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Antiquity Journal
@antiquity.ac.uk
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Antiquity is a bimonthly review of world archaeology edited by Professor Robin Skeates. Please be aware that we sometimes share relevant images of human remains. https://antiquity.ac.uk/
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Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · Dec 2
Our December issue is out now! Featuring great #archaeology such as:

🔵 The oldest blue mineral pigment use in Europe
⛰️ Mesoamerican mountain monuments and water worship
🐚 Playing the shell trumpets of Neolithic Catalonia

& much more! 🏺
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Cover of the December 2025 issue of Antiquity, featuring a photogrammetric image of an ancient quarry, with evidence for the quarrying of stone and a partially complete humanoid statue lying on its back.
antiquity.ac.uk
📰 Greek heritage sites, preserved from development and agriculture, serve as sanctuaries for endangered flora and fauna. This suggests archaeological landscapes could be pivotal for future conservation efforts.

🏺 #ArchaeologyNews via BBC Future

www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...
The animals saved in Greece's ancient accidental 'arks'
Shielded from development and agriculture, many archaeological sites from ancient Greece have now become inadvertent safe harbours for plants and animals.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 9, 2026 at 9:30 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
Monumental engravings of humans, mammals, reptiles and more from the Orinoco basin.
The protection of this art is essential, and the Indigenous communities who feel a strong connection to the art are likely the best possible custodians.

🔗 from 2024 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Above: rock wall, highlighting locations of 18 engravings depicting various animals and humans. Below: sketches of some of the engravings.
January 9, 2026 at 5:15 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
Burials are one of the key ways archaeologists understand past communities, and Hannah Rissanen's 'Umgang mit den Toten' (Dealing with the dead) is "a modern and multifaceted version of the well-studied topic of funerary rites"

🆓 in our #NewBookChronicle doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Cover of the book reviewed: a blank white cover with the book's title in green and black text.
January 9, 2026 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by Antiquity Journal
sanderiksen.bsky.social
Proud that our article on the Hole rune‑stone, currently the earliest archaeologically dated, was among the 20 most‑read articles of 2025! Many thanks to @steinarsol.bsky.social @kristelzilmer.bsky.social @kristervasshus.bsky.social, and other co-authors
antiquity.ac.uk Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · 1d
Don't forget to explore our collection of 2025's most-read #archaeology, covering great research on diverse topics, from West African ancestry in medieval England to prehistoric Siberian tattoos 🏺
It's completely FREE for the rest of the month: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Archaeologist taking measurements in a cave, with the text 'world archaeology, Antiquity' overlaid.
January 9, 2026 at 2:47 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
Quartzite axe-head from Neolithic Orkney #FlintFriday
Polished stone axes fulfilled a diverse array of functions in Northern Europe. The edge is rounded and glossy, indicating it was used for scraping softer materials, possibly hide-processing.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Two fingers holding a white stone axe-head, viewing the cutting edge head-on. The edge is rounded and glossy from wear.
January 9, 2026 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Antiquity Journal
cjfrieman.bsky.social
Super cool to have co-written one of this year's most read papers!

Look @pennybickle.bsky.social @suegreaney.bsky.social @prehistorian.bsky.social
antiquity.ac.uk Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · 1d
Don't forget to explore our collection of 2025's most-read #archaeology, covering great research on diverse topics, from West African ancestry in medieval England to prehistoric Siberian tattoos 🏺
It's completely FREE for the rest of the month: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Archaeologist taking measurements in a cave, with the text 'world archaeology, Antiquity' overlaid.
January 9, 2026 at 12:01 PM
Reposted by Antiquity Journal
unioxarchaeology.bsky.social
Congratulations @rschulting.bsky.social your 'darker angels' of British prehistory paper made Antiquity's 20 most read articles of 2025! Everyone can read it this month for free at the link below. #CharterhouseWarren #BronzeAge @ox.ac.uk @socsci.ox.ac.uk
antiquity.ac.uk Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · 1d
Don't forget to explore our collection of 2025's most-read #archaeology, covering great research on diverse topics, from West African ancestry in medieval England to prehistoric Siberian tattoos 🏺
It's completely FREE for the rest of the month: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Archaeologist taking measurements in a cave, with the text 'world archaeology, Antiquity' overlaid.
January 9, 2026 at 11:05 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
Don't forget to explore our collection of 2025's most-read #archaeology, covering great research on diverse topics, from West African ancestry in medieval England to prehistoric Siberian tattoos 🏺
It's completely FREE for the rest of the month: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Archaeologist taking measurements in a cave, with the text 'world archaeology, Antiquity' overlaid.
January 9, 2026 at 10:22 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
Could this Iron Age hand reveal the origins of Basque, a language-isolate that pre-dates the spread of Indo-European speakers? #WordNerdDay
One word is similar to the Basque for 'good fortune', suggesting the languages share roots.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Above: bronze hand engraved with Palaeohispanic writing. Below: sketch of the same hand, making the writing clearer.
January 9, 2026 at 8:13 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
Got a bone to pick? Antiquity publishes debate pieces addressing matters that are of broad significance and are contentious, with the aim of stimulating discussion 🏺 #Archaeology

Find out more (and how to submit yours) 👇
antiquity.ac.uk/submit
January 8, 2026 at 7:45 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
📰 Excavation at one of the largest #Roman cemeteries in the UK finds evidence for both inhumation and cremation, indicating diverse traditions and beliefs, and an element of personal choice in funerary practices

🏺 #ArchaeologyNews via BBC News

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Massive Roman grave revealed in Penrith A66 excavation
Archaeologists have found evidence of 340 Roman graves but say the site could hold more.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 8, 2026 at 5:30 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Antequera is best-known for its megaliths, but was also the site of a #Neolithic tomb. Designed to ‘funnel’ the light from the rising sun towards the back of the chamber, it created a dramatic effect #EarthsRotationDay

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Digital model demonstrating how the sunlight would have created a pattern in the tomb on the summer solstice.
January 8, 2026 at 2:25 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
Pair of copper alloy cymbals from 3rd millennium BC Dahwa, Oman.

Despite being produced in Oman, they are stylistically similar to known examples from the Indus Valley. Did music connect Arabia and the Indus Valley during the Bronze Age?

🔗 from 2025 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Left: two corroded, green-coloured metal cymbals. Right: illustration of the cymbals.
January 8, 2026 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by Antiquity Journal
cama-york.bsky.social
Thank you @antiquity.ac.uk for sharing our research. Keep tuned, this project, led by our resident Danish DFF postdoc Patrick Nørskov Pedersen, has more to come!
@nessofbrodgar.bsky.social
@uoyarchaeology.bsky.social
antiquity.ac.uk Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · 8d
NEW #Neolithic axe-heads from the Ness of Brodgar, Orkney. One of the most iconic tools of Europe's first farmers, macroscopic wear analysis reveals they were treated in diverse ways, used for cutting wood, chiselling stone, scraping hides and more.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
A pile of polished stone axe-heads, ranging in colour from black to brown.
January 8, 2026 at 12:07 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
What can burial traditions teach us about past communities? 'The identity at death of the old and young' explores whether age can be determined from mortuary rites in prehistoric Southeast Asia, and what this tells us about society.

In our #NewBookChronicle 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 Archaeology
Cover of the book reviewed, depicting a footprint in the sand of a beach, foamy water lapping against the sand.
January 8, 2026 at 10:45 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
#ThrowbackThursday to the earliest evidence for blue mineral pigment in Europe, from Final Palaeolithic (c. 14,000–11,700 BP) Mühlheim-Dietesheim (Germany).
Absent from the period's art, it was likely used for body decoration or dyeing clothes.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Results from the PIXE analysis, showing one of the mapped areas of blue residue (A) and the corresponding copper heatmap for this area (B). The map is 2000 × 2000µm2, with a pixel size of 25 × 25µm.
January 8, 2026 at 8:45 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
Does this diagram represent the earliest distillation technology in the world?
Research from 2024 in Antiquity suggested not, as an experimental reconstruction of the Gandhāra still finds it could not condense the volume of water vapour produced.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Sketch of the proposed components of the Gandhāra still fitted together.
January 7, 2026 at 9:35 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
📕 #BookReview 🏺

Brent K.S. Woodfill & Lucia R. Henderson (ed.)'s 'Archaeology in a living landscape' explores the non-human persons, such as landscape features endowed with vitality and veneration, that populate the Indigenous Americas 1/2

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Cover of the book received, depicting three partially-buried stone heads with the text 'Book Review, Antiquity'.
January 7, 2026 at 5:35 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
It's #OldRockDay, the perfect excuse to share the iconic old rocks of megalithic Carnac, France 🪨
Here, Neolithic standing stones were constructed on the remains of a Mesolithic hut, indicating the complex has its origins much earlier than expected.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Aerial photograph and plan showing the distribution of monoliths and other structures around megalithic architecture, built on top of the remains of what is likely a Mesolithic hut.
January 7, 2026 at 2:25 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
📰 Archaeologists uncover the most complete carnyx (an Iron Age war trumpet) ever found in Norfolk, England, "with the pipe, mouthpiece and bell all uniquely intact"

🏺 #ArchaeologyNews via the BBC

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Thetford dig unearths Iron Age war trumpet and boar standard
The discoveries are "extraordinarily rare", say the archaeologists who helped find them.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 7, 2026 at 1:45 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
Brusselstown Ring is one of the largest hillforts in Ireland, enclosed by ramparts that encompass both the hill itself and the Neolithic enclosure of Spinans Hill 1 #HillfortsWednesday
Hillforts that span more than a single hilltop are incredibly rare.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Topographic map of two hills in the Baltinglass landscape. Overlaid annotations show the extents of the fort and enclosures surrounding it.
January 7, 2026 at 10:35 AM
Reposted by Antiquity Journal
cambup-archaeology.cambridge.org
⏳ Counting down to #AIASCS2026? Revisit 2025’s standout work from Cambridge's #archaeology and #classicalstudies journals - free to read (where not already #openaccess) through 31 Jan 2026.

🎆🎇🔗 https://cup.org/48PnMZh

@antiquity.ac.uk @saa-aap.bsky.social @archaeologyeaa.bsky.social
Banner for 'Classical Studies & World Archaeology Highlights' from Cambridge Journals, featuring purple radial background.
January 6, 2026 at 3:55 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW Some of the rich, diverse #RockArt from the Flinders Islands, Australia

A new project, initiated by the islands' Traditional Owners, is recording the art, improving understanding of the islands' history and helping protect their cultural heritage

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Four images of rock faces, on which various motifs are painted in white and red-brown, depicting many different things from turtles to sailing ships.
January 7, 2026 at 8:13 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
The #AIASCS annual meeting from the Archaeological Institute of America & @scsclassics.bsky.social is kicking off today! To celebrate all things archaeology and classics, we've put together a special collection of classical #archaeology 🏺

Grab it free: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Classical, white-marble, pillared buildings overlaid with the text 'Classical Archaeology, Antiquity'.
January 6, 2026 at 8:30 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
An 8-escudos coin from a shipwreck off the coast of Colombia. Analysis of its features allowed researchers to conclude it was minted in 1707 in Lima, indicating the wreck is that of the famous San José Galleon.

🔗 from 2025 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Illustration of both sides of a coin (based on high-resolution in situ photographs from the shipwreck), annotated with identifiable features including the year (1707), "L" for Lima, and a Quartered Shield of Castles and Lions (a symbol of Castile and Leon).
January 6, 2026 at 5:15 PM