Durham Archaeology

Strontium and oxygen isotope analysis reveals changing connections to place and group membership in the world’s earliest village societies - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Strontium and oxygen isotope analysis reveals changing connections to place and group membership in the world’s earliest village societies

Read the full study here #OpenAccess - www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Ancient teeth provide new insight into the lives of the world’s first farming villagers  - Durham University

🔔🧠 New research alert! 🧠🔔

Our Dr Eva Fernandez-Dominguez (senior author), Dr Kelly Blevins and Prof Janet Montgomery are part of a worldwide team that analysed patterns of mobility of the first farmer societies of Southwest Asia.

Learn more below! 👇
www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...

#Archaeology

We are The Times and The Sunday Times University of the Year 2026 and ranked third overall in its Good University Guide. Congratulations to our global university community on this success. 🎉

Read more: brnw.ch/21wVU4Q

Middle East Bronze and Iron Age cultures wine production - Durham University

Bronze and Iron Age farmers in the Middle East prioritised wine production over olive growing in times of climatic change. Researchers in our Department of Archaeology and @durhamearthsci.bsky.social analysed charred seeds and wood samples 👉 www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...

Early medieval namestone.- 8th century AD - from Lindisfarne

Early medieval namestone.- 8th century AD - from Lindisfarne

Early medieval namestone.- 8th century AD - from Lindisfarne

Three early medieval namestones in one morning in the @digventures.bsky.social @arcdurham.bsky.social excavations at #Lindisfarne

📣📣 Our Bill Finlayson & fellow archaeologists help to uncover the mystery of the hundreds of 'desert kites' stretching across the Arabian desert. Find out who built these megastructures, the purpose they served & the ingenious discovery that was unearthed...👇🏻
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

A well-deserved reflection of the quality of Rob's scholarship, international #research profile and excellent stewardship of @antiquity.ac.uk 👏 Congratulations to Rob and the other researchers involved!

Delighted to announce that our own Dr Rob Witcher forms part of the #REF2029 #Archaeology sub-panel!

Learn more in the news story linked in the post below 👇

An image of Greek collection before the repacking project surrounded by tissue paper

A display of one of our student placements preparing to create new storage for the Greek collection.

Our Greek collection after the repacking project in their now homes.

Our Greek collection after the repacking project in their now homes.

Hi! We’re Poppy & Izzy from Archaeology. Over 3 weeks on placement at the #DUMuseumofArchaeology, we explored collections care & curation. We repacked & updated records for the Greek collection and helped design a coin map showing ancient city-states through mythology & trade #DUCollections

Postdoc Job! Come and work with me in Durham, and a bunch of @sse1k.bsky.social heroes in Venice and Basel, doing agent-based modelling of socio-environmental systems in the Ancient Mediterranean...
durham.taleo.net/careersectio...

In this article, our Honorary Fellow in Archaeology @peterjbrown.bsky.social sheds new light on the story of the Zanj rebellion – a slave revolt that took place in the late 9th century in southern Iraq. Peter and his team have unearthed the timelines. Read more 👉 www.durham.ac.uk/research/cur...

Riley Snyder Best Article of the Year - Durham University

Congratulations to Dr Riley Snyder, awarded Best Article of the Year by 'Studies in Late Antiquity'!

Titled: 'Beyond Urban Planning: Challenges of Resource Management in the Construction of Late Antique Capital Cities'

Learn more: www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...

#archaeology #research #DurhamUni

I still can’t get over how good this photo of Roman lead bullets taken by @arcdurham.bsky.social students Rowan Colley and Isla Mustin is 🥰.
They did amazing work on the trail I describe in this thread - please do check it out!

www.armittdigitaltrail.co.uk/roman-ambles...
#RomanFortThursday

You can read The Armitt’s Roman Ambleside digital trail entry on the sling bullets and our knowledge of the so-called Battle of Ambleside here, researched and written by @arcdurham.bsky.social student Isla Mustin

#RomanFortThursday

www.armittdigitaltrail.co.uk/lead-bullets

Rowan Colley, Isla Mustin and Faye Morissey discussing the tombstone of Flavius Fuscinus and Flavius Romanus, held in The Armitt

Rowan and Isla taking photographs at Ambleside Roman Fort

Isla and Rowan spent two weeks in Ambleside with me and the Armitt curator, Faye Morissey, researching the objects, designing the trail route, and writing the trail text, as part of their @arcdurham.bsky.social
Advanced Professional Training module

#RomanFortThursday

So delighted to announce the official launch of The Armitt’s new digital trail through Roman Ambleside! The trail was developed by our fabulous @arcdurham.bsky.social 2nd-years Rowan Colley and Isla Mustin, with initial work by LU student Bastien Hamilton… 🧵

#RomanFortThursday #RomanBritain 🏺

On Friday night #TheGefrinTrust, along with our partners #AdGefrin and @arcdurham.bsky.social, lit up the contours of Edwin's palace and grandstand. For the first time in over a millennium, the structures' footprints could be seen against the dramatic backdrop of Yeavering Bell. (Image: A. Jansen)

Archaeology Fieldwork in Moldova 2025 - Durham University

🔗 Updated link for the news story - sorry for any confusion!
www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...

Two students crouch in an archaeological section excavating mammoth bones. A label reads 'Excavating mammoth bones!'

Paul Pettitt stands by a table with several small finds in clear bags. He is speaking to Deputy Ambassador Samantha Smith who is holding a small find in her hand.

Archaeological excavation section showing mammoth thoracic vertebrae and ribs with stone tools. There is a metre stick for scale.

📸🦣 Snapshots from our recent return to Moldova - hard at work at a 25,000-year old Upper #Palaeolithic campsite! We were also delighted to receive a visit last week from Samantha Smith, the British Deputy Ambassador to Moldova.

Learn more about what we've found: www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...

Profile photo of Professor Sarah Semple on a sunny day. In the background are grassy fields and green hills.

We're delighted to announce that our Professor Sarah Semple has been made a Fellow of The British Academy 👏 Congratulations Sarah on her well-deserved achievement!

Learn more about this honour in the article below!
www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...

@britishacademy.bsky.social #DurhamUni #DUresearch

Meet PhD candidate and Egyptologist Ariadne Agryos. When asked what is research like, she replied, "This is what research looks like—slow, sacred, and filled with discovery."

#ArchaeologyInAction #PhDLife #Egyptology

Fieldwork is never boring, look at these finds.

Great find!

Innovation through recycling in Iron Age plaster technology at Tell el-Burak, Lebanon - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Innovation through recycling in Iron Age plaster technology at Tell el-Burak, Lebanon

(4/4) A remarkable example of innovation and resourcefulness in the #ancientMediterranean world!

🔗 Read more in Scientific Reports: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#EberhardKarlsUniversitatTübingen #ressourcenkulturen #sfb1070 #DUresearch #ArchaeologicalScience

This discovery sheds light on:

✅ The technical skills of Phoenician builders
✅ Early sustainable building practices
✅ The central role of wine production in the local economy

(3/4)

At Tell el-Burak (southern Lebanon), #archaeologists uncovered a well-preserved wine press (c.725–350 BCE) where lime was deliberately mixed with crushed ceramics. This early use of recycled materials created a durable, water-resistant plaster, centuries before the Romans made this technique famous.

One of the plastered installations at Tell el-Burak. This photo shows the wine press, taken from the west side (courtesy of the Tell el-Burak Archaeological Project).

Hot off the press! #NewResearch undertaken in part at our DARC lab (Durham Archaeomaterials Research Centre)

🛠️Ancient Innovation at Tell el-Burak 🍇🏺

New research has revealed what may be the earliest known use of the cocciopesto technique to produce hydraulic mortar in #IronAge Phoenicia. (1/4)

🎓 Studied with us in #Archaeology? 🎓

Your voice matters.
Have your say in the Global Alumni Survey 2025.

💡 Check your inbox for your personalised link
⏳ Closes Monday 30 June at 11:59pm (BST)!

#DUAlumniSurvey25 #DurhamAlumni #HaveYourSay #MakeYourMark #Archaeology #DurhamUni

Day 5 - We have walls! We have finds! We have a tower? 1) uncovering a large stone surface which has the trench playing the game “Tower or Buttress?”, 2) chasing the curtain wall in the top trench, & 3) finding amazing things (such as a base of a small cauldron).

@arcdurham.bsky.social

Collaboration and engagement with the local community in the nearby village of Cañaveral de León also featured wonderfully creative comics from schoolchildren and a 3D video of the stelae - check out our news story below to find out more! (2/2)

www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...