Archaeology

Guatemalan tomb reveals evidence of child sacrifice

A team of American archaeologists excavating in the Guatamalan jungle beneath an ancient Maya pyramid have discovered a royal tomb, filled with colourful 1,600-year-old Mayan artefacts and the bones of as many as six children, possible victims of human sacrifice.

Inside Archaeology

Looted antiquities worth millions recovered from black market by Italian police

Monday, 19 July 2010

More than 300 looted antiquities, estimated to be worth more than EUR15 million, were displayed to the press this morning in Rome, having been repatriated to Italy after they were discovered in a warehouse in Switzerland.

Top 10 clues to the real King Arthur

Monday, 12 July 2010

The King Arthur we know is one of romance, ephemera and myth. But is he real? Arthur has been in and out of fashion more than denim: one year his veracity is being argued by every archaeologist in Britain, the next he's ignored or derided.

Treasure hunter finds hoard of 52,000 Roman coins

Friday, 9 July 2010

A metal-detector enthusiast has found one of the biggest ever hoards of Roman coins. It is the biggest hoard ever found in a single vessel in Britain, numbering 52,500 Roman coins of varying denominations.

Egypt uncovers father-and-son Old Kingdom tombs

Wednesday, 7 July 2010

Two ancient tombs, belonging to a father and son, have been discovered in Egypt. The tombs, which date to the 6th Dynasty (c2325-2150 BC), were unearthed last week in the ancient necropolis of Saqqara. At least one of the rock-hewn tombs has never been looted in antiquity, making it a potentially huge breakthrough.

Discovery of U-boat wrecks rewrites the history books

Sunday, 4 July 2010

Newly identified sites show far more submarines were sunk by mines than previously thought

No secret Burial at end of Seti I Tunnel

Wednesday, 30 June 2010

After more than 40 years archaeologists have finally reached the end of the mysterious tunnel in the tomb of Seti I. Yet hopes it would lead to the pharaoh's secret burial site have been crushed, after the seemingly unfinished tunnel suddenly stopped after a back-breaking 174m.

Discovery of babies' skeletons exposes the dark side of life in Roman Britain

Saturday, 26 June 2010

One of Roman Britain's darkest secrets is close to being laid bare by modern science. Experts from English Heritage are examining dozens of infant skeletons buried 17 centuries ago in a quiet valley just north of the River Thames in Buckinghamshire.

King Tut died from sickle-cell disease, not malaria

Friday, 25 June 2010

King Tutankhamun died from sickle-cell disease, not malaria, say experts. A team from Hamburg's Bernhard Noct Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNI) claim the disease is a far likelier cause of death than the combination of bone disorders and malaria put forward by Egyptian experts earlier this year.

'Strange bones' in Colchester Egyptian Mummy

Friday, 25 June 2010

The skull of an ancient Egyptian mummy in Colchester is packed with 'strange bones', a CT-scan has revealed. The scan on 2,500-year-old Lady Ta-Hathor yesterday also revealed an odd bundle between her thighs, thought to be the remains of her organs.

Ten things you didn’t know about the Lewis Chessmen

Thursday, 24 June 2010

The Lewis Chessmen Unmasked exhibition in Edinburgh brings together the British Museum and the National Museum of Scotland’s collections of the Lewis Chessmen – a set of medieval gaming pieces, originating most likely from Trondheim in the 12th or 13th century, which were discovered on the Hebridean island of Lewis sometime between 1780 and 1831.

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