Iron Age massacre in Iberia
Post-excavation analysis is now shedding more light on the final days of La Hoya and the devastating attack on the settlement.
World
Sumerian Plaque
The carving depicts a clean-shaven, elite male figure, perhaps a high-priest or ruler, sitting on a decorated stool, wearing a kaunakes (a type of Sumerian long skirt).
The riches of Ravenna
In a small city on Italy’s Adriatic coast, faces of all-powerful emperors, empresses, and bishops gaze out from glittering mosaics. But why are these magnificent decorations here? Judith Herrin explores the history of Ravenna, a well-connected city and one-time capital of the Western Roman Empire.
Tantra: from ecstasy to enlightenment
Lindsay Fulcher enters the transgressive realm of Tantra. This rebellious Indian cult, which has overturned religious, social, sexual, and political norms from AD 500 to the present day, is currently being celebrated in an exhibition curated by Imma Ramos at the British Museum.
New discoveries at Saqqara
As well as the coffins, archaeologists also unearthed 28 statues of Ptah Sokar, the main god of the Saqqara necropolis...
Aztecs: where eagles dare
Buried beneath Mexico City lie the remains of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan and its sacred centre. Lucia Marchini reports on an exhibition investigating wealth, worship, and empire in pre-Hispanic Mexico.
China: in the beginning
Chinese rulers held the disciplines of astronomy and cosmology in high regard for millennia. Dalu Jones
previews an exhibition of exquisite objects exploring the connections between Heaven and Earth.
Julius Caesar’s battle for Gaul
The Gallic War is one of the most famous ancient conflicts, and raged across north-west Europe for almost a decade. Andrew Fitzpatrick explores the archaeology of those dramatic events and their aftermath.
A new approach to wood preservation
Wood can be a difficult, and costly, archaeological material to preserve. This is nowhere better highlighted than by the enormous efforts put into place to help conserve the Mary Rose. When the remains of Henry VIII’s warship were lifted out…
World News
Iberian Iron Age massacre The Iron Age settlement of La Hoya in the Ebro River Valley in Spain was discovered in 1935 and excavated between 1973 and 1990. It was known then that a violent attack must have taken place,…
Wreck off Norwegian coast confirmed as long-lost German warship
It was hit by Norwegian artillery and torpedoed by a British submarine before finally being scuttled by its own captain. But now, the long-lost wreck of the German light cruiser Karlsruhe has been identified off the coast of Norway.
Museum: the American Airpower Museum
Reviewing the best military history exhibitions, with Marc DeSantis
Crucible of Hell: Okinawa: the last great battle of the Second World War
In this year of reflection on the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, too often our Western gaze falls solely on events in Europe. We rightly mourn those who died in the final, catastrophic battles in Nazi Germany and celebrate the final end of war in Europe on VE Day. But when the guns fell silent in Europe, the desperate fight between the Allies and the Japanese raged on. In Crucible of Hell, Saul David takes the reader on a journey to Okinawa, ‘the last great battle of the Second World War’.
Back to the Drawing Board: Vasa
The early 17th century marked a period of rapid growth in warships as the galleons of the previous century began to give way to the ship-of-the-line, which would dominate naval warfare for the next 250 years. One of the first such vessels was the English 55-gun Prince Royal, completed in 1611, which remained in service until her destruction in 1666 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
How the Franco-Prussian War changed Europe
The Franco-Prussian War overturned the balance of power in Europe
Delving into Viking DNA
A large study, led by researchers from the University of Copenhagen, has mapped the DNA of the Viking world. The results (recently published in Nature: https:// doi.org) paint a complex picture of population movement across Europe during this period. Over…
Before the flood
The study found that 37 of the 49 World Heritage Sites are already at risk from floods, and 42 from erosion, although the level of risk varies from site to site, with Venice and Ravenna particularly at risk from flooding, and Samos and Tyre from erosion
Albania: the visit of the World Bank President
Let me go back over a quarter-century to Albania on a blissful autumn day in 1995 when, like a Martian, the President of the World Bank descended upon us.
Chania: a new year’s day hike
Ancient Kydonia, as Chania was known to Homer, owes its origins – like Knossos – to Neolithic times.
Lascaux IV
As far as I could tell, every minor contour of the original has been replicated, as of course have the paintings themselves.
Discovering Denny
Charles Higham looks at how a routine DNA analysis resulted in a stunning discovery about the prehistory of our human past
World News: Mexico, Australia, Ethiopia
On the Maya road The first LiDAR study of the longest road in the Maya area has shed new light on settlement in Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula. The 100km- long Sacbe 1 was built in the 7th century AD and connected…
Arctic: digging in permafrost
What is archaeology in the Arctic like? Matilda Siebrecht shares its challenges and charms.
Ruins on Rapa Nui
This is the ruined ahu complex of the Akahanga, which is but one of dozens dotted around the coastline of the tiny island.
Albania and the Death of Pan
Devil or pastoral sprite and mischief-maker, Pan’s presence in the form of the lost sanctuary on Mount Mile lends a new dimension to the god’s story
Tantra: an archaeology of enlightenment
Tantra’s appeal has proven remarkably broad. What began on the margins of Indian society went on to command the patronage of royalty and transform Hinduism and Buddhism as it spread across Asia. Along the way, it created a rich archaeological legacy, capable of provoking radically different reactions from its audiences, as Imma Ramos told World Archaeology.
Cedrocucho: a pre-Inca tropical rainforest site?
The Incas had an eye for exotic rainforest produce, but many questions remain about how and when such goods were exploited by peoples living in the Peruvian highlands. Now a major archaeological complex, discovered during deforestation, promises to shed new light on the subject. Lidio M Valdez ponders who was farming the forest.
Mapping the Maya: the lost wonders of a jungle civilisation
The deeds of royal dynasties presiding over Maya city-states in northern Guatemala can still be followed on ornate inscriptions raised in their name. But just how large were their dominions? Recent survey work has revealed that the Maya were far more populous and sophisticated than previously suspected. Tom Garrison told Matthew Symonds how follow-up fieldwork is revolutionising our knowledge of Maya state power.
The Palpa figures: were these images created before the Nasca lines?
Survey near the town of Palpa, Peru, has revealed a wealth of geoglyphs that appear to be older than their celebrated neighbours at Nasca. Luis Jaime Castillo, Johny Isla, Fabrizio Serván, and Karla Patroni reveal what has been found, and why these images seem to have been aimed at a very different audience to the Nasca lines.
Tutankhamun: a teenager’s journey to the afterlife
As the centenary of Howard Carter’s discovery looms, the largest collection of Tutankhamun’s grave goods ever to leave Egypt has embarked on a world tour. The objects, ranging from glittering treasures to everyday essentials, were assembled to ease the youthful pharaoh’s passage into the next world. For all their beauty, these artefacts also tell tales of belief, the burden of royal duties, and young love, as Tarek El Awady revealed to CWA's Matthew Symonds.
Object Lesson – ‘Ahu ‘ula
What is it? This glorious 18th-century Hawaiian cloak, measuring 175cm in length and c.223cm in width, is made of olona¯ fibre and black rooster feathers, with a border of yellow feathers from the now-extinct ‘o‘o (a honeyeater) and red ones…
Where to build a monument: mapping megaliths on Easter Island
A new study proposes links between the locations of Easter Island’s famous ahu and moai and freshwater sources. Robert J DiNapoli discusses the results and their implications.
Göbekli Tepe: a new World Heritage Site
In the last decade, Göbekli Tepe has gradually moved into the focus of public interest, as seen in the increasing numbers of visitors, a trend that broke off in 2015 following the spread of conflict to nearby parts of northern Syria.
Nefertiti: recreating an icon
The painted limestone bust of the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, recovered from the royal city of Amarna, is familiar across the world. This bust has inspired many copies – some very accurate, some far less so – so that many of us first ‘meet’ Nefertiti via one of these replicas. Recently, in an effort to understand the processes behind the creation of the original Nefertiti, Joyce Tyldesley commissioned her own replica.
Lost sites in the jungle: mapping the Maya civilisation
As cities, ceremonial centres, watchtowers, and irrigation systems emerge from the Guatemalan forest, a new LiDAR survey shows that there is more to the Maya than meets the eye.
Iran
It was a splendid tour: we stayed in 9 different hotels over 16 days, which meant that we were always on the move. But this was just what we wanted, for we explored the heart of the historic country and saw – if briefly – most of the best-known archaeological sites.