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our shared human past

A magnificent 2,000 year-old silver-gilt Roman helmet of outstanding quality and international importance was unveiled today in England. Archaeologists who made the original discovery at Hallaton in Leicestershire, used to finding more glamorous gold… [continue reading]

Season 2 of Museum Secrets Premieres this week! Museum Secrets, the Canadian television show that explores museums from around the world returns for a second season on History Television, beginning January 12th, 2012… [continue reading]

I hope this this post finds all of our readers well and beginning a great start to 2012! If you are interested in ancient art–especially ancient African art–you should check out this news article from NewScientist. Drs. Nicole Rupp and Peter Breunig of the Goethe University Frankfurt have uncovered startling “terracotta heads” in Central Nigeria.…

Tracing the Origins of the Ancient Egyptian Cattle Cult By Michael Brass A Delta Man in Yebu, ed. Eyma, A.K. and Bennett, C.J. (Universal-Publishers, 2003) Introduction: Studies of ancient Egyptian religion have examined texts… [continue reading]

The Intellectual History of Catacomb Archaeology By Amy K. Hirschfeld Paper given at Commemorating the Dead: Texts and Artifacts in Context: The Shohet Conference on Roman, Jewish and Christian Burials (University of Chicago, 2005) Abstract: Since… [continue reading]

A world record was set at an auction earlier this week, when an ancient Greek coin was bought for more than $3.25 million (US). The entire collection of 642 ancient coins was sold off for approximately $25 million through New York-based A. H. Baldwin and Sons auction house on Wednesday. Known… [continue reading]

The first known Roman brothel token to have been discovered in London and most likely Britain, is on temporary display at the Museum of London. The token or spintria, depicts a man and a woman having sex on one face, and has the Roman numerals XIIII (14… [continue reading]

Romans and Goths in late antique Gaul: asepcts of political and cultural assimilation in the Fifth Century AD RUCKERT, JULIA, MARGARETA, MARIA Masters thesis, Durham University (2011) Abstract … [continue reading]

In search of Xerxes: images of the Persian king Clough, Emma Elizabeth Doctoral thesis, Durham University (2004) Abstract The figure of Xerxes, the Persian king who invaded Greece in 480 BC, is known to us primarily through Greek sources… [continue reading]