A cache of gold dinars dating to the 9th century CE has been unearthed by a team of archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). The hoard, which includes seven gold dinars, was found in Yavne, a town in the Central District of Israel. “We were surprised to discover a broken clay juglet containing gold coins,” the IAA […]
More gobsmacking at every turn, this documentary tells the incredible story of Nazis, archaeologists, and the oldest artwork ever unearthed. It’s almost enough to make you less cynical As I gaze out at the throbbing hellscape in which we live, it is hard not to feel that a programme hymning the painstaking piecing together from […]
Comparing the scribblings of the Sex Pistols to cave art is a rotten attempt to drag archaeology into populist culture. Archaeologists should know better Archaeologists must get sick of kneeling in the rain, mud soaking into their jeans, trying to identify an ancient coin as sceptical farmers look on. They must get fed up of […]
A new theory suggests that Homo erectus was able to create seagoing vessels – and must have used language to sail successfully They had bodies similar to modern humans, could make tools, and were possibly the first to cook. Now one expert is arguing that Homo erectus might have been a mariner – complete with sailing lingo. Homo erectus first […]
With rare fossils being sold on eBay, and Hollywood stars bidding for skulls, there’s a case for curbing what is becoming a collectors’ market for the mega-rich The news that an ultra-rare fossil of an infant Tyrannosaurus rex has been placed on eBay for $2.95m (£2.26m) has caused an uproar among palaeontologists, who have protested […]
Ancient people in China practiced human head-shaping about 12,000 years ago — meaning they bound some children’s maturing skulls, encouraging the heads to grow into elongated ovals — making them the oldest group on record to purposefully squash their skulls, a new study finds. While excavating a Neolithic site (the last period of the Stone […]
Remains found buried under playground near former execution site could be those of a man hanged for piracy in the 16th or 17th century, experts believe A skeleton discovered under a primary school playground could be that of a 16th-century pirate, archaeologists have said. The remains of a man were uncovered by council workers during […]
Iron stylus uncovered at Bloomberg building site in City of London is ‘one of the most human finds’, say archaeologists It sounds just like the kind of joke that is ubiquitous in today’s cheap-and-cheerful souvenir industry: “I went to Rome and all I got you was this lousy pen.” But the tongue-in-cheek inscription recently deciphered […]
The disastrous battle of Adrianople shows that treating asylum seekers badly cannot end well Archaeologists working at the Roman legionary fortress at Hadrian’s Wall have reportedly uncovered what they suspect is a refugee camp established for friendly tribespeople from north of the wall who were fleeing serious unrest in the early third century AD. These new […]
Libyan leader showed no interest in ancient culture of Garamantes, but now archaeologists hope to unearth neglected slice of history The late Muammar Gaddafi was fond of insisting on the links between his republic and sub-Saharan Africa. He was less interested, however, in celebrating the black African civilisation that flourished for more than 1,500 years […]
