Current World Archaeology
The Nabataeans of Petra
We travel down the spectacular long and winding Siq that leads to Petra. There, the Nabataeans founded one of the most beautiful, and perhaps also unlikely, cities in the ancient world. What persuaded these nomads to turn their hand to urbanism, and how did they find wealth in the wilderness?
Latest Features
The Scythians: discovering the nomad-warriors of Siberia
The Greeks called them Scythians, the Assyrians and Achaemenid Persians called them Saka. We know them only through their lavish ...
Forgotten kingdom: Searching for lost royalty from the days of the Aksumite Empire
In 2015, CWA reported on the discovery by Louise Schofield of the remarkable grave of a young woman she nicknamed ...
Beyond the Pillars of Hercules – Excavating an Iron Age seat of power
A new discovery deep in the Guadiana Valley of the Iberian Peninsula is revealing the secrets of a little-known and ...
Circles of mystery: Strange ancient earthworks in Brazil’s Amazonian rainforest
Hundreds of enigmatic earthworks lay hidden for millennia beneath what was thought to be virgin rainforest. Who built them, and ...
Byzantine Ephesus: Life in the city after Empire
The grand architectural monuments of Ephesus attest to its glory days as a sophisticated metropolis of the Roman Empire. But ...
Lapa do Santo: Decapitation and ritual in ‘the Saint’s rock shelter’
Inside Lapa do Santo, excavations are revealing the complex burial practices of an early Archaic community. André Strauss tells CWA ...
An Etruscan puzzle: Investigating the monumental tomb of Grotte Scalina
This highly unusual Etruscan tomb is linked to the Macedonian court of Alexander the Great and, a millennium later, proved ...
The Caspian Gates
The ‘Gates' at Dariali Gorge, set amid the spectacular mountain scenery of modern Georgia, was a place of legend. It ...
7 Wonders
7 discoveries that changed the archaeological world
One of the most exciting things about archaeology is that it is an ever-changing landscape, constantly causing us to reconsider our most firmly-held beliefs about ...
7 skeletal sites
What happens to us after we die? Prepare to get shivers down your spine as we look more closely at seven sites that dance closely ...
7 wonders – Editor’s choice
It is hard to narrow down your favourite archaeological sites to just 7 place names when you have the whole world from which to choose, ...
7 Fashionable Finds
Throughout history people have been keen to keep up with the latest trends and fashions. Whether used to display wealth or indicate membership of a ...
7 facts about the 7 Wonders of the World
Herodotus was the first to create a list of the seven most spectacular monuments in the world - or at least, in the world known ...
Travel: Molise, Italy
Searching for Samnites in the ‘Region of Little Cities’ Surprisingly few people have heard of Molise. Yet this is one of the most beautiful and the most historically engaging areas of Italy. Emerging from the road-tunnel that leads into the region, you get the impression you are entering a forgotten ...
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Travel: Greek Temples of Sicily
Richard Hodges tours the island’s Greek temples. Sicily in February. Cheating winter with the smell of new grass and the first flowers and blossom, I promised two friends that in three days we would chase down the ancient Greeks and their Mediterranean setting. To get into the mood, I watched ...
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Travel: Thasos
With guidebook in hand, Martin Davies explores the untrammelled heritage of an idyllic Greek island. I first came across Thasos as a schoolboy reading Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: it was one of those exotic, magical names that sprinkle the Bard’s works and stir the imagination. Lying just off the coast of Macedonia in ...
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Travel: The Yucatán
Richard Hodges visits sites in the shadow of Chichén Itzá. Hotels, at their best, resemble oases in a desert. Mayaland – nestling in the shadow of Chichén Itzá, one of the New World’s Seven Wonders – is just such a place. Its civility and graciousness are rooted in the Carnegie ...
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Travel: Tunisia with Mr. Mosaic
Richard Hodges looks at the life and work of renowned conservator Roberto Nardi, en route to the Bardo Museum. Speaking in Oslo’s City Hall after his election as winner of the EU and Europa Nostra prize for cultural heritage for 2015, Roberto Nardi explained that he was amazed to be ...
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Travel: Las Eretas
Jules Stewart travels to the little-known site of an early Iron Age community in the Navarre region of northern Spain. Las Eretas was never meant to be on the beaten path. On the contrary, its inhabitants were determined to distance themselves as far as possible from hostile neighbours. Visitors should ...
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Travel: Pyramids of the Peloponnese, Greece
Eric Cauchi investigates mysterious ancient remains that have puzzled travellers and scholars for millennia. Greece, birthplace of the Olympics and mythical home of the gods, is known for its spectacular temples, its exquisite Classical statues, and its jewel-like islands with sandy beaches. But pyramids? That’s Egypt, surely. Think again. In ...
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Travel: Pompeii
Lorenza Bacino explores an ancient city being restored by modern technology, taking a tour through Pompeii in the company of Professor Massimo Osanna, director of the Pompeii Project, and meeting some former inhabitants with forensic archaeologist Estelle Lazer. Walking along the cobbled roads, it is easy to imagine Pompeii as ...
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Travel: United Arab Emirates
Dubai is best known for its luxury shops and futuristic architecture. But this year the UAE is encouraging tourists to visit its ancient historical sites too. David Millar takes us on a tour. Dubai does such a good job of promoting its image as a destination of world-class shops and ...
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Travel: Rome
CWA’s editor-in-chief Andrew Selkirk takes us on a capital tour. I have been to Rome – again! In March 2016, the city was the location for the annual conference of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies. The conference was held in one of Italy’s foremost universities, La Sapienza ...
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