for crime. The hands, dating to about 1500…
154 skeletons representing people of all ages were recovered from the 19th-century cemetery in Fewston
Over the course of a very rainy week this past March, Wessex Archaeology and volunteers from Operation Nightingale, led by DIO archaeologist Richard Osgood, carried out a small-scale excavation of Boles Barrow (also known as Bowl’s Barrow), a Neolithic long…
Joannes Dekker, along with researchers from the Universities of York, Copenhagen, Chester, and Leiden, used a type of mass spectrometry to visualise the two-dimensional distribution of proteins in both archaeological and modern teeth. In this month’s ‘Science Notes’, we explore the results from this project.
One of the interments contained a lead coffin with a female occupant; such coffins are relatively uncommon in Britain, and would probably have been expensive.
Review by Hilary Forrest Oh no – not another book about Tutankhamun! This one, however, is rather different. The first sections of the book cover the history of the Valley of the Kings, the early desecrations of the tombs, and…
A round-up of some of the latest archaeology news from around the world.
New research is expanding our understanding of the human remains deposited in peatlands around Europe.
The positions of the skeletons indicate that they were thrown or rolled into the grave, and many of the remains are disarticulated or incomplete.
The cave was first excavated in 1958, when a Bronze Age urn and some human skeletons were discovered, but more recent work has shed vivid light on its contents.
In this month’s ‘Science Notes’, we will explore the evidence for this hypothesis, and examine how violence-related injuries are distinguished in archaeological human remains.
‘Over his lifetime, he made significant contributions to the development of modern medicine in Leicester, leaving a lasting impact on the city and beyond.’
Almost 20 years ago, York Archaeological Trust were excavating part of a Roman cemetery when they uncovered dozens of decapitated skeletons. Were these the remains of gladiators? An exhibition at Cirencester’s Corinium Museum sets out the evidence, as Carly Hilts reports.
Archaeologist working in Egedal, Denmark, have uncovered a set of partial human remains that may represent an ancient bog sacrifice.
The study suggests that two Palaeolithic individuals - one from Kendrick’s Cave in Wales, and the other from Gough’s Cave in Somerset - came from two completely separate populations.
In this month’s ‘Science Notes’, we explore a recent paper that tests some of the assumptions behind Brothwell’s chart relating dental-wear to age and develops a more up-to-date one.
by Bob Brier.Oxford University Press, 2022ISBN 978-0-1976-3505-6Hardback, £21.99. The present volume is a reminder of how writing (rather than just the theories) about Tutankhamun has in some ways changed quite markedly over time – and in some ways stayed the…
The fossilised remains, which date to between 31,000 and 30,000 years ago, were found during excavations at Liang Tebo. Previously, the earliest known evidence of surgical amputation came from a farmer in France c.7,000 years ago
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions
Findings show that there were at least two genetically distinct Late Upper Palaeolithic populations present in Britain after the last Ice Age, around 15,000 years ago.
The remains of at least 17 individuals found in a medieval well in central Norwich most likely represent a group of Ashkenazi Jews who fell victim to anti-Semitic violence in the 12th or early 13th century, a new study suggests.…
Evidence of what appears to be the earliest known surgical amputation of a limb, dating to c.31,000 years ago, has been identified in Borneo.
![TOP Human remains discovered at the Mont Saint Jean farm complex. Team members, including military veterans [above], excavated the site at Waterloo this summer.](https://i0.wp.com/the-past.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/post-1_image0.jpg?fit=768%2C537&ssl=1)
The latest discoveries – including parts of at least three horses, one of which looks nearly complete, and the skull and arm of a soldier – are incredibly rare finds.
The newly uncovered banjo enclosure, which contains at least three roundhouses and 65 deep, cylindrical storage pits dating from c.300-100 BC, was discovered during a geophysical survey.
The discovery was announced by Waterloo Uncovered, the archaeological charity which has returned to the battlefield site in Belgium for its first excavations there since 2019.
All individuals will be carefully reburied following completion of the research work.