A joint Egyptian-Italian (University of Milan) archaeological mission at Aswan has discovered a further 33 tombs in the area near the Aga Khan Mausoleum. The new discoveries were made in a Graeco-Roman necropolis that is spread across ten levels on…
New research published in Nature Geoscience suggests that a sudden major shift in the course of the Nile, 4,000 years ago, created a greatly enlarged area of fertile land. The team from Sweden’s Uppsala University and the University of Southampton…
A skull dating to the Old Kingdom bears evidence that might indicate an attempt to treat cancer, according to new research published by Tatiana Tondini, Albert Isidro, and Edgard Camarós in Frontiers in Medicine. Analysis of the skull, from the…
A large crocodile mummy from the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery in the UK has revealed new insights into the popular crocodile cults of ancient Egypt. Used as votives to the Nile god Sobek, huge numbers of animals were killed…
The game of 58 Holes – also known as ‘Hounds and Jackals’ – is one of the oldest games in the world. It was long thought to have originated in Egypt, with the oldest example dating to the Eleventh Dynasty…
A fragment of inscribed granite found at Abydos in 2009 belonged to the sarcophagus of Ramesses II, according to new research published in Revue d’Égyptologie. The piece was found beneath the floor of a Coptic monastery and identified (Damrani and…
The text known as The Satire of the Trades extols the virtues of being a scribe compared to other jobs but, although not physically demanding, the positions and repetitive tasks involved could still take their toll on the body according…
Fragments of four letters have been discovered at Berenike on the Red Sea coast. They were written on papyrus by Roman commanders stationed in Egypt in the reign of Nero (AD 54-68) and name three centurions: Haosus, Lucinius, and Petronius.…
The most intensive excavation to take place at Sutton Hoo in two decades has revealed new aspects of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery pre-dating the site’s famous royal burial ground, as well as recovering more pieces of the Bromeswell Bucket, an enigmatic artefact first identified in the 1980s. Carly Hilts visited the dig to learn more.
Researchers from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, along with colleagues from Austria and France, have used carbonate deposits recovered from Roman water mills in Barbegal, near the city of Arles in the south of France, to reconstruct the development and…
Excavations running at Trelai Park, Cardiff, this summer have uncovered traces of a mysterious structure beneath well-preserved roundhouse remains in the heart of the Welsh capital. This is the third phase of archaeological work on the site, which is being…
Two medieval slabs have been raised from Studland Bay by a team of maritime archaeologists from Bournemouth University. The slabs had been lying at a depth of 7m before they were raised in a two-hour operation, led by Diving and…
Mass horse burial in central France The remains of 37 horses have been recovered from 14 pits in Villedieu-sur-Indre. The horses date back 2,000 years, and have all been identified as fully grown stallions. Archaeologists have made various suggestions as…
Research for a new experience that opened at Dover Castle this July has led to the discovery of a heavily graffitied door dating to the 1790s, revealing intriguing insights into the thoughts of the soldiers stationed there at that time.…
The first year of the University of St Andrews Monastic Archaeology Field School has unearthed evidence of medieval buildings and pottery at Lindores Abbey, close to Newburgh in Fife. A 12th-century foundation of the Tironensian Order, Lindores Abbey is potentially…
Oxford Cotswold Archaeology (OCA) archaeologists working on the A417 Missing Link improvement scheme in Gloucestershire have uncovered a Roman mutatio (literally ‘change’; the Latin term for a horse-changing station) among 12,000 years of archaeological material being brought to light under…
The largest-ever geophysical survey undertaken by the National Trust has revealed two probable Roman villas among other archaeological features on the Attingham Estate in Shropshire. The work, carried out by Magnitude Surveys in July, covered an area of more than…
Call for young people to uncover London archaeology The City of London Archaeological Trust (CoLAT) is launching a new scheme to encourage young people to study London archaeology. Grants of £250, plus up to £150 towards travel and equipment costs,…
Mesoamerica is often considered the ‘homeland’ of chocolate due to its significance for many ancient cultures in this region, but the cocoa tree, Theobroma cacao, in fact originated in the tropical rainforests of South America. Until now, though, our understanding…
A mammoth discovery A remarkable collection of mammoth bones has been found in a wine cellar in Lower Austria. Excavations at the site in Gobelsburg, carried out by archaeologists from the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), have revealed a dense…
A purple dye workshop dating back some 3,600 years has been discovered on the Greek island of Aegina. Tyrian purple, a natural pigment produced by sea snails, was a highly valued commodity across the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean. Recent excavations…
Analysis of prehistoric pottery is improving our understanding of the changing culinary practices and ceramic usage of people living in central Germany between the Early Neolithic and the Late Bronze Age, c.5500-750 BC. The area of present-day Saxony-Anhalt was a…
DNA analysis of human remains from a mass burial at Chichén Itzá in Mexico is revealing new details about the ritual practices of the ancient Maya, as well as their genetic links to modern populations. In 1967, the remains of…
Archaeologists working in Berenike, Egypt, have discovered the remains of several letters written by Roman centurions. In the early centuries of the 1st millennium AD, the ancient port of Berenike, located on the west coast of the Red Sea, was…
Archaeologists working in Villedieu-sur-Indre in central France have uncovered a remarkable set of pits filled with the remains of c.2000-year-old horses. The excavations were carried out over an area of 1.3ha by a team from Inrap in advance of a…
Researchers working in Venezuela and Colombia are documenting some of the largest prehistoric rock engravings in world. Amy Brunskill spoke to Philip Riris, who led the research, to find out more.
New research has found that an ancient suit of armour may have been used in battle, and not just for ceremonial purposes as was previously thought. The 3,500-year-old Mycenaean armour is one of the best and most complete examples of…
Archaeologists have found the remains of a Revolutionary War-era barracks near the Colonial Williamsburg visitor centre in Virginia. The discovery was made during construction of a new indoor sportsground near to the centre last summer. Colonial Williamsburg is a 300-acre…
A ‘brilliant’ mathematician who helped break the Nazi Enigma codes at Bletchley Park during World War II has been honoured with a blue plaque outside her childhood home. The memorial to the late Joan Clarke was unveiled in south London…
The wreck of the ‘legendary’ American submarine that sank the most Japanese warships during Second World War has been found, 80 years after she was lost. USS Harder was discovered 914m below the surface, off the island of Luzon, in…
Analysis of ancient wooden tools from Germany Results from the analysis of more than 700 pieces of prehistoric wood from Schöningen 13, Germany, have revealed that they had been transported from at least 3-5km away. A variety of techniques were…
Shots from 13th-century catapult discovered outside Kenilworth Castle Eight stone catapult-shots from Henry III’s siege of Kenilworth Castle have been found perfectly preserved outside its walls. The shots range in weight from 20kg to 105kg, and would have been launched…
A recent study published in Current Biology has brought to light a link between red squirrels and leprosy in medieval Britain (). In ‘Science Notes’ this month, we’re taking a look at how these bushy-tailed rodents may have passed the…
Archaeologists from MOLA have uncovered evidence of a medieval windmill during work on the National Highways A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet improvement scheme. Located in Cambridgeshire, the structure is an example of a sunken Post Mill – the earliest…
Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) have discovered archaeological material ranging from the prehistoric to the medieval period during work on the new Springstead Village development in Cherry Hinton, Cambridge. The extensive findings of the excavations, which started in 2022 and will…
The skeleton of an Iron Age woman found in Winterborne Kingston, Dorset, has revealed rare material evidence of possible human sacrifice from this period. The site has been extensively excavated by Bournemouth University teams for more than 15 years, owing…