Helena Marsh

Helena writes about digs, ruins and the ancient world, and about the scientists who keep proving the textbooks wrong.

The two broken halves of Claudia Severa's birthday invitation from Vindolanda, pale leaves of wood covered in lines of Roman cursive

The Vindolanda Tablets: Socks, Beer and a Birthday Party in Roman Britain

Helena Marsh · November 10, 2026

Museum reconstruction of the Uluburun ship in cross section, with stacks of copper ingots in the hold and painted crew on deck

The Uluburun Wreck: A Bronze Age Cargo That Never Reached Its Port

Helena Marsh · November 6, 2026

A dark bronze Roman dodecahedron with round holes in its faces and a small knob at each corner, in a museum case at Tongeren

Roman Dodecahedra: The Bronze Objects Nobody Has Managed to Explain

Helena Marsh · November 2, 2026

The stone arches of the Ponte Milvio crossing the fast-flowing Tiber in Rome under a clear blue sky

October 28, 312: The Battle at the Milvian Bridge That Remade Rome

Helena Marsh · October 28, 2026

The round clay Phaistos Disc on a metal stand in a museum case, its stamped signs arranged in a spiral of compartments

The Phaistos Disc: A Clay Message From Minoan Crete Nobody Can Read

Helena Marsh · October 25, 2026

Portrait of Archbishop James Ussher in a black cap, white ruff and bishop's robes, after Sir Peter Lely

October 23, 4004 BC: How Archbishop Ussher Dated the Creation

Helena Marsh · October 23, 2026