Metropolis, not Superman’s home town but the Ionian City of the Mother Goddess, was a major Classical city established in Anatolia during the 3rd century BC. Crowned by an acropolis, it lies above fertile plains on the road to Ephesus, its magnificent monumental architecture testament to the sophistication of its wealthy citizens. So why has nobody heard of it? Serdar Aybek intends to change all that: his excavation is bringing this fabulous city back into the light, so I advise you to visit before it becomes the major tourist attraction it deserves to be.
Who lies behind the Neolithic plastered skull of Jericho? This macabre object, discovered by Kathleen Kenyon in 1953, was recently subjected to modern scanning techniques – with surprising results.
Two hundred years ago, Napoleon Bonaparte squared up to the Duke of Wellington for a battle that changed the course of European history. To commemorate the anniversary, a team of archaeologists that included current and former soldiers took to the battlefield to uncover what remains of that momentous encounter.
We also investigate two Coptic manuscripts that form part of a new exhibition at the British Museum. They give a tantalising glimpse of life and Christian faith in medieval Egypt.
Richard Leakey is an extraordinary man, who has achieved extraordinary things: as a palaeontologist, a wildlife campaigner, and a politician in the Kenyan government. The son of Louis and Mary Leakey, famed for their work on early hominid fossils, Richard continued the family tradition by significantly advancing our knowledge and understanding of human evolution. We met ahead of a conference held in his honour by the Royal Society in association with the British Academy in London, to chat about his life, his ideas, and his unique contribution to the study of our ancestral origins.
IN THIS ISSUE
FEATURES
TURKEY: Metropolis Ionian City of the Mother Goddess
PALESTINE: From person to ancestor The plastered skull from Jericho
BELGIUM: Waterloo Uncovering the archaeology of Europe’s famous battle
EGYPT: Interpreting the past Revealing life and faith long after the pharaohs
INTERVIEW: Richard Leakey A wonderful life
NEWS
Mycenaean magnificence
Pre-Roman Pompeii
Ancient Egyptian police and punishment
Long-lost literature
Turkey’s largest ancient shipyard
Origins of the Black Death
Viking Hoard
SPECIAL REPORT
Ripping up wrecks
NEWS FOCUS
The Mohenjo-daro axe-adze
CHARLES HIGHAM
Early rice: the $64,000 question, answered
TRAVEL
UZBEKISTAN Oliver Gilkes takes the Golden Road to Samarkand
FRANCE Orange: a Roman town with a colourful history
USA Richard Hodges holidays in the Adirondacks
CULTURE
MUSEUM
Gold Rush at Bogotá’s Museo del Oro
REVIEWS
Tom St John Gray reviews the award-winning documentary Saving Mes Aynak
Andrew Robinson traces Celtic origins in Blood of the Celts: The New Ancestral Story by Jean Manco
plus reviews of:
The Indus: Lost Civilizations by Andrew Robinson
Ancient Scandinavia by T Douglas Price
Every Traveller Needs a Compass: travel and collecting in Egypt and the Near East by Neil Cooke and Vanessa Daubney (eds)
Lost Voices of the Nile: everyday life in Ancient Egypt by Charlotte Booth
The Archaeology of Cremation: burned human remains in funerary studies by Tim Thompson (ed)
CHRIS CATLING
Taking it with you, and the merits of war
THINKING ALOUD
Whose death is it anyway?
OBJECT LESSON
The Shigir Idol
