From Pulp to Fiction: our love affair with paper

17 March 2016

It may seem strange to describe paper as technology, but its arrival in England in about 1300 was a pivotal moment in cultural history. That story is being pieced together for the first time in a new project that also promises to reveal much about why some innovations succeed where others fail

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Two of 38 teapots found on the site of Clapham's coffeeshop in Cambridge

A tale of 38 teapots: an intimate portrait of 18th-century sociability

20 October 2014

At a seminar tomorrow (22 October 2014) archaeologist Craig Cessford will talk about the challenges of working on ‘clearance deposits’. He will use, as one of his examples, the recent excavation of a site in historic Cambridge that yielded a cache of teapots, and other items, that had lain undisturbed for more than 200 years.

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The “wonderful rubbish” of the Gilf Kebir desert

17 June 2014

A chance find in a site known as the Cave of Swimmers adds a colourful twist to an exhibition in Paris celebrating the work of ethnographer Leo Frobenius in raising awareness of the rock art of Africa. The discovery by Italian archaeologist Dr Giulio Lucarini, currently at Cambridge University, underlines the vital importance of safeguarding the heritage of the Gilf Kebir. 

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Ronald Balfour: Cambridge’s own ‘monuments man’

10 March 2014

The ‘monuments men’ were a multinational unit of the Allied Forces who operated behind enemy lines during the Second World War to safeguard artistic and cultural treasures. Among them was historian Ronald Balfour, Fellow of King’s College, who lost his life 69 years ago.

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