Antigonea: exploring an Illyrian city in Albania
Sarah Lindsell journeys across the Albanian hills to the 3rd-century BC Greek city of King Pyrrhus.
World
Earthquake! How the earth shook up the past
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.
Gozo, Malta
From Malta, we now travel to its sister-island Gozo, where Nadia Durrani encountered two new major restoration projects.
Travels to Malta
At the far end of Valletta, within the massive angular bulwarks of the fortress of St Elmo poking out at the entrance of the Grand Harbour, is a museum devoted to the town’s history and its struggle for survival.
The secrets of Angkor Wat: how archaeology is rewriting history
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.
Travels to Armenia
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.
The Pacific god A’a
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…
Caught in the crossfire: conflict in Syria and Iraq
In 2012, CWA reported on the damage inflicted on Syria’s cultural heritage since the beginning of the civil war. Now we take an updated look at heritage in conflict in Syria and Iraq.
Rare perfume flask found in Etruscan tomb
A small perfume flask was found dangling from a nail on the back tomb wall where it had been hung about 2,500 years ago
Zagreb and beyond: exploring Iron Age burial mounds on the Trail of Princes
Patrick Skinner sets out from the country's capital on a voyage of archaeological discovery.
Surviving the tsunami: archaeological sites of northeastern Japan
The deadly wave that engulfed the northeastern coastline of Japan devastated many archaeological sites and museums. Prehistoric settlers along the coast chose higher ground for their sites, perhaps passing on knowledge of the danger from earlier tsunamis from generation to generation. CWA looks at a handful of these ancient sites.
Tidal wave: the day Japan shook
Following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in Spring this year, archaeologist Simon Kaner insists there is much to celebrate about the country’s heritage – and much to mend.
The curious case of the Gua Made green masks
Sensational discoveries of metal masks in a subterranean temple have led to calls for Javanese history to be rewritten. Fiorella Rispoli investigates.
A Roman clock at Vindolanda
In CA 224 we reported a splendid new discovery from Vindolanda. The excavators – and just about everyone else – thought it was part of a calendar. Not so, says leading ancient technology specialist Michael Lewis. It is something much more spectacular. The 8cm-long bronze fragment turns out to be part of one the most sophisticated technical devices known to antiquity: an anaphoric water-clock.
Ancient Greek calculator reconstructed
The mechanism was used to predict the positions of the sun, the moon, the phases of the moon and possibly planetary motions.
Taboo!
The Gods of the Pacific are powerful gods. Some have called them idols - more have called them art. And the Gods of the Pacific have had an enormous influence on European art throughout the 20th century. The Gods were powerful, and their power could be dangerous as well as life-enhancing. And this power had to be contained: the Polynesians had a word for the means by which this power could be contained and controlled: Tapu. Tapu means 'marked' or 'set apart': anything that was Tapu had to be wrapped and kept separate. And the word Tapu has also migrated to Europe and has become our word Taboo.