FOUND: 13th Century Wall With Seven Turrets In Small Spanish Town

Archaeologists often joke that when they find three stones in a row, they’ve found a wall, but there can be no doubt about this one: it’s massive, has seven towers and its construction spans…

7 Abandoned Medieval Villages Seen From The Air (And One From Under The Sea)

Imagine exploring a deserted medieval village. You wander down an ancient hollow way, pass a deserted fishpond, and step into an abandoned house. Inside, you find all sorts of clues about medieval village life….

These Historically Accurate Medieval Armour Print Leggings Are FABULOUS

What could be better for digging in than a pair of super-comfy leggings? Why, super-comfy leggings that make your legs look like a lean, mean, medieval fighting machine of course! So here’s a tip:…

Why Almost Everything We Thought We Knew About Skellig Michael Is Wrong

Circular huts and lonely hermits? Here’s why (almost) everything we thought we knew about Skellig Michael could be wrong. As DigVentures gets ready to invite our crowdfunders to join us for a second round…

This Twitter Parody Of Trump As An Early Medieval King Is Brilliant

Sick of Trump in your timeline and want a break? Sorry, someone’s started a Twitter parody of him as an early medieval king called Donaeld The Unready and it’s too good not to share….

The Contents Of These 400 Year Old ‘Face Jugs’ Is Actually Pretty Gross

When archaeologists opened these jars, they found them full of human hair and urine. Here’s why. Yes, this 400 year-old jug looks pretty jolly. Indeed, these Bartman Jugs would probably have originally contained beer…

Site Diary: We Found A Medieval Floor!

The Aftermath Of The Great Fire Of London Was Worse Than You Think

The Great Fire of London burned savagely for four days in September 1666. When it finally went out, the city rose from the ashes and was quickly reborn, or so the usual story goes….

Did Medieval ‘Pirate Priests’ Exist In Suffolk?

Priests were often the subject of pirate raids, but did priests ever engage in piracy themselves? Over the last three years, DigVentures’ flagship crowdfunded excavation at Leiston Abbey has turned up all sorts of…

Recipe: How To Make Your Own Medieval Mead

How To… Tell What Type of Pot You’ve Got – the Medieval Dig Edition!

From so-called ‘sparkly-ware’ to the early-modern equivalent of ‘ironic’ hipster crockery, here’s how to identify 12 types of pot you’d expect to turn up at a medieval dig. Leiston Abbey is one of Suffolk’s…

Ancient Medical Prosthetics Are Even More Impressive Than We Thought

Archaeologists have made two amazing medical discoveries: a 2,200 year old prosthetic leg from China, and the body of an Austrian man who’d had his foot successfully amputated and replaced with a prosthetic 1,500…

Medieval Body Found Dangling from the Roots of an Upturned Tree

An ancient Irish tree toppled over in a storm to reveal an even more ancient burial… When this 215 year old beech tree in the Irish town of Collooney blew over in a storm,…

7 Reasons Why Archaeologists Hate Bunny Rabbits

Rabbits. You either love them or you hate them, and archaeologists definitely hate them, and with good reason. They’re no fluffy-wuffy, bouncyboo Easter-Egg deliverers; they’re archaeology-destroying, foundation-threatening hopnuts who  probably want to skin you…

8 of the Funniest Faces You’ll Ever See on Medieval Pottery

Face jugs were all the rage in medieval Britain. South east England was a hub of their production, and they were transported and sold across Europe. Medieval Britain was packed full of exciting events,…

8 of the World’s Most Heavily Fortified Monastic Ruins

Fortifications might seem like something of an architectural oddity for a monastery: why would men and women (usually) devoted to peace and learning surround themselves with the trappings of war? But take a closer…

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…