A rare stone sarcophagus is among more than 20 Roman burials that have been uncovered by archaeologists working on a road improvement project between Wansford and Sutton. The investigation, undertaken by Headland Archaeology, revealed 15 burials within an enclosed cemetery,…
The remains of a large Roman pottery production site have emerged during major excavations at the Moors at Arne, near Poole Harbour in Dorset. Important wildlife habitats are threatened by rising sea levels, which the Environment Agency – in partnership…
A short fragment of musical notation has been identified as part of a pre-Reformation religious chant, offering interesting insights into the musical traditions of 16th-century Scotland. The piece of music was originally discovered in 2011, but until recently its identity…
A hoard of more than 300 11th-century coins, still carefully packaged within their lead and cloth container, has been uncovered in Suffolk. The discovery was made during archaeological work ahead of constructing Sizewell C nuclear power station. While investigating a…
Historic Scottish manuscript made available to public A text from Scotland is being made available to the public for the first time in 500 years after its acquisition by the University of St Andrews. The manuscript consists of a largely…
Archaeological work centred on an early medieval cemetery near Canterbury has uncovered a number of high-status graves, one of which produced an exceptionally well-preserved 6th-century sword. The weapon is being worked on by archaeologists from the University of Central Lancashire…
A major project at the Tower of London has revealed hundreds of graffiti written by prisoners, as well as other historical visitors to the site, thanks to cutting-edge technology. The initiative, conducted by Dr Jamie Ingram as part of his…
Visitors to Nothe Fort in Weymouth will be able to share the olfactory experiences of the soldiers who once manned the Victorian coastal defences, during a special event featuring historically inspired smells in early March. Interactive demonstrations of evocative odours…
A large Viking Age burial ground has been discovered in Halland, western Sweden. Archaeologists Anders Kjellin and Petra Nordin tell us about their findings.
A curious composition New analysis of an inhumation burial unearthed in the 1970s at a Gallo Roman cemetery in Pommerœul, Belgium, has revealed that this ‘individual’ in fact comprises bones from at least four different Late Neolithic people, as well…
A specialised analytical approach has identified the first archaeological evidence for silk at the Bronze Age site of Sanxingdui. The settlement, which lies in the Sichuan Basin in south-western China, is believed to have been the capital of the ancient…
Between the 12th and the 16th centuries, the city of Bruges in Belgium was an important commercial hub, home to a number of foreign merchant communities, several of whom set up their own ‘nation houses’, which served as administrative seats…
Analysis of engraved stone slabs from the 15,800-year-old site of Gönnersdorf, located on the banks of the Rhine in west-central Germany, has identified a set of carvings that appear to depict fish nets or traps. Gönnersdorf has produced a rich…
New analysis of an ancient Egyptian ritual vessel is shedding light on the complex concoction it once held. Bes vases are a type of ceramic vessel decorated with the head of Bes, an ancient Egyptian guardian figure associated with protection,…
The remains of a unique Neolithic ceremonial site have been uncovered in the province of Skåne, in southern Sweden. Investigations were carried out in 2024 in the village of Hammar, outside Kristianstad, by archaeologists from the country’s National Historical Museums…
Rubina Raja and Julia Steding discuss a collaboration between the Centre for Urban Network Evolutions and the NGO Videnskabsklubben that has resulted in a brand new, first-of-its-kind archaeological outreach programme for schoolchildren in Denmark.
A new statue of Winston Churchill that ‘honours his passion for the arts’ has been unveiled to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth. The bronze monument, created by award-winning sculptor Paul Rafferty, will feature as a permanent display in…
Some of the few surviving members of the group of men who witnessed Britain’s nuclear testing programme are still campaigning for justice for what it did to their bodies. The United Kingdom conducted a series of nuclear tests in the…
The George Cross that was awarded posthumously to a Second World War spy has gone on display in a new exhibition in London. Noor Inayat Khan served in occupied Paris with the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) before ultimately giving…
The location of a significant battle in the history of the Middle East has been pinpointed by archaeologists. Researchers have identified what they believe to be the location of the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah, which took place in AD 637 The…
An abandoned Cold War military base buried underneath the ice sheet in northern Greenland has been rediscovered accidentally by NASA researchers. Camp Century, known as the ‘city under the ice’, was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers in…
Excavations in Wiltshire’s Chalke Valley have uncovered the remains of a large Roman villa – the first complex of its kind to be found in this part of the county. Clues to the villa’s presence had been emerging over a…
In 1350, the Black Death had begun to ravage Scotland after spreading north from London. Over the next three centuries, the plague would return to Scotland multiple times, with the last major outbreak occurring in 1644-1649, thought to have been…
Excavations at an Iron Age fort in County Dublin have uncovered evidence of the exotic tastes of its inhabitants, including the earliest archaeological remains of a fig discovered in Ireland. Drumanagh promontory fort consists of c.46 acres of land enclosed…
Geophysical survey in Pembrokeshire has revealed potentially promising evidence of a previously unknown Roman fort. Dr Mark Merrony, a Fellow and Roman specialist at Wolfson College, Oxford, was examining satellite imagery of the area around a straight road, which he…
A section of Watling Street – one of the most important roads in Roman Britain, running from Dover (Dubris) to Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) via London and St Albans – has been uncovered during excavations in Southwark. Traces of the route,…
New Neolithic society discovered in Morocco Investigations at Oued Beht, northern Morocco, have uncovered evidence of the oldest and largest Neolithic society yet found in Africa outside the Nile Valley. Large quantities of stone tools have been recovered from the…
A medieval mass burial containing the remains of more than 100 men, women, and children has been revealed during excavations connected with a new heritage centre in the gardens of Leicester Cathedral. The pit, which is believed to date to…
Excavations at Achnacon, an abandoned township in the Scottish Highlands, have uncovered evidence relating to the Glencoe Massacre of 1692. This infamous episode targeted the MacDonald clan on the grounds that they had failed to pledge allegiance to the new…
Renewed support for Salisbury mental-health heritage project Well-City Salisbury, a project aiming to help people with mental-health needs using arts and heritage courses, has received £368,135 from The National Lottery Community Fund. Bringing together four Salisbury-based partner organisations (ArtCare, Wessex…
A joint German–Egyptian team excavating the western side of the Great Temple of Athribis (Sohag) has uncovered the remains of a temple pylon. Measuring 51 metres in length, the pylon would have been about 18 metres tall – similar in…
An Egyptian mission has discovered a military fort at Tell el-Abqain (Beheira Governorate), in the north-west Delta. The fort was a key military outpost on the western military road, an area prone to attack by Libyan tribes, and later the…
New research from the University of Liverpool (Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, October 2024) has given insights into how ancient Egyptian mirrors were manufactured. Metallurgical analysis on 19 Egyptian mirrors from UK museum collections shows three main types of alloy…
Evidence for the world’s first case of metal contamination has been discovered in the sediments of an ancient harbour at Giza. The harbour, close to the Great Pyramid of Khufu, was located on a now defunct branch of the Nile,…
The original colours of scenes inside the Temple of Edfu are now visible following cleaning and restoration work by a team from the University of Würzburg and the Supreme Council of Antiquities. The team removed the surface dirt, bird debris,…
Intact burials containing a collection of beautiful jewellery have been discovered by the joint Egyptian-American South Asasif Conservation Project in a tomb located near the Twenty-fifth Dynasty Tomb of Karabasken (TT391). This is the first Middle Kingdom burial to be…