School of Archaeology News

Dr Dan Hicks on Melvyn Bragg's "In Our Time"

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 09:02:00 +0000

Dr Dan Hicks, University Lecturer and Curator of Archaeology in the School of Archaeology and Pitt Rivers Museum, appeared on Melvyn Bragg's "In Our Time" on 28 February 2013, talking about the Victorian archaeologist General Augustus Pitt-Rivers. For further reading, links, and to listen again, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qwgxx

Neanderthals 'died out earlier than previously thought'

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 14:48:00 +0000

Since the 1990s, scholars have believed that around 35,000 years ago the last of the Neanderthals sought refuge in southern Iberia, in an area known as Spain today. However, new dating evidence on fossilised bones from sites in the region (based on work undertaken by Dr Rachel Wood and Professor Thomas Higham at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit) suggests that the fossils could be 15,000 years older than previously thought.

Lake yields new benchmark for dating much older objects

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 23:55:00 +0000

A new series of radiocarbon measurements from Japan's Lake Suigetsu will give scientists a more accurate benchmark for dating materials, especially for older objects, according to a research team that included Oxford University's Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit.

Dan Hicks leads Arts Council England funded project 'Excavating Pitt-Rivers'

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 14:04:00 +0000

The Victorian archaeologist General Pitt-Rivers is world-famous for his development of modern scientific archaeology, but the earliest archaeological collections that he made have never been studied. The Pitt Rivers Museum, where these artefacts are held, has been awarded £76,654 by Arts Council England’s Designation Development Fund to document this important early material.

Earliest musical instruments were first produced in Europe 40,000 years ago

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 13:45:00 +0000

The first modern humans in Europe were playing musical instruments and showing artistic creativity as early as 40,000 years ago, according to new research from Oxford and Tübingen Universities.

New evidence supports claims that relics could be of John the Baptist

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

New dating evidence supports claims that bones found under a church floor in Bulgaria may be of John the Baptist, who is described in the Bible as a leading prophet and relative of Jesus Christ.

Ancient network of rivers and lakes found in Arabian Desert

Tue, 01 May 2012 09:59:00 +0000

Satellite images have revealed that a network of ancient rivers once coursed their way through the sand of the Arabian Desert, leading scientists to believe that the region experienced wetter periods in the past.

The Atlas of Hillforts in Britain and Ireland

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:15:00 +0000

A collaborative four year project between the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh directed by Professors Gary Lock (Oxford) and Ian Ralston (Edinburgh) and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council has just been announced.

Ancient humans brought red deer to Ireland

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:24:00 +0000

Scientists have discovered that the red deer population from County Kerry is directly descended from deer that were introduced into Ireland by Neolithic people from Britain around 5,000 years ago.

Institute of Archaeology - 50th Anniversary Celebrations

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:51:00 +0000

Catch-up with the celebrations during the Institute's golden anniversary year by visiting our 50th anniversary page. Please fill out the form on the page if you would like to keep in touch with the department. We would like to hear from both alumni and friends alike and we plan to produce an anniversary booklet in 2012.

Sealinks Project Recognised

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:00:00 +0000

On 8th December, Dr. Nicky Boivin attended a reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh. The event was in recognition of the role of adventurers and explorers and coincided with an exhibition at the Palace showing items related to exploration and adventure from the royal archives.

The English Landscapes and Identities Project

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 09:42:00 +0000

A new five-year project has been announced looking at the history of the English landscape from the middle Bronze Age to the Norman period. It will use a mass of mapped data for the period to explore continuities and changes in the use of the land in different parts of England

Modern polar bears descended from extinct bears from Ireland

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 14:06:00 +0000

Scientists have discovered that modern polar bears are descended from now extinct brown bears that roamed the region we know today as Britain and Ireland. It is thought that polar bears moved into this area just before, or during the last Ice Age, where they mated with female brown bears.

Of Muck and Men

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 12:01:00 +0000

A new approach using stable nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios in ancient crop remains suggests that early farmers practised manuring with dung from herded livestock. These results have radical implications for understanding the ecology of early farming and its social consequences.

Planet of the Apemen: Battle for Earth

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 13:10:00 +0000

Dr Mike Petraglia, from the School of Archaeology at Oxford University, is one of the experts interviewed in the first of a two-part documentary about the arrival of modern humans in Asia 74,000 years ago.

Sacks of human waste reveal secrets of ancient Rome

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Sacks of ancient excrement from Herculaneum are helping archaeologists learn more about Roman life. The waste was excavated and put through a series of graded sieves by a team led by Mark Robinson of the University of Oxford which revealed bits of bone, pottery as well as nuts and seeds made it into Roman cesspits.

Teeth of hominids suggests early cavemen had ‘foreign brides’

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 11:42:00 +0000

By testing the tooth enamel of 19 hominids found in cave sites in South Africa, a new study involving researchers at the University of Oxford provides surprising evidence of how individuals dating back more than 2 million years once lived.

Gertrud Seidmann awarded a Certificate of Graduate Attainment

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:06:00 +0000

Miss Gertrud Seidmann, until recently a postgraduate in the School of Archaeology and believed to be the oldest student to have studied at Oxford University, has been awarded a Certificate of Graduate Attainment by the University in a special ceremony in the Divinity School.

Humans 'left Africa much earlier'

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 09:36:00 +0000

Modern humans may have emerged from Africa up to 50,000 years earlier than previously thought, a study suggests. Researchers have uncovered stone tools in the Arabian peninsula that they say were made by modern humans about 125,000 years ago.

Major archaeological project examines interactions that changed China

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:10:00 +0000

The Oxford Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture, based in Oxford University’s School of Archaeology, has received its first major research award since its launch in October last year. The Leverhulme Trust has awarded a grant of almost half a million pounds for the research project ‘China and Inner Asia (1,000-200 BC): Interactions that changed China’ to Professor Jessica Rawson.

Was North Africa the Launch Pad for Modern Human Migrations?

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 14:14:00 +0000

A growing number of researchers suspect that long-neglected North Africa was the original home of the modern humans who first trekked out of the continent.

Launch of Oxford Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:32:00 +0000

Oxford University is to launch a new centre to study the archaeological and cultural heritage of Asia. On 21 October, the Oxford Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture, based in the University’s School of Archaeology, will officially open to become the only Asia-specialist centre of archaeological research and teaching in Europe.

Wolfson College DPhil Studentships in Classical Archaeology

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Wolfson College is offering two graduate scholarships in the field of Classical Archaeology, for new DPhil applicants who intend to commence reading for their doctorates in Michaelmas Term 2011. The scholarships are funded through the generosity of two donors, Baron Lorne Thyssen and the Mougins Museum of Classical Art. Further information and deadlines can be found on the Studentships page.

Stone tools 'change migration story'

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 08:47:00 +0000

A research team reports new findings of stone age tools that suggest humans came "out of Africa" by land earlier than has been thought.

Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture Lecture and Seminar Series

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 15:15:00 +0000

The new Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture has been established in the School of Archaeology and will be holding its opening lecture and reception on 21st October 2010 at the Ashmolean Museum. There will also be a following Seminar Series on "Creolisation, Culture and Hybridity: Intercultural contact with and within Ancient Asia".

Radiocarbon dating verifies ancient Egypt's history

Thu, 20 May 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Radiocarbon dating has shown that the chronology of Egypt's Old, Middle and New Kingdoms is indeed accurate. The researchers dated seeds found in pharaohs' tombs, including some from the tomb of the King Tutankhamun.

Archaeology Podcasts on iTunes

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:00:00 +0000

Interviews with Professor Barry Cunliffe, Professor Mark Pollard, Professor Chris Gosden and DPhil student Wendy Morrison are now available from the University of Oxford podcasts page or directly from iTunes.

Exodus on the exploding earth

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 08:39:00 +0000

An article in the New Scientist magazine features Oxford University research into the Toba super-eruption, a supervolcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra which erupted 74,000 years ago

2010 Wiseman Book Award Winner

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:28:00 +0000

2010 Wiseman Book Award Winner: Judith McKenzie for her book The Architecture of Alexandria and Egypt c. 300 B.C. to A.D. 700 (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2007)

Bronze Age wreck yields its secrets

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:21:00 +0000

Analysis on the cargo of a 3,000 year old trading vessel has been found off the coast of Devon is being carried out by academics from Oxford University.

Newly Discovered Archaeological Sites In India Reveals Ancient Life

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Newly discovered archaeological sites in southern and northern India have revealed how people lived before and after the colossal Toba volcanic eruption 74,000 years ago.

"People of the Eland" and "The Eland's People"

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:17:00 +0000

Two new books on the Rock Art of the Drakensberg Bushmen have been published by Wits University Press and the Rock Art Research Institute.

Shell beads point to dawn of modern human behaviour

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:56:00 +0000

'We are no longer looking at isolated or one off events.' says Professor Nick Barton, one of the authors of the study.

Human bones from Kents Cavern analysed

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:32:00 +0000

Human bones discovered in the Kents Cavern, Devon analysed by Dr Rick Schulting may show signs of cannibalism.

Royal Medal

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:49:00 +0000

Prof. Robert Hedges awarded Royal Medal of the Royal Society.

Brading Roman Villa

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 14:11:00 +0000

Sir Barry Cunliffe, Emeritus Professor of European Archaeology at Oxford University, is to explore the 1.6-hectare site around Brading Roman Villa.