Archaeology

The latest digs, ideas, and discoveries about our past, from ancient cities to our prehistoric ancestors.

Latest in Archaeology

Canada and USA reenacting the war during 1812

British soldier’s long-lost memoir rediscovered in Cleveland

A Roman fresco showing a young maked girl reading and three other adult women draped in fabric togas on a bright red background.

What were books like in ancient Greece and Rome?

By Konstantine Panegyres / The Conversation

A shark tooth next to a spoon used to excavate it from sand in Oman

In ancient Arabia, people dined on sharks and stingrays

A sample of the dental remains excavated in Pontecagnano that date to the 7th-6th century BCE.

Iron Age teeth reveal the hidden lives of ancient Italians

Depiction of the fourth horseman of the apocalypse, Death, riding a mythical creature, presumably a winged lion. Below him is a personification of famine (Fames), pointing to her open mouth. The depiction was created in Erfurt in the mid-14th century; the connection to Neuses may be drawn due to the date – St. Mark’s Day – of the annual memorial procession leading to the mass grave. Source: Klassik-Stiftung Weimar

Medieval plague victims likely found in mass grave in Germany

Diver underwater investigating Viking shipwreck

600-year-old Viking shipwreck is the largest of its kind

An elevated, long-range photograph of the Rano Raraku volcanic crater on Easter Island, showing several moai statues partially buried in the grassy hillside. The massive stone heads and torsos are scattered across a sloped landscape that leads up to a rugged, rocky cliff face with visible excavation sites. Some areas of the background rock feature unnatural blue markings, likely from digital editing or site markers.

3D map of Easter Island takes you places visitors aren’t allowed

a medieval ring made of gold with a large blue stone at the center

Ornate medieval ring discovered in Norway’s oldest town

By Margherita Bassi

Group of ancient Roman whetstones discovered in Britain

800 ancient Roman blade sharpeners found in Britain

Both sides of one of the arrowheads analysed. The left-hand image shows the organic remains in which the arrowhead residues were identified. Photo: Marlize Lombard

World’s oldest poison-tipped arrow discovered in South Africa

a celtic gold coin

Rare Celtic coin found by metal detectorist

By Laura Baisas

‘King of Silver Dollars’ coin could fetch over $1M at auction

By Laura Baisas

a cave painting of two warty pigs

Pigs have been island hopping for 50,000 years

By Laura Baisas

A close-up, angled shot of a silver waiter's corkscrew in the process of opening a wine bottle. The metal lever of the corkscrew is braced against the lip of the dark glass bottle, while the black spiral "worm" is drilled deep into the center of the natural wood cork. The background is a soft, out-of-focus gradient of green and grey.

The corkscrew began as a tool for muskets, not merlot

By Andrew Coletti

coins in dirt and a can in dirt

A couple walking their dog found $10 million worth of rare coins

roman ruins in northern england

Diarrhea slowed down Roman soldiers

By Laura Baisas

A scene from the Bayeux Tapestry showing a medieval dining scene involving Bishop Odo of Bayeux.

Famous phallic tapestry may have entertained monks during meals

By Laura Baisas

Man with metal detector stumbles on perplexing Viking Age grave

By Margherita Bassi

Rhesus macaque bones in Roman animal cemetery grave

Roman generals gifted kittens and piglets to their pet monkeys

a wooden boat on display in a dark museum exhibit

Who built Scandinavia’s oldest wooden plank boat? An ancient fingerprint offers clues.

By Laura Baisas