Young Archaeologists take over York A new Young Archaeologists’ Club has been established in York, giving children aged 8-16 the opportunity to get hands-on experience of the history of their city. The club was set up by four friends and…
• An Egyptian mission at the Tell el-Deir site (Damietta Governorate) has uncovered 20 finely carved limestone stela, together with anthropoid pottery coffins, pottery lamps, and funerary amulets. • The hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas) and sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) may…
Sculpting southern Scotland A new project, coordinated by Dr Christina Cowart-Smith and funded by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, is set to start this autumn with the aim of documenting around 200 fragments of sculpture south of the Forth–Clyde…
Beneath Grønhaug In 1902, investigations of the Grønhaug burial mound on Karmøy, western Norway, revealed the poorly preserved remains of a Viking Age ship dating to the mid-9th century. Now archaeologists have returned to the site. They have determined that…
Bronze Age sword discovered by divers at Salcombe A rare Bronze Age sword has been discovered by divers Becky Gill and Catherine Gill from the South West Maritime Archaeological Group (SWMAG) while investigating the Salcombe Cannon and Moor Sand protected…
• At Ihnasya (ancient Herakleopolis Magna), an Egyptian team has uncovered the remains of a Roman basilica and a large marble head of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, along with terracotta coin moulds and an inscription of Senusret III (Twelfth Dynasty)…
New Mudlark-in-Residence role at Southwark Cathedral Lara Maiklem has been named as the first Mudlark-in-Residence for Southwark Cathedral, in what is thought to be the UK’s only permanent mudlarking role within a cultural or heritage organisation. With almost 25 years…
Silent guardians The original mud-plaster sealings that secured the burial chambers of King Tutankhamun’s tomb have been placed on public display for the first time. The sealings are made of a Theban plaster material traditionally known as habiya – a…
Exploring the archaeology of Sandwich Bay The Nautical Archaeology Society has launched a new project: ‘Coastal Pasts – Connecting Community with Coastal Heritage at Sandwich Bay’. This initiative, largely funded by a recent National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, will create…
• Egypt, rather than East Africa, may have been the region where the ancestors of modern apes and humans emerged according to researchers, following their discovery of fossil remains of an ape in the Qattara Depression dating back 18 million…
Community Archaeology reveals 19th-century house A recent community excavation in Belfast has revealed the remains of a 19th-century house and the partial layout of the Victorian streets in the area. Run by Community Archaeology Programme Northern Ireland (CAPNI) – an…
Iron from the stars Experts reveal that an axe-like object found in a sacrificial pit at the Bronze Age site of Sanxingdui (2800-600 BC) in south-west China was made of iron from a meteor. Only a handful of other meteoric…
• Researchers at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, have spotted an ancient form of ‘Tipp-Ex’ in a Book of the Dead vignette, where a white fluid was used to make the figure of a jackal slimmer. • An Egyptian-Chinese…
Singapore’s first shipwreck Underwater excavations have uncovered the first ancient shipwreck to be found in Singapore. The vessel, known as the Temasek Wreck, underwent several stages of investigation between 2016 and 2019, and the results of the research have now…
Tudor Heart saved for the nation The British Museum’s campaign to raise £3.5 million to acquire a heart shaped pendant bearing imagery associated with the court of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon has achieved its goal. Discovered by a…
• A 3,000-year-old gold mining operation, including mining tools and residential areas, has been discovered in Egypt’s Sukari Mountains; the entire camp has been moved nearly two miles away to separate it from the modern mine at the site. •…
Funding for Devon Roman villa The SHARE project (Saving Halberton’s Ancient Roman Environment), which is being led by archaeologists from the University of Exeter in partnership with Devon County Council, Tiverton Archaeology Group, and the Sampford Peverell Society, has been…
A changing Rome Maria Barosso is an unsung heroine in Rome’s archaeological story. An extraordinary new exhibition in the Museo Centrale Montemartini provides a flavour of her work as a functionary in the Direzione Generale Antichità e Belle Arti. Born…
Digitising Irish towns New technology developed at the University of Bradford has created digital twins of two historic walled towns on the island of Ireland: Kilmallock in Co. Limerick, Ireland (RIGHT), and Derry/Londonderry in Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland. This new…
• A German-Egyptian ScanPyramids team has discovered two previously unknown air-filled cavities in the Pyramid of Menkaura at Giza, which might suggest the presence of a second entrance on the eastern side of the monument. • Research published in the…
Blue plaque unveiled for Reverend Wilbert Awdry Historic England has unveiled a National Blue Plaque honouring children’s author and creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, the Reverend Wilbert Awdry. The plaque is located at 30 Rodborough Avenue in Stroud, on…
Culture vultures A new study, recently published in Ecology (), reveals that the nests of bearded vultures can contain objects dating back hundreds of years. Examination of more than 50 historical bearded vulture nests in southern Spain, where the species…
New project to study ‘bog bodies’ A new project, entitled ‘Bog Biographies’ and led by researchers at Coventry University, is aiming to improve understanding of the Iron Age phenomenon of ‘bog bodies’. This period appears to have seen a significant…
• The gold bracelet of the Twenty-first Dynasty pharaoh Amenemope was recently stolen from the conservation laboratory of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Arrests were made but, sadly, the bracelet had already been melted down for gold. • An ancient…
Carved stone head found at Skaill Farm dig An excavation at Skaill Farm on Rousay, Orkney, has uncovered an unusual carved stone head. Found by Katie Joss, an undergraduate from the UHI Archaeology Institute, which is leading the investigation, the…
Pompeii reoccupied after eruption Excavations at Pompeii have uncovered evidence that certain areas of the city were reoccupied after the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. This had been suggested before, but previous excavations focused on reaching Pompeii’s pre-destruction levels…
Neolithic long cairn granted protected status The Dudderhouse Hill long cairn, located within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, has been granted protected status as a Scheduled Monument by the Government. The scheduling was recommended by Historic England after a number…
• UNESCO has removed the Abu Mena archaeological site in Alexandria – an ancient location for Christian pilgrimage – from the World Heritage in Danger List following work to reinforce key structures and the installation of a groundwater management system.…
Final ‘Victories’ tapestry back at Blenheim After a long conservation process, the final tapestry in the ‘Victories’ series, The Surrender of Lille, has been reinstated in the First State Room of Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. The tapestry depicts the famous parley…
Cave treasures In 2023, two speleologists exploring the Cave of Tlayócoc in south-western Mexico came across a collection of 500-year-old objects. Archaeologists from INAH investigated further, revealing that the assemblage consisted of 14 artefacts in total, including three engraved shell…
Napoleonic war camp saved for the nation The first purpose-built prisoner-of-war camp in the world – dating from the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars – has been saved for future generations through its recent purchase by Nene Park Trust, with…
• Egyptian and Greek pottery discovered by Israeli archaeologists at Megiddo (‘Armageddon’) confirms that Egyptian forces and Greek mercenaries were present around the period of the biblical battle between King Josiah and Pharaoh Necho II, c.609 BC. • A recently…
Rare photographs of Second World War filmmaking revealed To mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Historic England’s Archive has released a collection of photographs capturing behind-the-scenes stills of RAF film productions. The collection was put together by Dorothy ‘Knicky’…
Iron Age cemetery in UAE An Iron Age necropolis recently discovered in Al Ain is the first to be found in the United Arab Emirates. The burial ground, which was unearthed as part of the Funerary Landscapes of Al Ain…
Rare Roman coin on display at Trimontium Museum An aureus – a Roman gold coin – has recently been put on display in the Trimontium Museum. Discovered at Newstead, in the Scottish Borders, the coin is on loan from National…
• The French mission at Taposiris Magna has uncovered a finely crafted marble head depicting an elderly man (below), dating to the Ptolemaic Period. • A suitcase with the monogram ‘HC’, believed to have been owned by Howard Carter, has…