ChrisJBrooker

Is Fiona Apple’s ‘When the Pawn...’ (1999) one of the greatest albums of all time? Vote for it—and up to ten albums total—in our readers’ poll here: album.ink/GOATAlbumsPoll

One statuette depicts Mars wearing a breastplate decorated with a Gorgon’s head; another likely represents the goddess Isis. They were among the bronzes discovered in the home of wealthy Romans in Reims, France.

archaeology.org/issues/march-april-2026/digs-discoveries/roman-gauls-literati/

Extraordinary burial objects—knives, spears, and buckles—were unearthed by archaeologists at an Anglo-Saxon cemetery, but the most exciting find was a sixth-century A.D. sword with runic inscriptions on the blade!

archaeology.org/news/2026/02/10/anglo-saxon-sword-found-in-grave-near-canterbury/

Archaeologists have found new evidence that Irish urban traditions might be as old as 1200 B.C. One hillfort encircled 600 structures that may have been houses—potentially the largest prehistoric settlement known in Britain or Ireland!

archaeology.org/issues/march-april-2026/world/?location=ireland

Talking stones: Cherokee syllabary in Manitou Cave, Alabama Inside Manitou Cave in modern Alabama, nineteenth-century Cherokees carried out sacred ceremonies, recording their activities on the walls using Cherokee syllabary, a system invented in nearby Willstown by Cherokee scholar Sequoyah. Through collaboration between modern Cherokee scholars and Euro-American archaeologists, the authors report and interpret—for the first time—the inscriptions in Manitou Cave. These reveal evidence for secluded ceremonial activities at a time of crisis for the Cherokee. Pressures from the surrounding white populations disrupted the Cherokee ancient lifeways, culminating in their forcible relocation in the 1830s along the Trail of Tears.

The Cherokee syllabary was the first means to write the Cherokee language, but it was adopted almost immediately. In Manitou Cave, Alabama, inscriptions in the syllabary show its use in Cherokee ceremonial and spiritual practices 2/2

🔗 from 2019 (£) doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology

Rewind your mind back to the 1980s and rediscover this classic album | Explore our retrospective tribute here: album.ink/DBowieLD

Is The Go-Go's’ debut album ‘Beauty And The Beat’ (1981) one of the greatest albums of all time? Vote for it—and up to ten albums total—in our readers’ poll here: album.ink/GOATAlbumsPoll

100 Most Dynamic Debut Albums: The Smiths’ ‘The Smiths’ (1984) Though thousands of excellent first albums have been recorded, our team has weighed in on the 100 most dynamic debuts of all time.

The Smiths released their eponymous debut album 'The Smiths' 42 years ago on February 20, 1984

album.ink/TheSmithsTS

Caroline Polachek released ‘Desire, I Want To Turn Into You’ 3 years ago on February 14, 2023 | Listen to the album + watch the official videos here: album.ink/CPdesire

What's the first word that comes to mind when you think of this album? | Listen to the album + explore our tribute here: album.ink/HLDare

The Best Albums of the 2010s: PJ Harvey’s ‘Let England Shake’ Considering the abundance of amazing music that emerged during the 2010s, it was a tall task indeed for the Albumism staff to whittle down our top album picks to these special selections.

PJ Harvey released her Mercury Prize-winning eighth studio album 'Let England Shake' 15 years ago on February 14, 2011

album.ink/PJHarveyLES11

100 Most Dynamic Debut Albums: Heart’s ‘Dreamboat Annie’ (1976) Though thousands of excellent first albums have been recorded, our team has weighed in on the 100 most dynamic debuts of all time.

Heart released their debut album 'Dreamboat Annie' in the US 50 years ago on February 14, 1976

album.ink/HeartDA

Baby Huey certainly gave a star-making performance on what would sadly be his posthumous debut. Not quite as underappreciated 55 years later, but it still makes you wonder what could have been.

The Cardigans' best album. Agree or disagree?

album.ink/TheCardigansGT

Blondie's 'Parallel Lines' hit #1 on the UK albums chart 47 years ago on February 17, 1979 | Listen to the album + revisit our tribute here: album.ink/BlondiePL

Betty Davis They Say I’m Different (1974)

Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan Rufusized (1974)

Vanity 6 Vanity 6 (1982)

Sheila E. In The Glamorous Life (1984)

These pioneering albums by women in funk helped shatter the genre’s double standard. https://disc.gs/4a7Tf8q

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 4-Way Street (1971)

Bob Dylan The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)

Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman (1988)

The Pogues Rum Sodomy & The Lash (1985)

These legendary folk artists turned their songs into a powerful protest, capturing human spirit across the decades. https://disc.gs/3Zz2jhS

The luxe Villa Sora, near Herculaneum, was buried by Vesuvius. Now, archaeologists have discovered a room there covered in frescoes. The Roman occupants admired paintings of herons, griffins and a centaur!

archaeology.org/news/2026/02/09/excavations-resume-at-roman-villa-buried-by-vesuvius/

Wuthering slights: why are film-makers afraid of casting Yorkshire actors as Cathy Earnshaw? Wuthering Heights is inseparable from its landscape – but northern actors seldom get the lead role, instead are pigeonholed as stereotypical or supporting characters. This Bradford-born actor objects

Wuthering slights: why are film-makers afraid of casting Yorkshire actors as Cathy Earnshaw?

‘It’s a nice surprise to be treated like kings!’ Why are mid-level British indie bands massive in China? My group, Swim Deep, plays to crowds of hundreds across the UK – but in China, we play to tens of thousands. And we’re not the only ones

‘It’s a nice surprise to be treated like kings!’ Why are mid-level British indie bands massive in China?

A stone stele inscribed with writing, a clay bowl, several beads and three iron rings.

NEW Diverse grave goods from Meroitic Kedurma, Sudan.
Some locally sourced, some imported, they showcase the complexity of Nubian burial rituals and the importance of inter-regional exchange in the formation of early African states.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology

Seal matrix. It is flat on one side, engraved with a broad-pointed shield bearing the arms of the Campbells of Calder (or Cawdor). The other side contains a handle protruding from the centre and is engraved with a flower pattern.

Seal matrices can teach us a lot about past people and conflicts. Examining this example from Early Modern Dunyvaig Castle, Islay 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 identified its owner, providing a personal glimpse into the feud between the MacDonalds and Campbells for the island.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

Buckquoy, Orkney: addressing the Pictish-Viking transition in northern Scotland New radiocarbon dates from the key ‘transitional’ settlement of Buckquoy, Orkney, reveal that traits previously published as indicative of incoming Norse influence pre-date the start of the Viking Age, suggesting a greater level of endogenous change than hitherto has been appreciated.

Vikings invaded much of the British Isles during the later 1st millennium AD, including Northern Scotland. Long thought to have completely erased and replaced the Pictish population, a new chronology suggests the Pictish-Viking transition was in fact long and complex.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

King Te’ Kab Chaak ruled the Mayan city of Caracol in the fourth century A.D. Archaeologists found his tomb years ago—but his burial chamber remained undiscovered until a eureka moment last year.

archaeology.org/issues/january-february-2026/collection/return-of-the-king/top-10-discoveries-of-2025/

Map of the west coast of West Africa and the Cape Verde islands, highlighting the location of the largest island: Santiago.

When Genoese & Portuguese navigators discovered Cape Verde in AD 1456, it was uninhabited. They settled in 1462 and brought enslaved West Africans to the islands, making them a unique location to examine early slave-trade based colonialism.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology

Did you know pygmy hippos, only ~76 cm (2.5 ft) tall, used to roam Cyprus? They were possibly driven to extinction by humans based on the discovery of the remains of hundreds at the Pleistocene site of Akrotiri Aetokremnos 🦛

🔗 from 1991 (£) doi.org/10.1017/S000...

"One word from me..."

"Doctor Who: Kinda" part 4 (1982). #DoctorWho

"We're trapped!"

"Doctor Who: The Web of Fear" episode 2 (1968). #DoctorWho

At the site of Skipsea Castle in England, archaeologists have uncovered traces of high-status medieval buildings such as a possible malthouse, a timber tower, and a feasting hall.

archaeology.org/news/2026/01/22/traces-of-anglo-saxon-buildings-found-near-norman-castle-in-england/