The modern mind The British Museum’s (superb) current exhibition is called ‘Ice Age Art’ – though some say it might be more accurate to call it Upper Palaeolithic Interstadial (Warm Period) Art, but you can see why they went for a title with a bit more pizzazz. To promote the exhibition, the BM has a [...]
Charles Higham: New finds with an old – very special – trowel
Non Ban Jak will soon be slumbering again in the heat of the dry season here in Northeast Thailand. The huge mound rises above the rice fields, demarcated by two moats and banks. Excavations here began last year and revealed, for the first time in such a site, house foundations, rooms, floors, and even a [...]
The Manhattan Project
Tom St John Gray reports on the legacy of the atomic bomb: is it heritage, horror, or both?
Ice Age Art: arrival of the modern mind
February 6, 2013
Filed Under: News, Blog, Exhibition
We may not know exactly how they looked, we certainly do not know how they sounded. But the art of our earliest ancestors speaks as eloquently to us today as it did to their contemporaries, transcending the tens of thousands of years between them and us. According to the new exhibition at the British Museum in London, [...]
Chris Catling on… Mythical beasts, bones, and mystery lines
Unicorn lair found North Korea seems to live in a parallel universe where truth is concerned. Even the name – Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) – is one that cannot be taken without a large dose of salt. Various events in the life of the former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il would surely send [...]
A Passion for Roman Pottery
Rei Cretariæ Romanæ Favtores More than 150 archaeologists from 24 different countries gathered in Catania, Sicily, to share their interest in, their knowledge of, and their uncertainties about Roman pottery. Philip Kenrick reports on the Rei Cretariae Romanae Fautores (Devotees of Roman Pottery), which met for its 28th International Congress in September 2012. The RCRF [...]
Charles Higham: Water, Ritual, and Function
Water, ritual, and function I am writing this column on an aeroplane heading from Christchurch in New Zealand to Singapore, then on to Bangkok for the second season of excavations at Non Ban Jak. As is usual with all my Thai digs, I have no idea what will turn up as we go deeper into [...]
Chris Catling on…
The dogs of archaeology Dogs have long been used in police work and truffle hunting, and their ability to find people buried beneath the snow of an avalanche has saved many a life, but now their acute sense of smell is being used by archaeologists in Australia to help them find ancient graves. A black [...]
Charles Higham: Why silence is golden
During a recent visit to Mycenae – as a guest speaker with Swan Hellenic – my wife Polly and I were amused by the overheard conversation of another couple, clearly American tourists who, I hastily add, were not from our cruise. Rather overweight and clearly feeling the heat, the lady sat on a large rock [...]
Edible Archaeology: The Sleeping Lady of Malta
December 10, 2012
Filed Under: Blog
Every year I make a cake for 3D Archaeological Society’s Christmas Dinner themed on a place we have visited during our long weekend away during the summer. Last year’s cake was of Skara Brae following our fabulous trip to Orkney and this year, after many requests from those that went to Malta with me on this years tour, I [...]
British Academy honours Charles Higham
Congratulations to our friend and regular columnist Charles Higham who has been awarded the British Academy’s the prestigious Grahame Clark Medal at a ceremony at Carlton House in London yesterday evening. The medal, given biennially to recognise outstanding achievements in the study of prehistoric archaeology, is testament to the huge contribution Charles has made to [...]
American Edible Archaeology
November 5, 2012
Filed Under: Blog
This archaeological cake was sent to us by Dr Judy Bischoff, Research Coordinator at the US National Park Service. She had it made for the retirement party of a colleague, Trinkle Jones, who had been an archaeologist with the Service for 34 years, until April 2011. It shows the National Park Service badge, and a selection of [...]
International edible archaeology
October 5, 2012
Filed Under: Blog
Our friends over at Current Archaeology frequently print pictures of amazing archaeological cakes sent in by their readers, so we were very excited to see this culinary creation with a distinctly international flavour. Sent in by the proud father of its creator, a professional archaeologist who modestly asked to remain anonymous, the cake depicts the famous ‘death [...]
Digging on the dark side of Vesuvius
October 4, 2012
Filed Under: Blog
Hannah Snell combined her passion for archaeology with her love of Roman architecture during her summer months excavating with the team from the Apolline Project in Italy. Here she tells CWA about her experience of digging a Roman bathhouse on the north slope of Vesuvius. We have all heard about Pompeii and Herculaneum, but the [...]
Paying the price of progress
Singapore is a 21st-century success story. But, asks Tom St John Gray, at what cost to its heritage?
A Yummy Mummy
“Red Blood filled her arteries, and her flesh was still malleable, with no sign of rigor mortis.”
Ricardo Agurcia: How Copan is leading the way
The enormous wealth generated by the tourist industry is placing increasing demands on our cultural heritage. Richard Hodges chats with Ricardo Agurcia, director of excavations at the ancient Maya site in Honduras, where one of the world’s poorest countries is successfully balancing archaeology with tourism.
Hershel Shanks and the Dead Sea Scrolls
CWA’s Editor in Chief, Andrew Selkirk introduces the editor of Biblical Archaeology Review – the man who broke the embargo on the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Vampires, Slayers, And False Accusations
“You really wouldn’t want a vampire in the house, trailing blood and gore, and smelling putrid”
Spilling the beans on BRONZE … coming soon to the Royal Academy
The Royal Academy is planning a spectacular and innovative new exhibition that will bring together an eclectic collection of bronze artefacts spanning the world and time. Simply called Bronze, it will display more than 150 rare and precious works of art, from the 14th century BC Trundholm Chariot of the Sun – on special loan [...]
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