The latest discoveries at KV5, the largest ancient Egyptian tomb ever discovered in the Valley of the Kings at Luxor
Palmyra Mosaics and their Hidden Meaning
A detailed look at the finest mosaics discovered anywhere in the Roman world for a generation, recently discovered in the desert city of Palmyra
Pipeline Through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey
The new Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. CWA investigates the fate of archaeology
Nebra Sky Disc
Nebra is proving to be a rich archaeological area with the breaking news of the discovery of a lord and his retainers in a 4,200 year-old burial mound at Nebra in Germany. The newly excavated mound is one of at least eight ‘barrows’, within view of an ancient enclosure explained archaeologist Olaf Schroeder. Government archaeologists [...]
Oetzi Under Threat
Researchers suspect the corpse of Oetzi, the 5,000-year-old mummy frozen in the Italian Alps might have been contaminated by bacteria since its discovery in 1991. X-rays have shown up light patches on Oetzi’s skeleton. These seem to be bubbles in the bones that could be caused by bacteria, said Eduard Egarter Vigl, who is [...]
Petrie Museum Prize
University College London’s Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology has won the Classic Award at the Museum & Heritage Awards for Excellence 2005, which celebrates best practice within museums, galleries and heritage visitor attractions. The Classic Award is for ‘a museum that has been open for ten years or more, and that has continued to develop [...]
Earthwatch at Orce, Spain
As the summer sets in, how about exchanging your luxury hotel for a cave house, or swapping days spent lying on the beach for digging the dry austere Guadix-Baza basin in Southern Spain? Tempted? International charity Earthwatch is looking for people who are willing to get their hands dirty in an effort to reconstruct Europe [...]
Roman Priest in Oxford
Currently on exhibition at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum is an example of what many art historians regard as the Romans’ most significant artistic contribution: the portrait bust. The remarkable marble portrait, newly acquired by the museum through a London dealer, is now on permanent display in the Ashmolean’s Randolph Sculpture Gallery. The distinguished individual frowns slightly [...]
Rock Art Prank at British Museum
Fake prehistoric rock art of a caveman with a wire shopping trolley has been hung on the walls of the British Museum. It was put there by art prankster Banksy. Bad Banksy, who has previously put works in galleries in London and New York, added a sign ‘early man venturing towards the out-of-town hunting grounds’. [...]
Saxony’s Sun Sanctuary
A project to reconstruct a 5000 BC henge monument, interpreted as a solar observatory, the oldest of its kind in Europe, has just begun at Goseck in the German state of Saxony. The ambitious reconstruction, which is estimated to cost a total of 100,000 euros (c.£70,000) at its completion, should be finished by the end [...]
Varus Battle Museum Wins Europa Nostra Award
In early June a glittering European Awards Ceremony was held in Bergen, Norway to celebrate the 2005 European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards. The overall winner in the ‘Archaeological Sites’ category is the Varusschlacht im Osnabrücker Land – Museum und Park Kalkriese. The judges chose the German team because of their [...]
Kalkriese Victorious, Again
In early June a glittering European Awards Ceremony was held in Bergen, Norway to celebrate the 2005 European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards. The overall winner in the ‘Archaeological Sites’ category is the Varusschlacht im Osnabrücker Land – Museum und Park Kalkriese. The judges chose the German team because of their [...]
Bahrain
Celebrating the Garden of Eden Last month, CWA joined a host of international archaeologists on Bahrain in the Arabian Gulf, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of archaeological excavations on the island. This provided an opportunity for us to witness some of Bahrain’s key ancient sites and to hear of future plans and concerns. Bahrain is [...]
Lost Tomb, The
One cannot leave the story of KV5 without looking at some of the literature it has produced. First and foremost is Kent Weeks’ own account of the discovery of the tomb. The Lost Tomb is one of the best archaeological books I have ever read. I bought it to read during our trip to Egypt [...]
Colosseum, the
In a medieval, and indeed modern Rome, one building above all dominates the city: the Colosseum. Erected on a swamp in the centre of the city on the ruins of the gardens of Nero’s ill-fated Golden House, it is simply so big that despite all the demolition and its use throughout the Middle Ages as [...]
Private Life in New Kingdom Egypt
Every time an archaeologist looks at non-élite everyday data, this is heralded as something special, unusual, praise-worthy, and in the case of Meskell’s book, is described as ‘pathbreaking’. In fact, increasing numbers of researchers are looking at the regular every-day lives of the ancients. In the Ancient Egyptian arena, this is helped by the wealth [...]
Chaco Canyon
Chaco Canyon is situated in what must be one of the most unpropitious landscapes in the world. Lying in the American South West, inland from California, in the corner where New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona all meet, it is near-desert, a harsh and capricious arid landscape, subject to the vagaries of the climate. Yet [...]
Human Past, The
The Human Past is the latest blockbuster from Thames and Hudson. After the huge success of the Renfrew/Bahn Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice, Colin Ridler, the quiet mastermind behind the archaeology section at T&H, was faced with the problem of what to do next. The answer was a history of the world, a follow up [...]
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