In 1920, a collection of antiquities and antiques was thrown away, and most of its contents remain lost more than a century later. Martin A Timoney describes recent efforts to piece together clues to their whereabouts and appeals for more information.
The ewer is the largest surviving bronze vessel made in medieval England. What is it? This medieval vessel, known as the Asante Ewer, is a large bronze jug with a pear-shaped body, long neck, and triangular spout; it has a…
Simone Petacchi describes an important Egyptian collection in Rovigo, Italy, that is not on public display.
Recent research carried out by Project Ancient Tin, an initiative led by Benjamin Roberts and R Alan Williams from the University of Durham (published in Antiquity: ), has found that a large proportion of sampled tin ingots on Mediterranean shipwrecks…
REVIEW BY ROB IXER ‘No provenance is better than wrong provenance’ should be tattooed on the forehead of anyone embarking on a career in lithic studies. Forgoing that, buying this book would be a useful long-term alternative. This quintessential reference/lab…
Establishing the origin of the lapis lazuli used in ancient artefacts has long been beyond the reach of science. Now an innovative technique has revealed, in a non-invasive way, where the precious stone was coming from. Alessandro Lo Giudice, Alessandro Re, Laura Guidorzi, Marta Magalini, Norman Hammond, Randall Law, Guy Clutterbuck, and Georgina Herrmann guide us from a laboratory in Italy to a remote mine.
In CA 415, we reported on new scientific analysis suggesting that the origins of the Stonehenge Altar Stone lay hundreds of miles from Salisbury Plain, in the Orcadian Basin of north-east Scotland. The story has already moved on, however, with recently published research narrowing the search further, ruling out Orkney itself as a potential source. Rob Ixer, Richard Bevins, and Nick Pearce bring us up to date.
Simone Petacchi visits the galleries of the Museum of Mediterranean Archaeology (MAM), which houses the second largest collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts in France.
Cutting-edge scientific research indicates that a stone at the centre of Stonehenge may have travelled hundreds of miles from north-east Scotland to Salisbury Plain. Carly Hilts reports.
The existence of Rongorongo, the complex writing system used by the historic inhabitants of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), was first documented by Europeans in 1864, but by the end of the 19th century the script had fallen out of use,…
Found in the 19th century, the Knaresborough Hoard is one of the largest and most unusual late Roman metalwork hoards known from Britain – but until recently its contents had never been studied in detail, and the circumstances of its discovery were shrouded in mystery. Carly Hilts reports on recent research that has brought to light new elements of the story of these objects.
New research is calling into question the origin and function of the Altar Stone at Stonehenge. A century ago, Herbert Thomas announced that the non-sarsens, dolerites, and volcanic tuffs making up the Stonehenge bluestones had been transported to Wiltshire from…
Analysis of the silver bracelets belonging to the Fourth Dynasty queen Hetepheres I has revealed the origins of the silver ore used in Egypt, and the extent of Egypt’s trading networks. A team led by researchers from Macquarie University in…
Visitors to stately homes and minor museums will frequently come across isolated ancient Egyptian artefacts with little or no explanation of their provenance.
![Right The sword belonging to General Everard Bouverie, pictured [far right] in 1860. Some 45 years earlier, he had used it during the Battle of Waterloo.](https://i0.wp.com/the-past.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/post-1_image0-6.jpg?fit=768%2C818&ssl=1)
The weapon belonged to General Everard Bouverie, of the Royal Horse Guards.
The geochemical compositions of ‘the John Dee mirror’ were found to match obsidian from Pachuca
‘Helicopters flew in, and prices flew up.’ James Miller’s summary of the Chatsworth attic sale of 2010 sets the tone for much of Country House Collections, a fascinating series of meditations on the fate of the art-objects and artefacts that…
It is hard to disagree with the astronomers. They clearly felt that naming a single lunar crater after Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc in 1935 was insufficient and, in 1993, honoured him again, this time with an asteroid. But astronomy is…
This dramatic work has been acquired by the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where it is now on view. Artemisia trained with her father Orazio Gentileschi, and her Lucretia joins two of his works in the Getty collection.
Previously unknown inscriptions have been uncovered in the prayerbook which, according to historic records, Anne carried to her execution.
For more than 50 years, the world’s greatest private collection of Classical art has been inaccessible to the public, locked away while a bitter dispute raged between the Italian state and one of Rome’s illustrious princes. Now the famous Torlonia Collection is to go on display at last. Dalu Jones tells its story – and offers a private view of a major new exhibition.
Why were the bluestones used in Stonehenge transported more than 200km from Preseli in Wales? The survey of the eastern Preseli Hills and investigation of selected sites by Timothy Darvill and Geoff Wainwright have exposed some uncanny parallels with the Stonehenge landscape. Could these help explain the meaning of the famous stone circle?