The Industrialisation of War

Industry and warfare have always been connected; since the earliest battles it took specialised craftsmen to make weapons, and populations to feed armies. But it wasn’t until World War One that a belligerent power…

Did Ötzi the Iceman have Heart Disease?

It is a widely held belief that our ancestors lived purer, much more active lifestyles which kept them free from the diseases of modern day sedentism, like heart disease. But is this really true?…

The Chemist’s War

Whether made at home from plastic water bottles or of hi-spec military grade, gas masks are today as symbolic an image of conflict as they were in WW1 when chemicals, used to irritate, immobilise…

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Digging Up The Dovedale Coin Hoard

  Last year, a small group of archaeologists from the University of Leicester Archaeological Services, the National Trust and participants of The Defence Archaeology Group’s Operation Nightingale were called to Reynard’s Kitchen Cave in Dovedale,…

Tunnel Warfare: World War One’s Secret Underground Landscape

  The turfed up landscapes, harrowing scenes of battle, fortified strongholds, mines and barbed wire are well known features of World War One. But the extent of war digs deeper than that…. much deeper!…

BARB-ARIC! A Brief History of Barbed Wire

Few things are more emblematic of WW1 and the barbarism of modern warfare than the black and white images of soldiers crowded into narrow trenches, overlooked by a fence of barbed wire. By 1918…

Three things not to forget to pack for a dig

So you’re heading off for an excavation. Your trowel is polished. Your boots are in the bag. Your sleeping bag is all rolled up. You’re trying to cram in all your fave archaeology summer…

150 Mummies of Unknown Civilisation Discovered in Peruvian Desert

A team of Polish, Peruvian and Colombian archaeologists have discovered 150 mummies belonging to an unknown culture in Peru. The finds, dated to the 4th-7th century AD, suggest that  the northern region of the…

Review: the Grand Opening of Foyles’ New Archaeology Department

When Foyles announced the Grand Opening of their new archaeology department, we decided to go and see what all the fuss was about. What we found was disappointing. Foyles’ new flagship bookshop Foyles’ new…

Four things we’re hoping to find

  The #SaintsandSecrets excavation is due to take place 7th – 20th July at Leiston in Suffolk. It has the potential to uncover some really important evidence of a previously unknown prehistoric site, and…

Five ways to get involved in archaeology

Nothing beats the excitement of making a discovery that helps unravel the mysteries of the past, and with the new digging season almost upon us, there’s no time to lose! With five days to…

Posters and Propaganda in World War One

Plastered on every available surface, from factory walls to Nelson’s column, propaganda posters were more than a simple and effective way of conveying messages; they were a powerful tool deployed by the British government…

Romans in Miami: the archaeology of a hoax

How did an ancient Roman temple appear in Miami? This is the headline that flooded Twitter feeds in South Florida last week. Headed by a photo of a construction site filled with tall, dusty…

The Other Side of the Medal: How the Germans Saw World War One

For our first #MuseumMonday, we made a trip to the iconic British Museum to see ‘The Other Side of the Medal: How the Germans Saw World War One’ – an exhibition of German commemorative…

Best Archaeology Books to Take With You This Summer

Books for the beach or books for the trench? Holiday read or cutting edge theory? With less than two weeks until we’re off to dig at Leiston Abbey, wherever you’re going, here’s the lowdown…

Was Prehistoric Man’s Best Friend Actually a Fox?

Burial of man and fox suggests early humans may have kept foxes as pets, predating any comparable example of dog domestication by 4,000 years. The 16,500 year-old grave, which contains the remains of a…

Lost Art of WW1

Forgotten artworks of World War One are stark reminders of a generation of the men whose creativity flourished in the face of new forms of brutality. The events of 1914 saw a dramatic change in the…