Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

CHICHESTER, ENGLAND—Last year, excavations in Chichester’s Priory Park revealed a masonry causeway and bridge that […] The post Norman-Era Defensive Tower Unearthed in English Town appeared first on Archaeology Magazine. News, Arundel, castle, Chichester, England, Henry II, motte and bailey, Norman

WRANGELL, ALASKA—Anchorage Daily News reports that an underwater archaeological team identified and mapped a shipwreck […] The post Bell Retrieved from Alaska's Second Deadliest Shipwreck appeared first on Archaeology Magazine. News, Alaska, bell, Coronation Island, shipwreck, Star of Bengal, Wrangell

GORDION, TURKEY—The site of Gordion, the capital of the Phrygian kingdom that flourished in west-central […] The post Tomb of Famous Royal Dynasty Discovered in Turkey appeared first on Archaeology Magazine. News, Gordias, Gordion, Midas, Phrygia, Tomb, Turkey

The Dred Scott Decision (Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857) was the infamous ruling of the United States Supreme Court that, according to the US Constitution, Black people were not and could not be considered citizens of the United States of America and, further, that "no slave or descendant of a slave had any 'rights which the white man was bound to respect'" (Delbanco, 331...

‘Miracles and Wonder’ by Elaine Pagels review JamesHoare Wed, 06/11/2025 - 07:00

Three Roman mosaics, including one featuring a pair of dolphins, have been unearthed in Thalheim near Wels, Austria. Mosaic floors from the Roman period are extremely rare in Upper Austria and these are in excellent condition. The building complex is atop a hill overlooking what was the Roman city of Ovilava. The structure is huge; … Read the full post →"Roman dolphin mosaic found in Austria"

MAARAT AL-NUMAN, SYRIA—Construction workers clearing rubble from destroyed houses in Maarat al-Numan revealed the entrance […] The post Hidden Byzantine Tombs Found Beneath Houses in Syria appeared first on Archaeology Magazine. News, Byzantine, Idlib, Maarat al-Numan, Syria, Tomb

TISZAFÜRED-MAJOROSHALOM, HUNGARY—According to an announcement released by Hungary’s Eötvös Loránd University, new research in the […] The post Archaeologists Identify Major Period of Bronze Age Transformation in Central Europe appeared first on Archaeology Magazine. News, Bronze Age, Carpathian Basin, Central Europe, Hungary, millet, Tiszafüred-Majoroshalom

AUXERRE, FRANCE—During excavation of a gravel pit on the shores of the Yonne River in […] The post Enormous Roman Villa Unearthed in France appeared first on Archaeology Magazine. News, Autessioduro, Auxerre, France, Gaul, Roman villa

Sometime in 1153 or 1154, the German nun Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) wrote a letter to the elderly Pope Anastasius IV (1073-1154). Her words were scathing. She called the pope tired and criticized his rule, describing him as too accepting of depraved people and urging him to control the arrogance of those around him. There was corruption in the medieval church, Hildegard asserted, and he, as...

Renaissance Florence’s Missing Bronzes JamesHoare Tue, 06/10/2025 - 08:18

A Byzantine-era tomb complex has been discovered by a construction workers clearing the rubble of a destroyed building in the northern Syrian city of Maarat al-Numan. The complex dates to around the 6th century and is composed of two large burial chambers with multiple tombs. Each contained six stone tombs, with the sign of the … Read the full post →"Byzantine tombs found under destroyed building in Syria"

SUFFOLK, ENGLAND—Oxford Cotswold ARCHAEOLOGY (OCA) is currently conducting one of the largest projects ever undertaken […] The post Earthen Pits Expose Clues About Life in Neolithic Britain appeared first on Archaeology Magazine. News, England, Neolithic Britain, pits, ritual, Sizewell C

SIXTY ISLANDS, MICHIGAN—A new lidar survey of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula revealed evidence of extensive farming […] The post Lidar Survey Reveals Intensive Farming by Ancestral Native Americans appeared first on Archaeology Magazine. News, farming, lidar, Menominee, Michigan, Sixty Islands

SENJA ISLAND, NORWAY—When metal detectorists searching a field on northern Norway's Senja Island discovered two […] The post Viking Noblewoman Buried in Boat Alongside Her Dog appeared first on Archaeology Magazine. News, dog, Norway, Senja Island, ship burial, Viking Age, Viking woman

The Compromise of 1850 was a series of five bills passed by the US Congress in September 1850 to diffuse a sectional crisis brewing between the 'free states' of the North and the 'slave states' of the South. The crisis was sparked by a disagreement over whether slavery should be allowed to expand into the so-called 'Mexican Cession', the 529,000 square miles of territory seized from Mexico after...

‘The Alienation Effect’ by Owen Hatherley review JamesHoare Mon, 06/09/2025 - 09:05

An archaeological excavation at the Iron Age Drumanagh fort in north Dublin has unearthed the first intact Roman pot ever discovered in Ireland. A team of dozens of volunteers led by professional county archaeologists investigated an area of the fort site with unusual features seen in a previous geophysical survey. They found fragments of Roman … Read the full post →"Found: Ireland’s first intact Roman pot"