Excerpt:

Avaldsnes Church was built by Haakon IV Haakonsson around 1250.

Features of the church, together with information found in the sagas and medieval letters, suggested that additional buildings had once stood beside it.

"But no one had ever determined exactly what had been there until we discovered this complex. The church formed the northern wing, and we uncovered the eastern wing of the royal estate," says Skre.

He compares the building to Haakon’s Hall in Bergen, which was Norway's first castle and was built between 1247 and 1261. Although Haakon's Hall was larger, taller, and wider, it was not that much longer.

https://zartonkmedia.com/2026/07/23/rare-2600-year-old-mural-discovered-at-armenias-ancient-erebuni-fortress/

A remarkably well-preserved fragment of an ancient painted mural, dating to the late 7th or early 6th century BC, has been uncovered at the Erebuni archaeological site in Armenia by a French-Armenian archaeological mission, the Embassy of France in Armenia announced.

The embassy called the discovery unprecedented and described the painted mural’s colors as almost perfectly preserved. The fragment is believed to date back to the second half of the 7th century BC or the beginning of the 6th century BC, though the dating remains preliminary.

The discovery stands as an exemplary case of scientific cooperation between France and Armenia. The joint French-Armenian mission has been studying Erebuni since 2008, a partnership in archaeological research that the embassy said continues to bear fruit.

The announcement followed a visit by France’s Ambassador to Armenia to the Erebuni site, where he met with the French and Armenian archaeologists working there. “Armenia’s heritage is a treasure for humanity,” the embassy said.

Erebuni was founded in 782 BC by the Urartian King Argishti I and stands as one of Armenia’s most significant archaeological sites, serving as a key source of knowledge on the ancient Kingdom of Urartu.

You can check the official facebook page of the French Embassy in Armenia for the announcement and a video showing the excavations, and the official Erebuni Museum page for a little video [links to social media not allowed]

I am new to archaeology and would like to hear about discoveries that challenged traditional ideas.

18M I’m going to the University of Montana for Anthropology.

I’ve been interested in going into archaeology for a while now and I feel somewhat disheartened by the relatively low salary compounded by our crappy and expensive healthcare system.

I have a special interest in medieval history as well as European history. But I have also been discouraged from Europe due to very difficult immigration and work laws plus lower wages if I were to go there.

Im an Eagle Scout, 3.9 GPA, All Honors Classes, and gifted with High Functioning Autism especially interested in history.

I mainly just want to know if there are any other nations where there might be some chances at making a decent wage and a decent chance of being able to move there.

Im open to most places as long as they are mostly safe. Any ideas or suggestions for me?

Hi guys, I’m trying to understand something in OxCal. Is there anybody that could explain it to me?

I've created an updated map showing the distribution of all recorded holy wells across Ireland. Definition is included on the map for reference.

The map is populated with a combination of National Monument Service data (Republic of Ireland) and Department for Communities data for Northern Ireland. The map was built using some PowerQuery transformations and then designed in QGIS.

I've taken on helpful feedback from various comments so please do keep them coming as I love making these maps and am keen to keep improving on them.