It was a treacherous stretch of coast. The ancient Greek historian Xenophon, writing in the 4th century BC, describes the perils of…
Today, Gravina is one of those little-known Italian towns that every tourist falls for. Meaning ‘ravine’ in Italian, the town is aptly…
In 1996, Alastair Small and his wife Carola launched a major fieldwalking project to examine the countryside near Gravina. Focusing on the…
Throughout most of Italy, the 2nd and 1st centuries BC were a time of increasing prosperity. Towns sprang up and flourished, while…
The convulsions in land use that usher in the post-Roman period are vividly laid bare by the Vagnari survey. In the 4th…
The Samnites were hardy folk. Living in a region dominated by the Apennine mountains to the southeast of Rome, they proved reluctant…
In August 1903 Gabriel Gustafson, director of the University Museum of Antiquities in Kristiana (now Oslo), received an unexpected visitor. The caller,…
Questions are being asked about the cultural priorities of the Italian Government in the wake of recent structural damage to the ancient…
For years I have directed small armies of excavators through a project manager, so returning to the role of quartermaster (and co-director)…
To sail the Turkish Coast is to embark on an historical and archaeological adventure that spans over 3,000 years of history. It…
The sheer scale of Rome's German frontier is overwhelming. Running for almost 550km, and boasting at least 60 forts, 80 fortlets and…
For the Hittites of the Late Bronze Age it was a difficult, wild country where the restless Kashka people lived. For the…
In 1997 four cavers set out to explore the deepest galleries of the Grotta della Monaca. It was not an easy task.…