Ritual evidence from ancient Arabia Recent research into two different mustatils – prehistoric open-air structures seen across northern Arabia – has found that they may have been used for communal ritual activities during the late 6th millennium BC. Each of…
Although cattle were introduced to Ireland during the Neolithic period (specifically, by at least 3800-3700 BC), archaeological and documentary evidence indicate that early medieval communities in Ireland put increased value on cattle husbandry, so much so that it became the…
The third and final season of excavation at Rendlesham, the East Anglian royal settlement near Sutton Hoo, has revealed the foundations of at least three new structures, including a possible pre-Christian temple or cult house, as well as illuminating the…
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…
A round-up of some of the latest archaeology news from around the UK.
A round-up of some of the latest news from the world of ancient Egypt.…
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…
An interdisciplinary project involving biologists, Egyptologists, and anthropologists has discovered evidence that may pinpoint the actual location of the trading region of Punt, based on the genetic analysis of an ancient mummified baboon discovered in the ‘Valley of the Monkeys’…
The remains of temples to Amun and the Greek goddess Aphrodite have been discovered at Thonis Heracleion, the sunken city in Abu Qir Bay, near Alexandria. The team, from the Supreme Council of Archaeology and the European Institute for Underwater…
A Czech mission working at Abusir has discovered the richly decorated tomb of a royal scribe called Djehutyemhat, who lived during Persian rule over Egypt. The superstructure of the tomb has not survived, but the team found a 14-metre shaft…
New evidence found at Umm el Qa‘ab (‘Mother of Pots’) in Abydos has shed light on the importance of the First Dynasty queen Meretneith (or Merneith), and casts doubt on the theory of ritual human sacrifice as part of royal…
An Egyptian mission working at Tuna el-Gebel, the ancient site of Hermopolis Magna, has discovered an elite New Kingdom cemetery containing intact burials of senior officials and priests. The team uncovered rock-cut tombs containing painted wooden coffins, mummies, and a…
A series of undocumented storerooms has been discovered inside the pyramid of the Fifth Dynasty king Sahura at Abusir by a joint Egyptian-German mission. While carrying out restoration work on the pyramid, the team, led by the University of Würzburg,…
The lion-shaped Great Sphinx at Giza may have been shaped by wind erosion, according to new research from New York University. Laboratory experiments suggest that sphinx-like shapes can form naturally when clay is subjected to a fast-flowing stream of water,…
Community excavations in Winchester are helping to piece together the layout of a long-demolished Benedictine monastery. Carly Hilts visited this summer’s investigations to find out more.
A round-up of some of the latest archaeology news from around the UK.
An ongoing project at Navan Fort, led by Dr Patrick Gleeson and Dr James O’Driscoll, is providing new evidence on the long-term evolution of the site and how it fits into the wider archaeological landscape. Navan Fort is a hilltop…
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…
Ancient Alaskan house uncovered Excavations on the shore of Karluk Lake on Kodiak Island in Alaska have revealed a 3,000-year-old ancestral Alutiiq house, so well preserved that woven grass mats were still present on the floor. The house was found…
The first major archaeological investigations of the moated house of St John’s Jerusalem in Sutton-at Hone, Kent – once home to a Knights Hospitaller Commandery – have revealed some of the site’s medieval origins, as well as its evolution during…
A recent project has set out to rediscover the archaeology and history of the textile mill complex in Bannockburn, Stirling. In its heyday during the late 18th and 19th centuries, it was one of the largest producers of tartan, furnishing…
The remains of a late Iron Age and Roman farmstead have been revealed during works by Archaeological Research Services Ltd which, since late February, have been investigating archaeological remains identified during topsoil stripping for Leicestershire County Council’s new road scheme…
A recent excavation at Glendaruel’s Stronafian Community Forest on the Cowal Peninsula in Argyll has uncovered evidence of prehistoric occupation of the site. It had long been thought that a pattern of unusual cell- like features found at a site…
It has long been assumed that the advent of agricultural and pastoral practices during the Neolithic saw a major shift in human eating patterns, focusing more on a terrestrial diet than a marine-based one. Numerous isotopic analyses from across Europe…
Archaeological investigations at a site in the Norwegian countryside have uncovered evidence of a rich history stretching back thousands of years. Amy Brunskill spoke to Jes Martens and Christian Løchsen Rødsrud, who led the research, to find out more.
Analysis of paper money produced by Benjamin Franklin is shedding new light on the monetary history of Colonial-era America.
Iron Age child’s shoe Excavations in a prehistoric salt mine in Dürrnberg, Austria, have uncovered a well-preserved shoe – roughly a UK child’s size 12.5 – dated to the 2nd century BC. The discovery was made by the German Mining…
A team of researchers have confirmed that a Bronze Age arrowhead found 150 years ago in Switzerland was made of iron from a meteorite – but not the meteorite they expected. The discovery was made during a recent study of…
Excavations at a site in Alaska have uncovered an ancestral Alutiiq house frozen in time by a fire 3,000 years ago, complete with rarely preserved woven grass mats on the floor. The Nunallerpiaq site sits on the shore of Karluk…
Recent research at two mustatils (prehistoric rectangular open-air structures found across northern Arabia) is uncovering new information about the ritual practices that may have been taking place in the region in the late 6th millennium BC. First identified in the…
Archaeologists have uncovered a rare example of a religious tattoo in a burial near the medieval monastic site of Ghazali, in northern Sudan. The tattooed individual, whose skin was unusually well preserved, was discovered in 2016 during excavations of the…
Efforts to decipher the Herculaneum scrolls have reached an important turning point. The collection of over one thousand papyrus scrolls, carbonised during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, was discovered in 1752 in what is now known as…
Haunting new images have been revealed of shipwrecks caused by one of the most significant naval battles of the Second World War. The Battle of Midway, fought on 4 June 1942, saw the United States Navy inflict a crippling blow…
It was one of the most significant conflicts in the country’s history. Now, a new database has been set up to record the monuments and memorials to the British Civil Wars. The wars were fought throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland…
A new exhibition is set to explore what ordinary life was like for soldiers in the Roman army. Legion, opening in February at the British Museum, will boast more than 200 objects on display, including the world’s only intact legionary…
New research has been charting the wrecks of ships lost during Operation Dynamo, the Allied evacuation from Dunkirk in the summer of 1940. Historic England and its French counterpart, Drassm, carried out a survey of 30 wrecks in the waters…