An archaeological dig where the Orkney Venus was found last year has entered an "exciting phase" as excavations resumed. Archaeologists hope the Links of Noltland dig will reveal more about people who lived on the Orkney island of Westray thousands of years ago. Read more
A Roman fort which has been discovered in Cornwall is challenging previous historical views about the South West. Pottery and pieces of slag have been found at the undisclosed location near St Austell, suggesting an ironworks. Experts said the discovery challenges previous thinking about the region's history as it had been thought Romans did not settle much beyond Exeter. Read more
Climate change may have brought Neanderthals from France - across a dry English Channel to Kent - 40,000 years earlier than previously thought. Theory has it they were attracted by the sight of the "white cliffs" rich in flint, or the migration of mammoth, rhino, horses and deer: precious foods in then sub-arctic conditions. The whole story is told by a single flint hand tool and a waste flake discovered at the M25/A2 road works in Dartford in 2007. These have been dated by archaeologist Dr Francis Wenban-Smith of Southampton University and his team at Oxford Archaeology, by measuring the amount of radiation absorbed by the samples before they were buried. Read more
The first Pictish throne to be built in more than 1,000 years went on display at the Glenmorangie Distillery's visitor centre at Tain today. The throne was commissioned last year by The Glenmorangie Company and National Museums Scotland to aid understanding of the early people of Scotland and their society. Read more
Scotland's earliest human face, the Orkney Venus, went on temporary display at an Argyll museum yesterday. The 5,000-year-old figurine, which is also known as the Westray Wife, was found last summer by archaeologists excavating the Links of Noltland on the Orkney island of Westray. Read more
DNA tests on British populations of small mammals show a genetically distinct "Celtic Fringe", say scientists at The University of York. Voles, shrews, mice and stoats in northern and western areas have different DNA from their counterparts in other parts of the British Isles. The paper, in Proceedings B journal, says the different populations arrived at the end of the last ice age. The authors say the work sheds light on the origins of the Celtic people. Read more
Startling evidence of a Stone Age structure in the Solent. Diving almost blind in the Solent's murky waters, the team of maritime detectives could just make out the shape of a wooden plank protruding from the muddy seabed. While it might have been dismissed as underwater junk by the untrained eye, the archaeologists soon realised they had discovered a vital clue to a lost civilisation.
Orkney dig finds 5,000 year-old village hall Archaeologists working in Orkney have pieced together the most complete picture to date of life in Neolithic Britain. Excavation of a settlement on the island of Westray points to a people that farmed and fished together and probably had their own village hall. Archaeologists believe that the Links of Noltland settlement could become as significant as Skara Brae, the Unesco World Heritage Site on Orkneys mainland.
'Whicker Man' tomb to yield Bronze Age secrets, say scientists Human remains uncovered at a burial site in the Highlands are extremely rare and could provide new information about Bronze Age life, experts say. The site was discovered in February when landowner Jonathan Hampton was using a mechanical digger to clear peat from Langwell Farm, Strath Oykel, in Sutherland.
Scotland's 'earliest face' found A carving believed to be Scotland's earliest human face, dating back thousands of years, has been found on the Orkney island of Westray. The small Neolithic sandstone human figurine is believed to be up to 5,000 years old.