• sean-williams

    Ancient Britain could Teach Nick Griffin’s BNP a Thing or Two

    The BNP hit national headlines again last weekend, as Britain limps towards this year’s general election. After having voted to scrap their ‘whites-only’ membership policy, the far-right group introduced a measure whereby prospective members are vetted for up to two hours on whether they support the ‘integrity of the indigenous British’. We, the native British people, the party’s website valiantly claims, will be an ethnic minority in our own country within sixty years. Thankfully Central London County Court ruled the membership move discriminatory, so Nick Griffin and his cronies will have to go back to the drawing board for another…

  • Ann

    Illuminating Hadrian’s Wall – Top 10 Flickr Photographs from the Light Up

    If you didn’t make it to the Illumination of Hadrian’s Wall (for instance, because you were attending the AD 410 – Then End of Roman Britain conference at the British Museum) you can (after you’ve read Sean’s and Sam’s tweet updates live from the light up of the Wall) still marvel at the sight of the Illumination by browsing the images that are one by one (processing takes time) posted to Flickr. Here’s my preliminary Top 10 of Hadrian’s Wall Light Up Flickr Images – in no specific order. Illuminating Hadrian’s Wall – Cell 22 An awesome shot of the…

  • owenjarus

    So You Want to go North? Ontario Archaeology Conference Will Look at the Canadian Shield

    In celebration of our chilly northern climate, the Ontario Archaeological Society will be holding their annual symposium in Killarney Ontario from Sept 24-26, a town on the northern tip of Lake Superior. The symposium is called “Shibaonaning – the place of the clear passage.” It willfocus on the archaeology of the Canadian Shield. Its a vast, rocky, forested area of Canada that covers Northern Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and parts of the arctic. At eight million square kilometres, its nearly double the size of the entire European Union. Although it’s chalk full of mines, the rocky terrain makes it difficult to…

  • sean-williams

    AWiL Video Series – Queen Boudicca: Celtic Fashion and the Battle of Watling Street

    Boudicca massacred 80,000 people on her way to infamy, as she left Colchester, London and St Albans little more than smouldering husks in 60AD. And it’s no surprise to learn that her appearance matched her bloodthirsty attitude. Boudicca was “a great big busty woman,” says expert Mark Hassall, “with a blonde mass of hair falling down to her shoulders. And she was wearing the torc, a symbol of virility.” (Our very own Boudicca also carries the stunning Battersea Shield – we know it’s a bit late but it’s a great example of Celtic ceremonial attire). Torc (exemplified perfectly in the…

  • michael-kan

    Residents are Divided Over Planned Restoration of Beijing’s Drum and Bell towers

    Cultural preservation and Beijing’s ongoing development may be set to collide with a new project in one of the city’s historical neighborhoods. A pair of landmark buildings in the capital, the Drum and Bell towers, is at the center of a new redevelopment plan that has left a group of preservationists concerned. I spoke to some locals, and some experts, about the future of the towers, and was surprised by the divided opinions I came across. Dating back to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), the citys Drum and Bell towers have stood in the capital for more than 700 years. That…

  • malcolmj

    Ancient World in London Bloggers Challenge 3: Should the British Museum Return the Rosetta Stone to Egypt?

    We set the task of nominating London’s most influential invaders and talking-up the Big Smoke’s most important ancient sites in the first two rounds of our Ancient World in London Bloggers Challenge, and got some fantastic responses from the blogosphere. In round three we’re posing a new question, to again be answered in blog form in competition for prizes both real and virtual. It’s sure to prove contentious: Should the British Museum return the Rosetta Stone to Egypt? This Ptolemaic era Egyptian stele – created in 196 BC and discovered by the French in 1799 at Rosetta in Egypt –…

  • sean-williams

    Is Queen Boudicca Buried Beneath London’s Kings Cross Station?

    Boudicca is one of ancient Britain’s biggest names: she’s even got her own statue overlooking Parliament. (Click to watch the Boudicca video) But for all today’s archaeological breakthroughs, we still don’t know where she’s buried right now. In fact, we don’t even know where she and the Romans played out a bloody denouement to the rebellion at the Battle of Watling Street. Even Tacitus and Cassius Dio, the Roman historians who chronicled the event, can’t agree whether she committed suicide or fell victim to illness. So where is Boudicca today, apart from the government’s doorstep? A host of elaborate locations…

  • owenjarus

    What was the Most Important Site in Ancient London? The Forum!

    After reading this title youre probably asking yourself why on earth would one consider a marketplace to be the most important ancient spot in London? London certainly has finds that lend more to the imagination. The Temple of Mithras was dedicated to the Persian god of light and the sun, Gladiators duelled in out in the Roman Amphitheatre, and if were willing to look outside of London Colchester had a Roman circus that has just been saved. So why did I choose a marketplace as my answer the question posed by Bloggers Challenge 2? Simply put, the forum, in the…

  • helen-atkinson

    My Favourite Ancient Spot in London – the Female Gladiator

    With all the buzz going on about the Ancient World in London Bloggers’ Challenge 2 competition, Ithought I’d weigh in with my own favourite ancient site in London – the grave of the Female Gladiator in Southwark. Now, admittedly, this is a classic case of the experience of the ancient world involving standing in front of one of those blue ceramic plaques imagining what a wild find was made there, since there’s nothing else to see. However, this is pretty inspirational stuff. The site, at 159 Great Dover Street in Southwark, was excavated in 2000 by the British Museum. The…

  • sean-williams

    Live from Illuminating Hadrian’s Wall – Latest News and Photographs

    Hadrian’s Wall snakes its way through 84 miles of barren British countryside, the frostbitten tip of the Roman empire. Yet you needn’t leave your PC to get a feel for this weekend’s illuminations event, which promises to be a spectacular celebration of Roman prowess. Nicole, Sam and myself will be heading up to the wall to watch the illuminations for an Ancient World in London video about the bits of Britain even Rome dared not tinker with. We’ll be visiting some of the wall’s best-known sites, and speaking to experts about its glorious past. But you don’t have to wait…