Museum news – The Past
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.| the-past.com
Fashionable frescos: piecing together the cultural tastes of Roman London Riverine reflections: the natural and cultural heritage of the Rother Valley Little End: tracing the history of a long-vanished community Celebrating the pioneering female archaeologists of Romano-British studies DNA: revealing details of Anglo-Saxon diversity| The Past
Closed since 2017 for a major refurbishment, Leicester’s Jewry Wall Museum has recently reopened with new interactive displays shedding vivid light on the city’s Roman past. Carly Hilts reports.| The Past
Recent excavations in Southwark have uncovered one of the largest collections of painted Roman wall plaster ever found in London. Carly Hilts spoke to Han Li about ongoing efforts to piece this 2,000-year-old jigsaw puzzle back together.| The Past
The valley of the western Rother is best known to archaeologists as the location of Butser Ancient Farm and Bignor Roman villa, as well as the Weald and Downland Museum and the settlements at Selborne, Liss, Petersfield, Midhurst, and Petworth. Adopting a whole-landscape approach, taking in the entire river catchment, a recent study of the valley shows how natural and cultural heritage are inextricably intertwined, as Chris Catling reports.| The Past
A High Street highlight Kathryn Morrison’s Chain Stores in the Golden Age of the British High Street, (‘Cathedrals of commerce’, Chris Catling, CA 426) excellently complements books on other types of buildings| The Past
There are lots of great ways to get involved with history and archaeology over the next few months, including exhibitions, lectures, and conferences exploring a wide range of subjects. If you would prefer to get your heritage fix from the comfort of your sofa, though, there is a variety of resources on offer online, too, from virtual site tours and digital offerings by museums to podcasts, TV shows, and more. Kathryn Krakowka has put together a selection of some of the options available.| The Past
Excavations at Eaton Socon, near St Neots, have revealed illuminating traces of a rural hamlet and the experiences of its working-class inhabitants over the course of more than a century. Isobel Woolhouse outlines some of the key findings.| The Past
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the publication of a special edition of the prestigious Architectural Review. The June 1955 supplement was devoted to a now-famous single essay called ‘Outrage’, Ian Nairn’s critique of the ways in which Britain’s towns and cities were being rebuilt from the rubble and ruins of the Second World War.| The Past
To conclude my mini-series on the towns of Roman Britain, I will head to what may be the most famous Romano-British city of all: Verulamium, modern-day St Albans. With much of the city surviving, unexcavated, beneath modern-day park- and farmland, and upstanding elements visible alongside the award-winning museum that was founded by Tessa Verney Wheeler and Mortimer Wheeler in the 1930s .| The Past
Norwich’s imposing Norman keep has reopened after a five-year transformation project, boasting an interior restored to 12th-century finery and an atmospheric new medieval gallery. Carly Hilts reports.| The Past
The early days of Romano-British research are often thought to have been dominated by male excavators, but many female archaeologists also made vital contributions to the discipline, in spite of social and academic barriers that stood in their way. Tatiana Ivleva and Rebecca Jones highlight some of these heroines of heritage.| The Past
The Trimontium Museum in Melrose is using Virtual Reality technology to vividly evoke a Roman assault on a hillfort community. Carly Hilts visited to learn more.| The Past
Neolithic long cairn granted protected status The Dudderhouse Hill long cairn, located within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, has been granted protected status as a Scheduled Monument by the Government. The scheduling| The Past
REVIEW BY COLLEEN BATEY The arrival of the Great Army on the shores of East Anglia in AD 865 was a seminal moment in English history. This marked the move away from| The Past
Found late last year on the Thames foreshore, this is the base of a small Samian ware bowl with a maker’s stamp. Based on its size, approximately 42.5mm (1.7in) in diameter, it| The Past
In CA 426’s exploration of the impact of the Viking Great Army on the north of England, we mentioned research that had shed light on the make-up of a Viking hoard discovered| The Past
An excavation led by archaeologists from the National Trust and York Archaeology, with the help of local volunteers, has helped unearth the remains of a house originally built for Hannah Newton (née| The Past
The Welwyn Roman Baths, preserved under the A1(M) in Hertfordshire, opened to the public 50 years ago this year (CA 27). In the lead-up to this milestone, Dr Kris Lockyear led a| The Past
This past autumn a rare gold shilling – called a thrymsa – was found in a field near Norwich by a metal-detectorist. It represents a completely new type of coin, dated to| The Past
Work has begun on conserving Gloucester Cathedral’s Great Cloister, an intricate and important undertaking as this structure features the earliest surviving fully developed fan vault. The project was undertaken after a trial| The Past
Observations on Mexica obsidian A new research project, recently published in PNAS (https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2500095122), has examined over 700 obsidian objects that have been recovered during several decades of excavations at Templo Mayor –| The Past
Newly published research has added more evidence to our growing understanding of kinship and migration in Anglo-Saxon England, revealing that two 7th-century individuals, buried over 250km (153 miles) apart, each had a| The Past
Recent excavations at Rathgurreen Ringfort, on the Maree Peninsula in County Galway, have revealed new details about the site’s history, indicating that it may have evolved from a late Bronze Age/early Iron| The Past
Highgate Cemetery, consecrated on 20 May 1839, was created to provide a more hygienic alternative to ‘intramural’ burial (within church walls) or in overcrowded church- and chapel yards. Today, Highgate is known| The Past
In CA 310, we reported on surveys undertaken by the Community Archaeology Geophysics Group (CAGG) of the Roman city of Verulamium (St Albans, Hertfordshire). At that time, the group, led by Dr| The Past
REVIEW BY SUNNY HARRISON The mounted knight remains one of the iconic images of England in the Middle Ages, evoking King Arthur, massed charges, and the very notion of chivalry – all| The Past
REVIEW BY ANDY CHAPMAN This monograph does everything that it says on the packaging in the quoted book review. It contains, ‘high quality data with extensive and thorough reporting by artefact/ecofact specialists’.| The Past
REVIEW BY MAGNUS ALEXANDER This is a fascinating landscape history of a medieval ‘watermilling powerhouse’, which demonstrates that over 1,000 years of watermilling has had a huge impact on an apparently natural| The Past
REVIEW BY RACHEL TYSON This study analyses the glass from 29 sites across Roman Britain to provide us with a picture of its consumption within different socio-economic groups and gain a better| The Past
REVIEW BY ADAM SUTTON Thanks to the Raunds Area Project of the 1980s and 1990s, the site discussed in this volume is located in one of central England’s most intensively studied archaeological| The Past
Hierakonpolis: the Predynastic ‘City of the Falcon God’ Tattooing in the New Kingdom Palestrina GraecoRoman Egypt in a stunning Nilotic mosaic The reign and innovations of Khakheperra Senusret II Aquila Dodgson, the oft-forgotten collector and polymath Oxyrhynchus Papyri and the ordinary people of late ancient Egypt Hands: not everything is as you would expect! Out and about: The isolated Temple of Qasr el-Sagha| The Past
Geoffrey Lenox-Smith visits an isolated temple in the desert north of the Fayum.| The Past
A joint Egyptian–Italian archaeological mission (University of Milan) has discovered more rock-cut Graeco-Roman tombs in the necropolis surrounding the Aga Khan Mausoleum on Aswan’s West Bank (for previous finds, see AE 144).| The Past
The remains of large multistorey tower houses have been discovered at the ancient Delta city of Imet (modern-day Tell Nabasha) in the eastern Delta by an Egyptian–British team from the Universities of| The Past
Three rock-cut tombs from the Old Kingdom, reused during the Middle Kingdom, have been found by the Egyptian team working at the Qubbet el Hawa necropolis opposite Aswan. Two of the tombs| The Past
A massive mud-brick enclosure wall has been found near Karnak by an Egyptian team working at Nagaa Abu Asba. Blocks from the wall bear stamps with the name of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty| The Past
A residential settlement dating to the Middle Kingdom has been uncovered at Karnak by an Egyptian–French mission. The ‘city’ is in the south-east corner of the complex, dated to the reign of| The Past
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has completed the conservation of a Roman Period tomb at Athribis (Naga‘a el-Sheikh Hamad, west of Sohag). The brightly painted tomb, consisting of a square antechamber| The Past
A mud-brick building dating to the 6th to 7th centuries AD has been found by an Egyptian mission at Minqab in Asyut. The two-storey building, which was clad in white mortar, contained| The Past
A 4,500-year-old Egyptian skeleton from a rock-cut tomb in Nuwayrat, near Beni Hasan, has provided the first biological evidence for links between ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia in the early Old Kingdom. The| The Past
A new study by Jun Yi Wong of the University of Toronto suggests that damage to Hatshepsut’s statues may not have been an act of animosity by Thutmose III. The examination of| The Past
French researchers using AI to analyse more than 500 intact early graves at the cemetery of Adaïma (8km south of Esna) have revealed an evolution in funerary practices that helped to shape| The Past
UNESCO has removed the Abu Mena archaeological site in Alexandria – an ancient location for Christian pilgrimage – from the World Heritage in Danger List following work to reinforce key structures| The Past
Julian Maxwell Heath describes the excavation history of the Predynastic ‘City of the Falcon God’ and some of the important discoveries made there.| The Past
Robert R Frost explores Graeco-Roman Egypt through the scenes in a stunning Nilotic mosaic.| The Past
Continuing his series focusing on the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty, Wolfram Grajetzki explores the reign and innovations of Khakheperra Senusret II.| The Past
REVIEW BY ROGER FORSHAW The 23rd Current Research in Egyptology (CRE) conference was held at the University of Basel in 2023. Bringing together an engaged community of mainly early career researchers, the| The Past
REVIEW BY SARAH GRIFFITHS In the third and final instalment of his Ptolemaic series, Grainger presents what he describes as a ‘deeply unpleasant and murderous succession of barely competent kings and queens’,| The Past
Where is this? If you know, email the Editor peter@ancientegyptmagazine.com before 30 October with your answer, giving your full name, address, and a contact phone number. One lucky reader will have their| The Past
Excavations near Willersey in the north Cotswolds have uncovered evidence of extensive Iron Age settlement and a possible high-status Roman building – as we ...| the-past.com
The Past brings together the most exciting stories and the very best writing from the worlds of history, archaeology, ancient art and heritage.| the-past.com
The biggest dig at Pompeii in a generation is working to expose nearly an entire block of the ancient city. Archaeologists are making astonishing discoverie ...| the-past.com
