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Archaeology

Essays and videos on social issues, history, political life and the future

Animals and humans Anthropology Archaeology Automation and robotics Cities Demography and migration Economic history Economics Education Environmental history Fairness and equality Future of technology Gender Global history History History of technology Human rights and justice Information and communication Making Nations and empires Politics and government Poverty and development Progress and modernity Public health Race and ethnicity Religion The ancient world The environment The future War and peace Work

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Photo of a person in white walking along a cliffside path near a stone structure with a scenic landscape view.

videoArchitecture

Steep climbs lead to sacred spaces carved high into the cliffs of Ethiopia

9 minutes

Painting of ancient Roman ruins with people, cattle and trees under a blue sky with clouds.

essayNations and empires

The rewards of ruin

Societal downfalls loom large in history and popular culture but, for the 99 per cent, collapse often had its upsides

Luke Kemp

Weathered hands holding a small, carved stone tool with intricate details, set against a blurred background.

videoArchaeology

At a prehistoric pigment mine, researchers glimpse our earliest moments in the Americas

25 minutes

A beaver dam on a calm lake surrounded by dense evergreen forest with mountains faintly visible in the background.

essayAnimals and humans

Animals taught us culture

Prehistoric humans didn’t create art and architecture out of nothing. They took inspiration from the nonhuman world

Sarah Newman

Three ancient human skeletons laid side by side in an archaeological excavation site.

essayArchaeology

Deep time and the revenant

In enigmatic burials, crafted to bind the bodies within, we can see how truly ancient our fears of the undead must be

Rebecca Batley

A rocky cliff with natural caves and green vegetation growing on the surface.

essayHuman evolution

The other Homo sapiens

We are just one branch of a diverse human family tree. Aside from Neanderthals, who were they – and why did we replace them?

Nick Longrich

Medieval painting of soldiers in armour on a boat and horseback near a fortress with Cyrillic script above.

essayGlobal history

Vikings on the Silk Roads

The Norse ravaged much of Europe for centuries. They were also cosmopolitan explorers who followed trade winds into the Far East

Neil Price

Aerial photo of an archaeological excavation site in a barren landscape with workers digging and examining the area.

videoArchaeology

What’s an ancient Greek brick doing in a Sumerian city? An archeological investigation

16 minutes

Black and white photo of ancient Egyptian artefacts in storage, including statues, chests, chairs, and bundles, within a room.

videoArchaeology

What did the first people who entered Tutankhamun’s tomb see?

5 minutes

Photo of a street sign reading ‘Gipsy Lane’, mounted on a brick wall with green foliage behind, and a car in the background.

videoHistory

There are fragments of Romani Gypsy history all over the UK – if one knows where to look

3 minutes

A man and a woman smiling with their hands on the shoulders of a Neanderthal figure with long hair and a beard but in modern clothes.

videoGenetics

Why it took a century to work out that humans interbred with Neanderthals

22 minutes

An ancient, broken clay tablet with a circular design and various inscriptions, displayed on a dark background.

videoArchaeology

How researchers finally solved the puzzle of the oldest known map of the world

18 minutes

Ancient Mayan ruins, including a prominent stone pyramid, surrounded by dense green jungle under a cloudy sky.

essayArchaeology

Beyond kingdoms and empires

A revolution in archaeology is transforming our picture of past populations and the scope of human freedoms

David Wengrow

Ancient cave painting depicting bison and other animals, primarily in red and black hues, on a textured stone surface that shows visible cracks.

essayArchaeology

Why make art in the dark?

New research transports us back to the shadowy firelight of ancient caves, imagining the minds and feelings of the artists

Izzy Wisher

Painting of four solemn figures wearing ornate and colourful robes, holding items like shields and staffs, with animals in the foreground.

essayArchaeology

The secret life of Druids

The Greeks and Romans portrayed these elusive priests as bogeymen who bathed in their victims’ blood. Who were they really?

Miranda Aldhouse-Green

A baby in a high chair waves a yellow toy while a woman in a pink top opens a sauce bottle at a table with plates of food.

essayHuman evolution

How to grow a human

Our childhood is preposterously long compared to other animals. Is it the secret to our evolutionary success?

Brenna Hassett

Ancient Roman fresco depicting two figures engaging in an intimate moment on a bed, with a background of earthy tones and visible cracks in the surface.

essayThe ancient world

The horrors of Pompeii

The name ‘Eutychis’ was etched into a wall 2,000 years ago. Finding out who she was illuminates the dark side of Rome

Guy D Middleton

A group of four people in primitive clothing, standing in a rocky landscape with large animal bones in the background.

essayArchaeology

Children of the Ice Age

With the help of new archaeological approaches, our picture of young lives in the Palaeolithic is now marvellously vivid

April Nowell

Ancient cuneiform script inscribed on a worn, rectangular clay tablet set against a black background.

essayArchaeology

What the tablets say

Some 3,700 years ago, an enslaved girl, a barber, and a king crossed paths in a city by the Euphrates. This is their story

Amanda H Podany

essayThe ancient world

The other Cleopatra

Daughter of Cleopatra and Mark Antony, she became the influential queen of a mysterious, abundant North African kingdom

Jane Draycott

Person in blue coat and wellies, kneeling and picking up items from a pebbled ground, wearing gloves and a wristwatch.

videoArchaeology

From Roman pots to glass eyes, the shore of the river Thames teems with surprises

8 minutes

Footprints on a sandy desert landscape with sparse bushes, distant mountains, a cloudy sky, and an antenna structure in the background.

essayArchaeology

Finding the First Americans

Archaeology and genetics can’t yet agree on when humans first arrived in the Americas. That’s good science and here’s why

Jennifer Raff

Golden Egyptian statue with intricate details, holding a staff, is displayed in a dark room.

essayArchaeology

The pharaoh’s trumpet

The truly wondrous treasures of Tutankhamun’s tomb are not made of gold. They are the mundane things of everyday life

Toby Wilkinson

A vast heathland landscape with purplish-brown vegetation under a partly cloudy sky, featuring a distant hill on the horizon.

essayDeep time

Mutual entrapment

As Neolithic people transformed prehistoric forests, they stumbled into an ecological trap. Domestication goes both ways

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