Archaeology

University of Sussex cutbacks: Protests, riot police and strike action

Students and staff at the University of Sussex have united in angry protest against proposed cutbacks at the Brighton and Hove institution. The cutbacks will include a complete scrapping of the study of English history before 1700, a move leading historians have warned “puts in peril the public function of history,” and risks “entrenching the ignorance of the present.”

Inside Archaeology

Hadrian's Wall in giant light show

Tuesday, 16 March 2010

On Saturday over 25,000 people visited Hadrian's Wall, packing every rolling hillside, car park and vantage spot to see in a huge illumination ceremony organised by Hadrian’s Wall Heritage.

Is Boudicca a poster girl for intolerance and British nationalism?

Tuesday, 16 March 2010

Re-invented by the Victorians, under the name of Boadicea, Boudicca was presented as an idol of nationalism, of British warrior tradition and, somewhat incongruently, as a figurehead of imperialism, even though this was the thing she had fought against.

Fossilised egg gives clue to fate of ancient birds

Wednesday, 10 March 2010

Scientists are hopeful of finding out more about ancient birds and why they died out after extracting DNA from a fossilised elephant bird egg.

800-year-old shipwreck found in Baltic Sea

Wednesday, 10 March 2010

A dozen shipwrecks that date back centuries – some of them unusually well preserved – have been found in the Baltic Sea by a gas company building an underwater pipeline between Russia and Germany.

Roman Circus 'will be fantastic'

Thursday, 4 March 2010

This week campaigners reached a £200,000 target in their fight to save Colchester's Roman circus. But it's just the tip of an iceberg of red tape the circus must dodge to survive as a tourist attraction. And while Colchester's leading archaeologist is thrilled the landmark figure has finally been made, he warns there's much more work to be done.

Ancient Queen's burial chamber discovered at Saqqara

Wednesday, 3 March 2010

A French archaeological team digging at Saqqara has discovered the burial chamber of 6th Dynasty Queen Behenu, wife of either Pepi I or Pepi II. The burial chamber was revealed while the team was cleaning the sand from Behenu's pyramid in the area of el-Shawaf in South Saqqara, west of the pyramid of King Pepi I.

Tracing King Tut's family tree in London

Wednesday, 3 March 2010

Tutankhamun has always captured popular imagination, and been a major draw for museums.

Evidence of 'upper class' Africans living in Roman York

Tuesday, 2 March 2010

Using the latest techniques in forensic archaeology, the University of Reading has revealed a new image of multi-cultural Roman Britain. New research demonstrates that 4th century AD York had individuals of North African descent moving in the highest social circles.

Colossal head of King Tut's granddad discovered at Luxor

Monday, 1 March 2010

A multi-national team of Egyptian and European archaeologists excavating at the site of Amenhotep III’s enormous funerary temple in the Kom El-Hettan area of Luxor’s West Bank have uncovered the 3,000-year-old head of a massive statue of the 18th Dynasty pharaoh, the king of Egyptian kings, whom DNA testing has recently proven was Tutankhamun’s grandfather.