A team of researchers have identified two individuals excavated at the Neolithic site of Tell Qarassa in modern-day Syria as dating to the Umayyad Period (AD 661–750), and found evidence that they could represent some of the earliest examples of…
Analysis of the Pompeian individual's skeletal remains revealed they likely suffered from spinal tuberculosis.
‘We’ve been able to diagnose tuberculosis, a possible case of leprosy [a rare find for this period], and syphilis.’
Analysis of the remains of an elderly woman buried at the Dolmen of El Pendón, in northern Spain, has identified the earliest known evidence of successful ear surgery, 5,300 years ago. The skull was discovered by researchers from the University…
Analysis of human remains from the Links of Noltland, Westray, has revealed the first concrete evidence of a major influx of non-local people into Orkney during the Bronze Age – and, uniquely for the period, it appears that this movement of migrants was dominated by women. Carly Hilts reports.
The researchers examined the isotopic properties of their samples and were surprised to find strontium and oxygen ratios in the tooth enamel which indicated that some of the Cramond individuals were brought up hundreds of miles away
'No intact original human burials have been found but they are thought to be represented by the disarticulated skeletal remains.'
The researchers examined English horse remains dating to between AD 300 and 1650, from 171 archaeological sites
Examining ancient DNA is revolutionising our knowledge of the past. Being able to detect family relationships is revealing ever more about connections between people buried in cemeteries and even individual coffins. Caroline Arcini introduces three cases where DNA evidence has opened new windows into past lives.
This discovery shows that the strategy of concealing the bodies of murder victims inside existing tombs has been in use for centuries.
The discovery, excavation, and analysis of the Richard III's remains in Leicester between 2012 and 2015 was one of the most famous archaeological projects of recent times, drawing global attention to the city.
The man’s bones have been radiocarbon dated to between AD 130 and 360.
A brief look at some of the latest exciting archaeological stories.
Each of the bodies showed signs of serious injury and were buried with swords, maces, and arrows.
his Archaeopress volume represents the long-awaited full publication of Philip Rahtz’s 1994-2004 investigations at Kirkdale parish church, where the famed sundial records Orm Gamalson’s c.1060 rebuilding of a ‘broken and fallen’ minster. Rahtz’s work was initiated with a trench dug…
Humans only live for so long. Thus, if two individuals are identified as having had a close genetic relationship there can only be so many years between their dates of death
In this latest book by Alice Roberts, we are taken on a tour of prehistoric Britain through an in-depth exploration of seven of the most famous burials from this period found on these shores. Each main chapter of the book…
Each of the bodies showed signs of serious injury and were buried with swords, maces, and arrows.
Individual 24 was found to have at least 790 wounds made at around the time of death
One of the most exciting discoveries was that of a massive square pit burial holding the skeletal remains of a horse and a wolf-sized dog
Wax tablet archives revealed that the deceased was a public slave and a custodian of the Temple of Venus.
It is believed that this group may represent a Viking population who had settled in Oxford for some years.
The team from the University of Exeter applied their formula to 1,366 domestic fowl skeletons found across Britain, ranging in date from the Iron Age through to the modern day.
'Based on the character and distribution of the tooth marks, the most likely species responsible was either a tiger shark or white shark.'
Of the 52 human remains recovered from the three cemeteries, 17 of the bodies had been decapitated and 13 were prone, with six burials involving both practices.
The skeleton of a Roman man with iron shackles locked around his ankles has been described as ‘perhaps the most convincing candidate for the remains of a Roman slave yet to be found in Britain’. Current Archaeology's Carly Hilts reports on recently published analysis illuminating this unique burial.
The practice appears to have begun in central Europe sometime before the 6th-century AD, and then spread across the continent before reaching its peak around two-hundred-years later.
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Too often, we are seen as ‘people who play in the dirt’ or very occasionally ‘finders of secrets’ rather than serious academics. - Dr Hugh Willmott
Excavations at an animal burial ground in the Egyptian port of Berenice have uncovered evidence of cats, dogs, and monkeys being kept as pets.
The grave goods included two iron axes, a bronze kettle, and metres of lavish textiles embroidered with silver, gold, and silk threads, all suggesting this was the grave of a high-status, elite individual.
The Sculptor’s Cave, on Scotland’s north-east coast, is best known for the Pictish carvings that give the site its name. Recent research by Ian Armit and Lindsey Büster, however, has drawn together evidence of enigmatic prehistoric funerary practices that were carried out at this remote spot for hundreds of years. Current Archaeology's Carly Hilts reports.
Henry VIII’s flagship, the Mary Rose, famously sank in the Solent almost 500 years ago. Her partial remains were recovered by archaeologists in 1982 – what has been learned since then? Peter Marsden explores some of the latest thinking on the Tudor vessel’s appearance and her crew.
A recent excavation along Constitution Street in Leith, in advance of an extension to the Edinburgh tram line to Newhaven, has uncovered hundreds of human remains from a late medieval cemetery and, underneath it, a mysterious stand- alone burial. The…
The discovery of a two-million-year-old skull in South Africa is shedding important new light on microevolution in an early hominin species, as Jesse Martin and Angeline Leece reveal.
Post-excavation analysis is now shedding more light on the final days of La Hoya and the devastating attack on the settlement.