#AntiquityThread
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antiquity.ac.uk
NEW Made of thousands of aligned holes, the Andean monument Monte Sierpe (Band of Holes) is iconic, but its purpose is unknown. Research supports a new interpretation of this mysterious monument as part of an Indigenous system of accounting and exchange

#AntiquityThread 1/14 🧵

🏺 #Archaeology
Aerial photo of a row of holes running across a mountain ridge.
November 10, 2025 at 5:15 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW Were the Picts of northern Scotland wiped out by Viking conquest? New radiocarbon dates from the 1st millennium AD settlement of Buckquoy, Orkney paint a more complex picture of cultural interaction in the Northern Isles.

#AntiquityThread 1/15 🧵

@northernpicts.bsky.social🏺 #Archaeology
Double-sided comb made from bone.
November 7, 2025 at 8:13 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW Mountains are central in Mesoamerican cosmogeny, but have rarely been investigated with modern archaeological methods. #Lidar mapping and examination of monuments from Cerro Patlachique, Mexico sheds light on mountain worship and pilgrimage.

🏺 #AntiquityThread 1/14 🧵
Several stone monuments engraved with different motifs ranging from flowers to calendar dates.
October 31, 2025 at 1:45 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW Excavation at Benin City's historic palace, looted and destroyed by the British in 1897, provides an unprecedented glimpse into pre-colonial West African urban development and artisanal crafts, including the famous Benin Bronzes.

#AntiquityThread 1/16 🧵

🏺 #Archaeology
Archaeologists excavating in a trench in Area 5 of the MOWAA excavations.
October 30, 2025 at 8:45 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
The #AbuSimbelFestival is today, during which the sun reaches the inner sanctums of the Ancient Egyptian Abu Simbel temples, lighting up statues of Ramses II and the gods.
Many societies built monuments in alignment with the sun. We explore some in this mini #AntiquityThread 1/6 🏺 #Archaeology
Facade of a rock-cut temple. On either side of a doorway stand two large statues of pharaohs sat on thrones. The top half of one of the statues has been destroyed. Public Domain.
October 22, 2025 at 7:13 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW How advanced were the resource networks of ancient China?
Analysis of timber from the mausoleum of the first emperor indicates sophisticated logistical planning and resource mobilisation even at the beginning of the Qin Dynasty.

🧵 #AntiquityThread 1/12

🏺 #Archaeology
Excavation within the mausoleum, annotated with different preserved wooden features identified.
October 16, 2025 at 7:53 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW Satellite imagery reveals 76 hunting traps and 100s of undiscovered settlements in the Andean highlands, indicating hunting and foraging were still major aspects of life long after researchers believed people transitioned to agropastoralist farming.

#AntiquityThread 1/11 🧵

🏺 #Archaeology
Aerial photograph of two chacu hunting traps: drystone structures made up of two walls forming a V-shape, tapering to a circular enclosure (credit: A. Oyaneder).
October 13, 2025 at 9:02 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW How did ancient China go from several competing polities to a unified state? New research indicates ritual feasting and shared belief systems played an important role.

Get ready for a spiritual #AntiquityThread 1/14 🧵

🏺 #Archaeology
One of the researchers with the remains of an exceptionally large steamer used for ritual feasting.
October 7, 2025 at 12:15 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
‘Animal-style’ art served as a unifying language across the ancient Eurasian Steppe, but where did it originate? New research offers a rare glimpse into the emergence of this aesthetic tradition alongside the formation of nomadic cultures.

#AntiquityThread 1/13 🧵

🏺 #Archaeology
Bronze and bone objects incorporating animal-style ovicaprid (sheep & goat) motifs.
October 6, 2025 at 1:25 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW Archaeologists find the earliest evidence for blue pigment use in Europe, dating back ~13,000 years and questioning the long-held belief that Palaeolithic artists only used red or black.

Strap in for a colourful #AntiquityThread 1/10 🧵

🏺 #Archaeology
Close-up image of a stone with traces of blue pigment on its surface.
September 29, 2025 at 9:01 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW Britain's economy did not collapse after the #Romans left

A new, unbroken timeline of British metal production from the 5th century AD to the present day questions the idea of a post-Roman 'Dark Age'.

Strap in for an industrious #AntiquityThread 1/12 🧵

🏺 #Archaeology
Two archaeologists excavating in a trench.
September 11, 2025 at 7:45 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW Was Venice's iconic Winged Lion statue made in China? New research indicates this symbol of medieval Venetian statehood in fact originated far to the east, possibly sent back along the Silk Road by Niccolò and Maffeo Polo.

A well-travelled #AntiquityThread 1/14 🧵

🏺 #Archaeology
Grey-green metal sculpture of a lion with feathered wings (credit: Scarfì, 1990).
September 4, 2025 at 9:45 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW What was life like for the animals that fought in the amphitheatres of the #Roman Empire? New research tells the story of a fighting bear from Roman Serbia.

Strap in for a gladiatorial #AntiquityThread 1/9 🧵

🏺 #Archaeology
Fragmented brown bear cranium from three angles. An annotated illustration of a brown bear head shows which parts of the cranium they are.
September 2, 2025 at 4:15 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW West African ancestry in #medieval England? 🏺 #Archaeology
DNA analysis of two unrelated individuals from two seventh-century-AD cemeteries uncovers the first evidence for genetic connections between Britain and Africa during the Early Middle Ages.

#AntiquityThread 1/10 🧵

📷 Lilian Ladle
Several archaeologists wearing high-vis vests excavating graves. In the background an excavator stands amongst piles of earth. Excavation at the post-Roman cemetery at Worth Matravers cemetery (credit: Lilian Ladle).
August 13, 2025 at 9:35 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW Analysis of beautiful 'rising sun' coins reveals 1st millennium AD connections from Bangladesh to Vietnam, indicating ancient Southeast Asia's understudied economies were just as complex as those of Rome, India & Central Asia 🏺 #Archaeology

Strap in for a valuable #AntiquityThread 1/12 🧵
Assorted "Rising Sun/Srivatsa" coins found at Oc Eo/An Giang, Vietnam and Angkor Borei, Cambodia, held at the Ho Chi Minh City History Museum and SOSORO Museum of Economy and Money, Phnom Penh. On one side, a rising sun motif is visible, on the other a 'srivatsa'.
August 12, 2025 at 12:15 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW How did ancient tattooers learn their craft?

High-res, near infrared photography and collaboration with modern tattooers reveals the complex process behind tattoos on Siberia's 'ice mummies'.

#AntiquityThread 1/14 🧵

Warning: this thread contains images of human remains
Illustrations of a tattoo depicting a deer being attacked by a griffin, showing it: A) in its current state; B) recreated to fill in missing elements and account for skin desiccation; and C) an idealised rendering (credit: D. Riday).
July 31, 2025 at 9:45 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
Analysis of over 3000 human bones from Charterhouse Warren, England indicated they were massacred and partly consumed by enemies, questioning the idea that Early Bronze Age Britain was relatively peaceful.

An @archaeologyuk.bsky.social #FestivalOfArchaeology #AntiquityThread 1/15 🧵
Map showing the location of Charterhouse Warren, Mendip, Somerset.
July 30, 2025 at 1:25 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
Following the withdrawal of the #Roman army from Britain in the 5th century AD, there is a conspicuous lack of formal burials, begging the question: where is everybody? 🏺

Find out in this @archaeologyuk.bsky.social #FestivalofArchaeology #AntiquityThread 1/11 🧵

📷 Meghan Mattsson McGinnis
Illustration of a person stood in a body of water, scattering ashes into the water. A skull floats near the bank.
July 28, 2025 at 4:15 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
How do museums influence our perception of the past? 🏺

Explore how displays in British museums present #Roman religion and why accurate communication is so important to #archaeology in this @archaeologyuk.bsky.social #FestivalofArchaeology #AntiquityThread 1/16 🧵
Museum display of Roman altars. Stone altars are placed next to graphics of people using them in various rituals.
July 25, 2025 at 12:45 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
Examination of England’s only 13th-century shipwreck sheds light on the #medieval kingdom's complex trade networks and diverse livelihoods, all via their lucrative trade in a valuable stone.

Find out how in this @archaeologyuk.bsky.social #FestivalofArchaeology #AntiquityThread 1/13 🧵🏺 #Archaeology
A diver examining a stone slab engraved with a cross. Maritime Archaeologist, Rachel Bynoe, examining a Purbeck Marble grave slab underwater (credit: Bournemouth University).
July 23, 2025 at 4:35 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
#RockArt hints at the origin of Egyptian kings 🏺

Analysis of a rock engraving near Aswan, Egypt, indicates it may depict an elite individual from the First Dynasty, shedding light on the formation of the #AncientEgyptian state.

A powerful #AntiquityThread 1/16 🧵
The rock art panel, engraved with a depiction of a boat supporting a human figure on a palanquin-like structure (credit: Dorian Vanhulle, AKAP).
July 23, 2025 at 9:35 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW Hungry for horse? Analysis of horse remains from #medieval Hungary indicates people continued to eat horse after the country's conversion to Christianity, questioning the historical narrative that horse consumption stopped due to religious pressure.

#AntiquityThread 1/14 🧵

🏺 #Archaeology
Barbecue grill with a piece of meat on it, surrounded by smoke and fire.
July 14, 2025 at 1:25 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
For years, researchers believed Rapa Nui (aka Easter Island) was isolated from the wider Polynesian world, developing independently following its initial colonisation.

New radiocarbon dates of Pacific monuments cast doubt on this interpretation.

A well-connected #AntiquityThread 1/13 🧵🏺
A person (Professor Paul Wallin) stood in front of four of the famous moai statues of Rapa Nui (credit: H. Martinsson-Wallin).
July 7, 2025 at 12:25 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW Archaeologists have discovered a previously unknown Tiwanaku temple in the Bolivian Andes, revealing the complex trade and ritual interaction networks of this powerful pre-Inka state 🏺

An #AntiquityThread on the discovery 1/11 🧵
3D reconstruction of the temple complex. A square wall surrounds a central courtyard. The outer wall is lined with smaller rooms.
July 3, 2025 at 12:25 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
What did a #Roman diet look like? 🏺

A new ancient DNA study provides a new method to examine crushed and fermented food remains, allowing archaeologists to explore ancient condiments.

A fishy #AntiquityThread 1/12 🧵
Fish remains from the bottom of a salting vat, as they were found (a) and separated into spines (b), vertebrae (c) and scales (d) (credit: Archaeology Department of the University of Vigo).
July 2, 2025 at 9:35 AM