Interpersonal violence has been a fact of human existence for much of our long history – but how far is this reflected in the archaeological record? With a major new exhibition now open at the National Museum of Scotland, Matthew G Knight and Hannah Boddy examine traces of past conflicts spanning 4,000 years, and consider how to present these stories to modern audiences.
Four well-preserved spears have been discovered during underwater investigations in Lake Lednica, west-central Poland. These discoveries are the latest additions to what may be the largest collection of European early medieval weaponry discovered at single site, comprising almost 300 military…
A mass grave recently unearthed in Austria is believed to be associated with a Roman battlefield. In autumn 2024, construction workers carrying out renovations of a playing field in Simmering, a district of Vienna, had unexpectedly come across a large…
An Egyptian mission has discovered a military fort at Tell el-Abqain (Beheira Governorate), in the north-west Delta. The fort was a key military outpost on the western military road, an area prone to attack by Libyan tribes, and later the…
The discovery of a Roman fortification high in the Alps is the most recent development in a remarkable series of findings that allow us to trace the progress of a legionary battlegroup in the 1st century BC. As well as following part of their march, we can see how they sought to control this mountainous terrain, and where they clashed with local forces, as Hannes Flück told Matthew Symonds.
Analysis of arrowheads from Bronze Age Europe is uncovering new details about an ancient battle that took place in the Tollense Valley.
New research has found that an ancient suit of armour may have been used in battle, and not just for ceremonial purposes as was previously thought. The 3,500-year-old Mycenaean armour is one of the best and most complete examples of…
With Marc DeSantis
Hundreds of relics from the American Civil War have been recovered from the Congaree River in Columbia, South Carolina. The artefacts, which included some live ordnance, were removed during an extensive clean-up operation of the river which concluded last autumn.…
Ancient Alaskan house uncovered Excavations on the shore of Karluk Lake on Kodiak Island in Alaska have revealed a 3,000-year-old ancestral Alutiiq house, so well preserved that woven grass mats were still present on the floor. The house was found…
The recent re-analysis of an unusual Iron Age burial from the Isles of Scilly – which contained grave goods typical of both men and women from this period – has shown that its occupant was biologically female. Discovered on the…
Kim Masters traces the development of the chariot wheel from its humble origin as a tree log under a stone block.
In a new book, Larrie D Ferreiro explains how a special relationship between British and US combat scientists and engineers produced the innovations that won the Second World War.
It bears the Greek inscription ‘Victory of Heracles and Hauronas’, signifying the bullet’s use as both a physical and psychological weapon
by Katja Broschat et al.AUC, 2022ISBN 978-1-617-97997-2Hardback, £29.95. This is a lavish production from American University in Cairo Press, though at 62 pages long it is a rather slim volume. The book provides, for the first time, a complete account…
Put you military history knowledge to the test!
Four pot sherds found between 1961 and 1967 in the Armenian Garden, located within the walled Old City of Jerusalem, were studied as part of the research.
Review by Chris Griffiths. Those with an interest in Bronze Age metalwork will know that the literature tends to focus on the question of why metal objects were destroyed and buried: were they deliberately broken for recycling, to serve a…
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions in the UK.
What is it? This 6th-century ivory comb, which may have been used by its owner to style his hair and beard, was found in a grave in Germany, in an early medieval toiletry bag that also contained a small pair…
Inspired by the American and French revolutions, the Irish Rebellion of 1798 saw thousands take up arms against against British rule. But though it would inspire future generations of republicans, the rising was quickly crushed and many of the rebels were taken prisoner. Patrick Mercer looks at what happened next.
The English armourers of the 15th century were great craftsmen, artists, and innovators. That is the essential conclusion of Tobias Capwell’s monumental study of the armour of the English knight in this period. It was once assumed that the domestic…
Gladius was a general Latin word for ‘sword’. A gladiator was someone who fought with a gladius – a swordsman. As usually employed today, gladius refers to a double-edged short sword.
A collection of ten silver coins minted during the reigns of Edward I and Edward II were among the finds.
Around 800 objects have been recovered so far, making it one of the richest Late Bronze Age sites in Europe.
David Porter on Military History's doomed inventions.
Barry Cunliffe, among the most distinguished of world archaeologists, has recently drawn together the evidence for the Scythians in a comprehensive new book, The Scythians: nomad warriors of the steppe. Neil Faulkner asked him what we know of this most mysterious of ancient peoples.
Two deposits of spectacular bronze artefacts dating back to the 9th century BC represent the latest discoveries made during a series of archaeological excavations and surveys conducted in the Allier department of central France since 2019.
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• SBS: Silent Warriors
• The Confidence Men: how two prisoners of war engineered the most remarkable escape in history
• Blood and Ruins: the Great Imperial War, 1931-1945
Pawn emerges etymologically from the Anglo-Norman poun, which itself comes from the medieval Latin pedo (‘footsoldier’), derived from the Latin pes (‘foot’).
Underneath the foundation level was an eclectic assemblage of artefacts, including a whetstone of fine-grained sandstone, a spindle whorl made of cannel coal, a possible gaming piece or counter crafted from a sherd of green glaze pottery, two 17th-century coins, and an iron dagger.
Detailed study of the injuries to Seqenenre’s head has indicated that they were caused by several different weapons, suggesting that he was killed by multiple attackers
A remarkable piece of Roman armour has been discovered at the site of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.
‘We had expected to find some kind of Anglo-Saxon burial, but what we found exceeded all our expectations and provides new insights into this stretch of the Thames in the decades after the collapse of the Roman administration in Britain.’
He lay undisturbed on a hilltop for centuries. Now, the uncovered remains of an Anglo-Saxon warlord may change historians’ understanding of Britain’s ancient history.
The grave of a 6th-century man – a possible warrior – has been uncovered on a hilltop near Marlow, overlooking the Thames Valley. Its location within the borderlands of prominent neighbouring Anglo-Saxon kingdoms – at different times Wessex, Kent, and…