The Bayeux Tapestry is perhaps the most recognisable piece of early medieval art – and, almost 1,000 years after the brutal events that it depicts, rather friendlier relations between England and France have seen the famous embroidery travel to the British Museum for a hotly anticipated exhibition. Carly Hilts visited to learn more about what its images can tell us about life in the 11th century.
Britain has been overcome by Bayeux Tapestry fever (as has CA: see our feature on here and more in Sherds on here) with the famous embroidery returning to British soil for the first time since its creation almost 1,000 years…
The Bayeux Tapestry has gone on display at the British Museum at last, despite the fears of some conservators that transporting it to London would cause irreparable damage. In the event, two threads were found to be broken when the Tapestry was inspected after arriving in London.
As the Bayeux Tapestry goes on show at the British Museum, Matthew Symonds explores some of the enigmatic messages encoded in its exquisite needlework.
Textiles have long remained in the shadow of more conspicuous archaeological finds such as monumental sculpture, decorated coffins, and jewellery. Yet these often-overlooked artefacts offer vital insights into technology, economics, religion, dress, and daily life. Weaving for Eternity is therefore…
Where is this? If you know, email the Editor peter@ancientegyptmagazine.com before 31 October with your answer, giving your full name, address, and a contact phone number. One lucky reader’s name will be selected at random from all the correct answers…
The Archaeology of Industrial Cheshire in 20 Digs is a well-illustrated introduction to Cheshire’s industrial past. Each concise chapter combines documentary evidence with excavation results to trace the development of the county’s key industries across two millennia. The book opens…
Sandra Hardy explores the work of skilled artisans who continue the long tradition of pharaonic textile production.
A temporary export ban has been placed on a Union Flag that flew from HMS Royal Sovereign – the ship that led the British charge at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 – in order to allow time…
Campbell Price describes some beautifully preserved ancient Egyptian footwear.
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
REVIEW BY HILARY WILSON Spinning and weaving are among the earliest ancient technologies, and implements used in textile production turn up in archaeological excavations worldwide. Introducing this volume, part of Oxbow’s ‘Ancient Textiles’ series, Chiara Spinazzi-Lucchesi emphasises the rarity of…
Marie Antoinette is one of the most famous and most misunderstood figures of 18th-century France. Carly Hilts visited a new exhibition exploring her life and legacy.
A new exhibition explores ancient Egypt from the perspective of its craftspeople, showcasing their creations and illuminating their experiences. Carly Hilts visited to learn more.
A rare felt hat from the Roman Period has gone on display for the first time at Bolton Museum, in the north-west of Britain, following conservation work. Dating to c.AD 200, the hat is thought to have belonged to a…
Final ‘Victories’ tapestry back at Blenheim After a long conservation process, the final tapestry in the ‘Victories’ series, The Surrender of Lille, has been reinstated in the First State Room of Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. The tapestry depicts the famous parley…
A new technique is offering fresh insights into ancient tattoos.
Your opportunity to comment on articles in the magazine or on any Egyptological subject that interests you.
The remains of a waka (traditional boat) have been found on Rēkohu Wharekauri Chatham Island, the largest of the Chatham Islands archipelago, 800km east of New Zealand. Fragments of the boat were exposed in a creek and a limited excavation…
Textiles specialist Nancy Arthur Hoskins recreates royal and divine clothing from New Kingdom tomb paintings.
Dr Campbell Price describes an item of clothing that belonged to a New Kingdom pharaoh.
A hoard of more than 300 11th-century coins, still carefully packaged within their lead and cloth container, has been uncovered in Suffolk. The discovery was made during archaeological work ahead of constructing Sizewell C nuclear power station. While investigating a…
Language and linen I have just finished reading the latest ‘Sherds’ column in CA 417. His pieces are always thought-provoking, and I thoroughly enjoyed the section on the Norse/Anglo-Saxon influence on our modern language. I am fascinated by place-names, and…
REVIEW BY ROGER FORSHAW The 22nd Current Research in Egyptology (CRE) conference in Montpellier hosted around 250 attendees in person and online from different institutions around the world, and covered a great variety of topics with a wide chronological and…
Archaeological work on the site of a Victorian workhouse and hospital has revealed the remains of almost 4,500 individuals, offering a rare opportunity to study the lives and deaths of the institution’s residents. Blackberry Hill Hospital was originally founded as…
New research into the burial sites of 17th- and 18th-century whalers on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard is providing rare insight into the lives of these individuals and the impact of climate change on Arctic archaeology. Project leader Lise Loktu tells us more.
CA profiles the new Perth Museum, which opened at the end of March.
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
Excavations at the archaeological site of Pachacámac, near Lima, have uncovered a remarkable collection of well-preserved burial bundles dating to the time of the Wari Empire (AD 800-1100). Pachacámac, which was occupied from c.200 BC up to the Early Colonial…
Ritual evidence from ancient Arabia Recent research into two different mustatils – prehistoric open-air structures seen across northern Arabia – has found that they may have been used for communal ritual activities during the late 6th millennium BC. Each of…
Rachel Cotton investigates an extremely rare item: a linen ‘bag-tunic’ discovered by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon in 1909.
Examining artefacts from Myanmar reveals how a tale of power, wealth, people, and the rise and fall of empires played out over centuries, as Alexandra Green told Matthew Symonds.
Do you recognise this place?
Rubina Raja and Søren M Sindbæk on the archaeology of waste
A new exhibition at the British Museum explores an important period of cultural change in China’s history. Amy Brunskill visited to find out more.
The funding will enable the conservation charity to upgrade and expand scientific and archaeological research on its historic sites and collections.