Roman residence revealed A remarkably preserved domus, dating to the late Republican period, has been excavated in Rome between the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. First discovered in 2018, the site – which has been named the Domus del…
A new project led by researchers at the University of Oxford, which has collated evidence from around the world, has shown that the human brain can remain preserved in diverse environments for at least 12,000 years. When human brains are…
During the mid-7th century AD there was an abrupt economic shift in north-west Europe, particularly around the North Sea, with silver coinage largely replacing the use of gold. Recent research has suggested that at least some of this coinage was…
A round-up of some of the latest news from the world of ancient Egypt.…
A team at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo has just published the results of their research showing that a traditional condiment for Japanese sushi can be used to conserve papyri. Wasabi, extracted from the rhizome of a radish, has…
A collection of 600 ‘magical’ texts written in Coptic has been published following five years of study by researchers at the University of Würzburg. Papyri Copticae Magicae (published by de Gruyter) includes writings found on papyrus, parchment, paper, and ostraca.…
Following a public outcry over new ‘renovation’ work on the Pyramid of Menkaura at Giza, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has decided not to approve the continuation of the project. The original aims were to restore, document, and…
One of the world’s earliest cases of rheumatoid arthritis has been found in the skeletal remains of a Nubian woman from the Pan-Grave culture (c.1800 BC) by the Aswan–Kom Ombo Archaeological Project (AKAP). In a recently published paper, the joint…
A rare watercolour by Howard Carter is now on temporary display at the Egypt Centre, Swansea University. The scene from the Chapel of Thutmose I at Deir el-Bahri was painted when Carter was 19, and is his largest surviving work.…
An Old Kingdom mastaba tomb with painted decorations has been discovered by a team from the German Archaeological Institute working at Dahshur. Inscriptions name the deceased as Senebnebef, a palace official, and his wife Idut, a priestess of Hathor. The…
Ritual practices in prehistoric Poland A considerable number of large Bronze Age and early Iron Age artefacts have been unearthed by archaeologists in a dried-up lakebed at the site of Papowo Biskupie in north-central Poland. It is believed that members…
The Historic Buildings Team from Cotswold Archaeology has recently carried out a detailed recording of Fort Gilkicker in Gosport. This fort is part of the Victorian defences around the town’s harbour. It is one of a number of structures known…
The traditional portrayal of post-Roman Britain as a landscape in decline, devoid of the cultural richness that had been infused into it by the presence of the Empire, was turned on its head in 2020, when a mosaic at Chedworth…
Recently published research has revealed that the location of a new housing development in Larkhall in South Lanarkshire was already popular in prehistory. The discoveries were made during archaeological excavations undertaken by GUARD Archaeology prior to the construction of new…
A round-up of some of the latest archaeology news from around the UK.
In 2021 and 2022, archaeological work along a headland near Felton in the Coquet Valley of Northumberland revealed evidence of early medieval activity, including a late 6th-/early 7th-century sunken-featured building (SFB), as well as evidence for the presence of the…
Archaeologists from Archaeology South-East, part of the UCL Institute of Archaeology, have uncovered remains from early medieval London during excavations in advance of the National Gallery’s redevelopment project. The investigations were carried out along Jubilee Walk, the north of Trafalgar…
The first intact bird egg ever recovered from a Romano-British context has recently revealed its possible contents, cementing it as a unique archaeological discovery in Britain, and perhaps in the world. The egg was discovered during excavations in 2010 by…
Being able to determine changes in the environment, and how humans may have adapted to those changes, is an increasingly important aspect of archaeological study. In this month’s ‘Science Notes’, we explore a recent project, led by Dr Amy Styring…
Ancient bricks inscribed with the names of Mesopotamian kings are offering an important opportunity to identify variations in the Earth’s magnetic field thousands of years ago.
Recent archaeological investigations at the Castle Rock settlement complex, in the Mesa Verde region, have revealed new information about the Ancestral Pueblo community who lived here. Radosław Palonka, who led the research, tells us more.
A collection of shallow pits carved into a rock ledge, believed to be mancala game boards, have been identified in central Kenya. Mancala is a group of two-player strategy games that involve moving tokens across rows of shallow holes in…
A 1,700-year-old tomb belonging to a previously unknown Maya ruler has been discovered in northern Guatemala. The site of Chochkitam – a medium- sized Maya city with a monumental centre covering an area of c.1km2 – has been known since…
Scythian leather made of human skin A recent study, published in PLOS ONE (), has analysed 47 samples of leather from burials at 14 Scythian sites in southern Ukraine, dating from the 4th-5th century BC. The researchers used palaeoproteomics (the…
Archaeologists in Poland have discovered hundreds of metal objects deposited in a lake by a Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age community. The site of Papowo Biskupie is located in north-central Poland, in an area that was once home…
A luxurious domus dating to the late Republican period has been discovered in Rome in the area between the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. The site, which has been named the Domus del Vicus Tuscus, was first discovered in…
The existence of Rongorongo, the complex writing system used by the historic inhabitants of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), was first documented by Europeans in 1864, but by the end of the 19th century the script had fallen out of use,…
A First World War soldier was saved when a pocketbook he was carrying stopped a sniper’s bullet. The remarkable story of Private Sydney ‘Syd’ Cross is part of a new display at Knightshayes Court, a Victorian mansion in Devon which…
The volunteers who excavated a World War II landing craft in Lincolnshire three years ago have now applied for it to be given a permanent home. The Buffalo LVT (Landing Vehicle, Tracked) was dug up in Crowland, north-east of Peterborough,…
A rare early medieval cemetery containing the remains of several women has been found near Fonmon Castle in South Wales. The remains, estimated to be of roughly 80 individuals, were buried around 1,500 years ago and are believed to have…
To mark the 80th anniversary of the legendary Allied breakout from a German concentration camp in March 1944, a new exhibition is exploring other ‘great escapes’ that took place during the Second World War. The exhibition, which opened last month…
A round-up of some of the latest archaeology news from around the UK.
Rare tomb found in Naples A rare underground funerary chamber was recently found during excavations in advance of the laying of a water pipeline in northern Naples, Italy. Measuring 3m by 4m, the walls of the chamber are completely covered…
Recently published research by GUARD Archaeology reports on the discovery of a pair of Bronze Age burnt mounds at Hallmeadow in Annan, 24km south-east of Dumfries. They were first identified in 2020, during archaeological works ahead of the construction of…
For the past two years, Cotswold Archaeology – led by their Senior Heritage Consultant Clive Meaton – have been working with the Tamara Landscape Partnership to survey a series of mining sites in the Tamar Valley of Cornwall and Devon,…
The latest Annual Report from the Portable Antiquities Scheme reveals that, in 2022, 53,490 finds were recorded by the initiative, including 1,378 Treasure cases – the highest ever reported in a single year. The county producing the largest number of…