Urban Jungles - Culture Comment by Rubina Raja & Søren M. Sindbæk

The comment challenges the traditional archaeological view that cities must be compact, walled entities separate from the countryside, arguing instead for the existence of "patch urbanism" where urban and rural landscapes have long coexisted in symbiotic, hybrid forms. Drawing on evidence from diverse ancient sites like Angkor, Caral, and Palmyra, it is suggested that these dispersed "rurban" environments were often more ecologically viable and resilient than the centralized city model favored by modern planners. This perspective reframes urban history by showing that the blending of city and hinterland is not a transient modern anomaly but a persistent, adaptable strategy that has defined human settlement for millennia.

Communicating classical antiquity: The making of a Museum of Ancient Art - Spotlight by Vinnie Nørskov and Rubina Raja 

Classical archaeology collections in Denmark originated with royal acquisitions in the 17th century and expanded significantly through private philanthropy, notably Carl Jacobsen's gift of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek to the Danish state. Aarhus University's Museum of Ancient Art and Archaeology goes back to Kristian Jeppesen's initiative in the 1960s that  transformed the university's auditorium terrace into museum space, relocating 182 Greek and Roman casts that the Aarhus Museum had planned to discard and establishing a study collection that remained restricted to academic access for decades. Following a 2004 restructuring that opened the museum to the public, the institution evolved to balance teaching, research, and community outreach, enriching its holdings through donations like Sigrid Birk's Carthaginian collection and developing research-linked exhibitions on classical Antiquity. One example is the virtual exhibition on the work of Danish archaeologist Harald Ingholt.

References:

Nørskov, V. & Raja, R. (2026). ‘ Communicating classical antiquity: The making of a Museum of Ancient Art’, Current World Archaeology, 135: 40-43.

Raja, R. & Sindbæk, S. M. (2026). ‘Urban Jungles’, Current World Archaeology, 135: 58-59.