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England

Archaeologists inspect the Anglo-Saxon warlord's grave.

Cool Finds

Newly Unearthed Warrior’s Grave Poised to Redraw Map of Anglo-Saxon England

Nicknamed the “Marlow Warlord,” the six-foot-tall man was buried on a hill overlooking the Thames sometime in the sixth century A.D.

Parliament's halls are lined with art.

How the U.K. Parliament’s Art Collection Is Linked to Slavery

An initial review identified 189 works depicting individuals associated with the slave trade

These frames may have been the first pair of iconic round glasses worn by John Lennon.

Fifty Years After the Beatles Broke Up, Trove of Memorabilia Goes on Auction

Sotheby’s sale includes records, posters and a high school detention sheet decrying John Lennon’s “continuous silly behaviour in class”

Devadatta (Daibadatta), appearance of evil spirits with supernatural arts shows an evildoer who holds sway over a variety of evil spirits.

You Can Now Explore 103 ‘Lost’ Hokusai Drawings Online

Newly acquired by the British Museum, the trove of illustrations dates to 1829

A newly discovered Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Oulton, England, includes more than 200 graves.

Cool Finds

This Anglo-Saxon Cemetery Is Filled With Corpses’ Ghostly Silhouettes

All that remains of several individuals buried in a 1,400-year-old graveyard are shadowy traces of their skeletons

A one-inch-long gaming piece found at the site of a former Roman fort in Chester, England

Cool Finds

Roman Gaming Piece Crafted Out of Bone Found in England

Ancient soldiers may have used the oblong token to play “Ludus Latrunculorum,” or the “Game of Mercenaries”

Volunteers at Bamburgh Castle discovered the foundations of an ancient roundhouse.

Cool Finds

Traces of 2,000-Year-Old Roman Roundhouse Found in Northern England

Excavations at Bamburgh Castle uncovered the foundations of a circular dwelling dated to the Roman occupation of Britain

New digital reconstruction of Abbot John of Wheathampstead

Facial Reconstruction Reveals Medieval Monk’s ‘Impish’ Features

Researchers digitally revived Abbot John of Wheathampstead 555 years after his death

“When so many books are published,” debut author Natasha Randall tells BBC News, “there is an awful lot of noise you have to compete with.”

Why U.K. Publishers Released 600 Books in a Single Day

Dubbed “Super Thursday,” the barrage of books includes many titles delayed by Covid-19

A scale model of Stonehenge used to test the ancient monument's acoustics

New Research

Scientists Map Stonehenge’s Soundscape

Study of small-scale model sheds light on how conversation, music moved through the massive monument

A musical instrument made out a human thigh bone

Bronze Age Britons Crafted Instruments, Decorations Out of Relatives’ Bones

Ancient humans “treated and interacted with the dead in ways which are inconceivably macabre to us today,” says researcher Tom Booth

Fragment of a 1,400-year-old chalice found near Hadrian's Wall in northern England

Cool Finds

Britain’s Oldest Example of Christian Graffiti Found Near Hadrian’s Wall

Researchers at Vindolanda unearthed a 1,400-year-old lead chalice covered in religious symbols

Critics argue that moving the bust does little to address more commonly cited complaints, including the repatriation of looted artifacts and a need to diversify curatorial staff.

British Museum Moves Bust of Founder, Who Profited From Slavery

The London institution, which reopened this week, is reckoning with its colonialist history in the wake of global protests against racism

L-shaped foundations of the medieval Great Sacristy, as seen from the roof of Westminster Abbey

Cool Finds

Lost Medieval Sacristy, Burial Grounds Unearthed at Westminster Abbey

Demolished in the 1740s, the 13th-century structure once housed the church’s altar linens, chalices and other sacred items

Chokushi-Mon (Gateway of the Imperial Messenger) and the Japanese Gardens

Travel the World in a Day at Kew Gardens

A new exhibition at the British botanic garden brings the landscapes of ten countries and regions across six continents to visitors

Bishop of Hull Alison White blesses a statue of Aslan, a character from C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, at St. Mary’s Church in Beverley, East Yorkshire.

Stone Sculptures of ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ Characters to Adorn Medieval Church

Statues of Aslan, the White Witch and other mythical beings will replace weathered carvings at St. Mary’s Church in Yorkshire

Oxburgh Hall, a moated Tudor manor house in Norfolk, England, is currently undergoing a major renovation project to fix its roof.

Cool Finds

Thousands of Rare Artifacts Discovered Beneath Tudor Manor’s Attic Floorboards

Among the finds are manuscripts possibly used to perform illegal Catholic masses, silk fragments and handwritten music

Potential human ancestor Homo heidelbergensis used this 480,000-year-old bone hammer to create flint tools.

Cool Finds

Europe’s Oldest Bone Tools Hint at Early Hominin Sophistication

480,000 years ago, Homo heidelbergensis used hammers to fashion flint tools in what is now southern England

The helmet has been on view at England's Preston Park Museum since 2012.

Cool Finds

Millennia-Old Headgear Is One of Just Two (Almost) Intact Viking Helmets

A new study dates a piece of armor found in Britain in the 1950s to the tenth century A.D.

A high-resolution survey scan of U-Boat U-47 shows a remarkably well-preserved wreck.

Wreck of U-Boat Sunk Off English Coast During WWI Explored for the First Time

Researchers used deep-sea scanning to learn more about the German submarine’s history

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