Were the Romans good for Britain?
Since the Romans themselves wrote about the subject, we have a clear idea of the good things they did for…
Has the history of human evolution been rewritten?
A new report from the field of human origins had sub-editors reaching for their hyperboles. A million-year-old skull, we have…
Was Easter Island less isolated than we previously thought?
It’s hard to exaggerate how isolated Easter Island was before its discovery by Polynesian sailors eight or nine centuries ago.…
The remarkable quest to identify Captain Cook’s Endeavour
The announcement that a shipwreck in Newport Harbor, 200 miles up the coast from New York City, has been proven…
The impossible politics of ‘ancestral remains’
In 2002 the remains of Sarah Baartman were buried in her South African homeland. She was among thousands of people…
How Cornwall led Europe into the Bronze Age
The first smiths worked with copper and gold. Only when tin came to be added routinely to copper to make…
The significance of the Melsonby hoard
When the discovery of a new Iron Age hoard was announced this week, a video was released showing a long…
Why is Australia reburying ancient human remains?
As I write, hundreds of ancient human remains are secretly being buried in a remote desert 1,000km from Sydney (New…
Were the builders of Stonehenge black?
In recent years the study of human ancient DNA – extracted from excavated remains rather than living people – has…
How was the Stonehenge Altar Stone moved from Scotland?
I’ve had a keen interest in Stonehenge since I directed my first excavation there more than 40 years ago. A personal…
