Recent History Articles

European Origins
The origins of modern Europeans have been revised by an international team who have been working on genetic prehistory of Europeans for the past 7-8 years.

Vikings Dressed Flamboyantly
Pre-Christian Vikings dressed more flamboyantly than previously thought with the use of vivid colors, silk ribbons, and bits of mirrors.

Westward Ho
The price of land in nineteenth century America was a significantly less important factor in Westward Expansion than population growth and technological innovation leading to decreased transportation costs.

Ancient Canadian Fort Reveals First Nations History
A fortified village pre-dating the arrival of Europeans in Western Canada - the only one of its kind so far discovered on the Canadian plains - is producing intriguing evidence of a hitherto unknown First Nations group settling on the prairies. It is also rekindling ties between the Siksika Nation (Blackfoot) and other groups in the U.S.

Mayans Used Glittering Pigments On Their Buildings
Ancient Mayans used lustrous pigments to make their buildings glitter in daylight.

Bronze Age Iberia
New light on Bronze Age life in the Iberian Peninsula.

Origins Of Pacific Islanders
New research throws light on long-standing controversies surrounding the origins and genetic relationships of Pacific Islanders.

Survey Of Caistor Roman Town
A survey of Caistor Roman town near Norwich sponsored by the British Academy has given dramatic new insights into the nature of this settlement and confirms it as a site of international importance.

Roman-Byzantine Era Synagogue Found
Archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have discovered an ancient synagogue among the ruins of a large Jewish village from the Roman-Byzantine era at the foot of the Mt Nitai cliffs overlooking the Sea of Galilee.

Chocolate's Early History
The earliest known cacao consumption has been identified from analysis of pottery shards found at the site of Puerto Escondido in northern Honduras.

Genetic Evidence for African Britons
First evidence of Africans having lived among "indigenous" British people for centuries and found that their descendants were unaware of their black ancestry.

Churchill Borrowed Ideas From H.G. Wells
Researching a book on Winston Churchill, Dr Richard Toye, a lecturer in history at the University of Cambridge, has found that science fiction writer H.G. Wells was a significant intellectual influence, both during the statesman's early career and subsequently. Churchill and Wells met in 1902, by which time Wells had already written some of his best-known works including The War Of The Worlds and The Time Machine. The two men kept in touch until Well's death in 1946.