Revealing the Ancient World

Discover how China’s great tombs provide a route to the past and the country today, and how a range of ancient societies rose to power and tipped into collapse.

Fall of Civilizations


Tempest Anderson Hall, Museum Gardens

Paul Cooper, host of the hit podcast Fall of Civilizations, explores how a range of ancient societies rose to power and sophistication, and how they tipped over into collapse.

Who Really Wrote the Bible: The Story of the Scribes


Who wrote the Bible? Join William Schniedewind of the University of California, Los Angeles, for a groundbreaking new account that tells the story of the scribe who wrote the Hebrew Bible.

Pox Romana: The plague that shook the Roman world


Historian Colin Elliott provides a wide-ranging and dramatic account of the Antonine plague, the mysterious disease that struck the Roman Empire at its pinnacle.

Trailblazer: Yorkshire female archaeologist


Bootham School

Find out about trailblazing York archaeologist Mary Kitson Clark (1905-2005), a former Curator of Roman Archaeology at the Yorkshire Museum.

Birthing Romans


How did Romans cope with the anxieties and risks of childbirth? Anna Bonnell Freidin of the University of Michigan examines childbearing and its risks in Imperial Rome.

Did Prehistoric Women Have the Right to Roam?


Law and Sociology Building, Campus East, University of York

Archaeologists Penny Bickle, Jennifer French and Rachel Pope reveal how, from hunting to trading, prehistoric women were often the ones who led and discovered the way.

China’s Great Tombs


Ron Cooke Hub, Campus East, University of York

China’s great tombs are a marvel of the ancient world. Eminent art historian Jessica Rawson explores how they provide a route to the past and to China today.

All the Violet Tiaras: Queering the Greek myths


Law and Sociology Building, Campus East, University of York

Ancient historian and author Jean Menzies discusses how Greek myths are being reclaimed and reimagined by LGBTQ+ writers and readers to explore modern day queer joy and queer struggles.