Jizhou ware or Chi-chou ware (Chinese: 吉州窯; pinyin: Jízhōu yáo; Wade–Giles: Chi-chou yao) is Chinese pottery from Jiangxi province in southern China; the Jizhou kilns made a number of different types of wares over the five centuries of production.  The best known wares are simple shapes in stoneware, with a strong emphasis on subtle effects in the dark glazes, comparable to Jian ware, but often combined with other decorative effects.  In the Song dynasty they achieved a high prestige, especially among Buddhist monks and in relation to tea-drinking.  The wares often use leaves or paper cutouts to create resist patterns in the glaze, by leaving parts of the body untouched.
In the Yuan dynasty Jizhou also produced Qingbai ware, as well as brown and white slip-painted wares that borrowed their technique from Cizhou ware, popular wares produced at many sites in north China, and may have been significant in influencing the start of blue and white pottery in Jingdezhen ware, from relatively nearby.
Production seems to have begun in the late Tang dynasty or under the Five Dynasties, and continued until the Yuan dynasty.  Production seems to have ended suddenly in the 14th century, for reasons that are not yet clear.  In a ranking of Chinese wares from 1388, in the Essential Criteria of Antiquities, Jizhou ware is listed in ninth place, above Longquan celadon, which was falling from fashion by then.


It was produced in several kilns at Yonghe Town, Ji'an County, Jiangxi, called the Jizhou Kiln.  The historic site has been classified by the government as a major national historical and cultural sites in Jiangxi.
Excavations at the site revealed large numbers of discarded fragments of Qingbai, an early blueish-white porcelain, below the layers with brown and white painted wares. Jizhou was clearly one of the secondary sites where this was produced, with Jingdezhen the main centre.


The site was excavated by W. F. Grimes, director of the Museum of London, and Audrey Williams in 1954. The temple, initially hoped to have been an early Christian church, was built in the mid-3rd century and dedicated to Mithras or perhaps jointly to several deities popular among Roman soldiers. Then it was rededicated, probably to Bacchus, in the early fourth century. Found within the temple, where they had been carefully buried at the time of its rededication, were finely detailed third-century white marble likenesses of Minerva, Mercury the guide of the souls of the dead, and the syncretic gods Mithras and Serapis, imported from Italy. There were several coarser locally-made clay figurines of Venus, combing her hair. The artefacts recovered were put on display in the Museum of London.
Among the sculptures the archaeologists found was a head of Mithras himself, recognizable by his Phrygian cap. The base of the head is tapered to fit a torso, which  was not preserved.
Artefacts found in Walbrook in 1889 probably came from the Mithraeum, according to the archaeologist Ralph Merrifield, although this was not identified at the time. One was a marble relief, 0.53 m tall, of Mithras in the act of killing the astral bull, the Tauroctony that was as central to Mithraism as the Crucifixion is to Christianity. On it Mithras is accompanied by the two small figures of the torch-bearing celestial twins of Light and Darkness, Cautes and Cautopates, within the cosmic annual wheel of the zodiac. At the top left, outside the wheel, Sol–Helios ascends the heavens in his biga; at top right Luna descends in her chariot. The heads of two wind-gods, Boreas and Zephyros, are in the bottom corners. It bears the inscription
VLPIVS SILVANVS EMERITVS LEG II AVG VOTVM SOLVIT FACTVS ARAVSIONE
which may be translated "Ulpius Silvanus, veteran soldier of the Second Augustan Legion, in fulfilment of a vow, makes this altar [as the result of] a vision" or "Ulpius Silvanus, veteran of the Second Legion Augusta, fulfilled his vow having become (a Mithraist) at Orange"
Nearby were buried heads of the Roman goddess Minerva and a finely detailed bearded head of Serapis, Jupiter-like in his features but securely recognizable by the grain-basket, the modius, upon his head, a token of resurrection.
An inscription dateable AD 307–310 at the site
PRO SALVTE D N CCCC ET NOB CAES DEO MITHRAE ET SOLI INVICTO AB ORIENTE AD OCCIDENTEM
may be translated "For the Salvation of our lords the four emperors and the noble Caesar, and to the god Mithras, the Invincible Sun from the east to the west".
Parallel to the construction work between 2010 and 2014, Museum of London Archaeology led a team of over 50 archaeologists in further excavations of the site. Excavation recovered more than 14,000 items, including a large assembly of tools. The varied objects are thought to have been brought to the site in landfills and soils collected elsewhere and laid down to improve the marshy banks of the River Walbrook during the rebuilding of London after the Boudican revolt of AD 60 or 61.
The local waterlogged soil conditions then preserved even organic material like leather shoes and a large assembly of wooden writing tablets of which over 400 were found. The tablets originally held a layer of dark wax and messages were scratched into the wax with a stylus that revealed the paler wood underneath. The wax has perished, but the words were reconstructed from scratch marks left in the wood. Among the messages is the oldest financial document from London, dated AD 57, and two addresses from AD 62 and AD 70 containing the earliest mention of London.


The Roman temple, when it was originally built, would have stood on the east bank of the now covered-over River Walbrook, a key freshwater source in Roman Londinium. Nearby, in its former streambed, a small square hammered lead sheet was found, on which an enemy of someone named Martia Martina had inscribed her name backwards and thrown the token into the stream, in a traditional Celtic way of reaching the gods that has preserved metal tokens in rivers throughout Celtic Europe, from the swords at La Tène to Roman times (compare wishing well.) The temple foundations are very close to other important sites in the city of London including the historic London Stone, the Bank of England and London Wall. The original Mithraeum was built partly underground, recalling the cave of Mithras where the Mithraic epiphany took place.
The temple site was uncovered in September 1954 during excavation work for the construction of Bucklersbury House, a 14-storey modernist office block to house Legal & General. As a compromise between redesigning the new building and abandoning the archaeological site, the ruin was dismantled and moved 100 metres to Temple Court, Queen Victoria Street, where in 1962 the foundations were reassembled at street level for an open-air public display. The reconstruction was not accurate and drew criticism for the materials used. An interim report on the excavation included in W. F. Grimes, The Excavation of Roman and Mediaeval London (1968) was superseded by John Shepherd, The Temple of Mithras, Walbrook (an English Heritage monograph) (1998).
In 2007 plans were drawn up to return the Mithraeum to its original location, following the demolition of Bucklersbury House and four other buildings in the block for the planned creation of a new Walbrook Square development, designed by Foster and Partners and Jean Nouvel Architects. However, redesigns and disputes between freeholders Legal & General and Metrovacesa, who had agreed to buy the project, resulted in the Walbrook Square project being put on hold in October 2008, when Bovis Lend Lease removed their project team.  Metrovacesa left the project in August 2009.  In May 2010 the Mithraeum remained in situ at Temple Court, though in the same month there was talk of reviving the Walbrook Square project.
The Walbrook Square project was purchased by the Bloomberg company in 2010, which decided to restore the Mithraeum to its original site as part of their new European headquarters. The new site is 7 metres (23 ft) below the modern street level, as part of an exhibition space beneath the Bloomberg building. The temple was moved a little west of its original position to preserve parts of the walls that were not uncovered in 1952–54 and are too fragile to display today.
The ruins are reconstructed as they appeared at the end of the excavation in October 1954, reflecting the first building phase of around AD 240 without any later Roman additions to the site. A large majority of the stones and bricks are original. The wood, render and lime mortar are new, but based on mortar samples from contemporary Roman London structures. The temple is displayed with a selection of artefacts found on the site.


WikiWeb_Hypogeum of the Volumnus family_0

The Hypogeum of the Volumnus family (Italian: Ipogeo dei Volumni) is an Etruscan tomb in Ponte San Giovanni, a suburb of Perugia, Umbria, central Italy. Its dating is uncertain, although it is generally assigned to the 3rd century BC.
The hypogeum was the Roman-Etruscan tomb of Arnth Veltimna Aules.   It is part of the larger Palazzone necropolis, a burial ground dating to the 6th-5th century BC, with numerous subterranean tombs.    Visitors can see and enter some of the tombs found along paths in the site's grounds.   A museum building displays funerary urns and other artifacts found in the excavations of the area.   More urns are displayed in the separate building covering the Volumnus tomb.  The Volumnus tomb itself is accessed by a staircase which leads several metres under the surface to the portal leading inside to a vestibule. This in turn opens into four small side chambers and three larger central ones, the middle of which housed the remains of the family's main members. Only this chamber now displays burial urns and artifacts.  Arnth's urn is made of travertine, and is surmounted by a representation of the deceased lying on a triclinium.
The tomb was used until the 1st century BC. It was rediscovered on 5 February 1840.


Cadbury Castle is a Bronze and Iron Age hillfort in the civil parish of South Cadbury in the English county of Somerset. It is a scheduled monument and has been associated with King Arthur's legendary court at Camelot.
The hillfort is formed by a 7.28 hectares (18.0 acres) plateau surrounded by ramparts on the surrounding slopes of the limestone Cadbury Hill. The site has been excavated in the late 19th and early 20th century by James Bennett and Harold St George Gray. More recent examination of the site was conducted in the 1960s by Leslie Alcock and since 1992 by the South Cadbury Environs Project. These have revealed artifacts from human occupation and use from the Neolithic through the Bronze and Iron Ages. The site was reused by the Roman forces and again from c. 470 until some time after 580. In the 11th century, it temporarily housed a Saxon mint. Evidence of various buildings at the site has been unearthed, including a "Great Hall", round and rectangular house foundations, metalworking, and a possible sequence of small rectangular temples or shrines.


The earliest settlement on the site is represented by pits and post holes dated with Neolithic pottery and flints. These are the remains of a small agricultural settlement which was unenclosed. Bones recovered from the site have been radiocarbon dated to 3500 and 3300 BC. A bank under the later Iron Age defences is likely to be a lynchet or terrace derived from early ploughing of the hilltop. The site was also occupied in the Late Bronze Age, from which ovens have been identified. Radical revisions of the Bronze Age archaeology on the lower slopes resulted from discoveries during excavations and survey work by the South Cadbury Environs Project. Finds include the first Bronze Age shield from an excavation in northwest Europe, an example of the distinctive Yetholm-type. Carbon dating implies that the shield was deposited in the 10th century BC, although metallurgical evidence suggests that it was manufactured two centuries earlier. A metal-working building and associated enclosure were discovered 2 km (1.2 mi) south east of the hillfort, roughly contemporary with the period of manufacture.
Human occupation continued throughout the Iron Age. A stone enclosure was constructed around 300 BC with timber revetting, and ploughing ceased within the hilltop site. Excavations have shown the signs of four and six post rectangular buildings which were gradually replaced with roundhouses. Large ramparts and elaborate timber defences were constructed and refortified over the following centuries. Excavation revealed round and rectangular house foundations, metalworking, and a possible sequence of small rectangular temples or shrines, indicating permanent oppidum-like occupation. Excavations were undertaken by local clergyman James Bennett in 1890 and Harold St George Gray in 1913, followed by major work led by archaeologist Leslie Alcock from 1966 to 1970. He identified a long sequence of occupation on the site and many of the finds are displayed in the Museum of Somerset in Taunton. The finds from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, exploring the ramparts and southwestern gate structure, represent one of the deepest and most complex Iron Age stratigraphic sequences excavated in southern Britain.


Pre Rup (/ˈprɛ ruːp/; Khmer: ប្រែរូប, Prê Rub  [prae.ruːp]) is a Hindu temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built as the state temple of Khmer king Rajendravarman  and dedicated in 961 or early 962. It is a temple mountain of combined brick, laterite and sandstone construction.
The temple's name is a comparatively modern one meaning "turn the body". This reflects the common belief among Cambodians that funerals were conducted at the temple, with the ashes of the body being ritually rotated in different directions as the service progressed.


The Macellum of Pozzuoli (Italian: Macellum di Pozzuoli) was the macellum or market building of the Roman colony of Puteoli, now the city of Pozzuoli in southern Italy. When first excavated in the 18th century, the discovery of a statue of Serapis led to the building being misidentified as the city's serapeum or Temple of Serapis.
A band of borings or Gastrochaenolites left by marine Lithophaga bivalve molluscs on three standing marble columns indicated that these columns had remained upright over centuries while the site sank below sea level, then re-emerged. This puzzling feature was the subject of debate in early geology, and eventually led to the identification of bradyseism in the area, showing that the Earth's crust could be subject to gradual movement without destructive earthquakes.


Before the Claudian works it was Julius Caesar, pressed by Marsi, the local inhabitants, to see to the reclamation plan of the Fucine plateau, in Abruzzo. The initial purpose was to control the unstable level of the lake, which very often flooded riparian villages because of the frequent cloggings of the only natural swallow-hole situated at Petogna near Luco dei Marsi, while in summer, above all because of the receding waters, the lands surrounding the inhabited areas often became marshy causing serious sanitary problems to the population. According to Suetonius, beside the main purpose there was the ambitious aim of tracing a road connecting the Tiber with the Adriatic Sea through the Apennine Mountains Caesar was not able to provide for the work since he was killed before carrying out his plan.


A first planning hypothesis provided the digging of a canal that would let the lake waters flow out through the low Cesolino hill flowing them into the Salto River. This easily feasible plan was discarded quickly, because the considerable amount of water, flowing first into the Velino River, then into the Nera River, and finally into the Tiber, would represent a flood threat for Rome. A second but harder plan provided instead to let the lake waters flow into the Liri River along a tunnel dug in Mount Salviano.
In 41 AD it was Emperor Claudius who resumed the ambitious plan and, thanks to a substantial public financing, entrusted a Roman enterprise with the works. The work, considered to be among the grandest hydraulic enterprises of the antiquity, was to regulate the flow of the Fucine Lake, feared by local populations due to the violence of its waters. Along its banks, about 30,000 men, among slaves and workmen, strove intent on the manual digging of the swallow-hole. Eleven years later, in 52 AD, the work was brought to an end. First collateral tunnels were constructed, connected to each other by means of numerous inclined shafts (or wells), which served to prepare the main digging,  having completed which, waters drained towards the Liri River. However, there were a lot of unexpected inconveniences and difficulties during the work construction, including several landslides occurring in the most vulnerable and sandiest sections of the belly or the mountain and in the area of the dam, that is the lock made between the Roman basins for the water storage and the mouth of the emissary near the Fucine inlet.
When the works were concluded Claudius, before the opening of the locks, celebrated the work by organizing a naumachia, a naval battle on the lake, with the presence of his wife Agrippina and the young Nero. Later on with Trajan, between 98 and 117 AD, and with Hadrian, between 117 and 138 AD, there were maintenance works, which became necessary right from the inauguration due to the configuration of the carved rock, with a great economic and even human cost. Thanks to this work the lake basin shrank by about 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres) warding off the flood danger. The economy of Marsica and especially of the municipalities of Alba Fucens, Lucus Angitiae and Marruvium became thriving, and the surrounding mountainous areas were chosen as holiday resorts.


The Diana Fortress (Serbian: Тврђава Диана, Tvrđava Diana) is a Roman castrum built in 100-101 AD, located in Kladovo, in eastern Serbia.
It is located on cliffs of the Đerdap, above the Danube, in the Karataš archaeological site near Kladovo. The main buildings were built on a strategic location overlooking the Danube frontier with stone in 100 AD during the reign of Roman Emperor Trajan, who had a military camp located at the vicinity. Further modifications were made at the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th century when additional towers were added towards the river for extra defence towards the Danube shores. At the mid 4th century the fort was damaged by the invading Huns and in 530 AD rebuilt by Emperor Justinian.


Besides the military buildings, a sacrificial necropolis and civilian settlement is located within the walls. Items such as various daily tools, marble and bronze sculptures were found.
In 1983, Diana Fortress was added to the Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance list, protected by Republic of Serbia.


The site was excavated in 1934-36 by archaeologist N. G. Majumdar. The excavation revealed the base of a stupa built in the terraced cellular style of construction. The base consists of 172 tightly-packed blind rectangular cells and arranged in gradually rising tiers to support a polygonal shrine above it. The site features several Terracotta plaques from the late Gupta period as well as a square temple added later in the Sena period. During excavation, a stone-slab was discovered at the center of the shrine, which had twelve shallow depressions surrounding a larger depression at the center containing a tiny gold leaf with the figure of a recumbent bull in relief. This indicates the shrine's use as a Shiva temple at some point.


Preah Palilay (Khmer: ប្រាសាទព្រះបាលិលេយ្យ, Prasat Preăh Palĭlai  [praːsaːt prĕəh paːlilaj]) is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia. It is located in Angkor Thom, 400 m north-west of Phimeanakas.
This small Buddhist sanctuary in the wooded area north of the Royal palace in Angkor Thom has a number of attractive features and is well worth the short detour.


Bodowyr Burial Chamber is a Neolithic burial chamber made of a few large stacked stones (also known as a dolmen or a passage grave) in a farmer's field on the north Wales island of Anglesey. It is located at Bodowyr Farm, 1.25 mi (2.0 km) east of Llangaffo, off the B4419 road.


Writing in the Mona Antiqua Restaurata in the early eighteenth century, the antiquarian Henry Rowland described this as "a pretty cromlech standing at the top of a hillock at Bodowyr". He also mentioned a "small cirque" nearby and the remnants of a cairn from which the stones had mostly been removed for use as building stone; no trace remains of these structures. In 1833 the capstone was said to be supported by four upright stones so one of these would appear to have fallen since then.
Bodowyr Burial Chamber is the central burial chamber of a passage grave of a type more frequently found in Ireland. The chamber has three upright stones about a metre high supporting a robust, wedge-shaped capstone. A large stone lying flat nearby on the western side may have been part of the structure, perhaps another upright, or a blocking stone, and another low stone beside the entrance to the east which was perhaps a kerb or sill. Originally a mound of earth or rubble would have covered or partially covered the dolmen, and there would have been a passage from the entrance on the southeast to the side of the mound. The mound has since been completely dispersed. The location is on level, low-lying ground and it is not apparent why this particular site should have been chosen. The fact that Snowdon and the Glyderau are visible in the distance, with the Llanberis Pass between them, may be significant, and there may be some solar or lunar alignment as seen from the entrance that has not yet been elucidated.


Phimeanakas (Khmer: ប្រាសាទភិមានអាកាស, Prasat Phimean Akas, 'celestial temple') or Vimeanakas (Khmer: ប្រាសាទវិមានអាកាស, Prasat Vimean Akas) at Angkor, Cambodia, is a Hindu temple in the Khleang style, built at the end of the 10th century, during the reign of Rajendravarman (from 941 to 968), then completed by Suryavarman I in the shape of a three tier pyramid as a Hindu temple. On top of the pyramid there was a tower, while on the edge of top platform there are galleries. Phimeanakas is located inside the walled enclosure of the Royal Palace of Angkor Thom north of Baphuon.


Trethevy Quoit (Cornish: Koyt Tredhewi) is a well-preserved megalithic structure between St Cleer and Darite in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is known locally as "the giant's house". Standing 9 feet (2.7 m) high, it consists of five standing stones capped by a large slab and was added to the Heritage at Risk Register in 2017.


Maiden Castle is an Iron Age hillfort 1.6 mi (2.6 km) south west of Dorchester, in the English county of Dorset. Hill forts were fortified hill-top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age.
The earliest archaeological evidence of human activity on the site consists of a Neolithic causewayed enclosure and bank barrow. In about 1800 BC, during the Bronze Age, the site was used for growing crops before being abandoned. Maiden Castle itself was built in about 600 BC; the early phase was a simple and unremarkable site, similar to many other hill forts in Britain and covering 6.4 ha (16 acres). Around 450 BC it was greatly expanded and the enclosed area nearly tripled in size to 19 ha (47 acres), making it the largest hill fort in Britain and, by some definitions, the largest in Europe. At the same time, Maiden Castle's defences were made more complex with the addition of further ramparts and ditches. Around 100 BC, habitation at the hill fort went into decline and became concentrated at the eastern end of the site. It was occupied until at least the Roman period, by which time it was in the territory of the Durotriges, a Celtic tribe.
After the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century AD, Maiden Castle appears to have been abandoned, although the Romans may have had a military presence on the site. In the late 4th century AD, a temple and ancillary buildings were constructed. In the 6th century AD the hill top was entirely abandoned and was used only for agriculture during the medieval period.
Maiden Castle has provided inspiration for composer John Ireland and authors Thomas Hardy and John Cowper Powys. The study of hill forts was popularised in the 19th century by archaeologist Augustus Pitt Rivers. In the 1930s, archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler and Tessa Verney Wheeler undertook the first archaeological excavations at Maiden Castle, raising its profile among the public. Further excavations were carried out under Niall Sharples, which added to an understanding of the site and repaired damage caused in part by the large number of visitors. Today the site is protected as a Scheduled Monument and is maintained by English Heritage.


In AD 43, the Roman conquest of Britain began. Vespasian's subsequent campaign to conquer the tribes of the Atrebates, Dumnonii, and Durotriges in the southwest of Britain took place in AD 43–47. Based on the discovery of a group of bodies in the Late Iron Age formal cemetery that had met a violent death, archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler created a vivid story of the fall of Maiden Castle to Roman forces. He believed a legion wreaked destruction on the site, butchering men, women, and children, before setting fire to the site and slighting its defences. However, there is little archaeological evidence to support this version of events, or even that the hill fort was attacked by the Romans, Wheeler's interpretation of a siege and subsequent massacre being unlikely. Although there is a layer of charcoal, it is associated with the iron works, and the main evidence for slighting of defences comes from the collapse of an entranceway to the fort. Although 14 bodies in the cemetery exhibited signs of a violent death, there is no evidence that they died at Maiden Castle.
The eastern part of the hill fort remained in use for at least the first few decades of the Roman occupation, although the duration and nature of habitation is uncertain. Many 1st-century Roman artefacts have been discovered near the east entrance and in the centre of the hill fort. It has been suggested that Maiden Castle was occupied as a Roman military outpost or fort and the settlement discontinued, as there is no known fort in the area and it was not uncommon for hill forts in the southwest to have been occupied by Roman forces. This was a characteristic of Vespasian's campaign in the region; there was military occupation at Cadbury Castle in Somerset, Hembury in Devon, and Hodd Hill in Dorset. A full geophysical survey of the hillfort conducted in 2015 by Dave Stewart has, however, produced no evidence for a Roman fort here.
Maiden Castle had been abandoned by the end of the 1st century, a time when Durnovaria (Dorchester) rose to prominence as the civitas, or regional capital, of the Durotriges, a Celtic tribe whose territory was in southwest England. However, in July 2015 archaeologists from Bournemouth University discovered the remains of the Iron Age settlement of Duropolis and believe that the abandonment of the fort may be connected with the new site. According to the ancient geographer Ptolemy, writing in the 2nd century AD, Dunium was the main settlement of the Durotriges. Although Dunium has long been thought to refer to Maiden Castle, Hod Hill and Hengistbury have been identified as two other possible sites for Dunium. Dunium may have derived from British duno- which meant "a fort". Sometime after 367, a Romano-Celtic temple was built at Maiden Castle in the eastern half of the hill fort. The date was deduced from a hoard of coins discovered beneath a mosaic floor in the temple. A central room, measuring 6 m (20 ft) square, was surrounded by a 3 m (9.8 ft) passageway, similar to many Romano-Celtic temples found in the south of England. Nearby were two other buildings: a rectangular building 7.9 m × 5.5 m (26 ft × 18 ft) with two rooms that may have been a house for a priest, and a circular building that may have been a shrine. At the same time as the temple was built, the fort's eastern gateway was refurbished; there was possibly another shrine inside the gateway.


Hill forts developed in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC. The reason for their emergence in Britain, and their purpose, has been a subject of debate. It has been argued that they could have been defensive sites constructed in response to invasion from continental Europe, built by invaders, or a military reaction to social tensions caused by an increasing population and resulting pressure on agriculture.
Since the 1960s, the dominant view has been that the increasing use of iron led to social changes in Britain. Deposits of iron ore were located in different places to the tin and copper ore necessary to make bronze. As a result, trading patterns shifted, and the old elites lost their economic and social status. Power passed into the hands of a new group of people.
Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe believes that population increase still played a role and has stated that
[the forts] provided defensive possibilities for the community at those times when the stress [of an increasing population] burst out into open warfare. But I wouldn't see them as having been built because there was a state of war. They would be functional as defensive strongholds when there were tensions and undoubtedly some of them were attacked and destroyed, but this was not the only, or even the most significant, factor in their construction.
There are around 31 hill forts in Dorset; archaeologist Sharples, who undertook excavations at Maiden Castle, proposed that hill forts were used to control agricultural land to support a large community. Those in Dorset were situated near expanses of fertile land. Monumental defences such as the ditch at Maiden Castle indicate that the land was disputed and communities fought each other for control. This is supported by Cunliffe, who argues that the elaborate earthworks such as those around the entrances to Maiden Castle and Danebury were used to defend the weakest part of the hill fort. They increased the time the attackers took to reach the gateway, which would have left them vulnerable to defenders armed with slings. Hoards of carefully selected sling stones have been found at both sites.
Constructed on a territorial boundary in about 600 BC, the first hill fort at Maiden Castle was a 6.4 ha (16-acre) area surrounded by a single ditch. The hill it sits on is part of a ridge on the north side of the South Winterborne valley, which feeds the River Frome. At the eastern end of the ridge and rising 132 m (433 ft) above sea level, the site of the first hill fort was not the highest point along the ridge. The highest point is the neighbouring Hog Hill, which is only 1 m (3.3 ft) higher. The hill projects about 40 m (131 ft) above the surrounding countryside, which is about 90 m (295 ft) above sea level. The defences were 8.4 m (28 ft) high and consisted of the V-shaped ditch and a rampart. The rampart would probably have been timber-faced around just the entrances. Elaborate timber facing would have been used to impress visitors. The site could be accessed by an entrance in the northwest and a double entrance in the east. The double entrance is unique in hill forts in the British Isles. The reason for a double entrance is unclear; however, archaeologist Niall Sharples has suggested that it was a form of segregation. It is likely that several farming communities lived in the hill fort and wanted different entrances.
The defences of the first hill fort were rebuilt on at least one occasion; the ditch was deepened by 1.5 to 7 m (4.9 to 23.0 ft). The spoil from re-digging the ditch was deposited on the back of the rampart. At the same time, the defences around the eastern entrances were made more complex. A bank and ditch were built outside the two entrances, and a bank was erected between them. The bank had a wall faced with limestone, which was brought from more than 3 km (2 mi) away. Sharples believes this would have created an impressive entrance and was a demonstration of the settlement's high status. The Early Iron Age archaeology has been largely destroyed due to later activity on the site. However, nearby Poundbury and Chalbury date to the same period, so through comparison it is possible to infer the Early Iron Age activity at Maiden Castle. From parallels at these sites, Sharples deduces that it was probably densely occupied, with separate areas for habitation and storage. Not much is known about the material culture and economy of the Early Iron Age, and the paucity of finds from this period at Maiden Castle makes it difficult to draw conclusions about activity on the site.


The Tsodilo Hills are a UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS), consisting of rock art, rock shelters, depressions, and caves in southern Africa. It gained its WHS listing in 2001 because of its unique religious and spiritual significance to local peoples, as well as its unique record of human settlement over many millennia. UNESCO estimates there are over 4500 rock paintings at the site. The site consists of a few main hills known as the Child Hill, Female Hill, and Male Hill.


People have used the Tsodilo Hills for painting and ritual for thousands of years. UNESCO estimates that the hills contain 500 individual sites representing thousands of years of human habitation. The hills' rock art has been linked to the local hunter gatherers. It is believed that ancestors of the San created some of the paintings at Tsodilo, and were also the ones to inhabit the caves and rock shelters. There is evidence that Bantu peoples were responsible for some of the artworks at the hills. Some of the paintings have been dated to be as early as 24,000 years before present.


Located on the northwest side of the Female Hill, this site gets its name from the depressions that have been ground into the shelter walls. Accompanying these marks  are red paintings of what appear to be cattle, as well as geometrics. The rock shelter site, dated from charcoal samples, had its earliest occupation at least 30,000 years ago. Excavations dug up LSA stone tools and Iron Age artifacts. Pottery found in the deepest layers was dated to the first century, and is affiliated with the oldest stone artifacts found in this area. Mongongo nut shells were also uncovered in the various deposits, including the deepest layers, which makes them the oldest mongongo nuts ever found in archaeological context.


Portus Adurni was a Roman fort in the Roman province of Britannia situated at the north end of Portsmouth Harbour. It was part of the Saxon Shore, and is the best-preserved Roman fort north of the Alps. Around an eighth of the fort has been excavated.
It was later converted into a medieval castle known as Portchester Castle.


The Stoa of Eumenes was constructed south of the Asklepieion staircase and the peripatos,  on an artificial terrace of 9m x 13ms. To retain the pathway to the north an arched retaining wall was constructed along the northern edge of the site. Along this wall, the remains of which now dominate the site, the arcade was built. A substantial part of its northern wall, which is made from breccia and limestone and faced with Hymettian and Pentelic marble, is still preserved. Today, the ancient level of the stoa floor has been restored, with many of the pillars of the ground floor colonnade still in place. The foundations on which the arcade was built is located to the northwest of the Choragic Monument of Nikias and on the same level as the broad terrace in front of the stoa which is 32 m wide at its eastern end and 20 m west. To the south, it is bordered by a retaining wall, a considerable part of which has been preserved.
The arcade was two-storey, 163 m long and 17.65 m wide. The ground floor facade was formed by a colonnade with 64 Doric columns, while along the lengthwise axis of the building there was a second series of 32 columns of the Ionic order.  On the upper storey, the exterior colonnade had the equivalent number of double-semicolumns of Ionic order and the interior columns had the rather rarer type of capitals, the Pergamene order.   The two floors were connected externally by two stairs that formed at either end of the arcade. Viewers from the lower part of the theatre had access to the ground floor of the gallery through the western parodos  The Stoa of Eumenes bears a great resemblance to the form of the Stoa of Attalos in the Ancient Agora of Athens  erected by Eumenes' brother, Attalos II.
As a careful study of the fragmentary remains of the capitals and cornice showed that the building was for the most part made of a kind of island marble from which most of the buildings in Pergamon were built, while it is not found in other Athens buildings. Most of the architectural members of the arcade would likely have been built in Pergamon and shipped to Athens.
In the 2nd century AD, the western end of the Eumenes Stoa was connected to the Odeon of Herod Atticus by a staircase at the eastern end of its interior. The gallery was in use until the 3rd century AD, when it was destroyed and its material used in the construction of the Valerian wall.  In the middle of the 13th century, the northern retaining wall of the arcade was incorporated into the Rizokastro Wall built around the Acropolis rock.
The ruins of the Stoa of Eumenes were uncovered by the Archaeological Society of Athens in the years 1877–78.


Aizanoi (Ancient Greek: Αἰζανοί), Latinized as Aezani, was a Phrygian city in western Anatolia. Located in what is now Çavdarhisar, near Kütahya, its ruins are situated astride the River Penkalas, some 1,000 m (3,300 ft) above sea level. The city was an important political and economic centre in Roman times; surviving remains from the period include a well-preserved Temple of Zeus, unusual combined theatre-stadium complex, and macellum inscribed with the Price Edict of Diocletian. The city fell into decline in Late Antiquity. Later serving as a citadel, in 2012 the site was submitted for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.


Tuzigoot National Monument (Yavapai: ʼHaktlakva, Western Apache: Tú Digiz) preserves a 2- to 3-story pueblo ruin on the summit of a limestone and sandstone ridge just east of Clarkdale, Arizona, 120 feet (36 m) above the Verde River floodplain. The Tuzigoot Site is an elongated complex of stone masonry rooms that were built along the spine of a natural outcrop in the Verde Valley. The central rooms stand higher than the others and they appear to have served public functions. The pueblo has 110 rooms. The National Park Service currently administers 58 acres (23 ha), within an authorized boundary of 834 acres (338 ha).
″Tú Digiz/Tuzigoot″ is a Tonto Apache term for "crooked waters," from nearby Pecks Lake, a cutoff meander of the Verde River; from Tú Digiz one principal Tonto Apache clan gets its name. The pueblo was built by the Sinagua people between 1125 and 1400 CE. Tuzigoot is the largest and best preserved of the many Sinagua pueblo ruins in the Verde Valley. The ruins at Tuzigoot incorporate very few doors; instead, the inhabitants used ladders accessed by trapdoor type openings in the roofs to enter each room.
The monument is on land once owned by United Verde/Phelps Dodge. The corporation sold the site to Yavapai County for $1 so that the excavation could be completed under the auspices of federal relief projects. The county in turn transferred the land to the federal government.
Tuzigoot was excavated from 1933 to 1935 by Louis Caywood and Edward Spicer of the University of Arizona, with funding from the federal Civil Works Administration and Works Project Administration. In 1935–1936, with additional federal funding, the ruins were prepared for public display, and a Pueblo Revival-style museum and visitor center was constructed.
Franklin D. Roosevelt designated Tuzigoot Ruins as a U.S. National Monument on July 25, 1939.  The Tuzigoot National Monument Archeological District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.
The ruins are surrounded by the tailings pond of the former United Verde copper mine at Jerome. The tailings have recently been stabilized and revegetated.


The Khleangs are two buildings of unknown purpose on the east side of the Royal Square in Angkor Thom, Cambodia, located just behind the twelve towers of Prasat Suor Prat and separated by the royal route that leads from the Angkor Thom Royal Palace to the Victory Gate. They are oriented along the north-south axis. The two were not built at the same time—the northern building (North Khleang) was built under King Jayaviravarman and the southern (South Khleang) under his successor Suryavarman I—but they are of similar design (although South Khleang is slight narrower). They have given their name to the Khleang style, which is characterised by relatively simple lintels with a central kala. Other buildings in the style are Phimeanakas and Ta Keo.
Rectangular sandstone buildings set opposite the Elephants Terrace, behind the Prasat Suor Prat. ‘Khleang’ means ‘storeroom’ but it is unlikely that this was the function of the structures, A royal oath of allegiance is carved into the doorway of one Khleang indicating that they may have served as reception areas or even housing for visiting noblemen and ambassadors. The North Khleang was built in wood under Rajendravarman II and then rebuilt in stone by Jayavaraman V, probably before the construction of the South Khleang. The Khleangs are unremarkable upon close inspection but picturesque from a distance, standing among the Prasat Suor Prat.


Castels Castle is a castle in the municipality of Luzein of the Canton of Graubünden in Switzerland.  It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.


Tel Maresha (Hebrew: תל מראשה) is the tell (archaeological mound) of the biblical Iron Age city of Maresha, and of the subsequent, post-586 BCE Idumean city known by its Hellenised name Marisa, Arabised as Marissa (ماريسا). The tell is situated  in Israel's Shephelah region, i.e. in the foothills of the Judaean Mountains, about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) southeast of Beit Gubrin. It was first excavated in 1898-1900 by the British archaeologists Bliss and Macalister on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund and again after 1989 by Israeli archaeologist Amos Kloner on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Most of the artifacts of the British excavation are to be found today in the Istanbul Archaeology Museums.
This site is now protected as part of Bet Guvrin-Maresha National Park and recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.


The location of Maresha in relation to Eleutheropolis (Beit Gubrin) has been noted by Eusebius in his Onomasticon, who wrote:
Maresa (Joshua 15:44). Tribe of Judah. It is now a deserted site about 2 milestones from Eleutheropolis.
C.R. Conder and H.H. Kitchener of the Palestine Exploration Fund surmised that Maresha should be identified with Khurbet Mar'ash, a ruin 3⁄4 mile south of Beit Jibrin, based on a phonetic similarity of their names. It was not until J. P. Peters and Hermann Thiersch explored the ruins of Khurbet Sandahannah in 1902 that they discovered a Greek funerary inscription in an adjacent burial cave (known as the Sidonian burial Cave) which explicitly identified the site as Maresha. Today, Khurbet Sandahannah is an archaeological tell comprising 24 dunams (5.9 acres), with its "lower city" incorporating into it an additional 400 dunams (98 acres).


The Tombs of Talpur Mirs (Urdu: میران تالپور کے مقبرے) are a complex of tombs of the ruling Talpur Mirs of Sindh who reigned from 1784 to 1843. The tombs are also known as Cubbas (the Sindhi word for tombs). These tombs are located in Hirabad, Hyderabad in the Sindh province of Pakistan.
The tombs complex hosts large mausoleums for Talpur rulers while they are several smaller mausoleums for their wives, consorts and infant children. There are several graves in the external area that are uncovered and unmarked, apart from a few exceptions. The graves are mostly made out of marble and usually have Quranic verses inscribed on their surfaces.
Once a magnificent burial ground for the Talpur rulers, this place now has several preservation concerns. As of 30 March 2011, the Culture Department, Government of Sindh retained the charge for these monuments, following a devolution of the government to provinces. Since then, there has been slow and steady restoration work on preserving these monuments.


The architecture patterns of the tombs in the complex are reminiscent of various Talpur structures, however most of the tombs in this complex are either square or rectangular in shape. These structures follow almost the same specifications as that of the mausoleum of Mir Fateh Ali Khan at New Khudabad.
The largest domed structure contains two graves, those of, Mir Karam Ali Khan (d. 1828) and Mir Murad Ali Khan (d. 1833). Behind this building is a smaller building which contains the graves of Mir Karam’s two wives, the wife of Mir Abdullah Khan and an infant. To the north of these structures is one containing the graves of Talpur rulers, Mir Nur Muhammad Khan, Mir Nasir Khan, Mir Shahdad Khan and Mir Hussain Ali Khan. It is said that the rulers designed their own burial places while alive.
The building in front of the last on the east, contains the remains of the wife and child of Mir Nur Muhammad Khan and the wife of Mir Husayn Ali Khan. Other wives of two of these rulers and three young children, repose in the small tomb in the north-west corner. Other Mirs lie within the two small tombs at the southwest corner of Mir Karam Ali Khan’s mausoleum and the remaining buildings contain the bodies of wives, daughters and children of some of these.
In the southern group of tombs, two principal mausoleums that are nearest the entrance on the east and immediately behind it, contain the graves of four Mirs, while the rest are occupied by their wives and children.


The Temple of Portunus (Italian: Tempio di Portuno) or Temple of Fortuna Virilis ("manly fortune") is a Roman temple in Rome, Italy, one of the best preserved of all Roman temples.  Its dedication remains unclear, as ancient sources mention several temples in this area of Rome, without saying enough to make it clear which this is. It was called the Temple of Fortuna Virilis from the Renaissance, and remains better known by this name. If dedicated to Portunus, the god of keys, doors and livestock, and so granaries, it is the main temple dedicated to the god in the city.


WikiWeb_Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site_1

During the 17th century, iron was used to manufacture a number of indispensable goods, including nails, horseshoes, cookware, tools, and weapons. The production of iron required a complex manufacturing process that could only be done by an industrial enterprise. This process was not available in North America during the early years of English colonization, which meant that all iron goods had to be imported. As it took at least two months to sail to the nearest foundry, iron goods were very expensive.
Winthrop believed that because the colonies had a cheap and abundant supply of raw materials, an iron works in Massachusetts could produce goods that could be sold profitably in the New England and Chesapeake Colonies as well as in England itself. In 1641, Winthrop sailed to England to get the capital he needed to fund the enterprise. The Company of Undertakers for the Iron Workes [sic] in New England was founded to finance the project. Winthrop selected a site in Braintree, Massachusetts (now part of present-day Quincy, Massachusetts) as the location of the first Iron Works. Construction began in 1644 and was completed in 1645. On October 15, 1645, Winthrop secured the Undertakers an exemption from taxes and a 21-year monopoly on iron production from the Massachusetts General Court. The Braintree Iron Works, however, was unsuccessful due to a lack of iron ore in the area and an inadequate supply of water to power the machinery.
In 1645, the Undertakers wrote to Winthrop informing him that Richard Leader, a merchant from Salehurst who was familiar with the iron making process, would replace him as manager of the Iron Works. After arriving in Massachusetts, Leader reviewed the previous site survey and looked into some other locations. He selected a location in Lynn, Massachusetts (now part of present-day Saugus) on the Saugus River. The river was navigable for shallow draft vessels and could be dammed to power machinery. The surrounding forests could be used to make charcoal. Bog ore could be mined from nearby ponds, swamps, riverbeds, and bogs. Limestone, which was normally used for flux, was not available, but through trial and error it was found that gabbro, which could be mined in nearby Nahant, would work as a flux.
The new iron works, which was called Hammersmith, began operations in 1646. It consisted of a blast furnace for producing pig iron and gray iron (the later of which was poured into molds to make firebacks, pots, pans, kettles, and skillets), a forge where pig iron was refined into wrought iron and a 500-pound hammer was used to make merchant bars, which were sold to blacksmiths for manufacture into finished products, and a rolling and slitting mill where flat stock that could be used to manufacture nails, bolts, horse shoes, wagon tires, axes, saw blades, and other implements was produced. At the time, it was one of the most technologically advanced iron works in the world. Once functioning, the Iron Works ran for thirty weeks of the year and produced one ton of cast iron a day.
Skilled workers were brought over from England to ply their trade at the iron works. These emigrants did not fit in with the local Puritan society and often ran afoul of its laws. Many ironworkers were arrested for crimes such as drunkenness, adultery, gambling, fighting, cursing, not attending church, and wearing fine clothes. The less experienced local men who worked at the Iron Works met with frequent and sometimes fatal accidents. Another source of labor was indentured servants. Indentured servants typically worked at the Iron Works for three to seven years for little or no pay in exchange for their passage to Massachusetts and the provision of food, clothing, housing, and other necessities. Following the Battle of Dunbar in 1650, 60 Scottish prisoners of war were sent to the Iron Works to work as indentured servants. 35 or 37 of the 60 Scots intended for the Iron Works were employed there, while the remainder were sold for between 20 pounds and 30 pounds each to various interests in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. The Scots mostly worked as unskilled laborers, performing tasks like chopping wood. Some learned skills such as making charcoal, blacksmithing and carpentry. Most Scots were able to gain their freedom after seven years and afterwards they remained in Massachusetts or moved to Maine, where they started families and assimilated into Puritan society.
In 1650, Leader, who had encountered difficulties with the Undertakers, left the Iron Works to go into the sawmill business. John Gifford and William Aubrey assumed management of the Iron Works, with Gifford serving as ironmaster and Aubrey doing the accounting.
Although the Iron Works produced a respectable quantity of iron, due to the high cost of labor, financial mismanagement which may have included embezzlement, and a number of lawsuits, it seldom operated at a profit. The Iron Works closed around 1670.


Alahan Monastery (Turkish: Koja Kalessi) is a complex of fifth century buildings located in the mountains of Isauria in southern Asia Minor (Mersin province in modern day Turkey). Located at an altitude of 4,000 ft, it stands 3,000 ft over the Calycadnus valley and is a one-hour walking distance from the village of Geçimli. Although termed a monastery in many sources, this attribution is contested and more recent scholarship consider it to be a pilgrimage shrine. The complex played a significant role in the development of early Byzantine architecture, and practically everything known about it can be attributed to the excavations of Michael Gough.


Construction took place during two periods. The first occurred in the mid-fifth century under Emperor Leo I, while the second occurred in the last quarter of the fifth century under Emperor Zeno. The complex contains two churches, rock-cut chambers, a baptistery, living quarters, and many other spaces, like a forecourt, necropolis, bathhouse, and lower terrace. There is debate about the monastery’s original purpose, but it nonetheless became a communal living space for monks and those seeking pilgrimage until the seventh century CE, at which point it became abandoned. Upon assuming power, Emperor Zeno, an Isaurian, took over construction and likely funded the project. He often returned to his homeland as a means of retreat, which could suggest his interest in completing the project.
The complex is an example of expert Isaurian stonemasonry. Alahan is a key site in the history of early Byzantine architecture, half a century before the great achievements of Anicia Juliana and Justinian in Constantinople.


Tecoaque is a Mesoamerican archaeological site, located in western Tlaxcala state, central Mexico, close to Calpulalpan. The site was inhabited by the Acolhua, one of the three ethnic groups making up the Aztec Empire (their capital being Tetzcohco, one of the three seats of Aztec power). Tecoaque had many white-stucco temples and was the home to approximately 5,000 people, mostly priests and farmers.


Tenayuca (Nahuatl languages: Tenanyohcān [te.naˈyoʔ.kaːn]) is a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in the Valley of Mexico. In the Postclassic period of Mesoamerican chronology, Tenayuca was a settlement on the former shoreline of the western arm of Lake Texcoco. It was located approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the northwest of Tenochtitlan (the heart of present-day Mexico City).
Tenayuca is considered to be the earliest capital city of the Chichimec, nomadic tribes who migrated and settled in the Valley of Mexico, where they formed their own kingdoms.


By some historiographic traditions Tenayuca had been founded ca. 1224 by Xolotl, a semi-legendary ruler of a "Chichimec" tribe that had settled in the Valley of Mexico in the period some time after the 12th-century collapse of the former political hegemony in the Valley — the so-called Toltec empire, emanating from Tula. Xolotl was succeeded by Nopaltzin who consolidated the Chichimec Kingdom . His son, Tlotzin, became lord of Tenayuca. When Nopaltzin died, his successor Quinatzin transferred the seat of Chichimec power to Texcoco, relegating Tenayuca to a site of secondary importance.
However archaeological remains recovered from Tenayuca indicate that the site had already been occupied in the Classic Period, long before this foundational event described in several of the Mesoamerican historical documents. Its population increased in the early Postclassic and continued to increase after the fall of Tula, when Tenayuca became an important regional power.
In the late 13th century A.D., some time after the arrival of the Chichimecs at Tenayuca, Tochintecuhtli, the ruling lord of Tenayuca, allied himself with Huetzin, lord of the Acolhuas of Coatlichán, and their alliance dominated the central Valley of Mexico, extending as far northeast as Tulancingo. By the mid 14th century the power of Tenayuca had already waned, it was conquered and replaced as a regional power by nearby Azcapotzalco. Around 1434, Tenochtitlan conquered Tenayuca, bringing it into the Aztec Empire.
At the time of the Spanish Conquest Tenayuca was still occupied, and fighting took place there in 1520. The conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo referred to Tenayuca as the "town of the serpents".
At some point the site was abandoned. It was rediscovered during excavations made by Mexican archaeologists in 1925.


Huaca Pucllana or Huaca Juliana (possibly from Quechua wak'a a local shrine to a protector deity, a sacred place, sacred, pukllana game) is a great adobe and clay pyramid located in the Miraflores district of central Lima, Peru, built from seven staggered platforms. It served as an important ceremonial and administrative center for the advancement of the Lima Culture, a society which developed in the Peruvian Central Coast between the years of 200 AD and 700 AD.
With the intended purpose of having the elite clergymen (who politically governed several valleys in the area) express their complete religious power and ability to control the use of all the natural water resources (saltwater and freshwater) of the zone, a Great Pyramid was constructed in the Huaca.
As a whole, the structure is surrounded by a plaza, or central square, that borders the outer limits, and by a large structured wall dividing it into two separate sections. In one section there were benches and evidence of deep pits where offerings of fish and other marine life took place in order to attain the favor of the gods. The other section is an administrative area. This area contains various small clay structures and huts made of adobe–with some walls still standing–whose function seemed to be to act as the courtyards and patios of the enclosure which is over 500 meters in length, 100 in width and 22 in height.
Other remains have been uncovered belonging to the Wari Culture (500 – 1000 AD), which was a direct influence on the Lima Culture society towards the ends of its time period.  Of particular note are the remains of the “Señor de los Unkus” (The Lord of the Unkus), which belonged to the first tomb within the ceremonial center to have been discovered completely intact.  This tomb holds three separate burial shrouds containing the remains of three adults–two of which have masks–and those of a sacrificed child.


The Standing Stones of Stenness is a Neolithic monument five miles northeast of Stromness on the mainland of Orkney, Scotland. This may be the oldest henge site in the British Isles. Various traditions associated with the stones survived into the modern era and they form part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site. They are looked after by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument.


Madghacen (Berber languages: imedɣasen), also spelled  Medracen or Medghassen or Madghis is a royal mausoleum-temple of the Berber Numidian Kings which stands near Batna city in Aurasius Mons in Numidia, Algeria.


Zaculeu or Saqulew is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in the highlands of western Guatemala, about 3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi) outside the modern city of Huehuetenango. Occupation at the site dates to the Early Classic period (AD 250–600) of Mesoamerican history. Zaculeu was the capital of the Postclassic Mam kingdom, and was conquered by the K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj. It displays a mixture of Mam and K'iche' style architecture.
In AD 1525 the city was attacked by Spanish conquistadors under Gonzalo de Alvarado y Contreras during a siege that lasted several months. Kayb'il B'alam, the city's last ruler, finally surrendered to the Spanish due to starvation.
The site contains a number of temple-pyramids with talud-tablero style architecture and double stairways. The pyramids and governmental palaces are grouped around a series of large public plazas. The site also holds a court for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame. The site was originally fortified with walls.
The site was restored by the United Fruit Company in the late 1940s. It is open to tourists and includes a small museum.


Zaculeu was likely originally developed because of its proximity to the Seleguá River, providing a permanent water supply and transportation waterway, together with its easily defensible hilltop location. Zaculeu has 43 structures. The majority of construction activity took place in one burst in the Early Classic, with minor alterations thereafter. The smaller platforms situated in the plazas were late additions; they show the influence of central Mexican civilization. The entrance to the site was via a narrow land bridge to the north, which was protected by a fortified structure that occupied three-quarters of the width of the land bridge.
The ceremonial centre of the city consisted of 43 structures clustered in an area of 1,400 square metres (15,000 sq ft). The architecture at the site includes talud-tablero style buildings with double stairways. The facades of some of the buildings have cylindrical columns, a feature found in other parts of Mesoamerica. Artefacts recovered from the site include items fashioned from turquoise and precious metals. The metal artefacts crafted from gold, silver and copper and their alloys demonstrate the city's participation in the wider trade networks of the Postclassic Period. These metal artefacts were either influenced by or imported from Mexico and southern Central America.
The structures at Zaculeu were grouped around small plazas and were generally built from masonry, coated with a thick layer of plaster. Fragments bear floral and geometric designs, indicating the structures were originally brightly painted. Stones were undressed and cemented in adobe mortar. No evidence of corbel vaulting has been found and very little in the way of stone sculpture. The architecture completely lacks stone sculpture. Burials from the Early Classic yielded a rich array of finds, but Late Classic burials were accompanied by a lesser variety of grave offerings.
An Early Classic tomb was inserted under the main pyramid at Zaculeu; it had been tunnelled from the volcanic ash underlying the structure. A broad stairway descended to the tomb from the main plaza. The tomb interior was painted red and the floor was scattered with the remains of more than 100 ceramic vessels. These were crushed when the roof of the tomb collapsed. Also found were the remains of 34  pyrite mirrors of a type similar to those found at Kaminaljuyu. A sizeable quantity of jade was recovered from the tomb, including beads and earplugs. Some of the jade beads had been carved to represent human and parrot faces. The tomb contained the bones of four or more individuals. The ceramic offerings included decorated tripod vessels, polychrome bowls and a polychrome cylindrical vase that had a painted band of hieroglyphs. One ceramic bowl is painted in a negative painting style that is similar to finds from Nebaj.
The site core is laid out around eight plazas. Some of the structures were restored by the United Fruit Company; most of these border Plazas 1 and 2. Structures 1 and 2 are pyramid temples. Structures 4, 6 and 10 are palace structures, long buildings with internal chambers and benches used as residences and for administrative purposes.


The name Zaculeu means "white earth" in the Mam, K'iche' and Q'anjob'al languages, from saq (adj) meaning "white" and ulew (n) meaning "earth". In the Mam language, the site is also called Chinabajul.
The present-day village of San Lorenzo developed around this archeological site, on the outskirts of Huehuetenango city, in the Guatemalan department of Huehuetenango. Zaculeu is the main tourist attraction in the Huehuetenango area. Zaculeu is located at an altitude of 1,900 metres (6,200 ft) above mean sea level, and is bordered by the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes mountain range.
Zaculeu is located in an area of fertile soils close to the Selegua and Viña rivers. The site is situated on a plateau overlooking the Selegua River, which flows to the west of the city. Deep ravines bordering the site to the south and east protected its access. The only access to the site is via a narrow land bridge to the north, which unites the plateau to the general level of the valley floor. The Zaculeu plateau measures 11,178 square varas (4191 square metres).


Musawwarat es-Sufra (Arabic:المصورات الصفراء al-Musawwarāt as-sufrā, Meroitic: Aborepi, Old Egyptian: jbrp, jpbr-ˁnḫ), also known as Al-Musawarat Al-Sufra, is a large Meroitic temple complex in modern Sudan, dating back to the early Meroitic period of the 3rd century BC. It is located in a large basin surrounded by low sandstone hills in the western Butana, 180 km northeast of Khartoum, 20 km north of Naqa and approximately 25 km south-east of the Nile. Its MGRS coordinates: 36QWD3477214671. With Meroë and Naqa it is known as the Island of Meroe, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011. Constructed in sandstone, the main features of the site include the Great Enclosure, the Lion Temple of Apedemak and the Great Reservoir. Most significant is the number of representations of elephants, suggesting that this animal played an important role at Musawwarat es-Sufra.


The Ingá Stone (Pedra do Ingá in Portuguese) is located in the middle of the Ingá River near the small city of Ingá, 96 km from João Pessoa, in Paraíba State in the northeast of Brazil. The Ingá Stone is also called Itacoatiara do Ingá. The word Ita means "stone" in the Tupi language of the natives that lived in that area. It is a rock formation in gneiss which covers an area of approximately 250 m². Altogether primary, a vertical wall 46 meters long by 3.8 meters high, and adjacent areas, there are entries whose meanings are unknown. Several figures are carved in low relief in this set, suggesting the representation of animals, fruits, and astrological features like the constellation Orion and the Milky Way.
It is composed of some basalt stones covered with symbols and glyphs which are yet undeciphered. Scholars think it was created by natives that lived in the area until the 18th century. Unfortunately, the site is under constant danger of being damaged beyond repair by scavengers and vandals.
Most glyphs represent animals, fruits, humans, constellations, and other unrecognizable images.


Little Petra (Arabic: البتراء الصغيرة, al-batrā aṣ-ṣaġïra), also known as Siq al-Barid (Arabic: سيق البريد, literally "the cold canyon") is an archaeological site located north of Petra and the town of Wadi Musa in the Ma'an Governorate of Jordan. Like Petra, it is a Nabataean site, with buildings carved into the walls of the sandstone canyons. As its name suggests, it is much smaller, consisting of three wider open areas connected by a 450-metre (1,480 ft) canyon. It is part of the Petra Archeological Park, though accessed separately, and included in Petra's inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is often visited by tourists in conjunction with Petra itself, since it is free and usually less crowded.
Like Petra, it was probably built during the height of Nabataean influence during the 1st century C.E. While the purpose of some of the buildings is not clear, archaeologists believe that the whole complex was a suburb of Petra, the Nabatean capital, meant to house visiting traders on the Silk Road. After the decline of the Nabataeans, it fell vacant, used only by Bedouin nomads, for centuries. Along with neighboring Beidha, Little Petra was excavated in the later 20th century by Diana Kirkbride and Brian Byrd.
In 2010, a biclinium, or dining room, in one of the caves was discovered to have surviving interior art depicting grapes, vines and putti in great detail with a varied palette, probably in homage to the Greek god Dionysus and the consumption of wine. The 2,000-year-old ceiling frescoes in the Hellenistic style have since been restored. While they are not only the only known example of interior Nabataean figurative painting in situ, they are a very rare large-scale example of Hellenistic painting, considered superior even to similar  later Roman paintings at Herculaneum


The significance of these paintings lies in their figurative elements, a subject that is often absent in preserved Nabataean painting and other media. While a small fragment of a human face was found during the excavations of the Great Temple and the excavation of the Temple of the Winged Lions brought to light other select fragments, the frescoes at the Painted Biclinium form both the most complete painted scene in the Nabataean archaeological record and the only one remaining in situ. The features of the figural composition, including the almond eyes and round chins, have parallels with other pieces of Hellenistic painting and mosaic, while the floral and faunal subjects are distinctly local. In addition, while the archaeological record pointing to Dionysiac worship appears prolific among the Nabataean elite, few contexts preserve any record of this practice outside of architecture and pottery. The Painted Biclinium, then, serves to provide a colorful flourish to our understanding of this religious tradition in the cultivated rich semi-arid landscape around Petra.


The Roman circus of Mérida (Spanish: Circo romano) is a ruined Roman circus in Mérida, Spain. Used for chariot racing, it was modelled on the Circus Maximus in Rome and other circus buildings throughout the empire. Measuring more than 400 m in length and 30 m of width, it is one of the best preserved examples of the Roman circus. It could house up to 30,000 spectators.


The Logan Rock (Cornish: Men Omborth, meaning balanced stone) near the village of Treen in Cornwall, England, UK, is an example of a logan or rocking stone. Although it weighs some 80 tons, it was dislodged in 1824 by a group of British seamen, intent on showing what the Navy could do. However following complaints from local residents for whom the rock had become a tourist attraction and source of income, the seamen were forced to restore it. Today the Logan Rock still rocks, but with much less ease than it did in the past. The South West Coast Path, which follows the coast of south-west England from Somerset to Dorset passes by on the cliffs to the north.


The temple itself stands at the western side of the site. It consists of a 6.4-meter-high platform supporting a 3.3-meter-high temple base. Upon this stand the remains of the temple building, the remains of which now stand 2.7 meters high. The temple was formed of two rooms. The first room opened onto the temple stairs, with two pillars flanking the entrance. In the centre of this room a small hollow was found, containing traces of charcoal and copal.
The entry to the small inner sanctum was also flanked by two pillars. The sculpture of Tepoztecatl was probably kept in this room.
The temple was modified several times during its history. The first consisted of a narrowing of the entrance to the inner sanctum by building flanking walls against the formerly free-standing inner pillars. The second, and most important, modification was the addition of stone benches and a small projecting cornice. On the cornice are bas-reliefs of the glyphs of the 20 days of the sacred tonalpohualli calendar.
Dwellings were built on the terraces on the eastern side of the site in order to house the resident priests and their helpers.


Neak Pean (or Neak Poan)  (Khmer: ប្រាសាទនាគព័ន្ធ, "the entwined serpents") at Angkor, Cambodia is an artificial island with a Buddhist temple on a circular island in Jayatataka Baray, which was associated with Preah Khan temple, built during the reign of King Jayavarman VII. It is the "Mebon" of the Preah Khan baray (the "Jayatataka" of the inscription).


The Mausoleum of Helena is an ancient building in Rome, Italy, located  on the Via Casilina, corresponding to the 3rd mile of the ancient Via Labicana. It was built by the Roman emperor Constantine I between 326 and 330, originally as a tomb for himself, but later assigned to his mother, Helena, who died in 330.


Biskupin is an archaeological site and a life-size model of a late Bronze Age fortified settlement in north-central Poland that also serves as an archaeological open-air museum. When first discovered it was thought to be early evidence of a West Slavic settlement, but archaeologists later confirmed it belonged to the Biskupin group of the Lusatian culture from the 8th century BC. The excavation and the reconstruction of the prehistoric settlement has played an instrumental part in Polish historical consciousness.
The Museum is situated on a marshy peninsula in Lake Biskupin, ca. 90 kilometres (56 miles) northeast of Poznań and 8 km (5 mi) south of the small town of Żnin. It is a division of the National Museum of Archaeology in Warsaw.
The site is one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments (Pomnik historii), as designated September 16, 1994, and tracked by the National Heritage Board of Poland.


In 1933 Polish archaeologists discovered remains of a Bronze Age fort/settlement in Wielkopolska (Greater Poland) and the discovery became famous overnight. The site was excavated from 1934 onwards by the team from Poznań University, led by archaeologists Józef Kostrzewski (1885–1969) and Zdzisław Rajewski (1907–1974). The first report was published in 1936. By the beginning of 1939, ca. 2,500 m² (26,909.78 sq ft) had been excavated. Biskupin soon became famous, attracting numerous distinguished guests, including officials of the Marshal Piłsudski government, members of the military, and high churchmen such as the primate of Poland. The site soon became part of Polish national consciousness, the symbol of achievements of the Slavonic forebears in prehistoric times. It was called the "Polish Pompeii" or "Polish Herculaneum". The existence of a prehistoric fortress, 70 km (43 mi) from the German border, was used to show that the prehistoric "Poles" had held their own against foreign invaders and plunderers as early as the late Bronze Age. Biskupin came to feature in paintings and popular novels.
When the Germans occupied Poland in the autumn of 1939, Biskupin was renamed "Urstädt". In 1940, excavations were resumed by the SS-Ahnenerbe until 1942. When the Germans were forced to retreat they flooded the site hoping to destroy it, but—ironically—it led to very good preservation of the ancient timbers. Excavations were resumed by Polish archaeologists after the war and continued until 1974.


Muaro Jambi (Indonesian: Candi Muaro Jambi) is a Buddhist temple complex, in Muaro Jambi Regency, Jambi province, Sumatra, Indonesia. It is situated 26 kilometers east from the city of Jambi. The temple complex was built by the Melayu Kingdom, with its surviving temples and other archaeological remains estimated to date from the 7th to 13th century CE. The archaeological site includes eight excavated temple sanctuaries and covers about 12 square kilometers, stretches 7.5 kilometers along the Batang Hari River, 80 menapos or mounds of temple ruins, are not yet restored. It is one of the largest and best-preserved ancient temple complexes in South East Asia.
It was suggested that Muaro Jambi Temple compound might be the initial location of Srivijaya kingdom. This is mainly because, Muaro Jambi has far richer temple concentration—in contrast to the scarcity of archaeological sites in South Sumatra.


The temple complex of Candi Muaro Jambi is spread out over a large area along the banks of the Batang Hari River. Eight temple complexes have been excavated but many more mounds and sites remain to be explored within the conservation area, much of which is still covered by thick jungle. The three most significant intact temples are known as Candi Tinggi, Candi Kedaton, and Candi Gumpung. The temples are built from red brick and unlike the temples of Java, feature very little ornamentation, carving, or statuary. A few pieces of sculpture are housed in a small, on-site museum. The wooden dwellings that are believed to have housed the city's population have all disappeared without a trace. Only 9 temples have been restored, 3 have mentioned above and the others are Candi Tinggi I, Candi Kembarbatu, Candi Gedong I, and Candi Gedong II.


The fort is huge, connecting several bleak mountains of the Kirthar hills along contours, and measures 31 kilometres (19 mi) in length. The fort's wall is interspersed with several bastions, and three are of semi-circular shape. The northern part of the fort's perimeter is a natural high hilly formation while on the other three sides it is covered by fort walls. Within this main fort there is a smaller fort known as the "Miri Fort" which is about 3 km from the Sann gate, and is reported to have served as the palace of the Mir royal family. The entire fort structure has been built with stone and lime mortar. The fort is built in a zig-zag form, with four entry gates in the shape of a rhomboid. The four gates are namely: Sann Gate, Amri Gate, Shah-Pere Gate and Mohan Gate. Two of the gates, facing each are crossed diagonally by the Sann river; the first gate is on the western side and is skirted by the river water and is difficult to approach. The southern entry gate has a double doors gate. Within the gates there are two niches which have floral ornamentation and carved stones.
 The Sann gate is well preserved and can be climbed to reach the top of the fort from both sides to get a scenic view of the terrain around the fort. This gate is also the entrance to the Meeri.


Diana Veteranorum, today a village called Ain Zana (Aïn Zana), was an ancient Roman-Berber city in Algeria. It was located around 40 km northwest of Lambaesis and 85 km southwest of Cirta.


Archeological excavations at the site have yielded a large paved rectangular forum and an aqueduct. In the southeastern area, there are also the remains of a temple that may have been dedicated to the goddess Diana. Two arches have been found, the larger one of which features three openings. An inscription on it indicates that it was erected for the emperor Macrinus in 217. A number of other inscriptions have also been discovered, and in the western part of the city several mausolea have been found.
Three buildings from the Byzantine period have been identified. A small fort (20.2 x 16. m) that had been attached to the arch of Macrinus, and a larger fort (61 x 53 m) about 100 m east of the original forum. Finally a Christian church (33 x 17.1m), that had been built on top of the forum.


The square is a vast unidentified semi-circular set, probably from the 2nd or 3rd century. It's located next to the triumphal arch "Porte Noire".
The Saint-Jean-Baptiste church stood on the site of the square until the French Revolution. The church was destroyed between 1794 and 1797.
Archaeologist and librarian Auguste Castan launched excavations in 1870. He discovered 8 Corinthian columns, remains of the water distribution pond which collected the water brought by the Roman aqueduct of Arcier, and the remains of a hemicycle that has an inner diameter of 54 meters.


Bonampak (known anciently as Ak'e or, in its immediate area as Usiij Witz, 'Vulture Hill') is an ancient Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Chiapas. The site is approximately 30 km (19 mi) south of the larger site of the people Yaxchilan, under which Bonampak was a dependency, and the border with Guatemala.  While the site is not overly spatial or abundant in architectural size, it is well known for the murals located within the three roomed Structure 1 (The Temple of the Murals). The construction of the site's structures dates to the Late Classic period (c. AD 580 to 800). The Bonampak murals are noteworthy for being among the best-preserved Maya murals.
The site, lying close to a tributary of the Usumacinta River, was seen by non-Mayans in 1946. Precisely who was first of the non-Mayans to see it is a matter of speculation, but it was either two American travelers, Herman Charles (Carlos) Frey and John Bourne, or photographer/explorer Giles Healey. The Americans were led to the ruins by the local Lacandon Maya who still visited the site to pray in the ancient temples. Giles Healey was the first to be shown the huge paintings covering the walls of one of the structure's three rooms. The paintings show the story of a single battle and its victorious outcome.


The walls enclosed 15 hectares (37 acres) and had 35 bastions projecting in front of the wall. The southern wall was more vulnerable than the others as it was overlooked by a slope outside, and hence the southern gate was recessed from the wall, which was also thicker in this area, and a moat was dug outside it for extra protection. Two of the bastions have superstructures built to the original height to accentuate their impressive size.
Army barracks were located to the side of the north gate in which arms were discovered.
Two aqueducts are known; one from the 2nd century originating at a spring near Peroishte 6 km (3.7 mi) southwest of the city, passing through ceramic pipes, and arriving under the south gate, and the other coming from Nedoklan 3 km (1.9 mi) to the northeast.
The largest late empire hoard of gold coins in Bulgaria was found just inside the eastern wall consisting of 835 gold coins weighing 4 kg (8.8 lb) and dating from the 5th century, probably hidden during the invasion of the Goths 487.


A Thracian settlement of the 3rd–4th century BC has been found on the north bank of the Beli Lom river, and an early Roman settlement extended it in the late 1st or early 2nd century AD.
At the end of the 1st century AD a Roman military camp was built, and in the 2nd century the Cohors II Lucensium of the Legio XI Claudia (based at Durostorum) was stationed here.
In 251 during the Gothic invasions the Romans suffered a disastrous defeat and the death of the Emperor Decius and his son Herennius Etruscus at the Battle of Abritus, which took place about 15 km (9.3 mi) northwest of Abritus, in the valley of the river Beli Lom, to the south of the village of Dryanovets.
The fortifications with massive walls, 3 m (9.8 ft) thick and 12 m (39 ft) high, were built around the town on the south bank of the river in 320–330 under Constantine the Great, seemingly for protection from immigrant "barbarians" (foederati) as part of the policy of pacifying them.
However, the walls could not withstand the destruction of the city in the Gothic Wars in 376–8, in 447 by the Huns, and in the 480s again by the Goths. Each time the city was rebuilt, and in the 5th–6th centuries Abritus was one of the largest cities in the province and seat of a bishop.
The gates were narrowed under Justinian (527–565) to provide better security. However the city was destroyed by the Avars in 586.
Later a Bulgarian mediaeval settlement was built, which existed until the 10th century.
The first archaeological survey was done in 1887 by Ananie Yavashov, and regular excavations were conducted from 1953.


WikiWeb_Montezuma Castle National Monument_1

Montezuma Castle is situated about 90 feet (27 m) up a sheer limestone cliff, facing the adjacent Beaver Creek, which drains into the perennial Verde River just north of Camp Verde. It is one of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in North America, in part because of its ideal placement in a natural alcove that protects it from exposure to the elements. The precariousness of the dwelling's location and its immense scale of floor space across five stories suggest that the Sinagua were daring builders and skilled engineers. Access into the structure was most likely permitted by a series of portable ladders, which made it difficult for enemy tribes to penetrate the natural defense of the vertical barrier.
Perhaps the main reason the Sinagua chose to build the Castle so far above the ground, however, was to escape the threat of natural disaster in the form of the annual flooding of Beaver Creek. During the summer monsoon season, the creek frequently breached its banks, inundating the floodplain with water. The Sinagua recognized the importance of these floods to their agriculture, but likely also the potential destruction they presented to any structures built in the floodplain. Their solution was to build a permanent structure in the high recess afforded by the limestone cliff.
The walls of Montezuma Castle are examples of early stone-and-mortar masonry, constructed almost entirely from chunks of limestone found at the base of the cliff, as well as mud and/or clay from the creek bottom. The ceilings of the rooms also incorporated sectioned timbers as a kind of roof thatching, obtained primarily from the Arizona sycamore, a large hardwood tree native to the Verde Valley.


Cañada de la Virgen is an Otomi archaeological site that has been recently excavated. Located in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, the site was first excavated in 1995, while the official excavation began in 2002.
Public access was first allowed in 2011. However, unlike its famous counterparts such as Chichen-Itzá, access is strictly controlled due to it sitting on private property, one of the largest ex-haciendas in Guanajuato.
The Otomi people have lived in the valley of San Miguel de Allende for thousands of years.  It is presumed that construction at Cañada De La Virgen most likely began after the collapse of the Teotihuacan culture, where they are believed to have previously resided along with other tribes in the Valley of Mexico (near Mexico City today), around 530 AD.  The Otomi were avid sky watchers and passed information down from generation to generation.  These people used astronomical criteria, religious beliefs and agricultural cycles to select the Laja River Valley for the construction of this Pre-Hispanic burial site. The site faces the celestial north, where the stars spin around in a circle throughout the year. The moon moves up the stairs of the pyramid as its cycle advances. It rises and falls perfectly in pyramid notches at key times in the lunar calendar and during solstice periods.
The site was ruled by the Moon, the Sun, and Venus, as demonstrated by archaeoastronomical studies conducted by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). Its main features are:  Ceremonial Avenue, House of the Wind, House of the Longest Night- scientists believe has some relationship with the Otomi’s belief in the duality of the heavens and earth (Sun and Moon, Man and Woman, etc.), and House of the Thirteen Heavens.
Around 900 AD, the Otomi civilization began to decline and by 1050 AD, the site was abandoned, only to be rediscovered at the end of the 20th century. Work and research continue to this day.


The Toltec-Chichimec  founded villages, built pyramids and other architectural structures throughout the central basin of the river now called Laja, known as San Miguel in the 16th century, and apparently, a little less than thousand years ago was called Pánuco.
According to the list of names appearing in the Toltec - Chichimec Codex, which refers to the various provinces that formed the Toltec Empire, Cañada de la Virgen would be located northwest of the Toltec territory. The name of its capital is unknown, because the name is unreadable in the abovementioned list, everything indicates it is located a few kilometers south of the site in question. It is a city made up of various architectural, elements including a ballgame court and a huge plaza with three pyramid foundations.
Furnaces remains found in the northeast area demonstrate that members of this society were capable of limestone deposits exploitation. The Seven onsite architectural structures, considered monumental as exceed the human scale, are huge step pyramids with sloped sides of different sizes and styles that form various spaces, such as sunken patios, squares, esplanades, a 1,000-metre-long (3,300 ft) road.


The Tarxien Temples (Maltese: It-Tempji ta' Ħal Tarxien, [tarˈʃɪːn]) are an archaeological complex in Tarxien, Malta. They date to approximately 3150 BC. The site was accepted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 along with the other Megalithic temples on the island of Malta.


The Tombs of the Via Latina (Italian: Tombe di Via Latina) are Roman tombs, mainly from the 2nd century AD, that are found along a short stretch of the Via Latina, an ancient Roman road close to Rome, Italy. They are now part of an archaeological park and can be visited.


The Havránok hill fort was an important religious, economic, and political center of the Púchov culture (300 BCE - 180 CE), in which the dominant Celtic tribe of Cotini mingled with the older people of the Lusatian culture. The prosperous oppidum was destroyed along with other Celtic settlements in Slovakia around the beginning of the Common Era either by the Germanic tribe of Quadi or by Dacians.
A medieval wooden castle existed near the remnants of the ancient hill fort from the 11th to 15th century CE.


La Hougue Bie is a historic site, with museum, in the Jersey parish of Grouville. La Hougue Bie is depicted on the 2010 issue Jersey 1 pound note.


The site consists of an 18.6 metre long passage chamber covered by a 12.2 metre high earth mound. The site was first excavated in 1925 by the Société Jersiaise. Fragments of twenty vase supports were found along with the scattered remains of at least eight individuals. Gravegoods, mostly pottery, were also present. At some time in the past, the site had evidently been entered and ransacked. On top of the mound were built two Medieval chapels. The Channel Islands have five passage graves with side chambers (La Hougue Bie, Faldouet and Grantez in Jersey, La Varde and Le Déhus in Guernsey).
La Hougue Bie is a Neolithic ritual site which was in use around 4000-3500 BC. In Western Europe, it is one of the largest and best preserved passage graves and the most impressive and best preserved monument of Armorican Passage Grave group. Although they are termed "passage graves", they were ceremonial sites, whose function was more similar to churches or cathedrals, where burials were incidental. Since the excavations and restoration of the original entrance of the passage observations from inside the tomb at sunrise on the spring and autumn equinox have revealed that the orientation of the passage, probably fortuitously, allows the sun's rays to shine through to the chamber entering the back recess of the terminal cell. Although many passage graves showed evidence of continued activity into the Late Neolithic period, La Hougue Bie was abandoned before that time.


The Guildhall Art Gallery houses the art collection of the City of London, England. The museum is located in the Moorgate area of the City of London.  It is a stone building in a semi-Gothic style intended to be sympathetic to the historic Guildhall, which is adjacent and to which it is connected internally.


The City of London Corporation had commissioned and collected portraits since 1670, originally to hang in the Guildhall.  In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Corporation's art collections grew through gifts and bequests to include history paintings and other genres of art.
The first purpose-built gallery for displaying the collection was completed in 1885. This building was destroyed in The Blitz in 1941, resulting in the loss of 164 paintings, drawings, watercolours, and prints, and 20 sculptures. It was not until 1985 that the City of London Corporation decided to redevelop the site and build a new gallery. The building was designed in a postmodern style by the British architect Richard Gilbert Scott. The new facility, which was intended to house a collection of about 4,000 items, was completed in 1999.
The centrepiece of the collection, John Singleton Copley's huge painting depicting The Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar, was placed in a prominent position in the entrance hall of the gallery.
Vivien Knight was head of the Gallery, from 1983 until her death in 2009.


The Secession Building (German: Secessionsgebäude) is an exhibition hall in Vienna, Austria. It was completed in 1898 by Joseph Maria Olbrich as an architectural manifesto for the Vienna Secession, a group of rebel artists that seceded from the long-established fine art institution.


Wolverhampton Art Gallery is located in the City of Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands, United Kingdom. The building was funded and constructed by local contractor Philip Horsman (1825–1890), and built on land provided by the municipal authority. It opened in May 1884.


The two-storey building of Wolverhampton Art Gallery was designed by prominent Birmingham architect Julius Chatwin (1829–1907). It was built of Bath stone, an Oolitic Limestone from Bath, Somerset, with six red granite columns indicating the main entrance. The decorative sculptural frieze on the facade is composed of sixteen characters representing the Arts and Crafts, including sculpture, painting, architecture, pottery, glassblowing, and wrought-iron work. It is a Grade II* listed building.
In 2006–07 the building was refurbished by Purcell, partly modernized and extended to create additional exhibition spaces.


The most outstanding artwork of international importance in the collection is the large-scale painting Peace and Plenty Binding the Arrows of War (1614) by the Flemish Baroque painter Abraham Janssens van Nuyssen (ca. 1567/1576–1632). Commissioned and paid for by the Antwerp Guild of Old Crossbowmen, it was a pendant to the Rubens’s Crowning of the Victor. In the 1800s, the city's guilds were broken up and their treasures dispersed. Janssen's picture eventually found its way to a Mrs Thornley of Birmingham. In 1885, she sold it to Wolverhampton Art Gallery. This is the only painting by Janssens in British public collections and a splendid example of Flemish Baroque art.
Apart from the Janssens painting, the collection of Old Masters is relatively small. It includes a version of A Spinner's Grace by Gerard Dou and Bouquet of Flowers by Jan van Huysum. There is a collection of Old Master drawings, which includes graphic work by Wenceslas Hollar and Alessandro Allori.
A significant part of the gallery's collection was formed from bequests and gifts given by local benefactors and patrons of art. These include those from the tin-toy manufacturer Sidney Cartwright (1802–1883), Philip Horsman and hardware manufacturer Paul Lutz (1832–1899). They mainly collected contemporary and early 19th-century British art and today the holdings of the gallery are still particularly strong in artworks from the Victorian period.
In the 1920s-1950s, a large number of artworks by Frank Brangwyn (1867–1956) were given to the gallery by the artist himself, and by his friend and member of Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Public Library Committee Matthew Biggar Walker (1873–1950).
In 1924, a significant collection of Eastern weapons was secured. During the first decades of the 20th century many specimens of Eastern applied art and British and Eastern ceramics and glass were given to the gallery by the members of the prominent local Bantock family and several other collectors.
The museum has a collection of 114 historic tsuba from Japan. Items in the collection range from the Momoyama period (16th century) to the end of the Edo period (19th century). The tsuba were part of a wider collection of weapons and sword guards donated by councilor Davis Green in October 1924. Originally the collection belonged to a Mr. C.E.F. Griffiths and was loaned to the gallery. The collection was reclaimed by the family, it is presumed that Mr. Griffiths died, and put it up for auction at Dudley Auction Rooms. Councilor Green bought the whole collection for £350 and donated it to the gallery.
The gallery has substantial collection of japanned ware and Bilston enamels. These collections represent trades and manufactures for which Wolverhampton was famous in the 18th and 19th centuries. The purposeful collecting policy of the 1970s brought to the gallery a number of high-quality artworks by leading British artists of the 18th-century Georgian period.
The gallery has strong holdings of artworks by local artists, such as John Fullwood (1854–1931), Joseph Vickers de Ville (1856–1925), George Phoenix (1863–1935), Alfred Egerton Cooper (1883–1974). In 1990s, following the re-structure of museum services across the area, the art and local history collections of the Bilston Museum and Art Gallery (now Bilston Craft Gallery) were transferred to Wolverhampton. They brought to the gallery artworks by Edwin Butler Bayliss (1874–1950), another local painter of the industrial landscape of the Black Country.
Since the late 1960s, Wolverhampton Art Gallery has been amassing a substantial collection of pop art.
A special feature of the gallery is the collection of artworks which document and analyse the time of Troubles in Northern Ireland.
At present, the gallery's collection consists of about 12,000 artefacts: oil paintings and works on paper from 17th-20th centuries; collection of Eastern objects of applied art; japanned ware; enamels; ceramics and glass; dolls and toys; and local history. Dr John Fraser's collection of geological specimens has also been preserved at the gallery.


Snowshill Manor is a National Trust property located in the village of Snowshill, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. It is a sixteenth-century country house, best known for its twentieth-century owner, Charles Paget Wade, an eccentric who amassed an enormous collection of objects that interested him. He gave the property to the National Trust in 1951, and his collection is still housed there.


Snowshill Manor was given to Winchcombe Abbey in 821 by King Coenwulf of Mercia. Two hundred and sixty four years later, the village and Manor were listed in the Domesday Book (1085) as Snawesille, property of the Abbey of Saint Mary of Winchcombe. The Manor remained the property of the Abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 when it was confiscated by King Henry VIII, who included the Manor in his dowry to his last queen, Catherine Parr, in 1543.
The earliest surviving part of the Manor, the rooms named and now known as Dragon, Nadir, Ann's, Music and Seraphim by Charles Paget Wade, was built around 1550 and it is probable that this section of the Manor was joined to a contemporaneous building to the south, which was later demolished.  In the 1600s the Manor was again extended southwards and attic rooms added.  In the early part of the 18th century the house was owned by one William Sambach, who added extra rooms on the south-west corner in about 1720. He also added a new main door in the south front, placing the Sambach coat of arms in the pediment above it, which is now the main entrance to the house.  After several further changes of owner, John Small of Clapham took over the property, being the first of a series of absentee landlords: for the next 150 years the house was occupied by tenant farmers, until its purchase in 1919 by Charles Paget Wade.
Wade was an architect, artist-craftsman, collector, poet and heir to the family fortune. He restored the property, living in the small cottage in the garden and using the Manor house as a home for his collection of objects. By the time of his death he had amassed over 22,000 objects.
He gave the property and the contents of this collection to the National Trust in 1951.