HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2023-10-16T13:29:44.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: “Graves are like time capsules – little microcosms of prehistoric culture”: Alice Roberts on what bones and burials can tell us about early Britain
items: The legends of King Arthur: everything you wanted to know
items: Unburied treasures
items: Unburied treasures: the 10 greatest discoveries made by the British public
items: Medieval(ish) matters #9: Do early medieval Irish texts shed light on prehistoric incest?
items: A visit to Botallack Mine, Cornwall
items: Scythians: the art of war
items: Did people smoke anything before tobacco was discovered?
items: Why are there 24 hours in a day?
items: Revealed: Racton Man was Bronze Age warrior chief

“Graves are like time capsules – little microcosms of prehistoric culture”: Alice Roberts on what bones and burials can tell us about early Britain
type: item
date: 2021-08-11T09:05:20.000Z
subject: Bronze Age
subject: General prehistory
subject: Iron Age
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Stone Age
description: Alice Roberts speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about her book Ancestors, which explores the story of prehistoric Britain through seven burials – and reveals what cutting-edge science can tell us about the ancient past
encoded: What kind of things might you find in a prehistoric grave, and what could they reveal about the past? Prehistory is intensely interesting to me because the only way that we can approach it is through archaeology. You are left to piece together the story through traces left in the ground – the material objects of ancient cultures, remnants of constructions and buildings, and the remains of our own ancestors. There’s an often forensic process that goes on when you’re trying to reconstruct what life was like in the prehistoric era, and burial sites represent a treasure trove of information. Graves such as that of the [early Bronze Age] Amesbury Archer or the “Red Lady of Paviland” [actually a young man who died 33-34,000 years ago] are absolutely stuffed with cultural artefacts. They essentially act as time capsules – little microcosms of the culture of the time. As well as the objects we find in graves, we’re able to extract ever more information from the bones themselves. For me, as a biological anthropologist, it’s been astonishing how the science around this has developed over the past 20 to 30 years. What kind of information can we glean from bones? If I’m presented with a skeleton, I can tell quite a lot just by looking at the bones with the naked eye. I have a background as a medical doctor and before I started learning the business of osteoarchaeology, I would have thought: “It’s just a skeleton. How much can you really tell? You can’t ask it about symptoms, you can’t do blood tests.” But I was astonished at how much you could work out. First, bone responds to disease. Some infections, such as syphilis and tuberculosis, affect bone in very distinctive ways. Osteoarthritis is also easy to identify from tiny holes on the surface of a joint. Next you can look at teeth. People suffered from dental disease in the past, just as we do today, but most prehistoric people actually had much better teeth than ours because they didn’t have such a starchy, sugary diet. They …

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The legends of King Arthur: everything you wanted to know
type: item
date: 2020-09-06T11:15:02.000Z
subject: Anglo-Saxon
subject: Bronze Age
subject: Early medieval
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Everything you wanted to know about history (podcast series)
subject: TV interest
description: Ron Hutton and Ad Putter respond to listener queries and popular search enquiries about King Arthur and the legendary tales surrounding him and his court.
encoded: In the latest of our series tackling the big questions on major historical topics, experts Ron Hutton and Ad Putter respond to listener queries and popular search enquiries about King Arthur and the legendary tales surrounding him and his court. The real King Arthur: why are we so obsessed with trying to solve the mystery? Listen to more episodes in our ‘Everything you wanted to know’ podcast series

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Unburied treasures
type: item
date: 2020-07-24T11:36:23.000Z
subject: Anglo-Saxon
subject: Bronze Age
subject: General ancient history
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Viking
description: As the Portable Antiquities Scheme records its 1.5 millionth find, we speak to Michael Lewis, who is head of the scheme, about some of the most remarkable archaeological discoveries in its history
encoded: As the Portable Antiquities Scheme records it’s 1.5 millionth find, we speak to Michael Lewis, who is head of the scheme, about some of the most remarkable archaeological discoveries in its history, and how metal detectorists are contributing to our understanding of Britain’s past. Read more about the 10 greatest discoveries made by the British public

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Unburied treasures: the 10 greatest discoveries made by the British public
type: item
date: 2020-07-24T11:30:48.000Z
subject: Anglo-Saxon
subject: Bronze Age
subject: Membership
subject: Roman
subject: Viking
subject: Period
subject: Viking Britain
description: From Bronze Age cups to souvenirs from Hadrian’s Wall to coins hidden at the height of the Viking wars, the British public has discovered hundreds of thousands of archaeological finds, many of which have been recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Now, 23 years after it was found ed, the PAS – run by the British Museum and Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales – has recorded more than 1.5 million finds. To mark that milestone, we asked six PAS archaeologists to nominate 10 discoveries that they believe have done most to transform our knowledge of the past…
encoded: Compiled by Michael Lewis The Ringlemere Cup gives us the rarest of glimpses of life in Britain more than three millennia ago We know very little about the people who occupied the south-east corner of the British Isles 3,500 years ago. Yet a little light was shone onto this distant world on 4 November 2001, when metal-detectorist Cliff Bradshaw started scanning the fields of Ringlemere Farm, near Sandwich in Kent. What Bradshaw found nestled beneath the surface that day is one of the oldest treasures ever discovered in Britain. It was a Bronze Age gold vessel dated to 1700–1500 BC, and such was its age and rarity (it is one of only two gold Bronze Age cups found in England) that it was acquired by the British Museum. The Ringlemere Cup was originally 11cm high with corrugated sides. I say ‘originally’ because, when Bradshaw discovered the vessel, it was severely misshapen – presumably after being hit by a farmer’s plough. Had Bradshaw not chanced across the object, it might have been lost forever. So what was the cup used for – and by whom? We can only guess. But a clue is provided by the fact that it has a rounded base. This means that the vessel could not stand alone, suggesting it might have had a ritual use – perhaps it was held or passed around, a bit like a modern-day communion vessel. Maybe it was made to carry an alcoholic or herbed drink as part of a ceremony – although that is, of course, firmly in the realms of speculation! What we are more confident of is that the cup was deposited (perhaps ritually) within a barrow in a prehistoric complex that dates back to c2300 BC, but with activity on the site going back even further in time. We also know that the Ringlemere Cup is one of six stylistically similar Bronze Age vessels that have been discovered across Europe – suggesting that, even at this distant point in history, ideas and skills were transmitted across the continent. Yet it is unlikely that the cup itself was created on the continent. Archaeologists…

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Medieval(ish) matters #9: Do early medieval Irish texts shed light on prehistoric incest?
type: item
date: 2020-06-24T10:32:25.000Z
creator: Dr David Musgrove, FSA
subject: Anglo-Saxon
subject: Bronze Age
subject: Early medieval
subject: General prehistory
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Norman
subject: Period
subject: Stone Age
subject: Medieval kings and queens
subject: Medieval matters blog
description: HistoryExtra content director David Musgrove asks two scholars for their views on what, if anything, we can learn about attitudes of Neolithic people in Ireland (particularly about incest) from studying much later early medieval documents
encoded: Royal incest is always going to grab the headlines. And so it proved last week when a fascinating study was published in Nature revealing the results of a project, whose first author is Dr Lara Cassidy at Trinity College Dublin, sampling human bone remains from Neolithic Irish sites. The most eye-catching of several interesting results came from analysis of an adult male, whose cranial remains were found inside the famous 5,000-year-old Newgrange passage grave in Brú na Bóinne, the world heritage site in Ireland's Boyne valley. His genome indicated that he was “the offspring of a first-order incestuous union” (born to parents who were either siblings, or parent and offspring). The bones of this individual were found in what is assumed to be a prestigious position in the inner chamber of the Newgrange monument. Read more medieval matters blogs from David Musgrove: The Last Kingdom, Robin Hood and how to learn Old Norse in lockdown Back to Braveheart, Viking river boats, & the Crusades The salmon of knowledge & rolling Roman mosaics Chivalry, medieval killer rabbits and prisoners of war in the 15th century Dr Cassidy and her co-authors observed that sibling-to-sibling incest has been recorded among elites in other societies (including the Inca Empire and ancient Egypt), and that “this behaviour co-occurs with the deification of political leaders and is typically limited to ruling families”. Thus the headline of the story in the Daily Mail began “Ireland's ancient kings married their sisters and fathered inbred children to maintain dynastic bloodlines”. Medieval mythology That is a pretty newsworthy story in itself, but in addition, Dr Cassidy and her team also noted that: “The Brú na Bóinne passage tombs appear in medieval mythology that relates their construction to magical manipulations of the solar cycle by a tribe of gods, which has led to unresolved speculation about the durability of oral traditions across millennia. Although such longevity seems unlikely, our r…

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A visit to Botallack Mine, Cornwall
type: item
date: 2019-09-01T11:00:07.000Z
subject: Bronze Age
subject: Georgian
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Roman
subject: Poldark
description: Get a glimpse into Cornwall’s mining past, against the dramatic coastline of Poldark country. BBC History Revealed takes you on a tour of Botallack Mine…
encoded: Cornwall has a colourful history of smuggling, piracy and mining, and though much of the landscape has been left unspoilt, there are many remnants of its industrial past. This dramatic coastline was the inspiration for Winston Graham’s Poldark novels, set in 18th-century Cornwall and which have since been made into a BBC TV series. The Tin Coast – part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage site – still retains glimpses of Cornwall’s tin and copper mining heritage. Running from St Just to Pendeen, along the west coast, Botallack is considered one of the best preserved examples of a Cornish tin mine. Early records suggest there was tin mining in the area from at least the 1500s, but evidence of Cornish tin trading dates back thousands of years. Poldark’s Cornwall: the history behind the hit series A visit to St Fagans National Museum of History, Cardiff Poldark, Peaky Blinders and 6 other historical TV shows that have tourists flocking to Britain Archaeological evidence indicates that tin may have been mined here as long ago as the Roman era or even Bronze Age. By the 19th century, there were more than 2,000 tin mines in the county. Botallack, near St Just, is a former submarine mine, meaning its tunnels stretch out under the sea, in this case for around half a mile. Miners mostly relied on hammers, chisels and gunpowder to get the ore out of the ground. It’s believed that during the mine’s lifetime, 14,500 tonnes of tin and 20,000 tonnes of copper were produced at Botallack, as well as 1,500 tones of arsenic. This poisonous element – a by-product of tin and copper mining – was used in paint until the end of the 19th century, and in weed killers until the 1940s. Mining was already a dangerous occupation, but this added hazard meant that miners had to ensure that any exposed skin was covered in clay, and that they covered their mouth and nose with rags. Conditions in the mines were extreme – temperatures would soar quickly and ventilation was p…

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Scythians: the art of war
type: item
date: 2018-01-16T12:30:10.000Z
subject: Bronze Age
subject: Membership
subject: Period
description: For most of the first millennium BC, the steppe between the Black Sea and China was the domain of Scythians – fierce nomadic warriors who were also adept metalworkers, wood-carvers and painters. St John Simpson, curator of Scythians: Warriors of Ancient Siberia, a new exhibition at the British Museum, reveals what the finest pieces tell us about this little-known people. This article first appeared in issue 6 of BBC World Histories.
encoded: Gold plaque of a mounted Scythian, c400–350 BC This tiny plaque (main picture) was sewn onto clothing as a decorative element; originally rectangular, it was later trimmed to emphasise the outline of the warrior. It is in Greek style but shows a Scythian man with long hair, beard, moustache, trousers, soft shoes and a belted jacket adorned with tiny circles – an attempt to show decorative elements similar to this plaque itself. It was unearthed from the Kul-Oba kurgan (Scythian burial mound) in eastern Crimea, first excavated in 1830, in which a Scythian king was buried with his wife or concubine, a slave and a glittering hoard of gold ornaments. Gold plaque showing Scythians drinking, 400–380 BC This tiny plaque was one of a large number sewn along the seams of trousers worn by a Scythian chief buried in the Solokha kurgan on the Dnieper river, in what’s now eastern Ukraine. It depicts two kneeling Scythian men sharing a drinking horn, the contents of which would undoubtedly have been wine. The Black Sea Scythians imported large quantities of wine from the Greeks. Like most other artefacts in this article, this plaque is part of the vast collection in the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. Headgear crest, late fourth/early third century BC This finely carved piece was found in a coffin in a burial mound in the Pazyryk valley in the Altai Mountains. It formed part of the buried man’s headgear, which would have consisted of a felt cap decorated with pieces of leather showing animal combat scenes and topped with this wooden crest. Visible damage can be made out; this is ancient, and corresponds to fatal wounds on the man’s head, implying that he was wearing this headgear during his final hours. Woman’s leather shoe, late fourth/early third century BC This heavily decorated shoe must have been a prized possession of the woman interred in a burial mound at Pazyryk. It’s made from red leather embellished with gold and tin, and the sole is ornamented with tiny beads a…

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Did people smoke anything before tobacco was discovered?
type: item
date: 2015-05-14T09:49:30.000Z
subject: Bronze Age
subject: General ancient history
subject: Period
subject: Stuart
description: BBC History Revealed meets the great explorers of the Tudor age who raced to the New World and brought back new and wondrous discoveries, including tobacco
encoded: For most Europeans in the early 17th century, the idea of smoking tobacco was a strange novelty. And what’s more, King James VI and I hated it. He called it “lothsome to the eye, hatefull to the Nose, harmefull to the braine, dangerous to the Lungs, and in the blacke stinking fume thereof, neerest resembling the horrible Stigian smoke of the pit that is bottomelesse”. To King James, tobacco was a newly-discovered crop from the Americas, but the ancient Mayans and Aztecs of Mexico had long since smoked it in pipes or rolled up in cigars, puffing on it, as Winston Churchill did, over a good meal with friends. But other types of smoking are even older. In the Bronze Age – as far back as 5,000 years ago – we know the inhalation of burned plants was used in magic, ritual and medicine in such places as India, Mesopotamia and Egypt, while some archaeologists think Stone Age shamans probably inhaled hallucinogenic opiates to commune with the gods. It was likely that such drug-taking was often more religious than recreational, so not really the equivalent of a 20-a-day cigarette habit, but it’s believed that every human society in history has known smoking of some sort. Read next | When were cigarettes invented? A brief history of smoking This article was taken from BBC History Revealed magazine

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Why are there 24 hours in a day?
type: item
date: 2015-02-01T12:00:42.000Z
subject: Ancient Egypt
subject: Bronze Age
subject: General prehistory
subject: Period
description: In our Q&As, historians and experts answer your historical conundrums. Here, historian Greg Jenner proves that while the history of timekeeping is enormously confusing, this question has a fairly simple answer
encoded: For over 4,000 years we have relied on the duodecimal mathematics of the Bronze Age Babylonians, who built the first great cities in what is now Iraq. They saw the number 12 as much more important than 10 because it is divisible by 2, 3, 4 and 6, making it particularly versatile in mathematical calculations. What’s more, the lunisolar calendar, based on observations of both the Sun and the Moon, used 12 lunar phases per year (with a 13th ‘leap’ month added every two or three years). So 12 was the numerical cornerstone of the Universe. Early civilisations, including Egypt, divided both sunlit day and night into 12 parts – in total, 24 hours in a day. Answered by one of our Q&A experts, historian and author Greg Jenner. This article was taken from BBC History Revealed magazine

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Revealed: Racton Man was Bronze Age warrior chief
type: item
date: 2014-12-19T07:00:23.000Z
subject: Bronze Age
subject: General prehistory
subject: Period
description: A quarter of a century after his skeleton was discovered on West Sussex farmland, 'Racton Man' has been revealed as an important warrior chief of the Bronze Age
encoded: A 4,000-year-old Bronze Age skeleton found buried with a rare dagger is thought to have been an early tribal ruler who died in combat. Analysis of Racton Man’s teeth, bones and dagger, carried out by the London Institute of Archaeology, has revealed he was six foot tall, aged 45 when he died, and could have been brought up in southern Britain. Researchers have concluded he died more than 4,000 years ago, sometime in the period 2300-2150 BC. ‘Racton Man’ – nicknamed after the discovery of his skeleton in the hamlet of Racton, near Chichester, West Sussex in 1989 – was found buried with an extremely rare and valuable dagger. This is thought to be one of the earliest bronze artefacts in the UK, and is one of only seven ornate rivet studded daggers ever to have been discovered. James Kenny, Chichester District Council's archaeologist, described the results as "staggering". “The fact that this man had a bronze dagger would have been phenomenally rare then – let alone now,” he said. “This would have been right at the start of the introduction of this type of technology and would have been one of the first bronze daggers in existence in this country.” Racton Man – who researchers believe was probably a tribal leader from the very beginning of the Bronze Age – was found to be displaying signs of spinal degeneration, likely due to his age. Researchers also believe he suffered from a chronic sinus infection, as well as tooth decay. Wounds found on his upper arm, sustained around the time of his death and which never healed, suggest he died in battle. Racton Man’s injuries are believed to be consistent with the arm being raised during fighting. Although less certain, there is also evidence of a similar blow having struck the lower part of the right shoulder, under the armpit. A sharp force blow to this area of the body would have been consistent with a double strike – one to the head, blocked by the raised right arm, and a second deep into the armpit, presumably to sever the m…

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