Logo

Digs, Discoveries, Travel, Exploration

  • About us
  • News
  • Features
  • Travel
  • Regions
    • Most popular
      • Italy
      • Greece
      • Egypt
      • Turkey
      • France
    • Africa
    • Asia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Israel
      • Japan
      • Java
      • Jordan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Kodiak Island
      • Korea
      • Kyrgyzstan
      • Laos
      • Lebanon
      • Malaysia
      • Mongolia
      • Oman
      • Pakistan
      • Qatar
      • Russia
      • Papua New Guinea
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • Sumatra
      • Syria
      • Thailand
      • Turkmenistan
      • UAE
      • Uzbekistan
      • Vanuatu
      • Vietnam
      • Yemen
    • Australasia
      • Australia
      • Fiji
      • Micronesia
      • Polynesia
      • Tasmania
    • Europe
      • Albania
      • Andorra
      • Austria
      • Bulgaria
      • Croatia
      • Cyprus
      • Czech Republic
      • Denmark
      • England
      • Estonia
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Gibraltar
      • Greece
      • Holland
      • Hungary
      • Iceland
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Malta
      • Norway
      • Poland
      • Portugal
      • Romania
      • Scotland
      • Serbia
      • Slovakia
      • Slovenia
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • Turkey
      • Sicily
    • South America
      • Argentina
      • Belize
      • Brazil
      • Chile
      • Colombia
      • Easter Island
      • Mexico
      • Peru
    • North America
      • Canada
      • Caribbean
      • Carriacou
      • Dominican Republic
      • Greenland
      • Guatemala
      • Honduras
      • USA
  • Museums
  • Issues
  • Subscriptions
    • Subscribe now
    • Renew
    • Digital Archive
    • Institutions
    • Back issues & binders
  • Photo Competition

Suggestions

  • About
  • Archaeology Newsletter
  • Archaeology Newsletter
  • Archaeology Newsletter
  • Binders and slipcases
  • Christmas Gift Subscriptions
  • Contact
  • Contact Us
  • Current Publishing Data Protection Privacy Policy
  • Current World Archaeology Digital Archive
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Home
  • Institutional Subscriptions
  • Meet the Team
  • Purchasing and Returns
  • Subscriptions
  • Terms and Conditions
  • What our readers think

Logo

Issue 23

The stark, abstract Cycladic figurines found in the Aegean Cyclades islands have had enormous influence on modern art. But when were these enigmatic pieces made, and what were the settlements that produced the figurines? Colin Renfrew has been studying the material since he was a young man in the 1960s. Here he reveals the centrality of the island of Keros to the story. He believes it must have been a major ritual centre of the Cycladic civilisation in the early Bronze Age. Was Keros perceived as the seat of the gods to whom tribute had to be paid? And were the figurines offerings of sorts? Renfrew reveals all.
We then move forward in time to the 4th century BC. Fanum Voltumnae was the sacred shrine cum parliament at which the heads of the Etruscan League would meet each year. The historian Livy mentions the site a number of times but failed to specify its whereabouts. Now, however, an archaeological team believes it has found the site. Judith Harris recounts the history and reports on the hunt for Fanum.
As the features in this issue illustrate, shrines and ritual sites are the very stuff of archaeology. Yet the archaeology of African traditional religions - variously labelled as earth and ancestral cults, animism, totemism, and shamanism - has been largely neglected in comparison to that of world religions, notably Islam and Christianity. However, in 2004 a group of archaeologists began exploring the archaeology of the Tallensi of Northern Ghana and their work is already yielding stimulating information.
From Ghana we leap to the cradle of civilisation with a round-up of the latest archaeological work in Central Turkey. Among the sites we visit is the iconic Neolithic 'city' of

Issue 23

CWA 23

CWA 23 was published in June 2007 and contained articles on the nature of what an Egyptian harem was and what its…

Placeholder Photo
Issue 23/Egypt/Features

Gurob, Unlocking a Royal Harem

Ian Shaw reports on his excavations at the 'harem' site of Gurob in the Fayum, Egypt…

Placeholder Photo
Issue 23/Features/Tunisia

Kerkouane, Secrets of the Carthaginians revealed

Kerkouane, on the tip of Cap Bon in Tunisia is one of the most extensively excavated of all Carthaginian settlements. What did…

Issue 23/Features/Italy

Rome in AD 200, Essential Guide to

How to survive ancient Rome: a travellers' low-down according to Philip Matyszak…

Issue 23/Features/Jordan

Lawrence of Arabia’s War

The archaeology of Lawrence of Arabia's war: Neil Faulkner reports on the team's first seasons' work at Wadi Rutm in Southern Jordan…

Issue 23/Features/USA

New World, England’s first view of America

A report on the British Museum's exhibition A New World: England's first view of America, featuring the16th century illustrations of America…

Issue 23/Features/Spain

Galicia: Leading the way in Spain

David Miles journeys to Galicia to see how the regional government is leading the way in Spain in conserving and presenting their…

Issue 23/Features/Iraq

Uruk-Warqa, Iraq

Professor Roger Matthews, gives the low-down on Uruk-Warka in Iraq, seemingly the birth-place of writing and appears in the Bible…

Issue 23/Egypt

Rameses II, Canopic jars

Canopic jars of Rameses II neither Canopic nor Rameses' but ordinary cosmetic containers…

Issue 23/Peru

Inca: Excrement Eating Mites Help Unlock the Rise and Fall

CWA looks at how studying mites can reveal a lot about the fate of ancient civilisations…

Issue 23/Egypt

Cleopatra was no Beauty, Coins Shows

Images of Anthony and Cleopatra found on 2,000 year old coins…

Issue 23

Royal Academy of Arts: Opulence and Anxiety, Landscape Paintings

Compton Verney, the Grade I-listed mansion house near Stratford-upon-Avon, recently opened as an art and exhibition gallery. It is currently hosting a…

1 2 Next

Advertisement

Popular articles

  • Qasr Bshir
    Qasr Bshir
  • A 5,000-year-old mystery: recording rock art within the Dolmen de Soto
    A 5,000-year-old mystery: recording rock art within the Dolmen de Soto
  • CWA 118 – out now
    CWA 118 – out now
  • Pyramids: Excavation and Preservation
    Pyramids: Excavation and Preservation
  • Review: A virtual visit to Wahtye's tomb
    Review: A virtual visit to Wahtye's tomb




© 2023 Current Publishing. All rights reserved.

  • Contact Us
  • Subscriptions
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Purchasing and Returns
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
  • About Us
  • Issues
  • Features
  • Travel
  • Books
  • Museum
  • Photo Competition