Happy Pride! Yes, it's the end of June, but here on The Rock Pride spans two months, with the actual festivities happening in July, because no one wants to have a parade when it's 4 degrees and foggy.
North of Vancouver, the former Britannia Mine is now a museum, a clean-up site — and a Pride stage
In 1904, the Britannia mine opened and would grow to be one of the largest copper mines in the British Empire by the 1920s and ’30s. Little attention was paid to the environmental impacts of mining at the time. By the late ’90s, it became one of the most contaminated industrial sites in North America.
The mine shut down in 1974 and by 1975, the local historical society opened what’s now known as the Britannia Mine Museum.
On a recent Saturday night this Pride Month, another evolution was underway, with 14 drag kings, queens and things strutting, lip-syncing and sashaying through the century-old Mill No. 3.
'The cult of Saint Sebastian': How a brutally tortured 3rd-century saint became a gay icon
A Roman soldier who was killed for his Christian beliefs, Sebastian has been a hero for gay men over the centuries – from Oscar Wilde to Keith Haring. Here's why.
The Regency period was queer and trans. Bridgerton barely scratches the surface
This period in history, roughly 1790 to 1820, had underground gay bars, police raids met with violent resistance and riots, and a visible trans community. So how did queer and trans people actually live and connect during the Regency era?
(Go read Queer Georgians by Anthony Delaney!)
Review: Queen James – a fabulous documentary about the male lovers of Britain’s first king
Historian Gareth Russell has a gift. He’s entertaining and endlessly amusing in this confident TV transfer of his book about James I’s intimate companions.
🌈🌈🌈
Discoveries!
Archaeologists say they have discovered a huge Viking Age textile production site in Denmark that dates back more than 1,000 years and under
Experts from the Moesgaard Museum said this week that the sprawling 100,000-square-meter site features an area for processing flax as well as more than 80 pit houses — semi-buried huts that were used as workshops and dwellings in Viking times.
Rare intact Roman sarcophagus unearthed in Croatia
Archaeologists have uncovered an exceptionally rare late Roman sarcophagus dating to around 1,500 years ago during excavations in the coastal town of Cavtat, southern Croatia.
'A weird result from an already weird hominin': Archaeologists discover all Homo naledi skeletons found in South African cave are female
A cutting-edge analysis of the teeth from Homo naledi skeletons in a South African cave system found no males within the group. Experts are unsure what to make of the finding.
Monastic mystery of the Premonstratensian provostship of Nagykökényes solved
Archaeologists have identified the long-lost site of the medieval Premonstratensian provostship of Nagykökényes, solving a historical mystery that has puzzled researchers for decades.
Egyptian archaeologists unearth two tombs that could represent early development of funerary pyramids
Archaeologists working in Upper Egypt discovered two tombs dating to the Early Dynastic period, both of them at the fabled location known as Gabal El-Teir—or, as translated from Arabic, “Mountain of the Birds.”
Roman shrine dedicated to Minerva discovered in ancient quarry
Archaeologists have uncovered a rare Roman rock-cut sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Minerva in an ancient quarry near Campos del Paraíso, offering new insights into religious life and industrial activity in Roman Hispania.
Archaeologists' surprise at uncovering WW1 trenches
Archaeologists exploring the ruins of a royal castle said they were surprised to discover World War One trenches.
Second World War assault gun found
During construction work at the Nordholz naval air base on the North Sea, workers uncovered a surprise: an almost intact 29‑tonne StuG III assault gun from WWII, buried in the sand for 80 years.
New analysis dates Inca ‘Girl of Llullaillaco’ sacrifice to around AD 1499
Archaeologists have narrowed down the date of the ritual sacrifice of the famed Inca “Girl of Llullaillaco”, one of the world’s best-preserved mummies, to around AD 1499, providing fresh insights into the religious and political strategies of the expanding Inca Empire.
Archaeologists to return to 1,200-year-old Pictish power base
Excavations since the 1970s have revealed evidence of ramparts that were 26ft (8m) thick and stood 20ft (6m) high.
The public will be able to watch the latest dig organised by the University of Aberdeen's Northern Picts project between 11 and 25 August.
Ancient DNA from Polish cave reveals Central Europe was major neanderthal migration route
Central Europe played a far more significant role in Neanderthal history than previously understood, serving as a major corridor for migration, population exchange and social interaction, according to a new international study of fossil remains discovered in southern Poland.
Mayan city, hidden for more than 1,000 years, is discovered intact in Mexico
Located deep within the jungles of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, the city—which the researchers have named “Minanbé,” a Maya Yucatec phrase meaning “there is no road”—had been hidden by vegetation for over a thousand years.
Ancient water management system uncovered in Armenia
A vast ancient water management system has been uncovered near the ancient city of Argishtikhinili in Armenia, shedding new light on the engineering capabilities of the Urartian Kingdom more than 2,700 years ago.
Hopes dig will solve Warrington Castle mystery
Efforts to find a long-lost medieval castle in Warrington have been launched by local researchers.
They believe they now have enough evidence to prove a castle once stood on the site of St Elphin's Park in the Cheshire town.
Jade study reveals multiple sources of Neolithic stone in Northeast China
Researchers have uncovered new evidence that Neolithic communities in Northeast China sourced jade from multiple locations, offering fresh insights into prehistoric trade networks and craft production.
Archaeology field school near Fort St. John reflects 12,500 years of Indigenous history
An archaeological field school at a national historic site near Fort St. John, B.C., is offering a look into 12,500 years of First Nations history, finding pieces of ancient stone tools and animal bones.
Ornate Bronze Age sword discovery was likely a ritual offering
A remarkably preserved bronze sword dating back around 2,700 years has been unearthed in a forest near Gdańsk, Poland, offering archaeologists a rare opportunity to investigate how prestigious weapons were deposited during the Late Bronze Age.
Another Neolithic fingerprint turns up during pottery triage operations
She was cleaning an unprepossessing piece of fired clay – not even a fragment of a pot – and there it was! A fingerprint impressed, clearly, on a piece of clay which then was fired and has survived millennia.
Ancient Roman curse tablet deciphered
Researchers from Germany’s Heidelberg University have been surprised to find that a recently unearthed 1800-year-old Roman tablet bears a multicultural group curse on its surface.
17th-century lead ingots recovered from historic shipwreck
Three rare 17th-century lead ingots have been recovered from the wreck of a historic ship discovered during seabed investigations for the Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm, offering a remarkable glimpse into Britain’s early modern maritime trade.
Some of the last surviving Neanderthals were remarkably diverse — suggesting inbreeding didn't doom them
Some of the last surviving Neanderthals displayed greater genetic diversity than scientists previously thought, a new study of ancient DNA reveals, challenging the idea that genetic decline was the main cause of their extinction.
Aramaic inscription reveals early Christians sealed Roman Mithras temple
A newly deciphered Aramaic inscription has revealed that the underground Mithras Temple at Zerzevan Castle in southeastern Türkiye was symbolically sealed by early Christians around 1,700 years ago, providing rare direct evidence of the religious transition that followed the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire.
An exceptional bronze votive chariot was unearthed, the first of its kind ever found on the Iberian Peninsula
The find consists of half of a ceremonial wagon, including two wheels and the main vessel. The rich symbolic program includes two mythological figures: Acheloo, the oldest and most powerful water spirit in ancient Greece; and two griffins, creatures that sport the head of an eagle head and the body of a lion.
Museums
While some institutions are serving as "islands of freshness" during this week's scorching temperatures, others are having to reduce opening
On June 20, the Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt opened what has to be the most timely exhibition in living memory. Titled TOO HOT: Scorching Cities, New Ideas, it explores the central tension urban architects and planners increasingly face in needing to create cool spaces without energy costs spiralling.
Few other building groups embody this tension more emphatically right now than Europe's museums. Collectively, they are a house divided. With thermometers in most of the western and central reaches of the continent registering in the mid to high 30Cs, those institutions that have temperature control have become integral to their cities' response to extreme heat.
Paris museums and tourist sites continue to limit hours amid record-breaking heatwave
Many top museums and tourist sites in Paris will remain closed, or with reduced hours, throughout the rest of the week and into the weekend, while others (mostly newer buildings equipped with air conditioning, or stone buildings that are better at staying cool) are able to remain open, even promoting themselves as high-culture cooling centers.
10 museums to visit for America’s 250th anniversary
From Arkansas to Washington DC, museums across the US are grappling with what it means to celebrate the country.
Saint John museum celebrates 40 years of sharing Jewish history
From the 1920s to the 1960s, there were 200 to 300 Jewish families living and working in Saint John, N.B. As the children grew up and moved away, the numbers started to dwindle. By 1986, the community was down to roughly 50 families.
Marcia Koven wanted to preserve their history. The Jewish community has roots in Saint John that stretch back to the 1700s and Koven hoped to keep those stories alive for future generations.
She founded the Saint John Jewish Historical Museum, and 40 years later, the institution is celebrating its past and future.
How Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch’s lunch with Trump actually went down
The lunch contained no grand showdown, but rather turned into a “charm offensive” by Trump. [He] asked Bunch his opinion on four chandelier samples for the Oval Office; discussed the Eisenhower Executive Office Building; and talked about Republican calls to relocate the space shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum annex to Houston. And, in Trump’s signature free-associative manner, the discussion of the shuttle quickly segued to how ugly he finds Washington Dulles International Airport and which Trump floated “knocking down” and rebuilding, named after him of course.
Strangely, Trump never raised the issue of the Smithsonian’s telling of American history; Bunch described his and Trump’s conversation as having “no logic.”
Canadian Museum for Human Rights trustee resigns, cites ‘one-sided’ Palestinian exhibit
A trustee at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights is quitting the organization’s board over a coming exhibit about the late 1940s displacement of Palestinians, saying its lack of vital historical context will stir up hostility against Jewish people.
Opinion: The Canadian Museum of Human Rights is right to portray the stories of displaced Palestinians
As exhibits go, the one set to open this weekend at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights is a modest one – about 12 metres long, featuring a total of five artifacts, along with photos, videos, testimonials. But the controversy around “Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present” has been outsized.
Canadian Museum for Human Rights curator defends Nakba exhibit ahead of opening
Standing in front of three displays occupying two walls at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, curator Isabelle Masson says she has been taken aback by the vehement opposition to her new exhibit on Palestinian displacement.“
Nobody – none of those criticizing it – has ever even been able to see our exhibit yet.”
Canadian Museum for Human Rights show on Palestinian displacement offers nuanced, empathetic perspective amid uproar
Met with opposition and outrage from the moment it was announced, the show gathers historical objects and images, poetry, contemporary art and video interviews.
Now that seemingly every media outlet in the country has beaten this story to death, I do hope that people will actually go and see the exhibit for themselves.
The Sarajevo museum standing up for unity
The Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been in limbo for 30 years. With no state support, it raises funds as it can, but is determined to bring people together
Opinion: Ten years after the Brexit vote, museums still need space to talk about its impacts
The legacy of leaving the EU is more complex than either critics or supporters of Brexit assume, says Kirsty Warner
'True jewel' museum and gallery wins UK award
The Box, in Plymouth, was named the 2026 Art Fund Museum of the Year.
Repatriation
A group of Indigenous leaders and advocates are calling for sacred items in a proposed $20M sale to instead be repatriated by the Swiss owne
Stone and other members of the Bringing Them Home project are calling for $20 million in financial support to help them repatriate the vast collection presently up for sale after years spent on display in a privately owned Swiss museum.
Advocate and broadcaster Coleen Rajotte said the owner is retiring and wants to sell the collection for about $17 million. Bringing Them Home is asking for another $3 million in its fundraising efforts to cover transportation and storage costs.
Swiss collector eager to sell his collection of Indigenous artifacts back to communities
Estimates items are worth $12-14 million in total, says it's not feasible to donate them.
Art Loss Register recovers 17th-century Flemish painting stolen in 2020
The stolen painting, Interior of a Collector’s Cabinet: An Allegory of Sight (ca. 1660) by Jan van Kessel the Elder and Abraham Willemsens, was identified in October 2023 ahead of a planned sale at Sotheby’s. The auction house cross-checked the painting with the Art Loss Register’s database of stolen works as part of its due diligence, which ultimately matched it with the work taken in 2020.
The Netherlands and Germany agree to return more than 2,000 cultural artefacts to Ghana
In a symbolic presentation, the catalogue of 2,000 objects that the Netherlands plans to return was handed over by Jeroen Verheul, the country's ambassador, to John Dramani Mahama, the president of Ghana.
Ireland urged to create national panel to evaluate claims for Nazi-era and colonial loot
An expert committee appointed by the Irish government has recommended creating a national panel to evaluate claims for Nazi-era and colonial loot in public collections and called for state funding for provenance research.
Heritage at risk
"The Man Who Stole the Gods" author Matthew Campbell discusses Western collectors' rapacious hunger for ancient Cambodian art and the sheer
Matthew Campbell, a reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek, spent years digging into sources to write The Man Who Stole the Gods: A True Story of War, Obsession, and a Global Art Conspiracy. His book reads like a thriller while laying out the entwined histories of the Cambodian genocide and the rapacious hunger of Western collectors for the images of Hindu and Buddhist deities created by the sculptors of the Khmer Empire during the 9th to 15th centuries CE in what is now Cambodia.
Court lifts 250th anniversary deadline for Trump administration to reinstall US park exhibits
President Donald Trump's administration does not need to reinstall dozens of exhibits that it removed from national parks on topics such as slavery and climate change before the nation's 250th anniversary next month, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Tuesday.
Government failing to protect national museums from security threats, watchdog warns
England's 15 national museums and galleries are being left exposed to security threats due to the UK Government’s “overly reactive” approach, the Public Accounts Committee has warned.
The cross-party parliamentary watchdog, which scrutinises government spending, said several high-profile incidents in recent years had highlighted the vulnerability of national cultural institutions, including the thefts at the British Museum and the cyber attack on the British Library.
Historic Brooklyn church destroyed by “devastating” fire
The 173-year-old Dutch Reformed church caught fire around 1:30 pm on Friday and continued to burn for hours afterward. The cause of the incident is still under investigation.
Public sees cultural heritage protection in conflict zones as a high priority
Nearly nine in 10 people across the UK support cultural heritage protection in conflict zones, according to new research commissioned by the British Council.
Odds and ends
The fate of mlaheeyeh, lost from its hometown and preserved by emigres, reveals what war truly destroys when it displaces a people
The fate of mlaheeyeh, lost from its hometown and preserved by emigres, reveals what war truly destroys when it displaces a people.
N.L. government needs to ‘acknowledge the harms’ its caused, says Innu cultural guardian
Ahead of a meeting with Premier Tony Wakeham and Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Lela Evans stemming from the fallout from a cancelled exhibit, Innu Cultural Guardian Jodie Ashini says she wants meaningful action going forward.
Ashini said there could be consequences if the province doesn't make meaningful actions, pointing to the new interest in exploring and developing regions of Labrador.
Trust undermined, Innu harmed by N.L. government response to exhibit dispute: MUN profs
A collection of eight anthropologists and archaeologists at Memorial University are expressing their support for Innu in Labrador, calling on the provincial government to "clarify the evidentiary basis for any claims about Innu history."
Listen: Smithsonian archaeologist rejects province’s 300 year timeline for Innu
Hear from archaeologist Stephen Loring at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, who firmly rejects the province's 300-year timeline of Innu history in Labrador.
Elder says long view of Innu history necessary for understanding today’s issues
Step aboard the only replica of a 16th century Spanish galleon, thanks to an 'extraordinary gift' from Canada
Xabier Agote has to push past people lined up to get on board the San Juan, tied up next to the dock in Pasaia, in Spain’s Basque country.
This is the first time the replica of a 16th century Spanish galleon is open for tours and it’s a popular attraction.
So here's a fun bit from this story: it talks about Basque diaries from the 16th century, and those diaries mention the Innu.
Auction house under fire over sale of 3,000-year-old mummy head
A Northern Ireland auction house has come under fire from a number of academics over it selling human remains, including a 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy head.
Remember kids, you can not ethically buy or sell human remains!
Did you miss the original eruption of Mt. Vesuvius? Now you can experience it in augmented reality in Pompeii
A new augmented reality app will enable devotees of the ancient city of Pompeii to explore the city as it was in 79 C.E., before the disastrous eruption of Mount Vesuvius—as well as during the historic catastrophe, in which some 2,000 are believed to have perished, possibly in ghastly fashion, including asphyxiating amid clouds of ash or even having their bodily fluids vaporized by burning gas. Besides seeing the sky go dark on that fateful day, they’ll be able to see gladiators fighting in the amphitheater or, if less violently inclined, take in a play at the theater.
The oldest evidence of mourning rituals reveals Palaeolithic communities grieved like we do
Roughly 27,500 years ago, a 15-year-old boy was brutally mauled by a bear in Arene Candide in today’s Liguria, Italy. The attack tore through his jaw, neck and left shoulder. He was dying, but he was not alone in his final moments.
New Treblinka research uncovers forgotten role of women in 1943 death camp revolt
Apart from two female survivors, all testimony about Treblinka came from male inmates. In a new book, historian Chad S.A. Gibbs restores Jewish women’s overlooked place in camp resistance.
Secrets of Lincoln Castle, from royal love story to grisly deaths
Today, the imposing stone walls still watch over the city, but where once crowds gathered to witness executions, today they are more likely to enjoy concerts such as the Live at Lincoln Castle series, which this year is bringing artists such as Rick Astley and Deacon Blue to the city.
Signs across Niagara Region trails, sites will connect hikers to its Indigenous history
Trail signs popping up along major paths in Ontario's Niagara Region will connect people to an interactive map detailing the Indigenous history of the site and route.
Game of stones: how paintings of marble reveal a world of magical medieval mysticism
From trippy swirls to blood-soaked slabs, a new book mines gothic and renaissance art for the supernatural significance of the precious rock
Lost memoir of Hiroshima survivor found after decades in US archive
Written in 1947, Kiyoshi Tanimoto’s account of the horrors of the atomic bomb attack will be published in August and is being made into a film
R.M.S. Titanic’s plan to sell salvaged artifacts at auction faces ongoing opposition
Various government entities in the US and France had previously voiced objection to the company’s periodic attempts to sell items from the shipwreck, part of the reason why, according to the New York Times, R.M.S. Titanic requested that court documents related to this latest endeavor remain sealed.
That is painfully obvious
Excavated Roman board game revived by 3D printing
Activity and diversity officer at Vindolanda, Sophie Westlake, said the 3D printed version had made the game "more accessible" by letting people play it instead of looking at it in an exhibition.
Documenting Ireland’s vanishing boglands: ‘They hold millennia in their layers’
Photographer Shane Hynan explores the tension between the central role peat bogs play in Irish life and their wider environmental impact
A stupid history joke:
Skeleton of the world’s rarest marine mammal preserved by digital imaging
The reconstruction of the vaquita, whose numbers barely reach double figures in the wild, is designed to help research and conservation efforts
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