Five archaeology stamps to start a collection

Explore the world’s history through material remains with our pick of ten top archaeology stamps.

1. The year 1972 marked the 150^th anniversary of the deciphering of the hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone by French historian Jean-Francois Champollion. Both Egypt and France issued a stamp this year and our selected stamp is the French issue, featuring Champollion beside Egyptian artefacts and hieroglyphics.

2. The earliest tools date to more than three million years ago and stone implements fashioned by humans form some of the world’s archaeological evidence. This 2010 stamp from Jersey features a timeline of flint tools.

3. In 2003, Royal Mail marked the 250th anniversary of the British Museum with six stamps showing some of the museum’s world famous treasures, including the Anglo Saxon Sutton Hoo helmet which dates to 600 AD and was discovered in 1939.

4. UNESCO’s Save the Nubian Monuments campaign ran from the 1960s through to the 1980s, resulting in striking stamps featuring Egypt's Nubian monuments which were threatened by the creation of the Aswan High Dam. This Qatar stamp was issued as part of a six-stamp set in 1966.

5. No round up of archaeology stamps would be complete without reference to archaeology museums, where a country’s archaeological treasures can be displayed for the public to study and enjoy. In 2011, Moldova celebrated its national archaeology museum with this stamp, featuring a hand-painted vessel. The stamp was part of a six-stamp issue featuring the museum, which holds some 263,000 exhibits.