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…
A study of ‘insignificant’ tiny coins known as nummi minimi has led to a re-evaluation of monetary circulation in Egypt during late antiquity. Researchers from the Polish National Science Centre examined thousands of previously ignored Byzantine and Umayyad coins found…
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions
Sacred baboons Baboons were long venerated in ancient Egypt and their mummies have been found in several cemeteries. A new study published in PLOS ONE () has analysed a collection of 36 such mummies from the site of Gabbanat el-Qurud,…
REVIEW BY AB We have so many written and pictorial records created between 1500 and the present day that it might be supposed that artefacts from this time are of less importance than for earlier periods. Laura Burnett and Rob…
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…
Excavations by the Caistor Roman Project outside the walls of Venta Icenorum are revealing the impact on local Iron Age communities of the development of a Roman regional capital. This summer, Carly Hilts visited the site and spoke to Giles Emery to find out more.
Analysis of paper money produced by Benjamin Franklin is shedding new light on the monetary history of Colonial-era America.
This is an early medieval brooch made from a gilded silver penny, which was found over a year ago by a metal-detectorist in Wiltshire. It was recently acquired by the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes, after having been declared Treasure. The…
If you are looking for new ways to get stuck into history and heritage over the coming months, there are plenty of opportunities. From conferences and lectures to exhibitions and activities, there’s something for everyone. Or, if you would prefer to get involved from the comfort of your own home, there are lots of resources on offer, from online museums and virtual heritage site tours to digital databases and new documentaries. Amy Brunskill has put together a selection of some of the options available.
An Iron Age hoard consisting of 15 gold coins known as ‘staters’ was discovered in Llangoed Community, Anglesey, by three metal-detectorists between July 2021 and March 2022. This is the first hoard of gold staters to be found in all…
Your observations, your objections, and your opinions on CWA.
A round-up of some of the latest archaeological discoveries from across the globe.
Stories from the world of archaeology, art, and museums
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones begins a new series exploring the lives and legacies of the Cleopatras of Egypt.
The complex dates to the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.
Review by KK In the latest addition to the 50 Finds series from the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), Laura Burnett, the Finds Liaison Officer for Somerset, takes us on a tour of the county through some of the most important…
Across 8 Germanic people who settled in the south of France and Spain (8)9 Chest used for human remains in ancient Greece (6)10 Andean city that flourished from AD 500 to 900 (10)11 Roman historian born around 60 BC (4)12…
Other Welsh finds declared treasure include several medieval gold rings and silver annular brooches.
Archaeologists uncovered 24 finely worked bronze statues – the largest deposit of Etruscan and Roman bronze statues ever found in Italy.
The collection of grave goods – dubbed the ‘Harpole Treasure’ after the name of the local parish – has been dated to AD 630-670.
Excavations in the ancient city of Ephesus in Turkey have uncovered the remains of early Byzantine shops and businesses. Archaeologists from the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) working this year in Domitian Square, next to the Upper Agora, focused their…
Recent excavations in southeastern Poland have uncovered a wealth of late medieval finds including arrowheads, pottery, and silver denarii
Review by Murray Andrews This exciting new book is the definitive publication of the Watlington Hoard, a remarkable find of precious metal coins, ingots, and jewellery hidden in Oxfordshire in the late 870s AD and rediscovered in October 2015. Richly…
An Egyptian team has discovered a cache containing a number of coins from different historical eras
Across 8 Ancient Mesopotamian temple similar to a pyramid (8) 9 Legendary island where King Arthur was taken after his final battle (6) 10 Ancient Egyptian funerary god, one of the Four Sons of Horus (6) 11 Australian state, location…
Archaeologists working in Ephesus, Turkey, have uncovered a new section of the ancient city: a business and gastronomical district dating to the early Byzantine period. The discovery was made by researchers from the Archaeological Institute of the ÖAW (Austrian Academy…
A round-up of some of the latest archaeology news from around the world, including: evidence of an ear infection identified in 100,000-year-old remains; analysis of ancient Chinese bronze formulae; and a rethinking of how Cahokia's North Plaza was used.
Excavation work at Traprain Law, an Iron Age hillfort in East Lothian, some 30km east of Edinburgh, was interrupted by the turmoil of the First World War. Two weeks after work began again on 12 May 1919, George Pringle loosened the soil with the tip of his pick and pulled out a Roman silver vessel. This was the first artefact to be found from what would prove to be the largest hoard yet known of Late Roman hacksilver – silver which has been chopped, cut, and crushed. More than a century later, an equally massive 784-page study has been published that tells us what the hoard represents in terms of the art and lifestyles of people from both sides of Hadrian’s Wall, as Chris Catling reports.
This book is the third in Routledge’s ‘Archaeologies of the Viking World’ series, and maintains the high standard of the others in terms of content. The book’s core idea is that groups with connections to southern Scandinavia established an often-loose…
No written records exist to explain why people in early medieval Europe chose to bury collections of their most valuable objects or artefacts – known to archaeologists as ‘hoards’ – though logic suggests that burying your treasures at moments of…
Review by Roger Bland. This volume, based on a conference that was held in 2016, is the first publication to come out of the Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire project, which is creating a record of all coin hoards…
The recipe in question is recorded in an ancient Chinese text known as the Kaogong ji, which is believed to be the world’s first encyclopaedia of technology, probably dating to c.300 BC.
Based on the architectural association between Rabana-Merquly’s rock reliefs, fortifications, and settlements, and some specific types of pottery, the team have tentatively dated the site’s main building phase to the 1st century BC.
Your views on the latest issues raised by CA.
Digging up memories I was delighted to see a reference to the 1974 excavation alongside the Mermaid Theatre in London (CA 386, ‘The triumphal arch’). I was one of the students working with Martin Millett on the site, while on…