Archaeology & Arts

Coastal and High Sea Navigation in the Red Sea in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods

Hybrid lecture by Professor Eivind Heldaas Seland
(University of Bergen) about the challenges of navigation and navigation practices in the Red Sea in the pre-Islamic period, as recorded through geographical, ethnographic, and historical texts in the form of toponyms and practical advice.
28/ 05/2026 at 7.00 pm. Registration necessary

https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/agenta/coastal-and-high-sea-navigation-in-the-red-sea/

Ritual, Gesture, and Therapy in the Ancient World

Call for papers for an International Conference organized by the National Hellenic Research Foundation in Athens, January 15-16, 2027.
The conference reconsiders ancient healing not simply as a set of medical beliefs, but as a performative and knowledge-producing practice shaped through bodies, spaces, gestures, and rituals. Adopting a thematic and diachronic approach, it explores how illness, care, and recovery were experienced and negotiated over time. Bringing together archaeology, epigraphy, history of medicine, performance studies, and anthropology, the conference examines healing as an embodied process enacted through movement, voice, architecture, ritual, and narrative.
Abstract submission deadline: September 30, 2026
Further info in case you are interested in attending, through the link in the first comment.

Maria La Callas; costumes from the film "Maria" (2024) on display at The Benaki Museum

Selected costumes designed for Pablo Larain's biopic on Maria Callas are presented for the first time in an exhibition at the The Benaki Museum.

The authors re-examine a large assemblage of avian bones excavated from Late Bronze Age contexts at Hala Sultan Tekke on Cyprus.

https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2026/05/25/uncovering-the-lives-of-rock-doves-in-hala-sultan-tekke/

Researchers at Aalto University transformed surplus wood from the Hahtiperä shipwreck into textile fibre, spun it into yarn, and knitted it into a dress using new AI-assisted technology.

https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2026/05/25/from-a-17th-century-shipwreck-to-a-one-of-a-kind-dress/

The earliest beer in Poland?

Scientists have identified what they say are the earliest chemical traces of fermented alcoholic beverages in northeastern Poland.

Ancient ‘beer’ traces found in 4,500-year-old vessels Scientists have identified what they say are the earliest chemical traces of fermented alcoholic beverages in northeastern Poland.

Long-distance migration along Peru’s Pacific coast began centuries before the rise of the Inca Empire.

A new international study reveals that long-distance migration along Peru’s Pacific coast began at least 800 years ago — centuries before the rise of the Inca Empire. Ancient DNA analysis combined with archaeological evidence shows that people traveled more than 700 km from Peru’s north coast to the Chincha Valley in the south, where they settled, intermarried with local communities, and preserved distinct cultural traditions for generations. The findings paint a vivid picture of highly connected and mobile pre-Inca coastal societies, challenging long-held assumptions about isolation in ancient South America. Published in Nature Communications, the study highlights how migration, identity, and kinship shaped human communities long before imperial expansion.

Iconic Greek art historian and curator Anna Kafetsi passes away

Born in 1954, Anna Kafetsi studied art history in France and pursued postgraduate studies, supported by an Alexander S. Onassis Foundation scholarship, between 1979 and 1982. She worked as curator of the 20th-century collections at the National Gallery–Alexandros Soutsos Museum in Athens. During this time, Anna Kafetsi curated several landmark exhibitions that introduced international modern and avant-garde movements to Greek audiences. Among the most important was the major exhibition Russian Avant-Garde 1910–1930: The G. Costakis Collection (1995–1996), presented at the National Gallery in Athens.
In 2000, she became the founding director of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, a position she held until 2014, during which she played a decisive role in shaping the museum’s collections, curatorial vision, and international orientation.
She later continued her work as director of the annexM Contemporary Art Center at the Athens Concert Hall (Megaron).

https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2026/05/22/art-historian-and-curator-anna-kafetsi-passes-away/

Burials, reburials, and how a deceased becomes an honorable ancestor

Over three years, researchers excavated the remains of 37 people found inside a jar located near Phonsavan in Laos

“We determined that it was an example of secondary internment during the 9th and 12th centuries AD, in which human remains were deposited after an initial period of decomposition elsewhere", they say. The findings challenge earlier assumptions that the jars were intended as final resting places and dated to the Southeast Asian Iron Age (500 BC – 500 AD).
“We think jar interment may have been one stage in a multi-step funerary sequence,” and that “The number of individuals also suggests the jars were likely owned by family or extended family groups and served as places where ancestral rites were performed over generations,” they explain.

https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2026/05/21/ancient-burial-practices-in-laos-mysterious-plain-of-jars/

The 4,000-year-old city of Mohenjo-daro became more equal as it became more successful.