Archaeology Archive
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Archaeologists to examine underground chamber in medieval church
Posted on May 17, 2012 | No CommentsA mysterious chamber buried beneath the central part of St Winwaloe’s Church at East Portlemouth in southwest England will be examined by archaeologists thanks to a grant of £12,400 from the Heritage Lottery Fun -
Reasons for hiding Viking Age hack silver hoards
Posted on May 14, 2012 | No CommentsThe Viking Age was the period of extremely intensive deposition of metals in the history of Europe. The hoards deposited at that time contain in most cases hacked silver scraps. -
Cryptozoology in the Medieval and Modern Worlds
Posted on May 6, 2012 | No CommentsAlbertus Magnus’s thirteenth-century work, De animalibus, a lengthy compilation based on Aristotle and on a handful of commentators, is as close as the Middle Ages comes to a systematic natural history in our understanding of the term. -
The Motte and Bailey Castle: Instrument of Revolution
Posted on May 4, 2012 | No CommentsA motte was made partially or completely by human hands, surrounded by a ditch, and topped by a wooden tower. -
Byzantium Revisited: The Mosaics of Hagia Sophia in the Twentieth Century
Posted on April 23, 2012 | No CommentsLocated at the heart of Constantinople by the Senate and the Imperial Palace, Hagia Sophia was one of the great monuments of Christianity for more than nine hundred years. -
Medieval treasures discovered in English abbey
Posted on April 20, 2012 | No CommentsAn archaeological investigation at Furness Abbey in northwest England has uncovered the grave of an abbot, which includes an extremely rare medieval silver-gilt crozier and bejewelled ring. -
Bones4Culture project to examine a thousand medieval skeletons from northern Europe
Posted on April 16, 2012 | No CommentsA new project is underway to analyze population, life, health and culture of the people that lived in the German-Danish border land during the Middle Ages (AD 1050 – 1536). -
Stress Along the Medieval Anglo-Scottish Border? Skeletal Indicators of Conflict-Zone Health
Posted on April 15, 2012 | No CommentsThe medieval British populations living along the Anglo-Scottish border from the 10th through the 16th century were hypothesised to have significantly higher mortality and morbidity rates than contemporary populations living in other regions of Britain that were not exposed to chronic border warfare. -
Skeletons found at mass burial site in Oxford could be ’10th-century Viking raiders’
Posted on April 12, 2012 | No CommentsThirty-seven skeletons found in a mass burial site in the grounds of St John's College in Oxford may not be who they initially seemed, according to Oxford University researchers studying the remains. -
Identity and Economic Change in the Viking Age
Posted on April 11, 2012 | No CommentsThis project surveys a selection of hoard assemblages in order to scrutinize the changing relationship between economy and identity in Viking Age Scandinavia. -
The Viking Cities of Dublin and York: Examining Scandinavian Cultural Change and Viking Urbanism
Posted on April 10, 2012 | No CommentsDubh Linn and Jorvik, as Dublin and York were known in the Viking Age, both experienced enormous change during their time as Viking colonial centers. -
Residential Mobility and Dental Decoration in Early Medieval Spain: Results from the Eighth Century Site of Plaza del Castillo, Pamplona
Posted on April 8, 2012 | No CommentsWhile the practice of dental decoration was virtually absent in Medieval Spain, it is common in Africa and suggests that this individual was born in Africa and brought to Spain later in life. -
The Harsh Life on the 15th Century Croatia-Ottoman Empire Military Border: Analyzing and Identifying the Reasons for the Massacre in Cepin
Posted on April 4, 2012 | No CommentsTurkish intrusions into what is today the continental part of Croatia began in 1391 and continued throughout the 15th, and the beginning of the 16th century when a large part of continental Croatia was incorporated into the Turkish Empire. -
An Iona of the East: The Early-medieval Monastery at Portmahomack, Tarbat Ness
Posted on April 3, 2012 | No CommentsThe new excavations have shown that a Christian mission was established there by the later 6th century, had grown to international status by 800, and shortly afterwards was partly destroyed and largely erased from the communal memory. This interim report is designed to present the discoveries made so far, assess their significance and highlight some of the problems that remain to be solved. -
The Poisoned Arrows of Amor: cases of syphilis from 16th-century Iceland
Posted on March 26, 2012 | No CommentsThe number of syphilis cases at the Skriðuklaustur monastery is unexpectedly high, as nine individuals with the disease have been identified in a skeletal assemblage totalling only 198 skeletons. At least two of the cases bear the signs of congenital syphilis. The youngest individual was just an adolescent at death but still showed severe symptoms of congenital syphilis that had developed to the tertiary stage.
