Hilary Wilson on… Sandals: status and symbolism
Sandals in ancient Egypt were far more than footwear, as Hilary Wilson explains.
symbolism
Making Art in the Ice Age: the story of how our ancestors made images
Ice Age art engages something within us that feels deeply and inherently human. Most of us feel it immediately: awe, curiosity, and perhaps even sometimes a feeling that borders on spiritual. Yet, while this response is nearly universal, the opportunity…
Making Art in the Ice Age: The Story of How Our Ancestors Made Images
In 2024, Paul Bahn and Elle Clifford published Living in the Ice Age, adapting their 2022 publication Everyday Life in the Ice Age for a younger audience. In my review of their 2024 publication (CWA 126), I discussed how, following…
Early Neolithic Cultural exchange
Archaeological work at Eilsleben, in northern Germany, has uncovered unexpected evidence of connections between the early farmers living at this site and the pre-existing hunter-gatherer communities of the region. Eilsleben was discovered in the 1970s and has since undergone extensive…
The changing faces of Easter Island: Revealing the secrets of shape-shifting figurines
Easter Island did not just produce monumental stone sculptures. It was also home to talented woodcarvers making an extraordinary range of figurines. Paul Horley, Rafal Wieczorek, Catherine Orliac, and Paul Bahn explore a side to these sculptures that was hidden in plain sight.
Animalia: animal and human interaction in the early medieval English world
REVIEW BY CARLY AMEEN This fifth volume in the ‘Daily Living in the Anglo-Saxon World’ series exemplifies contemporary interdisciplinary scholarship. The editors, Maren Clegg Hyer and Gale R Owen-Crocker, have assembled contributions that seamlessly weave evidence from archaeology, history, art…
Hilary Wilson on… Hands
Hilary Wilson describes the way ancient Egyptian artists and craftsmen depicted the human form (especially the hands) in wall paintings and sculpture.
Languages without words: Exploring art from the last Ice Age
An exhibition at Cliffe Castle Museum showcases artworks dating back 24,000 years, bringing together Continental artefacts with two key British finds. Carly Hilts reports.
Cosmic psychopomps and apotropaic pentagrams: A pot with a difference
Archaeology essentially illuminates human entanglement with things, James Deetz pointed out 50 years ago in his classic book In Small Things Forgotten. ‘Don’t read what we have written; look at what we have done’, Deetz concluded in a clarion call…
Roman Feet and Shoes: The cultural significance of feet, footwear, and their representations in the north-western provinces
REVIEW BY QUITA MOULD In this volume, the author describes a range of Roman shoe- and foot-shaped artefacts and considers the cultural significance of such representations. She summarises the ancient written sources available and the thoughts of previous researchers, before…
50 LGBTQ+ Finds from the Portable Antiquities Scheme
REVIEW BY HARRIET HAUGVIK Ben Paites’ addition to the ‘50 Finds’ series is a well-researched and nuanced exploration of the history of sexuality through material culture. The book approaches the topic from five distinct angles: from the more standard ‘Historical…
Daisy Wheel, Hexfoil, Hexafoil, Rosette: Protective marks in gravestone art
REVIEW BY BRIAN HOGGARD The title of this book suggests it will look at the occurrence of the daisy-wheel symbol in gravestone art, which it partly does. The geographical area surveyed for the book is principally the north-east of America…
Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs Illustrated
REVIEW BY HILARY FORREST This is a most unusual book – bound in an antique Chinese fashion originating from the Ming period, with pages tied together between boards with string. The content, however, relates not to China, but to mainstream…
Beliefs and narratives: Images from Predynastic Egypt
Barbara A Boczar explores the imagery of Egypt’s Naqada periods.
A Comprehensive Survey of Rock Art in Upper Tibet – Volume I: Eastern Byang thang
REVIEW BY GEORGE NASH If I had been asked a few months ago what I knew about a vast rock-art assemblage in Tibet, I would have simply shrugged my shoulders and asked what, when, where, and why. But then, thinking…
Hilary Wilson on… The meaning of life
What was the origin of the ankh hieroglyph and what did it mean to the ancient Egyptians?
Ancient Egypt 138 Letters
Your thoughts on issues raised by the magazine.
Palaeolithic portable art
A rare example of Upper Palaeolithic portable art has been found at an open-air site in south-eastern France. Bellegarde, located between Nîmes and Arles, was discovered in 2015 by Inrap archaeologists. Excavations across c.2,000m2 of the multi-phase site have produced…
Prehistoric cave art found in Spain
The motifs found on the panel include quadrupeds (possibly bovids and equids), as well as circles, zigzags, lines, reticulates, stelliforms (suns and/or stars), and more.
Deciphering the Stone of Destiny
The Stone of Destiny – an ancient symbol of the Scottish monarchy – has undergone extensive new analysis in preparation for its role in the Coronation of Charles III at Westminster Abbey. The Stone was taken by Edward I during…
Signalling and Performance: ancient rock art in Britain and Ireland
Review by Ceri Pennington This book presents a compilation of new interpretations of prehistoric rock art across Britain and Ireland. The beautifully illustrated volume is filled with images displaying art from a range of different sites. Case studies originate from…
Minerva: cultivating wisdom
A deity of wisdom and war, born fully grown, and armed, from the head of her father Zeus/Jupiter, Minerva – and her Greek counterpart Athena – played an important part in Greek and Roman religion.
Golden flies as military awards? It doesn’t fly!
PhD research by Taneash Sidpura refutes a well-established theory.
Neolithic narrative scene identified in Turkey
The discovery was made during excavations that uncovered two separate clusters of Pre-Pottery Neolithic buildings at the site.
The Circular Archetype in Microcosm: the carved stone balls of late Neolithic Scotland
Review by Hugo Anderson-Whymark Carved stone balls are one of Scotland’s most intriguing Neolithic artefacts. Some 500 of these palm-sized stone spheres are known, with most found in Aberdeenshire. This monograph is the first solely devoted to the study of…
Janus: two-faced god of beginnings
As we enter a new year, many of us find ourselves both reflecting on the past and making plans for the future. This dual outlook is embodied by the two-faced god Janus, who governed the first month of the year in ancient Rome
Ancient Households on the North Coast of Peru
Review by M Elizabeth Grávalos What makes a home? All humans have ideals of home, but no two people conceptualise home and their household in the same manner. Yet despite this diverse human experience, many archaeologists rely on rigid household…
Quarrying clues: exploring the symbolism of Neolithic stone extraction
The bluestone circles at Stonehenge represent one of the best-known examples of Neolithic skill in the extraction and long-distance transport of stone, but archaeologists have recorded thousands of equally awe-inspiring feats of lithic working from this period and earlier in Britain and Europe. Chris Catling reports on the Prehistoric Society’s newly published research paper Neolithic Stone Extraction, in which Peter Topping turns to ethnographic evidence to argue that stone objects did not only acquire symbolic status once they had been extracted and worked, but that quarry sites and the extraction practices themselves had important symbolic dimensions.
On show: exhibitions from around the world – June 2021
Many museums and galleries around the world have recently reopened with safety measures in place, including compulsory booking and limits on visitor numbers. Closures are still a possibility, and the dates listed below may have changed since we went to print. Check the websites and social-media accounts of the institutions for the most up-to-date information, bookings, and, in many cases, a chance to explore their collections online.
The Life Biography of Artefacts and Ritual Practice: with case studies from Mesolithic-Early Bronze Age Europe
Within the context of burial and ritual, archaeologists have found it near-impossible to understand why mundane objects became the focus for ritual deposition. I suppose it is all too easy to look at anthropology and ethnography to get some of…