Opinion
Discovery of 8,600-Year-Old Bread Gives Rise to Half-Baked Claims
Turkey’s narrative surrounding “the world’s oldest bread” raises questions about how archaeological heritage is used for nationalistic ends.
Sarah Bond
Sarah E. Bond is an associate professor of history at the University of Iowa. She blogs on antiquity and digital humanities, and is the author of Strike: Labor, Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire (Yale University Press, February 2025).
Art
The Modern Resurrection of the Antichrist
Since antiquity, periods of political uncertainty have generated spurious proclamations of the Antichrist, from Nero to Taylor Swift.
News
Did Archaeologists Discover Pliny the Elder’s Famous Roman Villa?
News that researchers may have found the site where Pliny watched the eruption of Mount Vesuvius epitomizes the pressure to tie discoveries to well-known narratives.
News
Unearthed Clay Seals Shed Light on Ancient Roman Archiving Practices
The finding of such a large number of document seals is a window into daily life in the Roman city of Doliche in modern-day Turkey.
Art
As a History Professor, This Is How I Use AI in Class
Instead of assigning my routine Gladiator review, I asked students to query ChatGPT about the film’s historical inaccuracies.
News
2,000-Year-Old Grave of Roman Doctor Unearthed in Hungary
The discovery of a skeleton and medical tools sheds light on the relationship between doctors and metal artisans in antiquity.
Film
John Wick Gives a Bone-Cracking Lesson in Greco-Roman Mythology
Familiar tales of Greek and Roman mythology abound in the latest chapter of the cult series.
Art
The Meaning of Ancient Greek and Roman Artisan Signatures
What did a signature mean in the ancient world, and how much can we trust what they seem to tell us?
Film
Why Archaeologists Are Fuming Over Netflix's Ancient Apocalypse Series
In an open letter, the Society for American Archaeology accused journalist Graham Hancock's docuseries of disparaging experts while promoting “racist, white supremacist ideologies.”
Art
Why Did Roman Baths Disappear?
New research contests the myth that it was Christianity's opposition to public nudity that led to the decline in large-scale bathing in the late Roman Empire.
Art
An Iowa Museum Renowned for Its Pollock Emerges From a Flood With a More Inclusive Mission
At the newly opened Stanley Museum, formerly the University of Iowa Museum of Art, White artists like Jackson Pollock and Grant Wood are no longer the focus of its collection.
News
Archaeologists Say They Discovered Ancient Gladiator Tombs in Southern Turkey
The Roman-era burial ground is located in Anazarbus (modern Anavarza) in the country’s southern Adana province.