Hello, everyone! It is wonderful to be here, and I am looking forward to exploring sites and discoveries around the world with you.
First, we travel down the spectacular long and winding Siq that leads to Petra. There, the Nabataeans founded one of the most beautiful, and perhaps also unlikely, cities in the ancient world. What persuaded these nomads to turn their hand to urbanism, and how did they find wealth in the wilderness?
At Monte Bernorio in Spain, the Romans were in the business of acquiring other people’s wealth. They launched a blistering assault on a major population centre and archaeology is allowing us to piece together the events of a forgotten battle.
Franklin’s final expedition has never faded from the public consciousness. Now the discovery of his lost fleet offers more clues about why this high-tech Victorian adventure descended into terror.
Another source of fear – to ancient communities – was the seemingly random nature of illness. Votive body parts reveal how the ancient Greeks sought divine help with healthcare.
Sculpture in Iran shows how great dynasties viewed themselves and the wider world. In the first of a two-part article, we visit grand Achaemenid palaces and see the Sassanians bring Roman emperors to heel.
In Italy, excavation in Tuscany is revealing the surprising story of the forces at work between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance, while an often-overlooked arch at Malborghetto is a reminder of how one man’s vision changed the course of European history.
I would also like to introduce two new sections: ‘Horizon’ will showcase fabulous images of equally fabulous sites, while ‘Spotlight’ focuses in on fascinating objects and sites. I hope you enjoy them both.
Finally, a huge thank you to my predecessor, Caitlin McCall, for generously sharing the secrets of editing CWA.
Matt Symonds
FEATURES
The Nabataeans of Petra Whence they came, whither they went
Rome’s forgotten battle How Emperor Augustus destroyed the oppidum of the Cantabri at Monte Bernorio
Death in the ice Seeking Franklin’s lost fleet
Spotlight: Healing broken bodies Votive body parts in Greek and Roman religion
NEWS
- Roman neighbourhood revealed in Vienne
- New evidence for Zanzibar’s island story
- Sicily’s oldest vintage
- Egyptians and Nubians living side by side in Sai
- Surprising Tartessic ritual uncovered in Spain
- Prehistoric women on the move
- Meet Maria
- Luna’s settlement the largest
NEWS FOCUS
Dances with cranes at Göbekli Tepe
CHARLES HIGHAM
Celebrating Colin Renfrew’s 80th birthday
HORIZON
Carved hills of Qatar
TRAVEL
IRAN: Andrew Selkirk explores Achaemenid and Sassanian Iran
ITALY: Richard Hodges travels to Maremma
ITALY: David J Breeze investigates the Arch of Malborghetto
CULTURE
MUSEUM
Museum of Ligurian Archaeology, Italy
REVIEWS
An Archaeological Guide to Nicopolis; Cave Art; Houses of Ill Repute; Roman Frontier Studies 2009; Archaeology
ANDREW SELKIRK
Future funding for British schools abroad
CHRIS CATLING
Dating and DNA
FORUM
Letters, crossword, cartoon
THINKING ALOUD
Invisible phases
OBJECT LESSON
Bronze bo
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