In the heart of Pavia, west of the city and along the route to Piedmont and the Alps, lies a historic site that is rewriting the history of the Lombards in Italy. During the 7th century AD, King Aripert I decided to build a dynastic mausoleum at this location, marking a turning point in the […]
Medieval Archaeology
Some of the key areas excavated and analyzed by medieval archaeologists include villages and farmsteads, noble or royal manors, monastic sites, pilgrimage churches, castles and fortifications. By investigating everything from pots and pans to palaces, medieval archaeology helps shed light on changes in technology, economy, trade, dietary practices, craft industries and more during this diverse historical epoch.
Posted inClassical Archaeology, Medieval Archaeology
Beneath a Romanesque church in France archaeologists uncovered an earlier one, and beneath Merovingian tombs, and beneath Roman sarcophagi
Located on rue Michelet, near the imposing Saint-Bénigne Cathedral in Dijon, France, the Church of Saint-Philibert is not just a place of worship but also a silent witness to centuries of history and architectural evolution. Its past, marked by human interventions and natural transformations, reveals traces of eras spanning from Late Antiquity to the modern […]
Posted inArt, Medieval Archaeology
The Only Contemporary Portrait of the Last Byzantine Emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, Discovered in Greece
An exceptional discovery has brought to light the only known contemporary representation of the last emperor of the Byzantine Empire, Constantine XI Palaiologos. This valuable work was uncovered during restoration work at the main church of the former Monastery of the Archangels, located in the region of Aigio, Greece. The finding, dating back to the […]
Posted inMedieval Archaeology
An Exceptional Viking Sword Forged in the Late 9th Century, Found by an Army Museum Employee While Swimming in a River in Poland
In November 2024, the Army Museum in Białystok unveiled an impressive historical treasure: a Viking-era sword, dated between the 9th and 10th centuries. This exceptional discovery was made by a museum employee, Szczepan Skibicki, during a dive in the Supraśl River in the Podlachia region of Poland in the summer of 2022. The sword, accompanied […]
Posted inMedieval Archaeology
A Monumental Byzantine Basilica Built by Justinian, Found in the Ancient Roman City of Aquileia
Aquileia, a small town in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region in northeastern Italy, is now a modest place with barely 3,000 inhabitants. However, its past is among the richest and most significant in ancient history. Founded in 181 B.C. as a Roman military colony, Aquileia became an important economic center of the Roman Empire. Its strategic […]
Posted inMedieval Archaeology
Decline of the Eastern Roman Empire Was Not Caused by Plagues and Climate Change in 6th Century AD, But Rather Experienced a Population Boom
A recent study published in the journal Klio by researchers Haggai Olshanetsky, from the University of Warsaw, and Lev Cosijns, from the University of Oxford, analyzes the true causes of the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire. Traditionally, it has been believed that natural factors, such as the Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA) and […]
Posted inMedieval Archaeology
The Site of the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah, which in 637 CE Pitted the Arabs against the Sassanian Empire and Was Key in the Expansion of Islam, Has Been Discovered
A team of archaeologists led by Dr. William Deadman from the Department of Archaeology at Durham University has successfully pinpointed the site of the historic Battle of al-Qadisiyyah. This battle, which took place between 637 and 638 CE, is known as a key confrontation in the expansion of Islam beyond the Arabian Peninsula, culminating in […]
Posted inMedieval Archaeology
A Man Thrown Into a Well 900 Years Ago, Identified and Linked to Viking Sagas
Archaeology and genetics have come together in a fascinating investigation into a skeleton discovered in the well of Sverresborg Castle, Norway, in 1938. The remains, which were recovered in 2016, had already confirmed the story told by Viking sagas as we reviewed then in our Spanish edition. Now, information about the man’s identity has been […]
Posted inMedieval Archaeology
Archaeologists Are Not Finding Late Roman and Anglo-Saxon Burials from the 5th Century in England – Where Are the Bodies?
A recent archaeological study explores an enigmatic question about the “missing” dead of the 5th century in Britain. A team of researchers, led by Emma Brownlee of the University of Cambridge and Alison Klevnäs of Uppsala University, has proposed a novel hypothesis: many bodies from this era may have been disposed of through methods that […]
Posted inMedieval Archaeology
A woman buried with a Viking wagon, an iron key, and a silver-handled knife, along with 50 other graves found in Denmark
A team of archaeologists from the Odense Museum has unearthed more than 50 exceptionally well-preserved skeletons in Åsum, east of Odense, Denmark. These remains, accompanied by artifacts from distant places beyond the Danish borders, confirm that the Vikings traveled extensively for trade. Over the past six months, archaeologists have discovered more than 50 Viking graves […]
