Following the discovery of unusual ringfenced burials from Roman Colchester, further evidence of Camulodunum’s diverse funerary practices comes with the discovery of a rare bustum or pyre burial, found during a Colchester Archaeological Trust excavation on the site of the city’s Roman garrison. Closer examination of the cremation yielded something more elusive still: traces of [...]
DNA detective work: identifying Richard III
March 8, 2013 By Filed Under: News, Richard III
Following questions about the validity of using a genetic sample from a modern day relative of Richard III to help identify his remains, Dr Turi King of the University of Leicester guides us through the process she used. I’m afraid I must start with a quick DNA primer! I promise to keep it short. Our DNA can [...]
Richard III exhibition opens in Leicester
February 8, 2013 By Filed Under: News, Richard III
A new free exhibition dedicated to the search for Richard III opened today (8 Feb) at Leicester’s Guildhall. Richard III: Leicester’s search for a king reveals the archaeological detective work that led to the rediscovery of Greyfriars church, the location of Richard’s grave, and the identification of his remains. Displays place these findings in their [...]
Reconstructing Richard III’s resting place
February 7, 2013 By Filed Under: News, Richard III
Two days after unveiling a reconstruction of the face of Richard III, Leicester experts have now recreated how Greyfriars, his final resting place, might have looked. Built in 1230, Greyfriars was one of the first Franciscan friaries to be established in England, just 6 years after the order came to Britain, but it was completely [...]
Face to face with Richard III
February 6, 2013 By Filed Under: News, Richard III
More than 500 years after his death, members of the public can look King Richard III in the eye once more, following the unveiling of a reconstruction of how he may have looked. Based on human remains found beneath a carpark in Leicester city centre by University of Leicester Archaeological Services, and recently identified as [...]
Richard III: found!
February 4, 2013 By Filed Under: Articles, News, Richard III
The human remains found beneath a city centre carpark last August are ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ those of Richard III.
Is this the skull of Richard III?
February 4, 2013 By Filed Under: Articles, Featured, News, Richard III
Is this the skull of Richard III? Today (4 February) the University of Leicester, with Channel 4, unveiled the world’s first photograph of the human remains found beneath a car park in Leicester city centre, interred in what was once the Grey Friars church. Later this morning archaeologists will announce the results of months of exhaustive [...]
Sands of Time: Domestic Rituals at the Links of Noltland
January 17, 2013 By Filed Under: Features
Rapid erosion has revealed spectacular Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeology on the coast of Westray, Orkney. Contemporary with the Ness of Brodgar’s religious monuments but with a domestic focus, what can this settlement tell us about daily life in prehistoric Orkney? Hazel Moore and Graeme Wilson explained. Overlooking the North Atlantic on the island of [...]
Meet George: the Curious History of an Egyptian Coffin Lid
In ‘Sherds’, CA 275, we brought you the story of ‘George’, a sarcophagus lid now housed by the University of Birmingham’s archaeology museum. We were intrigued by the artefact’s long and eventful history, and Collections Assistant Emily Millward has kindly written us a biography of George, to shed a little light on his past – and to [...]
A note from the Namur
January 3, 2013 By Filed Under: News
In CA 273 we shared the story of HMS Namur, the 18th century Royal Navy warship found beneath the floorboards of the Wheelwrights Shop at The Historic Dockyard, Chatham, and how her identity was revealed. We were very excited to subsequently receive the following message from two of our readers, Eunice and Ron Shanahan, all the way from [...]
Voting now open!
December 14, 2012 By Filed Under: Articles
Click here to see the nominees and to cast your vote.
Secrets of an Iron Age smith
November 28, 2012 By Filed Under: News
New finds at Beechwood Farm, Inverness may help to reveal the ancient techniques of prehistoric Ironworkers, and provide new perspectives on metalworking in northern Scotland.
Finding HMS Namur
In 1995 the discovery of part of a Royal Navy warship hidden in the Wheelwrights Shop at The Historic Dockyard, Chatham, sparked a hunt to determine both the name of the vessel and what it was doing there. Now, this unique find has proven to be the final twist in the tale of an exceptional [...]
Egypt in England opens at Wellington Arch
November 7, 2012 By Filed Under: News
When Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in November 1922, the Western world was seized by an epidemic of Egyptomania. What is less well known, however, is that England’s enduring interest in all things Egyptian has much earlier roots. Now English Heritage’s new exhibition in the recently-reopened Wellington Arch on Hyde Park Corner, launched to mark the 90th anniversary [...]
Arbeia Society conference 2012: Hadrian’s Wall and its Legacy on Tyneside
October 24, 2012 By Filed Under: Articles
This year’s Arbeia Society conference will feature recent discoveries on Hadrian’s Wall, as well as plans for future research involving the local community. With a series of talks focussed on the Wall’s Tyneside legacy, the conference will be held on Saturday 17 November at The Customs House, Mill Dam, South Shields, Tyne & Wear. Programme 10.00-10.20 [...]
More accolades for Operation Nightingale
October 17, 2012 By Filed Under: News
Operation Nightingale, the innovative rehabilitation project using archaeological fieldwork to help the recovery of soldiers wounded in Afghanistan, has added two more prizes to its trophy cabinet, after their success at the MOD’s Sanctuary Awards. Having already won the Project of Special Merit award at this year’s British Archaeological Awards, Operation Nightingale yesterday took first [...]
