With a diameter of 60m, the burial mound of Herlaugshaugen is one of the largest in Norway. New research has now revealed that it is older than was previously thought. The site on the island of Leka was excavated on…
In this image, the newly constructed glass noses of several dozen A-20 ‘Havoc’ bombers shimmer under the factory lights at the Douglas Aircraft Company’s production plant in Long Beach, California. The picture was taken in October 1942 by Alfred Palmer,…
On the outer walls of an old parish church, on the small island of Luing in the Inner Hebrides, are carvings of longships that are thought to date from the 13th century, when Norwegian and Scottish kings were fighting for…
The intricate symbols that adorn Egyptian monuments and papyri stood mute for millennia, their secrets locked away in a forgotten language. Hieroglyphs, with their captivating blend of pictorial and phonetic elements, had tantalised explorers and scholars for centuries, their enigmatic…
The Honours of Scotland recently underwent the most significant conservation in their centuries-long history, helping preserve them for generations to come. The Crown, Sceptre, and Sword of State represent the oldest crown jewels in Britain and are among the oldest…
Archaeological survey of ice patches in the Mount Edziza Provincial Park, Tahltan Territory, British Columbia, Canada, has identified an array of perishable artefacts associated with ancient obsidian mining dating back thousands of years. Exploitation and trade of Mount Edziza obsidian…
More than 200 radar stations were dotted throughout Britain during the Second World War, although very few survive intact today. A number of these were Chain Home Low, or CHL stations, so named because they could detect enemy aircraft flying…
This rare example of a private colliery – called Swanwick Common Colliery and dating to the early 20th century – was recently granted Grade II-listed status. Surviving collieries are rare in England, and those from private, small-scale operations particularly so,…
Abu Simbel actually presents us with several milestones. Probably completed by Year 24 in the reign of Ramesses II, the rock-cut temples left an awe-inspiring statement of power and permanence 140km south of Elephantine in the peripheral territory of Wawat…
Some of the most famous photographs of the1939 excavation of the Sutton Hoo ship burial were taken by two women, Mercie Lack and Barbara Wagstaff (see CA 374). This October, part of Mercie’s personal collection relating to the dig was…
Analysis of human and animal footprints carved into rock faces in Namibia has revealed that they contain a wealth of hidden details. Engravings of human and animal tracks are found in prehistoric rock art around the world, but these images…
This image shows the remains of an innovative catapult – designed to launch fighter aircraft into the sky – which has recently been uncovered by archaeologists in Oxfordshire. The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Mark III Catapult was one of a…
In March and August this year, members of the North of Scotland Archaeological Society (NOSAS) worked together with local volunteers to remove thick gorse that had grown up around three interlinking chambered cairns at Carn Glas on Essich Farm, near…
Revealing the remains of a tightly packed complex of previously unknown temples and tombs.
This is one of the seven Anglo-Saxon disc brooches found within a silver vessel discovered by a metal detectorist in September 2014 – one of more than 100 objects that were subsequently excavated and are now known as the Galloway…
The mountain of Jabal Ikmah, located 5km north of the ancient city of AlUla in north-west Saudi Arabia, has just been added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, which recognises documentary heritage of international significance. This is a significant…
Between 1943 and 1944, reconnaissance units from the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) trained for combat deployment over the skies of England. They flew over airfields, radar installations, and ancient monuments, as well as major settlements, in order to…
Based on three years of excavations at Dinas Dinlle – carried out by archaeologists from Gwynedd Archaeological Trust, CHERISH, the National Trust, and Cadw (see CA 356 and 394) – new reconstruction drawings by Wessex Archaeology are bringing the site…
A major step forward in understanding and dating ancient Egyptian ceramics.
For 40 years, since the establishment of the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England in 1983, Historic England has been protecting the country’s parks and gardens – with the Register now comprising more than 1,700…
In the south-eastern margins of the Zimbabwe plateau sit the ruins of southern Africa’s first major city, Great Zimbabwe. The city was established as the capital of the Karanga kingdom in the 11th century AD, and remained occupied until the…
This image was taken outside the air-raid shelter in the garden of Roland Penrose’s house in Downshire Hill, Hampstead, north London, at the height of the Blitz in 1941. Penrose was a Surrealist artist by trade, but also worked as…
This fox puppet, called Farrah, was made by Historic England in partnership with Emergency Exit Arts to celebrate Hi! Street Fest – the final part of the High Street Heritage Action Zones Cultural Programme, which has sought to revitalise high…
As he made his journey through the green steppe, Robert Byron (1905-1941) could see his destination 20 miles away:‘a small cream needle stood up against the blue of the mountains’, as he wrote in The Road to Oxiana, the account…
Auguste Mariette uncovers the funerary complex of the Apis bulls.
Of the 41 Roman fortlets that are believed to have been built along the Antonine Wall, the remains of only nine had previously been located – until a recent geophysical survey carried out by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) added a…
The image was chosen as the winner of the CWA Photo of the Year 2023 Competition (sponsored by Ace Cultural Tours).
Most books about the Second World War include only black-and-white photographs, and these are often sketchy or blurred. Some are even staged pieces of propaganda. Colour photography was not unknown at the time, of course, but it was immensely expensive…
In this picture, a conservator at the National Army Museum in London holds the skull of Marengo, the most famous of the horses that belonged to French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Named after Napoleon’s victory over the Austrian Empire at the…
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…
Viewers of the Netflix competition series Blown Away will be familiar both with the mesmerising transformations that take place under extreme heat as glass is blown, shaped, and decorated, and with the Corning Museum of Glass in upstate New York,…
A scientific approach to the study of ancient Egyptian mummies.
Fishbourne Roman Palace in West Sussex is home to the largest collection of in situ Roman mosaics in Britain – including the famous ‘Cupid on a Dolphin’ mosaic seen here. There are 29 such floors on display. In advance of…
In 2022, archaeologists from the University of Toronto and the University of Trujillo began the first excavations of Cerro Prieto Espinal, a mountainside fortress-temple and settlement in north coastal Peru. Across the 3km-wide site, the team identified massive concentric walls,…
Orford Castle in Suffolk has reopened to visitors after detailed conservation work – a project 13 years in the making – was completed in January. The castle was originally built for Henry II between 1165 and 1174, as a royal…
Between 1926 and 1935, American scholar William F Badè and his team unearthed the remains of a small town at the site of Tell en-Nasbeh in Mandate-era Palestine. Thought to be the biblical town of Mizpah, the site, which flourished…