Archaeology

The tale of how an amateur archaeologist’s hunch led him to uncover a lost medieval town and spend £32,000 of his own money to buy the land, would stand to be the archaeological discovery of any year. On the border between England and Wales, the site of the medieval town of Trellech reveals much about a tumultuous period of history – and how the town came to be lost.

Humans likely established permanent settlements on the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau between 13,000-7,400 years ago, according to new research published this week in the journal Science.

At first glance it may seem unassuming, but a small, white bowl uncovered during an archaeological excavation in Philadelphia has thrilled the ceramics world. The bowl marks the first physical proof of American-made true, hard-paste porcelain ever found.

A rare and intriguing discovery was revealed this weekend by hikers exploring a water cistern in the Judean Shephelah: on the walls of the cistern, which is hewn in Menorah and a Cross chalk bedrock, were incised ancient engravings of a seven-branched menorah and a cross.

The ancient inhabitants of New Mexico's Chaco Canyon, the zenith of Pueblo culture in the Southwest a thousand years ago, likely had to import corn to feed the multitudes residing there, says a new University of Colorado Boulder study.

Archaeologists from the University of Birmingham have found “compelling evidence” of new pharaonic tombs at Qubbet el-Hawa in Aswan, Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities has revealed.

Roman military borders and fortifications were part of a grand strategy of territorial defence in the Roman Empire. Forts, Castra and military camps stretched across the vast empire, in concentration on the borders and in some of the most remote of locations to enforce Roman authority and control.

Researchers from the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports and the University of Copenhagen are continuing to make important discoveries at Lechaion, the main harbour town of ancient Corinth. Among them structures that join the Inner and Outer Harbours, and a unique wooden bulwark that made up part of a mole flanking the entrance to the Inner Harbour.

Washington State University archaeologists are at the helm of new research using sophisticated computer technology to learn how past societies responded to climate change.

A team of international scientists, led by the University of Bristol, has uncovered the earliest direct evidence of humans processing plants for food found anywhere in the world.

When a female Norwegian Viking died some time during the 9th century, she was buried wearing a status symbol: a beautiful piece of bronze jewellery worn on her traditional Norse dress.

The saying goes the past should be left in the past, but not of course when it comes to archaeology. In fact, if recent figures are anything to go by, it seems many of us can’t get enough of the past influencing our present – over 70% of adults visited a historic site in England within the last year.

Upon entering the Egyptian Museum as tourists scan the cases of “wonderful things,” one case containing a stunning sarcophagus stands out. It’s eye catching not only because of the beauty of the artifact, but also because the label describing its location says “United States of America.” No, this is not a reproduction—it’s a stolen antiquity that was trafficked out of Egypt, and one of the few looted pieces that has made its way home.

An international research team at the Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg, is exploring the remains of an ancient city in central Greece. The results can change the view of an area that traditionally has been considered a backwater of the ancient world.

A lead codex discovered in approximately 2005, in a cave in Northern Jordan, that forms part of the collection of ‘Jordan Lead Codices’, was recently tested at the University of Surrey Ion Beam Centre with exciting results.