Danielle Vander Horst

Sketch depicting the perspective of an ancient viewer standing in the center of the garden, gazing toward the southeast corner of the planted space and observing gardeners at work.
Excavating History in Pompeii’s Ancients Gardens

Beneath the shade of pine and myrtle, researchers from the Casa della Regina Carolina Excavation (Cornell University; Bologna University; Harvard University) in Pompeii, Italy were…

Still from INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK | Official Trailer.
Archeology in the Movies: What Hollywood Gets Right and Wrong
Indiana Jones is a terrible archeologist. Yet, despite the films having next to nothing to do with actual archeological work, he is somehow the most famous icon of the field. Those within the field…
The Ancient Ruins of Pompeii
Excavating Pompeii: This Year’s Top Finds

The last six months have been a busy and exciting time at the Pompeii Archaeological park in Italy. Excavations across the famous buried city have provided …

The so-called Tellus panel from the Ara Pacis, ca 9 BCE. Here a goddess, likely the personification of Pax (Peace) or Tellus (the Earth), is surrounded by natural fecundity and symbols of plenty. This panel combined with the other mytho-historical images of the building are an imagery combination of commemorative Roman art. The Ara Pacis has been reassembled in the Museo dell’Ara Pacis in Rome.
How Roman Art Reimagined Greek Traditions

To the untrained eye, the art of ancient Rome may appear no different from that which was produced by the ancient Greeks before them.

Laocoön and His Sons (Laocoön Group), ca 200 BCE or possibly 27 BCE - 68 CE. Housed in the Vatican Museums. License
The Lost Art of Ancient Greece

The artistic creations and advancements of Ancient Greece…

Hilda Petrie descending a ladder into an Egyptian Tomb.
5 Pioneering Women in Archaeology

Problems of gender inequity have plagued academia since its inception with women being discouraged or outright barred from learning and practicing different …

A new fresco uncovered from a house in Regio IX (region 9) at the city of Pompeii depicting Paris of Troy persuading Helen to run away with him, thus providing the catalyst for the Trojan War. These new frescoes are some of the finest examples to date and showcase details often lost over time in other ancient paintings.
The 10 Biggest Archaeological Discoveries in 2024

In the world of archaeology, 2024 was a busy year…

Dante and the early astronomers (1913)
Gods, Stars, and Being: Egyptian Astronomy Explained

The sky and the universe, with its stars and planets, held a primal spot in ancient Egyptian ontologies with the gods and goddesses of this domain featured prominently in both…