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Antiquity Journal
@antiquity.ac.uk
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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/
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antiquity.ac.uk
Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · 6h
Our December issue is out now! Featuring great #archaeology such as:

🔵 The oldest blue mineral pigment use in Europe
⛰️ Mesoamerican mountain monuments and water worship
🐚 Playing the shell trumpets of Neolithic Catalonia

& much more! 🏺
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Cover of the December 2025 issue of Antiquity, featuring a photogrammetric image of an ancient quarry, with evidence for the quarrying of stone and a partially complete humanoid statue lying on its back.
Reposted by Antiquity Journal
arcdurham.bsky.social
New #Antiquity blog post co-authored by our Dept's Prof Dan Lawrence @dl-arch.bsky.social! 👇
antiquity.ac.uk Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · 19h
You may have seen the recent #ProjectGallery on Semiyarka: a Bronze Age permanent settlement on a scale previously unknown for the Eurasian steppe! 🏺
In our latest #AntiquityBlog, the authors discuss the first excavations there & next steps for the research:
www.cambridge.org/core/blog/20...
Forging a Bronze Age City: The Next Chapter at Semiyarka
Recent excavations and analysis at Semiyarka uncover even more exciting information about this early urban centre of the Kazakh steppe
www.cambridge.org
December 2, 2025 at 2:55 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
China's last emperor, Puyi, was crowned #OnThisDay in AD 1908, aged just 2

The first emperor, Qin Shihuang, is buried at Xi'an. His mausoleum is best-known for the terracotta warriors, but even the wood in its construction likely held symbolic importance

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
A view, looking south, of the current vegetation of Mount Li. The mausoleum is located at the northern foot of the mountain, but the wood for its construction was not sourced here, indicating the sophisticated logistical planning and resource mobilisation of the Qin Dynasty as well as the symbolic importance of using specific wood in the emperor's tomb (photograph by Q.W. Zhang).
December 2, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Antiquity Journal
jmarreiros.bsky.social
I am very happy to see this published! Congratulations 🥳 to Okopi Ade, it was a pleasure to have you in our lab at @tracer-leiza.bsky.social @paleomonrepos.bsky.social @leizarchaeology.bsky.social We all learned a lot
December 2, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Reposted by Antiquity Journal
anthropology.net
New research on 6,000-year-old shell trumpets from Catalonia shows they were powerful communication tools and expressive instruments that shaped Neolithic social life and landscapes. #Archaeology #Acoustics #Neolithic #AncientMusic @antiquity.ac.uk www.anthropology.net/p/echoes-acr...
Echoes Across Millennia: The Neolithic Shell Trumpets That Carried Messages Through Catalonia’s Ancient Landscapes
New acoustic experiments on 6,000 year old Charonia shells reveal how sound shaped social life, coordination, and expression in early farming communities.
www.anthropology.net
December 2, 2025 at 2:29 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
Playing 6000-year-old conch shell trumpets for the first time reveals they were effective tools for long-distance communication and may have also been used as musical instruments 🐚

Read the research 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
December 2, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Reposted by Antiquity Journal
miquellg.bsky.social
El primer article sobre corns marins neolítics catalans ja disponible a @antiquity.ac.uk
Quin somni publicar aquí ✨
#arqueologia
#archaeology
Signalling and music-making: interpreting the Neolithic shell trumpets of Catalonia (Spain) | Antiquity | Cambridge Core
Signalling and music-making: interpreting the Neolithic shell trumpets of Catalonia (Spain) - Volume 99 Issue 408
urldefense.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:34 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
Our December issue is out now! Featuring great #archaeology such as:

🔵 The oldest blue mineral pigment use in Europe
⛰️ Mesoamerican mountain monuments and water worship
🐚 Playing the shell trumpets of Neolithic Catalonia

& much more! 🏺
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Cover of the December 2025 issue of Antiquity, featuring a photogrammetric image of an ancient quarry, with evidence for the quarrying of stone and a partially complete humanoid statue lying on its back.
December 2, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Reposted by Antiquity Journal
levine.bsky.social
Excited to see the Naxos Quarry Project on the cover of @antiquity.ac.uk!

Head to bit.ly/48yvshj to read our article about using cutting edge tools to study ancient marble quarries in #Greece & check out the rest of the issue to learn more about the most exciting #archaeology happening today🏺⛏️
December 2, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Reposted by Antiquity Journal
ruthwatson.bsky.social
Fascinating.

#Orcadian
#Shetlandic
#Norn
antiquity.ac.uk Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · 1d
By the medieval period, Norse was the dominant language of Scotland's Northern Isles #MedievalMonday
How Scandinavian culture, technology and lifeways took hold is obscure, but new radiocarbon dates from Orkney show the transition was long and complex.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Plans of rectilinear structures from across Pictish Scotland. First thought to be Norse, the new dates indicate they were built prior to Scandinavian settlement.
December 2, 2025 at 8:15 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
In Elizabethan England, 'bear baiting' pitted bears against dogs in arenas. Unthinkable today, it was popular entertainment on par with Shakespeare's plays, showing profound changes in human-animal relationships over the past 500 years #NationalMuttDay

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Several dog remains (a rib, a fibula and two crania) with arrows pointing out trauma sustained fighting bears.
December 2, 2025 at 8:15 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
You may have seen the recent #ProjectGallery on Semiyarka: a Bronze Age permanent settlement on a scale previously unknown for the Eurasian steppe! 🏺
In our latest #AntiquityBlog, the authors discuss the first excavations there & next steps for the research:
www.cambridge.org/core/blog/20...
Forging a Bronze Age City: The Next Chapter at Semiyarka
Recent excavations and analysis at Semiyarka uncover even more exciting information about this early urban centre of the Kazakh steppe
www.cambridge.org
December 1, 2025 at 9:15 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
In ancient hilly landscapes, agricultural terraces were a necessity for farming. In #BronzeAge north-east England, their construction coincides with that of roundhouse settlements and field systems, possibly indicating a population boom.

🔗 from 2023 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Shaded relief map of topographic features overlaid onto a satellite image of the hilly landscape of the Cheviot Hills. Annotations indicate the locations of prehistoric terraces, as well as an Iron Age hillfort, medieval ridge and furrow, a modern plantation and more.
December 1, 2025 at 5:15 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
Organic preservation this perfect is often only possible in wet contexts. Sadly, they are often the areas most threatened by human intervention. A new #AntiquityDebate explores the urgency of protecting peatland #archaeology and asks if it could be our "last chance to see"
doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
December 1, 2025 at 3:25 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
NEW Is this West Africa's first 'multi-tool'?
Use-wear analysis of Ground Stone Axes from Later #StoneAge (c.13000–12000 years ago) Nigeria indicates they were used for many different tasks, such as wood working, butchery/bone working and digging.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Six stone axes, some roughly curvilinear, some long, thick triangular and flattened with sharp edges.
December 1, 2025 at 2:25 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
Need a quick break? Take 10 minutes to fill in our @cambup-archaeology.cambridge.org user survey and help us improve the Antiquity experience for you 🏺 #Archaeology
Plus, you can enter into a prize draw to win a top prize of £100!

www.surveymonkey.com/r/AntiquityJ...
Share Your Thoughts: Antiquity Journal Community Survey
As a valued member of the Antiquity Journal community, your insights are incredibly important to Cambridge University Press and will help us improve the experience for both readers and authors. This short survey is designed to gather feedback on how you access and discover journal content, perceptions of the journal, author motivations, barriers to submission and your future engagement with the journal.
www.surveymonkey.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by Antiquity Journal
cambup-archaeology.cambridge.org
Read a new blog for @antiquity.ac.uk, looking at how the settlement of #Semiyarka functioned, and why it emerged around 1600 BC: https://cup.org/48dhlyZ

#bronzeage #antiquity #archaeology
Forging a Bronze Age City: The Next Chapter at Semiyarka « Archaeology# « Cambridge Core Blog
Our recent Antiquity Project Gallery article introduced Semiyarka as one of the most extensive and carefully planned Bronze Age settlements yet identified on the Kazakh steppe — a 140-hectare landscap...
cup.org
December 1, 2025 at 10:34 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
By the medieval period, Norse was the dominant language of Scotland's Northern Isles #MedievalMonday
How Scandinavian culture, technology and lifeways took hold is obscure, but new radiocarbon dates from Orkney show the transition was long and complex.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Plans of rectilinear structures from across Pictish Scotland. First thought to be Norse, the new dates indicate they were built prior to Scandinavian settlement.
December 1, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Reposted by Antiquity Journal
acorsin.bsky.social
Landscape traps, involved in experiments with human-nonhuman sociality and axial transitions from hunting to domestication
November 28, 2025 at 5:30 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
What makes Antarctica so useful to archaeologists? #AntarcticaDay
It was never occupied by primates, so may be the perfect 'natural laboratory' for comparing human (or other primate)-made #lithic tools with naturally fractured stones.

🔗 from 2023 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Examples of Antarctic rock samples that bear resemblance to proposed human- or non-human primate-made stone tools.
December 1, 2025 at 8:13 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
One of countless unexploded bombs in north-eastern Laos, left by the US during the Secret War (1964–1973). Their presence creates 'exclusion zones' where the land is still unsafe for agriculture or habitation, showing the lasting impact of conflict.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Circular metal object on the ground, obscured by long grass.
November 30, 2025 at 11:00 AM
antiquity.ac.uk
Monument from the mountain of Cerro Patlachique, south of Teotihuacan, depicting a jaguar clutching a bleeding heart #JaguarDay
A common depiction throughout Teotihuacan, it suggests the mountain was sacred to the powerful Mesoamerican city-state.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
3D model of a 0.62m-tall piece of stone, engraved with a depiction of a spotted jaguar clutching a bleeding heart in its claws (model by A. Texis Muñoz; © Project Plaza of the Columns Complex).
November 29, 2025 at 2:12 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
Indigenous #archaeology in Alaska is in under threat #NativeAmericanHeritageDay
Storms, rising sea levels and melting permafrost are severely damaging pre-contact Yup'ik sites along the coast, highlighting the acute threat #ClimateChange poses to Indigenous heritage in the circumpolar north.

🏺
How climate change is threatening Indigenous Yup’ik heritage « Archaeology# « Cambridge Core Blog
On 12 October, 2025, Typhoon Halong reached the shores of Southwestern Alaska, with devastating consequences for many of the Indigenous communities living here. Whole villages were destroyed and…
www.cambridge.org
November 28, 2025 at 9:30 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
📰 >11,000-year-old statues from Şanlıurfa Province, Türkiye hint at death rituals and symbolic expression within #Neolithic communities in southwest Asia

🏺 #ArchaeologyNews via @the-independent.com

www.independent.co.uk/news/science...
Discovery of ancient statues rewrites prehistoric human history
Experts say the find sheds light on death rituals in the Neolithic age
www.independent.co.uk
November 28, 2025 at 5:15 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
8000 years ago in the remote, boreal landscape of the Siberian taiga, hunter-gatherers built the earliest fortified sites. The development of territoriality and social conflict was not necessarily tied to agriculture.

🔗 from 2023 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology

📷 N. Golovanov
Aerial photograph of the Amnya river and promontory, on which the oldest promontory fort in the world was discovered.
November 28, 2025 at 3:02 PM
antiquity.ac.uk
Detached head of a figurine from #Viking Age Aska, Sweden. Microwear traces indicate the head was decapitated intentionally. A similar practice has been observed on human remains from this period, indicating connections between human and metal bodies.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Silver miniature head with a loop on top, likely to string it onto a pendant. Microscopic images show traces of wear at the base, suggesting the head was intentionally separated from the body (figure by C. Tsoraki; Aska photograph by O. Myrin, Swedish Historical Museums, CC BY 4.0).
November 28, 2025 at 1:45 PM