Iron age mining rituals in Germany Evidence of Iron Age ceremonial activity associated with quartz mining has been discovered at the Bruchhauser Steine, a prominent rock formation in the Sauerland region of western Germany. This natural landmark comprises four massive…
A second season of excavations at Bodiam Castle in Sussex has revealed extensive evidence of a Roman presence, with tiles and pottery confirming that the site was home to a port for the Classis Britannica – the Roman naval fleet…
Excavations beneath the floor of St Cuthbert’s Church in Darlington, Co. Durham, have revealed the foundations of an 11th-century predecessor. The work, part of the ‘Opening Doors’ project, was recently carried out by the Archaeological Practice of Newcastle in order…
Members of Go Detecting (Midlands) Ltd, carrying out a routine metal detecting survey in the parish of Bickmarsh in Worcestershire, have helped to uncover a coin hoard dating to the 9th century. Coins from this period are rare in Worcestershire…
Since the early days of archaeology, people have been analysing the architecture of burial monuments, seeking connections between them to understand better how ancient populations were related. The advent of modern ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis added a new way of…
A geophysical survey carried out in the grounds of Crookston Castle, with the aim of learning more about the Glasgow site’s medieval and post medieval history, has unexpectedly revealed the remains of a late prehistoric settlement, including the footprints of…
Evidence of Iron Age ritual activity has been discovered at the Bruchhauser Steine, a prominent rock formation in the hilly Sauerland region of western Germany. This natural landmark, which comprises four main rocks that can be seen for miles around,…
Excavations at the ancient Egyptian port city of Pelusium have identified a unique 2,000-year-old temple believed to be dedicated to the local deity Pelusius. In 2019, archaeologists from Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities working at the site of Tell el-Farama…
A remarkable Roman cup discovered in central Spain is revealing links between Hadrian’s Wall and the Hispanic soldiers who served there. The object was uncovered by chance in farmland in Berlanga de Duero, in the province of Soria. Despite being…
Analysis of an Iron Age mass grave in northern Serbia reveals surprising new information about the group of individuals buried here. Gomolava is a tell site in the Pannonian Plain that was first occupied in the 6th millennium BC and…
Archaeological investigations at a short-lived 16th-century Spanish settlement in southern Chile have uncovered a coin associated with its foundation. In 1584, colonists led by veteran navigator Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa established a fort called Ciudad Rey Don Felipe beside the…
Analysis of two votive offering vessels from Pompeii is enhancing our understanding of Roman domestic rituals.
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…
A new study is investigating the architecture of a Pacific society after European colonialisation.
Chalke History Festival returns to the Wiltshire countryside this summer for a week of talks, performances, living history encampments, and more. A star-studded lineup of speakers will explore a vast variety of topics, spanning ancient to modern history, including many…
Marine archaeologists have uncovered the wreck of the Dannebroge, a Danish warship sunk during the Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801. The Dannebroge sat at the centre of a chain of old Danish ships of the line that had…
New documentation has come to light which suggests that the British government concealed evidence that personnel involved in the UK’s nuclear-testing programme in the Pacific Ocean in the 1950s and 1960s were at risk from radiation damage. For decades, nuclear-testing…
The Imperial War Museum (IWM) has acquired the complete Second World War archive of Britain’s most famous wartime entertainer, Dame Vera Lynn. She was nicknamed ‘The Forces’ Sweetheart’ after winning a 1940 newspaper poll for British servicemen’s favourite musical performer,…
A Cold War lookout post has been rediscovered in the grounds of Scarborough Castle. Built in 1963-1964, it is one of over 1,500 posts constructed across the UK to detect nuclear explosions. This example was sealed and buried in 1968;…
Recent analysis of the remains of two children who were buried in the same grave in 7th-century Gloucestershire has revealed them to be brother and sister. CA reports.
Dogs are man’s best (and oldest – see CA 352 and 401) friends, but how they came to be that way is still a bit of a mystery. Based on morphological changes and genetic estimations, they are believed to have…
Archaeological investigations in Bearsden, near Glasgow, have revealed evidence of a previously unknown fortlet on the Antonine Wall. This is the 13th Antonine Wall fortlet to have been confidently identified, adding to other examples that were recently revealed during geophysical…
Excavations south of Gloucester have uncovered a remarkably well preserved Bronze Age watering hole, with many of its wooden structures surviving in situ. The discovery was made last year during investigations by Cotswold Archaeology. When they first stripped back the…
The watering hole found near Gloucester is not the only reworked water source recently discovered in England. Excavations in advance of a new Rolls-Royce extension site at Goodwood, near Chichester in West Sussex, have revealed evidence of a thriving Iron…
Excavations at Honeygar Farm, a nature reserve that forms part of the Somerset Wildlife Trust, have uncovered the remains of a 6,000-year-old wooden trackway that would have been used during the early Neolithic period to allow people to cross the…
Food plays an important role in cultural identity, and can be used in archaeology to identify patterns of migration and assimilation. The early medieval inhabitants of Scandinavia are known to have had a marine-focused diet, but the extent to which…
We are what we eat, they say, and a new study by the University of Cambridge has found that this was as true in the medieval period as it is today, with diet being highly dependent on social status. The…
Prehistoric cultural exchange in Germany Excavations at Eilsleben in northern Germany have revealed a fortified settlement site, dating to c.5375 BC, that may have been founded by some of the first farmers to arrive in this part of Europe. The…
Crown Room at Edinburgh Castle redeveloped Redevelopment of Edinburgh Castle’s Crown Room is under way. The project, which began in January, will see elements of the Victorian design, including oak panelling, restored and new enhanced displays for the Honours of…
• 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…
A group of rock-cut Old Kingdom tombs has been uncovered by an Egyptian mission working at Qubbet el-Hawa, near Aswan. The tombs contained burial chambers that were reused in the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom. More than 160…
A joint British-Austrian team has identified Egypt’s oldest known rotary tool. The small metal drill was found at Badari more than 100 years ago, and had attracted little attention until now. The tool, measuring 63mm (2.5in) in length and weighing…
A new archaeological site has been declared in South Sinai, at the Umm Arak Plateau – about 5km (3 miles) north-east of the Serabit el-Khadim temple and the copper and turquoise mining areas. An Egyptian mission discovered a large number…
Another rock inscription at Sinai has recently been interpreted by researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany. The 5,000-year-old inscription at Wadi Khamila, in south-west Sinai, depicts a large man with his arms raised over another figure. The smaller…
A cache of 22 Third Intermediate Period painted coffins containing mummies has been discovered by an Egyptian mission at Qurna, on Luxor’s West Bank. During excavation work in the courtyard of the Tomb of Seneb, a rectangular rock-cut chamber was…
In the last couple of years, the rise of artificial intelligence has permeated almost every aspect of society, but (outside exhibitions and other ways of presenting the past) archaeology has remained very much grounded in the physical world. New research,…