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This Petroglyph Captures the Moment when Atlantic and Mediterranean Cultures Met

Archaeologists are beginning to change their views of the contact made between Atlantic and Mediterranean cultures before the Romans, says Xosé Gago, with increasing evidence that connections were earlier and more intense than previously…

Recipe: How to Make Your Very Own Ancient Greek Cheesecake

This summer, we enjoyed one of the world’s oldest ice creams. Today, we’re digging in to the origins of cake. And yes, we can confirm, the Ancient Greeks invented cheesecake! Here’s how to make…

7 Medieval Medicines Dug Up By Archaeologists That Actually Work

Medical waste is generally something to be avoided, but for archaeologists it provides a rare opportunity to show that medieval medicine wasn’t all hocus pocus. “10 bizarre medieval medical practices”, “crazy potions and nasty…

My Life In Objects: Nikolaos Maniatis, Archaeologist

Nikolaos is an archaeologist and conservator who has worked in labs, studying and preserving ancient artefacts around the world. Now, he’s using 3D printers with museofabber to restore and share some of the world’s…

My Life in Objects: Karl Harrison, Forensic Archaeologist

Karl Harrison is a forensic archaeologist. He’s trained to find, excavate and recover human remains under the most challenging and often harrowing of circumstances. In this DigVentures mashup of Desert Island Discs and A…

How to Pass Yourself Off as a Medieval Doctor in Six Easy Steps

Medieval medicine is a bizarre and almost magical thing. It’s as rich in detailed botanical descriptions as it is in off-the-wall remedies, like powdered owls and toad goo. Germs hadn’t been discovered yet, and…

Recipe: Philosopher’s Stew with Lentils, Honey and Pepper

Russia has borscht, France has bouillabaisse, America has Campbell’s and… the Ancient Greeks had Philosopher’s Stew. Whatever your choice, there’s no denying just how tasty and satisfying soup is to sup. In fact, it’s…

My Life in Objects: Sara Brown, Archaeological Conservator

When an artefact is dug up after hundreds, or even thousands, of years, they often need immediate treatment to stabilize their condition and stop them falling apart. Sara Brown is an archaeological conservator. She…

The Astonishing History of Fish & Chips

Fish & chips is now a quintessentially British meal, but where does it really come from? Simple, tasty, and with a crunch that oozes thick, sweet oil, this week we’re tucking into the culinary…

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Seven tell-signs that help archaeologists see disease

Six ways archaeologists can see disease in dead people

We know that illnesses have existed as long as there have been humans to get ill – but how do archaeologists identify disease in the past? Palaeopathology is the study of ancient diseases, which…
Jane at work

My Life in Objects: Jane Sidell, Inspector of Ancient Monuments

The Inspector of Ancient Monuments for London is a role that dates back to the 1800s, when  Pitt-Rivers became the first of a long line of archaeologists to take on the responsibility of protecting…
DV Spicy Mayan Hot Chocolate

Recipe: Spicy Mayan Hot Chocolate

The history of chocolate is as rich and dark as its taste. Sweet, dark, rich or white, chocolate is a wonderfully tasty confectionery that has several modern traditions built around it (speaking of which,…

Got the plague? 10 ways to cure it (or at least try)

With the Crossrail excavations of the Bedlam burial ground excavations in the news, we are reminded of the thousands of Londoners who died during the Great Plague of London (1665-1666). But did you know…

Recipe: Bringing Home the Bacon

Crackling, sizzling, succulent bacon. A delicacy that’s so delicious there’s bacon ice cream, bacon deodorant and even a bacon festival! But where did our love affair with bacon start, and just how recently did…

Trepanation: A How-To Guide

Despite the saying, sometimes, you really do need a hole in the head. Evidence for trepanation (making a hole in the skull) appears in the archaeological record across cultures and time and it is…

Recipe: Bake Your Own Medieval Beer & Barley Bread

Mmm. There’s nothing quite like the smell of fresh bread. It’s so lovely that supermarkets are well known to pump the scent through their stores to entice us in. But when did baking begin?…

Ancient Bionics: The Origins of Modern Prosthetics

Prosthetics have recently been in the news for all sorts of reasons – from bionic eyes to limbs that resemble works of art. But where (and when) did it all begin? Delving into illness…

10 Surprising Ways World War One Changed Our Everyday Lives Forever

Sometimes, things become so common in our everyday lives that we forget to question where they came from. When we looked around us, we were surprised by just how many things we found that…

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