Archaeology

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

Latest in Archaeology

San Miguel pyramid excavation near highway in Hidalgo, Mexico
Science

Ancient pyramid uncovered during highway construction

By Andrew Paul

Germanic warrior taking stimulants imagined by Stanislav(Stanisław) Kontny, especially for the Praehistorische Zeitschrift. Credit: Stanisław Kontny for Praehistorische Zeitschrift
Science

Roman-era Barbarians snorted stimulants in battle, tiny spoons suggest

By Andrew Paul

Bashlemi inscription tablet with mystery language on black background
Science

Mystery language on ancient stone tablet stumps archeologists

By Andrew Paul

two twisted bowstrings uncovered from a cave
Science

Europe’s oldest known bowstrings found in a cave in Spain

By Laura Baisas

a siberian husky sits in the snow. it has piercing blue eyes and its ears are perked up
Science

Humans gave dogs treats 12,000 years ago, new archeological evidence suggests

By Laura Baisas

Researchers have developed a hydrogel that melts into and preserves ancient waterlogged wooden artifacts. Without the gel, the artifacts need to be dried, and that risks damaging the relics.
Science

New goo preserves 800-year-old wooden shipwreck samples

By Andrew Paul

Micro-CT scans of bone needle and needle specimens and the species they were compared with.
Science

Ice age humans made needles from animal bones, archeologists discover

By Laura Baisas

Bronze cannon linked to Coronado expedition next to ruler for scale
Science

The oldest known firearm in the U.S. unearthed in Arizona

By Andrew Paul

Focaccia baked in kiln
Science

Focaccia likely originated in Mesopotamia, not Rome

By Andrew Paul

Marine fossils found at Neanderthal cave site
Science

Neanderthals may have enjoyed collecting tchotchkes—just like us

By Andrew Paul

Inhumation grave 26, shown in the original field photograph (left), with bones in anatomical articulation lying on their right side with flexed legs.
Science

This ancient skeleton turned out to have eight different people in it

By Popular Science Team

a side by side of a rare gold coin from 1870
Science

Rare California Gold Rush coin fetches $1.44 million at auction

By Laura Baisas

a silver coin minted before the american revolution. one side has the letters NE on it for new england and the other has the roman numeral 3 for its value
Science

Colonial silver coin found in cabinet sells for $2.5 million

By Laura Baisas

Various images of Bes mugs
Science

Ancient Egyptian ritual potion included hallucinogens and bodily fluids

By Andrew Paul

two bodies from pompeii preserved in white plaster
Science

DNA reveals new stories about Pompeii’s victims

By Laura Baisas

Civil War Urns
Science

Remains of 28 Civil War soldiers identified in funeral home storage

By Andrew Paul

Two perfectly articulated skeletons of the sheep-size dinosaur Psittacosaurus, found in China's Yixian Formation. New research suggests they died in burrow collapses, not via volcanism, as previously thought.
Science

Dinosaurs discovered in ‘Chinese Pompeii’ actually died in extremely boring ways

By Mack DeGeurin

a metal cylinder with various markings on it and what those markings look like on a clay tablet
Science

6,000-year-old Mesopotamian artifacts linked to the dawn of writing

By Laura Baisas

View of the bow of the RMS Titanic photographed in June 2004 by the ROV Hercules during an expedition returning to the shipwreck of the Titanic.
Science

A hunk of coal from the Titanic could fetch $780 at auction

By Andrew Paul

Side by side of mummy entering CT scanner with two images of a mummy's skull scan
Science

3D scans reveal secrets of a 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy’s coffin

By Andrew Paul