A new scientific study published in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports has revisited the debate over the origin of Stonehenge’s iconic bluestones. It focuses on a rock known as the Newall boulder, which was discovered during excavations in 1924 and may be key to resolving whether these stones reached the Salisbury Plain through glacial action […]
England
Posted inMiddle Ages
Halidon Hill, the Defeat that Made the Scots Lose the Southern Part of Their Country
“Halidon Hill, July 19, 1333.” That is the laconic inscription on a small and simple stone monolith atop the hill of the same name, near the English town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, surrounded by farmland that was once a marsh. The monument is included in the Register of Historic Battlefields and marks the site where, on July […]
Posted inIron Age Archaeology
One of the Most Iconic Stories of British Heroic Resistance Against the Romans Debunked: It Never Happened
A new archaeological investigation casts doubt on one of the most emblematic accounts of the Roman conquest of Britain, questioning whether the violence at the famous Iron Age hillfort of Maiden Castle was the result of a battle with the Romans, suggesting instead that it stemmed from internal conflicts among the Britons themselves. In the […]
Posted inMedieval Archaeology
The Mysterious Byzantine Bucket Found at Sutton Hoo Contains the Remains of an Anglo-Saxon Who May Have Served in the Imperial Army
In 1986, a sixth-century Byzantine copper-alloy bucket was found in the famous Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo in England. It is decorated with a hunting scene, probably from North Africa. Now, an analysis of the bucket’s contents has found that it contains cremated human and animal remains, along with a double-sided antler comb that, […]
Posted inMedieval Archaeology
Roman Roads Continued to Be Used in Medieval England for Over a Thousand Years After the Fall of the Empire
The roads built by the Romans in Britain continued to be used for both travel and trade in the Middle Ages for more than a thousand years after the fall of the Roman Empire, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, which focuses on the Gough Map. The study shows […]
Posted inClassical Archaeology
A “Bestiarius” in York: The First Archaeological Evidence of Combat Between a Gladiator and a Lion in Roman Times
Bite marks found on a skeleton discovered in a Roman cemetery in York have revealed the first archaeological evidence of combat between a human and a lion in ancient Rome. This discovery, published in the journal PLoS One, is the final piece of research that began in 2004 and has shed light on the life […]
Posted inMiddle Ages, Science
Robert Grosseteste, the English Bishop and Philosopher Who Conceived a Precursor to the Big Bang Theory in the Middle Ages
Legend has it, as recounted by the English Benedictine monk Matthew of Paris, that the energetic Pope Innocent IV died of a heart attack triggered by the terrifying nocturnal vision of a ghost. It was the spirit of Robert Grosseteste, a British Franciscan who had died a year earlier, serving as Bishop of Lincoln, whose […]
Posted inIron Age Archaeology
An Exceptional Iron Age Treasure with Over 800 Chariot Parts, Ceremonial Spears, and Ritual Cauldrons Found in England
A team of archaeologists has carried out one of the most significant excavations in recent years in the United Kingdom, revealing a set of Iron Age objects of incalculable historical value. Known as the Melsonby Treasure, this find was located near the village of the same name in North Yorkshire and consists of more than […]
Posted inScience
The Heslington Brain: A Remarkably Well-Preserved 2,600-Year-Old Human Brain Found in a Pit
In 2008, during an archaeological excavation on the grounds where a new campus for the University of York was to be built, an unexpected discovery astonished the scientific community. A human skull, buried in a pit in Heslington, Yorkshire, contained within it a surprisingly well-preserved brain, despite having spent 2,600 years underground. This find, carried […]
Posted inMedieval Archaeology
Discovery of a Medieval Latrine Confirms the Location of the Last Anglo-Saxon King’s Residence depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry
Recent archaeological findings have shed new light on a long-standing mystery about Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England. A collaborative study conducted by the Universities of Newcastle and Exeter has identified the location of a previously lost royal residence in Bosham, West Sussex. This site, depicted in the famous Bayeux Tapestry, has been […]
