Archaeology Week

Coins can tell us about religion, politics, history, economics and cultural exchange, and even how the Ancient World has continued to attract attention long after the Fall of Rome. In this blog, summer student Alex Lewis examines some of the ancient Greek and Roman coins in our collection.

To archaeologists, one man's trash really is another man's treasure. So much can be learned about a person by examining the things they've left behind, even if the original owner didn't think they were particularly important. Read on to discover a story of a 20th century teenager, pieced together from the contents of a rather unconventional rubbish bin.

Ancient Egyptian religion was complex and polytheistic, with multiple deities representing and controlling aspects of the natural environment and concepts such as love and creativity. The worship and rituals associated with these deities formed a core part of ancient Egyptian life and maintaining Ma’at, or divine order, peace and balance.

Lori Bowers shares her experiences of working with the Archaeological Collections at Auckland Museum. Material from archaeological excavations are diverse and has to be curated and recorded in a consistent way. Because of the quantity of material, the task can be repetitive but there are always interesting things to discover.

For Archaeology Week 2018, we took a closer look at man's best friend. Discover the story of the Polynesian dog or kurī, and its importance to archaeological investigation in Aotearoa.

In March 2020, Auckland Museum archaeologists carried out a small excavation in a large coastal midden on Otata Island in the Hauraki Gulf, Tikapa Moana. Our changing climate and rising sea level is having an impact on our archaeological heritage. New Zealand Archaeology Week provides an opportunity to raise awareness of these changes.