What lies behind the legends of King Arthur? Fragments of history, or just wishful thinking? While historians study the ancient manuscripts, modern archaeologists join in the hunt for clues. From Arthur’s ‘birthplace’ at Tintagel to the fabled ‘Isle of Avalon’, we sift through the evidence. Journeying across Arthur’s Britain, we search for Camelot and the sites of his battles. Do the remains confirm or contradict the traditional accounts? Far from providing objective proof, Christopher Gidlow shows how archaeologists’ interpretation of their discoveries reflects the academic fashions of their times. Sites which in the 1960s were used to prove King Arthur’s…
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The techniques and materials used to make cave paintings and other forms of rock art are almost as diverse as the people who created them. What unites these ancient artists – across almost all of the earth’s continents and over tens of thousands of years of ancient history – is their increasing level of incredible ingenuity. Handy Work The phrase ‘cave paintings’ somewhat obscures the vast range of methods used to create works of non-portable art on rocks and cave walls. They could be painted, but they could also be drawn, daubed, scratched, chipped, sculpted in relief, engraved, stenciled or…
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Key Dates City Wall of Xian is an extension of the old Tang Dynasty structure, as a result of the wall-building campaign ordered by Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of Ming Dynasty (from 1370 A.D.- 1375 A.D). Xian China Key People Zhu Yuanzhang City Wall of Xian is an extension of the old Tang Dynasty structure, as a result the wall-building campaign ordered by Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of Ming Dynasty (from 1370 A.D.- 1375 A.D). After the enlargement, the city wall stands 12 meters, 12-14 meters across the top, 15-18 meters thick at bottom and 13.7 kilometres in…
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Stonehenge leaps out from its West Country surroundings like Liberace in a dole queue, so it’s no surprise that Britain’s grandest prehistoric monument has been the focus of a myriad projects since the dawn of archaeology. So what is Stonehenge’s archaeological history? And what light has centuries of excavation shed on the enigmatic treasure? Aubrey Discovers (Some of) The Aubrey Holes Stonehenge’s recorded archaeological history begins at the turn of the 17th century, with a small dig carried out by the pre-eminent physician William Harvey. Yet as much as Harvey was a pioneer of medicine, he was hardly a dab…
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Key Dates 1186 BC The papyrus dates from the XX Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, which lasted from 1186-1069 BC. It was discovered in the early 19th century. Key People It was probably created by a painter from Deir El-Medina village. When French scholar (and translator of the Rosetta Stone) Jean-François Champollion viewed the papyrus in Torino in 1824, he described it in his notes as: “an image of monstrous obscenity that gave me a really strange impression about Egyptian wisdom and composure.” Key People: Jean-François Champollion The Turin Erotic Papyrus is a famous (or rather, infamous) 12th/11th century BC Egyptian…
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There’s no doubting the natural durability of cave and rock art – in many cases ancient paintings, carvings and sculptures have resisted tens of thousands of years of the withering effects of history and the elements to still be around to reveal their splendor today. Yet, that’s not to say that their continued survival is guaranteed, particularly as many sites become more and more popular as tourist attractions and therefore increasingly subject to human wear and tear. Other examples simply don’t have the protection they need and are at the mercy of vandals and robbers, while some are threatened by…
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A date has now been set for the return of some of the Vindolanda Tablets to the museum at Vindolanda in Northumberland, following an announcement this week that the UK’s Heritage Lottery Fund is to donate £4 million towards the costs. The date now set for some of the tablets to be housed at the Vindolanda museum is spring 2011 – they will come on loan from the British Museum for a period of five years, after which the loan can be renewed. The tablets – a collection of 1,600 documents etched on thin wooden boards – represent the earliest…
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A clay tablet dating from the start of the second millennium BC is actually a list of literary texts from a Sumerian library. It originates from Nippur (in ancient Mesopotamia, modern-day lower Iraq), which was one of the most important Sumerian cities. It is on display at the Department of Oriental Antiquities at the Louvre. Origin & Collection On display at: The Louvre Reference Number: AO 5393 Physical properties Materials: Clay
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In 2009, we saw the Terracotta Warriors tour America, racking up record attendance figures, while King Tut exhibitions criss-crossed the globe and the Staffordshire Hoard went on show in London just months after being unearthed in a West Midlands field by an avid metal detectorist. 2010 looks set to be equally as big a year for heritage exhibitions around the world. The iconic and controversial Lewis Chessmen will be reunited in Scotland for the first time in over 150 years in Edinburgh this May. The massive Shanghai World Expo will open around the same time, with a number exhibits themed…
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With Bettany Hughes’ documentary ‘Atlantis: The Evidence’ set to première on BBC Two, what better way to prepare than to explore the Aegean Bronze Age treasures of the British Museum? If the Minoan civilisation was indeed home to the Atlantis legend, what better way to get to know the Atlanteans than through what they left behind? And, lets face it, visiting London’s most famous museum is far easier than getting a permit to dig beneath the sphinx. 😉 Though not that many items excavated by Arthur Evans can be found at the British Museum – I probably should have visited the…