Antiquity Journal
@antiquity.ac.uk
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/
In Neolithic Ireland, many monuments were orientated towards the summer solstice sunrise, perhaps to celebrate growth and life #CelebrateLife
Some however, align with the autumn equinox sunrise, the end of the growing cycle. Did they symbolise death?
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Some however, align with the autumn equinox sunrise, the end of the growing cycle. Did they symbolise death?
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
January 22, 2026 at 8:45 AM
In Neolithic Ireland, many monuments were orientated towards the summer solstice sunrise, perhaps to celebrate growth and life #CelebrateLife
Some however, align with the autumn equinox sunrise, the end of the growing cycle. Did they symbolise death?
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Some however, align with the autumn equinox sunrise, the end of the growing cycle. Did they symbolise death?
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
This (admittedly less fancy) example of a bone vessel from the Roman Netherlands, sealed with a birch tar 'plug', possibly served a similar purpose. It was filled with black henbane seeds, which Classical texts describe as a painkiller and narcotic.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
January 21, 2026 at 9:35 PM
This (admittedly less fancy) example of a bone vessel from the Roman Netherlands, sealed with a birch tar 'plug', possibly served a similar purpose. It was filled with black henbane seeds, which Classical texts describe as a painkiller and narcotic.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Ceramic puppets from 410–380 BC El Salvador, one of which is complete with an articulated head!
Connections to sites stretching from Guatemala to Costa Rica indicate shared traditions and customs across Preclassic Central America.
🔗 from 2025 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Connections to sites stretching from Guatemala to Costa Rica indicate shared traditions and customs across Preclassic Central America.
🔗 from 2025 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
January 21, 2026 at 5:35 PM
Ceramic puppets from 410–380 BC El Salvador, one of which is complete with an articulated head!
Connections to sites stretching from Guatemala to Costa Rica indicate shared traditions and customs across Preclassic Central America.
🔗 from 2025 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Connections to sites stretching from Guatemala to Costa Rica indicate shared traditions and customs across Preclassic Central America.
🔗 from 2025 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Wooden remains of a later prehistoric trackway at Lisheen, Ireland, damaged during industrial peat extraction #Woodensday
Peatlands preserve organic archaeological remains but face many threats. We need to act now to save this fragile heritage.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Peatlands preserve organic archaeological remains but face many threats. We need to act now to save this fragile heritage.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
January 21, 2026 at 2:25 PM
Wooden remains of a later prehistoric trackway at Lisheen, Ireland, damaged during industrial peat extraction #Woodensday
Peatlands preserve organic archaeological remains but face many threats. We need to act now to save this fragile heritage.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Peatlands preserve organic archaeological remains but face many threats. We need to act now to save this fragile heritage.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Show us your best museum pics for #MuseumSelfieDay! 📸
On the hunt for your next visit? Check out some of the great exhibitions on the Bronze Age in France, in our latest #ReviewArticle titled 'The Year of the Bronze Age in France' 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
On the hunt for your next visit? Check out some of the great exhibitions on the Bronze Age in France, in our latest #ReviewArticle titled 'The Year of the Bronze Age in France' 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
January 21, 2026 at 1:45 PM
Show us your best museum pics for #MuseumSelfieDay! 📸
On the hunt for your next visit? Check out some of the great exhibitions on the Bronze Age in France, in our latest #ReviewArticle titled 'The Year of the Bronze Age in France' 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
On the hunt for your next visit? Check out some of the great exhibitions on the Bronze Age in France, in our latest #ReviewArticle titled 'The Year of the Bronze Age in France' 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Want your research to be read by a wide range of people from all backgrounds? Antiquity is the perfect place for you! Our global readership and accessible format ensures your #archaeology gets out into the world 🌏
Find out more and submit an article: antiquity.ac.uk/submit
🏺
Find out more and submit an article: antiquity.ac.uk/submit
🏺
January 21, 2026 at 10:35 AM
Want your research to be read by a wide range of people from all backgrounds? Antiquity is the perfect place for you! Our global readership and accessible format ensures your #archaeology gets out into the world 🌏
Find out more and submit an article: antiquity.ac.uk/submit
🏺
Find out more and submit an article: antiquity.ac.uk/submit
🏺
In the borderland between Early Neolithic and Late Mesolithic worlds, there seems to have been much more interaction and technological exchange than previously observed 9/10
January 21, 2026 at 9:04 AM
In the borderland between Early Neolithic and Late Mesolithic worlds, there seems to have been much more interaction and technological exchange than previously observed 9/10
This indicates clear interaction and technology transfer between hunter-gatherers and farmers on Europe’s Neolithic frontier, where Neolithic settlers were likely using and producing tools in the traditions of the local Mesolithic peoples 8/10
January 21, 2026 at 9:04 AM
This indicates clear interaction and technology transfer between hunter-gatherers and farmers on Europe’s Neolithic frontier, where Neolithic settlers were likely using and producing tools in the traditions of the local Mesolithic peoples 8/10
Antler tools, such as axes, and an antler mask similar to that of the iconic Bad Dürrenberg ‘shaman’ indicate contact with local Mesolithic foragers. Antler flakes show the artefacts were produced on-site 7/10
January 21, 2026 at 9:04 AM
Antler tools, such as axes, and an antler mask similar to that of the iconic Bad Dürrenberg ‘shaman’ indicate contact with local Mesolithic foragers. Antler flakes show the artefacts were produced on-site 7/10
However, despite Eilsleben clearly being an agricultural site with Neolithic tools, fitting in with the wider Linear Pottery Culture of the Early Neolithic, a rich assemblage of seemingly Mesolithic artefacts has now been uncovered 6/10
January 21, 2026 at 9:04 AM
However, despite Eilsleben clearly being an agricultural site with Neolithic tools, fitting in with the wider Linear Pottery Culture of the Early Neolithic, a rich assemblage of seemingly Mesolithic artefacts has now been uncovered 6/10
Recent geomagnetic research indicates the site was much larger than expected, containing over 80,000 square metres of settlement structures enclosed by possible defensive lines 4/10
January 21, 2026 at 9:04 AM
Recent geomagnetic research indicates the site was much larger than expected, containing over 80,000 square metres of settlement structures enclosed by possible defensive lines 4/10
It is one of the most extensively researched archaeological sites in Germany, with over 10,000 square metres excavated, but we’re still learning new things about the people who lived there 3/10
January 21, 2026 at 9:04 AM
It is one of the most extensively researched archaeological sites in Germany, with over 10,000 square metres excavated, but we’re still learning new things about the people who lived there 3/10
As Neolithic farmers first migrated into central Europe, they targeted areas that had fertile soils. The northernmost outpost they reached initially was the site of Eilsleben in Germany 2/10
January 21, 2026 at 9:04 AM
As Neolithic farmers first migrated into central Europe, they targeted areas that had fertile soils. The northernmost outpost they reached initially was the site of Eilsleben in Germany 2/10
Archaeologists have uncovered one of the first instances of interaction between #Neolithic farmers and #Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in central Europe, indicating a level of technology transfer not observed before.
🏺A communicative #AntiquityThread 1/10 🧵
🏺A communicative #AntiquityThread 1/10 🧵
January 21, 2026 at 9:04 AM
Archaeologists have uncovered one of the first instances of interaction between #Neolithic farmers and #Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in central Europe, indicating a level of technology transfer not observed before.
🏺A communicative #AntiquityThread 1/10 🧵
🏺A communicative #AntiquityThread 1/10 🧵
This is a sieve funnel, used to separate curds and whey during cheese production #CheeseLoversDay 🧀
Found in Neolithic Germany, it suggests cattle-breeding and dairy production were more important than agriculture to some of Europe's first farmers.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Found in Neolithic Germany, it suggests cattle-breeding and dairy production were more important than agriculture to some of Europe's first farmers.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
January 20, 2026 at 8:30 PM
This is a sieve funnel, used to separate curds and whey during cheese production #CheeseLoversDay 🧀
Found in Neolithic Germany, it suggests cattle-breeding and dairy production were more important than agriculture to some of Europe's first farmers.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Found in Neolithic Germany, it suggests cattle-breeding and dairy production were more important than agriculture to some of Europe's first farmers.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
The #RockArt of the Flinders Island Group, Australia depicts everything from marine animals to European ships.
Different islands favour different motifs, indicating each island was utilised by specific subgroups (e.g. only males were permitted to visit Clack).
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Different islands favour different motifs, indicating each island was utilised by specific subgroups (e.g. only males were permitted to visit Clack).
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
January 20, 2026 at 5:15 PM
The #RockArt of the Flinders Island Group, Australia depicts everything from marine animals to European ships.
Different islands favour different motifs, indicating each island was utilised by specific subgroups (e.g. only males were permitted to visit Clack).
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Different islands favour different motifs, indicating each island was utilised by specific subgroups (e.g. only males were permitted to visit Clack).
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Would you like to be buried with your four-legged friends? 🐎
Studying the remains of chariot horses in a Bronze Age burial site at Shijia 🇨🇳 helped observe the relationship between ancient Chinese elites and their horses.
🔗 from 2023 (£) doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Studying the remains of chariot horses in a Bronze Age burial site at Shijia 🇨🇳 helped observe the relationship between ancient Chinese elites and their horses.
🔗 from 2023 (£) doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
January 20, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Would you like to be buried with your four-legged friends? 🐎
Studying the remains of chariot horses in a Bronze Age burial site at Shijia 🇨🇳 helped observe the relationship between ancient Chinese elites and their horses.
🔗 from 2023 (£) doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Studying the remains of chariot horses in a Bronze Age burial site at Shijia 🇨🇳 helped observe the relationship between ancient Chinese elites and their horses.
🔗 from 2023 (£) doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Stone artefact from pre-Islamic Tell Abraq (United Arab Emirates) with an Aramaic inscription #EpigraphyTuesday
Aramaic was spoken in the Characene Kingdom (modern Iraq), indicating commercial connections across the Gulf.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Aramaic was spoken in the Characene Kingdom (modern Iraq), indicating commercial connections across the Gulf.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
January 20, 2026 at 10:22 AM
Stone artefact from pre-Islamic Tell Abraq (United Arab Emirates) with an Aramaic inscription #EpigraphyTuesday
Aramaic was spoken in the Characene Kingdom (modern Iraq), indicating commercial connections across the Gulf.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Aramaic was spoken in the Characene Kingdom (modern Iraq), indicating commercial connections across the Gulf.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
#OnThisDay in AD 1788, the third and main part of the First Fleet, transporting convicts, landed at Botany Bay, beginning the English colonisation of Australia.
Transportation to New South Wales ended in 1840 and the penal settlements were often left largely vacant 1/2
Transportation to New South Wales ended in 1840 and the penal settlements were often left largely vacant 1/2
January 20, 2026 at 8:15 AM
#OnThisDay in AD 1788, the third and main part of the First Fleet, transporting convicts, landed at Botany Bay, beginning the English colonisation of Australia.
Transportation to New South Wales ended in 1840 and the penal settlements were often left largely vacant 1/2
Transportation to New South Wales ended in 1840 and the penal settlements were often left largely vacant 1/2
Research in Antiquity last year explored how tin from Britain shaped the European and Mediterranean Bronze Age. Now, excavations at St. Michael's Mount, Cornwall have found evidence for tin trading ports. The authors write about it in the latest #AntiquityBlog
🔗 www.cambridge.org/core/blog/20...
🔗 www.cambridge.org/core/blog/20...
January 19, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Research in Antiquity last year explored how tin from Britain shaped the European and Mediterranean Bronze Age. Now, excavations at St. Michael's Mount, Cornwall have found evidence for tin trading ports. The authors write about it in the latest #AntiquityBlog
🔗 www.cambridge.org/core/blog/20...
🔗 www.cambridge.org/core/blog/20...
Potsherd pavement from medieval Yorùbáland #MedievalMonday
Certain features, such as herringbone patterns, were shared across West Africa, but production varied between settlements, indicating regional interaction without the loss of local identity.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Certain features, such as herringbone patterns, were shared across West Africa, but production varied between settlements, indicating regional interaction without the loss of local identity.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
January 19, 2026 at 2:25 PM
Potsherd pavement from medieval Yorùbáland #MedievalMonday
Certain features, such as herringbone patterns, were shared across West Africa, but production varied between settlements, indicating regional interaction without the loss of local identity.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Certain features, such as herringbone patterns, were shared across West Africa, but production varied between settlements, indicating regional interaction without the loss of local identity.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Excavation at the ritual centre of Qianzhongzitou, China uncovered three c. 3000-2400-year-old earthen platforms.
Likely used for communal gatherings, they indicate ritual feasts and shared beliefs underpinned the formation of a unified Chinese state.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Likely used for communal gatherings, they indicate ritual feasts and shared beliefs underpinned the formation of a unified Chinese state.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
January 19, 2026 at 1:25 PM
Excavation at the ritual centre of Qianzhongzitou, China uncovered three c. 3000-2400-year-old earthen platforms.
Likely used for communal gatherings, they indicate ritual feasts and shared beliefs underpinned the formation of a unified Chinese state.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Likely used for communal gatherings, they indicate ritual feasts and shared beliefs underpinned the formation of a unified Chinese state.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Somehow reminds us of the 'crab-man' from the Moche culture of pre-Inca Peru! Throughout time they always seem to get their claws into us...
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
January 19, 2026 at 9:15 AM
Somehow reminds us of the 'crab-man' from the Moche culture of pre-Inca Peru! Throughout time they always seem to get their claws into us...
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Feeling blue this #BlueMonday? Perhaps some blue #archaeology will brighten your day! This is the earliest blue mineral pigment found in Europe, dating to the Upper Palaeolithic. This one-of-a-kind find was likely used for dyeing clothes or body decoration 🏺
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
January 19, 2026 at 8:13 AM
Feeling blue this #BlueMonday? Perhaps some blue #archaeology will brighten your day! This is the earliest blue mineral pigment found in Europe, dating to the Upper Palaeolithic. This one-of-a-kind find was likely used for dyeing clothes or body decoration 🏺
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
The Fens, once the UK's largest lowland wetland, are under threat from environmental change. Examining changes in landscape, habitat, and species from the Neolithic to today underscores the need for integrated heritage and environmental management.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
January 18, 2026 at 11:00 AM
The Fens, once the UK's largest lowland wetland, are under threat from environmental change. Examining changes in landscape, habitat, and species from the Neolithic to today underscores the need for integrated heritage and environmental management.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology