These tombs were the final resting places of Japan’s ancient elites, and form part of a broader East Asian funerary tradition, aspects…
A sub-adult burial dating to the early-mid Holocene, c.8000 BP, has been found in Makpan Cave on Alor Island, south-eastern Indonesia. To…
This low-relief limestone carving, dating to c.2400 BC, formed part of a larger votive wall plaque in a Sumerian temple in southern…
Three leather balls have been discovered in the prehistoric Yanghai cemetery in north-west China that pre-date by several centuries all existing evidence…
A set of human footprints found in an ancient lake deposit in the south-west of the Nefud Desert is believed to represent…
Clusters of massive stone jars in Laos have inspired considerable curiosity. Little is known about the people who fashioned them, while even…
What is it? This late Ming dynasty map depicts China, the South China Sea, and surrounding lands. It was drawn in the…
On the plain of Pasargadae, Cyrus the Great founded a spectacular garden palace. Nothing like it had ever been seen in the…
How did cities come to flourish in the Negev Desert? George Nash has gone in search of Shivta’s former glory. The Negev…
The 200th anniversary of Raffles’ arrival in Singapore has galvanised debate about the legacy of this controversial figure. His modern profile owes…
The golden burial of a Scythian king In 2001, more than 5,000 gold objects were discovered in an untouched Scythian burial in…
What is it? This ancient Mesopotamian sculpture known as the ‘ram in the thicket’ is actually a ‘goat in a tree’. The…
China: visions through the ages Lisa C Niziolek, Deborah A Bekken, and Gary M Feinman (eds) University of Chicago Press, $45 ISBN…