The name Sebastian Cabot won’t sound strange to history enthusiasts, especially those interested in the Age of Exploration. He was a navigator and cartographer who alternated between serving England and Spain (he also offered his services to his native Venice) when these countries were not yet enemies and became chief pilot of the Casa de […]
England
Posted inMiddle Ages
Edgar Atheling, the Lost King of England Who Was Born in Hungary and Joined the First Crusade
In his work Gesta Regum Anglorum (“Deeds of the Kings of the English”), the medieval historian William of Malmesbury gives the last and endearing known detail of one of the most curious characters in British history: Now he grows old in the country, in privacy and quietness. He refers to the last male representative of […]
Posted inMedieval Archaeology
Medieval Grave Slabs Recovered from England’s Oldest Historic Shipwreck
Underwater archaeologists from Bournemouth University have recovered two medieval grave slabs that lay on the seabed of Studland Bay for nearly 800 years. These slabs, carved from Purbeck marble, were part of the cargo of England’s oldest recorded shipwreck, which sank off the coast of Dorset during the reign of Henry III in the 13th […]
Posted inBronze Age Archaeology
Seahenge was Created in the Bronze Age for Rituals to Extend Summer and Return of a Warmer Climate
Recent research on an ancient wooden circle uncovered on a Norfolk beach, known as Seahenge, suggests it was created during the Bronze Age in response to severe climatic deterioration at the end of the third millennium BCE. Dr. David Nance from the University of Aberdeen has published new findings in GeoJournal on Holme I, a […]
Posted inClassical Archaeology
First Ever Solid Fragment of Tyrian Purple, the Expensive Pigment Associated with Roman Emperors, Found
A significant archaeological discovery was made during the 2023 excavation at the site of an ancient Roman bathhouse in Carlisle, England. The dig, conducted by the Wardell Armstrong company, unearthed a small, mysterious piece of purple-colored substance, which later was identified as a fragment of Tyrian purple—the highly prized pigment once associated with Roman emperors. […]
Posted inAge of Exploration
Henry Every, the Captain who Made the Biggest Booty in Piracy History
Classic piracy still retains that aura of romanticism and carefree adventure, which it gained primarily in the 19th century. But while it might seem attractive and fascinating to an onlooker, it was anything but to those who suffered from it, as it usually cost them their possessions, if not their very lives. Interestingly, it also […]
Posted inMedieval Archaeology
Mystery of Abundance of Silver Coins in Medieval England Solved: they came from Byzantine Empire
Between 660-750 AD, Anglo-Saxon England saw a major revival of trade and commerce. This led to a huge increase in the use of silver coins, moving away from just gold. Archaeologists have found around 7,000 of these old “pennies” made of silver. That’s a massive number, almost as many as from the entire Anglo-Saxon period […]
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
Prehistoric Henge Discovered Beneath the Ruins of a Medieval Abbey in Lincolnshire
Today, the town of Crowland in England has ruins from an old abbey. But local stories say long ago there was a small hut used by a guy named Guthlac that lived there alone in prayer. Guthlac died in the year 714, and after he passed, people thought he was special because his body did […]
Posted inClassical Archaeology
Impressive Roman Helmet Found at Hallaton Restored for First Time on Display
Over two decades ago, an extraordinary Roman helmet was unearthed in a field in Leicestershire, England, and now this unique piece of early Roman cavalry equipment has returned to public display at the Harborough Museum. The Hallaton Helmet, discovered in 2001 by the Hallaton Field Work Group and the University of Leicester Archaeological Services during […]
Posted inBronze Age Archaeology
Archaeologists Reveal the Amazing Way of Life of the Prehistoric Inhabitants of the “British Pompeii”
An important report has revealed unprecedented details about the daily lives of prehistoric inhabitants in England from the remains of a Bronze Age village destroyed by fire almost 3,000 years ago. Located at Must Farm, the late Bronze Age settlement dates to around 850 BC. Archaeologists from the University of Cambridge excavated four large, round […]
