This is the Clacton Spear. At 420,000 years old, it is the oldest known worked wooden weapon. It was found in 1911 in Clacton by amateur pre-historian Samuel Warren. It is approx 40cm long, 4cm wide & so is only the spear tip. Similar wooden spears (300,000 years old) have been found in Germany.

Alan Sorrell (1904 – 1974) was an English artist, best remembered for his archaeological illustrations, particularly his reconstructions of Roman Britain. I used to love looking at my dad’s Roman books as a kid as so many had Alan’s paintings. This one, not Roman Britain, is of the Circus Maximus.

Here’s a mid-C4th BC Ancient Greek panoply. The bronze cuirass is modelled like a muscled torso. This particular set of armour was made in one of Greek city states of Southern Italy. The helmet seems to show Italian influences. 🏛️Rijksmuseum van Oudheden 📷Alexander van Loon

This fantastic mosaic is Byzantine & depicts an ostrich (with strangely equine legs and hooves… 👀). The east church at Theodorias (modern Qasr in Libya 🇱🇾) had 50 mosaics on its floor. They have now been carefully removed and placed in the nearby, purpose-built museum. 🕰️c540AD #MosaicMonday

My World Cup of ancient things has ended & it’s time to total the votes to see who’s WORLD CHAMPION! - 4th (708 votes) is BRAZIL with the anthropomorphic jar - 3rd (753) is SCOTLAND with the brooch - 2nd (876) is SPAIN with the octopus - WORLD CHAMPION is BELGIUM (898) with the warrior relief

It’s my final 48th relic from each country in the #WorldCup It’s MEXICO 🇲🇽 This mosaic mask shows Xiuhtecuhtli, the Aztec fire god. It’s made from hundreds of pieces of turquoise glued onto cedar wood. It was either worn by a god impersonator in ceremonies or by an effigy of the god. 🕰️ c1400-1500

It’s my 47th ancient site from each country in the #WorldCup It’s CANADA 🇨🇦 L’Anse aux Meadows is the only verified Viking settlement found in N America (in Newfoundland). Covering 31 sq mi, 7 dwellings of earth & wood have been found along with Norse items. Here, the site & reconstructed buildings

It’s my 46th ancient site from each country in the #WorldCup It’s USA 🇺🇸 The Mese Verde Cliff Palace in Colorado was built & occupied from c.1200-1300AD by Puebloans. It’s thought they created these defensible positions because of increasing competition amidst changing climatic conditions.

It’s my 45th ancient relic from each country in the #WorldCup It’s UZBEKISTAN🇺🇿The Kushan Empire originated out of Bactria encompassing much of modern Uzbekistan. It went on to cover Afghanistan, Pakistan & parts of India. This coin, c.30AD, shows Heraios, the 1st king to refer to himself as Kushan

It’s my 44th ancient site from each country in the #WorldCup It’s URUGUAY 🇺🇾This blurry image shows the wreck of the German battleship, the Graf Spee scuttled in Montevideo after the 1939 Battle of the River Plate with British cruisers, Exeter, Ajax & Achilles. It has defied all attempts to raise it

It’s my 43rd ancient site from each country in the #WorldCup It’s TURKEY 🇹🇷 These two gates, the Lion and the Sphinx, are from Hattusas, the vast capital city of the Hittite Empire. Though first settled c.5000BC, the city reached its peak in the imperial heyday from c1500 to its abandonment c.1180BC

It’s my 42nd ancient relic from each country in the #WorldCup It’s TUNISIA 🇹🇳This mosaic of Virgil, flanked by two muses, was found in Hadrumetum. On his lap is a scroll quoting book1, line 8 of the Aeneid: Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso, quidve... (Translation in next post)…. 1/2

It’s my 41st ancient site from each country in the #WorldCup It’s SWITZERLAND🇨🇭In April 2026, an amazing Roman shipwreck was found in Lake Neuchâtel. It contained 1,000 pieces of kitchen ceramics destined for a Roman army camp. One of the crates has been dated to 17AD. Coins were also found

It’s my 40th ancient relic from each country in the #WorldCup It’s SWEDEN 🇸🇪 These are two Viking era helmets found at the Valsgårde necropolis. The site was used for burials from C6th to C11th AD including in later periods grand ship burials. These two examples are magnificent.

It’s my 39th ancient site from each country in the #WorldCup. It’s SPAIN 🇪🇸 This delightful little fellow dates to the time of the Roman empire. The mosaic was found in Villaquejida and now resides in the archaeological museum in Madrid. Has to be one of my favourite mosaics.

It’s my 38th ancient site from each country in the #WorldCup. It’s SOUTH AFRICA 🇿🇦 These are 2 of the 7 Lydenburg Heads, terracotta sculptures thought to be the earliest known Iron Age artefacts found in southern Africa. Though their purpose is unknown, it’s likely linked to ritual/ceremonial

It’s my 37th ancient site from each country in the #WorldCup. It’s SENEGAL 🇸🇳 This is one of around 1,000 ancient Sennegambian stone circles that straddle the Senegal/Gambia border. They range in date from c.2000BC to the C16th AD. Most are small & the monoliths are not much more than 75cm tall.

It’s my 36th ancient relic from each country in the #WorldCup. This is SCOTLAND 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 This is the extraordinary Hunterston Brooch, a Celtic-style silver brooch with gold and amber decoration. It was used to pin a cloak and is thought to have belonged to a king just prior to the Viking age. 🕰️c700 AD

It’s my 35th ancient site from each country in the #WorldCup. It’s SAUDI ARABIA 🇸🇦 The Ha’il region contains a large area of ancient rock art spanning 10,000 years. These petroglyphs depict camels, so are more recent as they became domesticated in Arabia. But they are still around 3-4000 years old.

It’s my 34th ancient relic from each country in the #WorldCup. It’s QATAR 🇶🇦 This is the so-called Doha Hind. It is an exquisite 10th-century bronze fountainhead shaped like a female red deer (or, hind). Though cast during the Umayyad caliphate in Al-Andalus, it now resides in Qatar.

It’s my 33rd ancient relic from each country in the #WorldCup. It’s PORTUGAL 🇵🇹 This is the Belém Tower built in the 1510s & located in Lisbon. It served as an embarkation & disembarkation point for Portuguese explorers & as a ceremonial gateway. It was a symbol of Portugal’s maritime imperial power

It’s my 32nd ancient relic from each country in the #WorldCup. It’s PARAGUAY 🇵🇾 The ruins of the Jesuit mission, La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná, are a UNESCO world heritage site. Built in 1706, it was abandoned when the Jesuits were expelled in 1768. The site then became prey to looters.

It’s my 31st ancient relic from each country in the #WorldCup. It’s PANAMA 🇵🇦 This golden plaque depicts a highly stylised, rather sinister grinning (grimacing? wrathful?) face & was found at the Sitio Conte necropolis. It’s likely this plaque was placed in the grave of an elite figure.

It’s my 30th ancient relic from each country in the #WorldCup. It’s NORWAY 🇳🇴 This is the Oseberg ship. It was unearthed in a Viking ship burial in the early 1900s. Whilst it wasn’t buried earlier than 834, experts think parts of the ship may date to 800. It’s now in the Viking ship museum in Oslo

It’s my 29th ancient relic from each country in the #WorldCup. It’s NEW ZEALAND 🇳🇿 This is a Māori hei tiki (ornamental pendent) made from jade, known in Māori as pounamu. Hei tiki had, and still have, powerful ritual meaning and are symbols of good luck, fertility & connection to your ancestors.

It’s my 28th ancient relic from each country in the #WorldCup. It’s NETHERLANDS 🇳🇱 The oldest planetarium in the world was built in Friesland from 1774 to 1781 by Eise Eisinga, a wool carder & amateur astronomer. It was built into the roof of the living room of his canal house.

It’s my 27th ancient relic from each country in the #WorldCup. It’s MOROCCO 🇲🇦 This is the Qubba, built in c.1125 by the Almoravid dynasty in Marrakech. It was attached to the nearby Ben Youssef mosque and was used for ablutions prior to prayer. Its interior decoration is rightly famous.

It’s my 26th ancient relic from each country in the #WorldCup. It’s SOUTH KOREA 🇰🇷 This is a Moon Jar. These jars became enormously popular for Korean elites in the Joseon period from c.1600 to 1750. The evocative name was only coined in the 20th century. Only 20 examples taller than 40cm survive.

It’s my 25th ancient relic from each country in the #WorldCup. It’s JORDAN 🇯🇴 Petra is globally famous as the city of the Nabateans carved from the living rock of its gullies & cliffs. This structure is the so-called Monastery. It may have been a religious building later repurposed as a church

It’s my 24th ancient relic from each country in the #WorldCup. It’s JAPAN 🇯🇵 This is the Kinkaku-ji, or the Temple of the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto. Originally constructed in 1397, the current temple was built in 1955 after a catastrophic fire. The exterior is covered entirely in gold leaf.