Jenny Davenport marvels at all the astoundingly intricate works of medieval English embroidery in Opus Anglicanum, a major exhibition currently on show at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London
Dominic Green gives us a preview of an exhibition about to open at the Getty Center in Los Angeles that shows us how the ancient world was viewed through medieval eyes
General Giap was one of the 20th century’s foremost military commanders. He made his name commanding the military wing of the Viet Minh during the Second World War, before becoming commander-in-chief of the People’s Army of Vietnam.
The MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) Spitalfields Market excavations in 1991-2007 were one of Britain’s largest ever digs. Four major publications are being produced to cover the results. The latest volume concerns the post-medieval era (1539-1880), which was a period that saw vast social transformations, as Chiz Harward and Nigel Jeffries explain.
The Norman Conquest in 1066 is often described as the most famous date in English history, but 50 years earlier – almost to the day – the country had been captured by another foreign power: the Danish army of Cnut the Great. As we mark the 1,000th anniversary of these momentous events, what trace of the Viking conquest can be seen in the archaeological record? Current Archaeology's Carly Hilts reports.
Alice Stevens ventures deep into the Mexican jungle where, surrounded by the echoing screech of howler monkeys, Calakmul rises above the canopy, and takes a stand as the most impressive Mayan temple remaining today.
Sarah Lindsell journeys across the Albanian hills to the 3rd-century BC Greek city of King Pyrrhus.
Do the spectacular burials at a huge ceremonial complex in the northern highlands of Peru signal the emergence of a ruling elite? Yuji Seki introduces the high priests and priestesses of Andean society.
The results of CT imaging on Hatshepsut, Ramesses III, Tutankhamen, and a host of other New Kingdom mummies are revealed in a gripping new book by Zahi Hawass and Sahar Saleem, as Kimberley Watt illuminates.
What is it? This splendid statue depicts Idrimi, the king of Alalakh, an ancient city near the Syrian–Turkish border. Dated to the 15th century BC, it is carved from hard, white magnesite stone, with inlaid glass eyes, and sits a…
Found over a number of weeks in 1942 and1943, the treasure that was dredged from Llyn Cerrig Bach, a small peat-filled lake on the Isle of Anglesey, is still revealing new information 70 years after it was found, as Chris Catling reports.
Dominic Green leads a tour travelling in the footsteps of the accomplished writer, scholar and soldier Patrick Leigh Fermor around Southern Greece
When earthquakes strike, the consequences can be catastrophic. Yet what do we really know about their impact on past cultures? All is revealed in Andrew Robinson’s latest unputdownable book Earth-Shattering Events: Earthquakes, Nations and Civilization.
The extraction of slate from the hills of Snowdonia is not just an industry – it is a way of life bound up with chapel, politics, and the preservation of the Welsh language. Chris Catling explains why the Welsh Royal Commission is supporting efforts to have this industrial landscape designated a World Heritage Site.
Dalu Jones follows on the trail of the Ancient Egyptian goddess to Pompeii, Naples and Turin
From Malta, we now travel to its sister-island Gozo, where Nadia Durrani encountered two new major restoration projects.
The stupendous temple of Angkor Wat and its forested environs are currently the focus of a major project involving LiDAR aerial laser-scanning and more. The archaeology is radically changing our understanding of this staggering site, but how? Brian Fagan and Nadia Durrani get the inside story from project co-director Roland Fletcher.
Paul Cartledge, who has written the biography of the revolutionary idea of democracy, explains how it was practised in ancient Athens where it originated.
The year 2015 is a sad one for Armenia: it marks the centenary of the great massacre of its people by the Turks, when over a million died in what many call the ‘Armenian Genocide'. But who are the Armenians? And where is Armenia? Andrew Selkirk goes in search.
One of the ways that the Fitzwilliam Museum is celebrating its 200th anniversary is by the staging of a splendid exhibition of illuminated manuscripts at the end of July – a very fitting tribute to its founder, reports Theresa Thompson
Until recently, Leicester’s Roman cemeteries had seen little major excavation, and their burial practices were poorly understood. Now an investigation in the city’s West End has given a wealth of new insights into the Roman town’s diverse population, as Mathew Morris reveals.
What is it? This divine sculpture was made on Rurutu, one of the Austral Islands in Polynesia. When it was given to British missionaries in 1821, its name was recorded as A’a. A’a was said to have been named after…
A stunning Neolithic stone figure was uncovered at Çatalhöyük during the latest season of excavation. Ian Hodder, who leads the Çatalhöyük Research Project, tells CWA why this rare find is such a special lady.
TAYLOR DOWNING reviews a classic war movie.
For decades, the accepted view of the Orcadian Neolithic was one of two cultural packages with a sharp break in the middle. New research has revealed a much more complex and nuanced picture, however. Carly Hilts spoke to Colin Richards to find out more.
Alan Outram and Adrien Hannus uncover one of the earliest communities to take up farming on the Northern Plains of South Dakota.
MHM Editor Neil Faulkner recalls a classic charge of British cavalry on a late 19th-century battlefield.
Themistocles was an ancient Athenian politician and general. He was one of a new breed of elected officials, and went on to become one of the city’s most successful military leaders.
At its peak, New Bailey was the largest jail in England, but its imposing Georgian buildings were designed on the basis of radical progressive ideals. Modern development has wiped away all traces of the pioneering prison above ground, but archaeologists are now bringing its methods to light once more, as Rachael Reader and Michael Nevell explain.
Just how quickly did Bronze Age people bury their dead? New work by Lauren Bailey, Martin Green, and Martin J Smith at Canada Farm suggests that they went to some lengths to display the deceased prior to their finally entering the earth.
How did copper production begin in China? Li Haichao discovers a site that overturns traditional models of the emerging copper industry.
Blood-sacrifice and ritual extravaganzas could not save the Moche civilisation, but that did not stop them trying. Jorge Meneses tells CWA about the latest discoveries in the heart of the Moche capital, evidence of the grim public displays so intrinsic to this mighty empire.
Excavations in Colchester have revealed where a couple stashed their valuables before Boudicca sacked the city. These artefacts, and the charred debris found strewn above them, provide a poignant insight into those on the receiving end of the Iceni’s wrath. First, Philip Crummy and Adam Wightman shed light on a dark day in Colchester’s past, and then Nina Crummy guides us through the treasure itself.
Patrick Boniface considers the influence of science on warfare.
What is it? This small wooden coffin contains the mummified remains of a cat and dates to the Ptolemaic period of Ancient Egypt, c.305-30 BC. Animals were highly honoured throughout Egyptian history. They were often associated with gods, and therefore…
A new horizon has opened up at Butser Ancient Farm, the famed experimental archaeology site. A Neolithic enclosure now joins the farm’s recreated Iron Age and Roman dwellings. Tiffany Francis brings us up to date.