Archaeology (Page 3)

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

Latest in Archaeology

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

Artist's impression of sparks from flint and pyrite

Neanderthals harnessed fire 350,000 years earlier than previously thought

An ancient Pompeii wall at a newly excavated site, where Associate Professor Admir Masic applied compositional analysis (overlayed to right) to understand how ancient Romans made concrete that has endured for thousands of years.

Pompeii’s ruins challenge Rome’s famous concrete recipe

a gold coin with a ship and queen elizabeth i etched into it

Elizabethan era gold coin sold for record-breaking price

By Laura Baisas

coins in a jug at an archaeologist dig

40,000 Roman-era coins discovered in French village

By Laura Baisas

pouring olive oil in a clear container

Ancient ‘dirty dishes’ may have led archaeologists astray for decades

By Laura Baisas

two donkeys looking directly at the camera in a green field with a blue sky

Why using a donkey to treat whooping cough makes sense

By Laura Baisas

Medieval grave slab made from Purbeck stone in museum exhibit case

Medieval shipwreck mistaken for underwater ‘rubbish’

an orange cat sits on ancient ruins

Roman military helped bring cats to Europe

By Laura Baisas

$Neanderthal human remains from the Troisième caverne of Goyet (Belgium). Highly fragmented bones bear traces characteristic of fresh bone fracturing and percussion, demonstrating intentional treatment of the bodies. The individuals (GNx, for “Goyet Neandertal” x), numbering six at minimum, were identified by genetic analyses: XX indicates female gender, and XY male gender.. Credit: Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences /Scientific Reports$

The Neanderthals who ate their neighbors

A vibrant, digital illustration of a glowing DNA double helix structure against a dark blue background. The helix is composed of numerous small, multicolored, light-filled blocks and lines that represent the genetic code.

How scientists analyze ancient DNA from old bones

A scan of an Arabic manuscript of the dīwān of Ibn Sanā' al-Mulk dating back to 1181-1182 (left). The Annual perseid meteor seen in the sky on August 14, 2023. The meteors have a radiant bordering on Cassiopeia and Camelopardalis (right).

Medieval Arabic texts help researchers track down explosive star deaths

By Margherita Bassi

ancient reindeer antlers on rocks

Hiker stumbles on massive medieval reindeer traps in Norway

By Margherita Bassi

Close up of replica of silver goblet from Near East engraved with sun god

4,000-year-old silver goblet tells a tale of chaos and order

Scuba diver investigating propellor of WW2 aircraft crash underwater

80 years ago, a WWII B-17 bomber crashed in the Baltic. Scientists are finally learning who was onboard.

Glass openwork vessel excavated at Cologne dating to around 350–400 CE with an image of an inscription on the right. Inscription: BIBE MVLTIS ANNIS (Drink [may you live] for many years!). Credit: State Collection of Antiquities and Glyptothek, Munich. Photos by Christa Koppermann

Ancient Rome’s fanciest glasses are full of cryptic symbols

Close up of Egyptian ceramic vessel with inscriptions

Opium may have been a daily habit for Ancient Egyptians

Swedish silver medieval coins in a pile

Fisherman searching for worms finds 20,000 medieval silver coins

Various angles of fragmented human skull

Medieval duke’s remains recount his grisly murder

Fragment of a Roman milestone erected along the road Via Nova in Jordan. Credit: Adam Pažout, Itiner-e.

Travel ancient Rome’s 186,000 miles of roads in new online atlas

Skeleton in grave in Iron Age Celtic tribe

Celtic women held power—and were sacrificed

a stone circle in a field

‘Extremely rare’ Roman tomb discovered in Germany

By Margherita Bassi

Musket and cannonballs recovered in Scottish battlefield

18th century lead ammo found in Scottish Highlands

Four views of ochre fragment used by Neanderthals

Neanderthals used ‘crayons’ to color

Scan of hieroglyphs on Mayan Foundation Rock

Mystery Mayan ruler was no king

Archaeologists discover massive ancient Egyptian fortress

By Margherita Bassi

Skull of a soldier from the Napoleon army next to a button from a soldier's uniform.

The real killer of Napoleon’s army revealed by DNA testing

Roman skeletons in water well mass grave

Ancient Roman mass grave shows its army’s ethnic diversity

pinworm under microscope

Ancient poop from Mexico’s ‘Cave of the Dead Children’ teems with parasites

By Laura Baisas

A 50 cent coin from 1817 (left) and an 1846 Liberty head one-cent coin (right) are just two of the numerous objects uncovered in a dig in Troy, Ohio.

Rare 19th-century coins found after fire at historic tavern

By Laura Baisas

A 3D model of the ancient Roman water basin uncovered about 11 miles east of Rome.

Forgotten rival of Ancient Rome featured an impressive water basin

By Margherita Bassi

Paranthropus boisei. Reproduction of an adult skull. 1,8 million years ago. Pleistocene. Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania). (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

This overlooked human ancestor wielded tools with a gorilla-like grip

Aerial photo of ancient ice storage facility excavation next to photos of a burial jar containing Chinese coins

Ancient underground freezer unearthed at South Korean castle

human bones in the background. in the foreground a hand holds samples of liquids

A mummy microbiome hides inside 1,000-year-old poop

By Laura Baisas

Elephant bones at excavation site next to chalkboard labeling it

Ancient humans butchered giant elephants with thumb-sized tools

a team of researchers using ropes to move a large statue

How Easter Island’s famed heads ‘walked’

By Laura Baisas

Aerial photo of Teotihuacan city

A lost ancient language may be hiding in plain sight

Karnak Temple next to the Nile River and palm trees

Vast ancient Egyptian temple dated to Old Kingdom

a collage of several rare coins and bank notes

A rare coin treasure hunt kicks off in 4 American cities

By Laura Baisas

a black and white photo of a ship leaning on its side in sea ice

Ernest Shackleton knew ‘Endurance’ had shortcomings, new study says

By Laura Baisas

Artifacts found while Dr. Kathleen Martínez searches for Cleopatra's tomb.

The search for Cleopatra’s long-lost tomb leads to sunken seaport

By Laura Baisas

Close up view of bearded vulture

Multi-generational vulture nests hold 700 years of human artifacts

Composite drone photograph of the large panel at Jebel Misma. The engravings are traced to show 19 life-sized camels and 3 equids. Naturalistic animals belonging to the middle phase are traced in white. The more stylized and standardized depictions of the later phase traced in blue. Unidentified lines traced in black.

Camels depicted in 12,000-year-old rock art

By Laura Baisas

a sparkly iron ore

This ‘funny-looking rock’ holds 3,000 years of Iron Age secrets

By Laura Baisas

a tyrannosaur skeleton on display in a musuem

Amateur paleontologist opens fossil museum in rural Minnesota

By Sara Kiley Watson

Study diagram of ancient Egyptian cow bone whistle

Ancient Egypt’s cemetery police blew bone whistles made from cow toes

A Paleolithic handaxe with a broken distal end, discovered during the Ayvalık survey

Early humans reached Europe via an Ice Age land bridge from Turkey

An arid archaeological site with a large, excavated rectangular foundation in the foreground, partially dug into a dirt mound. The site is surrounded by dry, barren land and hills in the distance. A few people are visible, providing a sense of scale, and the background shows a valley with green trees and a clear, hazy sky.

Lost mural reveals ancient Silk Road fire ritual

Ripe grapes growing on plants in vineyard lit by sun

Bronze Age farmers often prioritized wine over olives

Aymara elongated mummy skull

Looted mummy skull mislabeled for over a century

a wheel of a shipwreck under water

Wisconsin ‘ghost ship’ uncovered after 139 years

By Laura Baisas

a gold dollar coin. the heads side has a woman holding a baby on her back named sacagewea on it and the back an eagle with 17 stars

Space-flown Sacagawea dollar coins fetch over $500K at auction

By Laura Baisas

A blurred photo shows a smiling woman with dark hair, wearing a purple shirt, holding a large, ancient-looking wooden tool with a stone head, possibly an ax or hammer. She is wearing white gloves and standing in a laboratory setting with scientific equipment and storage shelves visible in the background.

Stone Age women were buried with as many tools as men

A midden in rural England on a cloudy day

Bronze Age feasts uncovered in ancient English trash heaps

an aerial view of an island with stone structures

Escaped slaves on St. Croix hid their settlements so well, they still haven’t been found. Archaeologists using new mapping technology are on the hunt

By Justin Dunnavant / The Conversation

Clay sculpture of two frogs from Caral civilization

An ancient frog statue’s secret message

a painting depicting a viking battle in russia

Vikings were captivated by silver. Our new analysis of their precious loot reveals how far they travelled to get it

By Jane Kershaw / The Conversation

Mayan child tooth with jade gem and two x-ray images of the tooth

Jade gems decorated these Mayan kids’ teeth

Surkandarya Valley in Uzbekistan

An Uzbekistan cave holds an ancient agricultural secret

Diver investigating shipwreck underwater

138-year-old shipwreck discovered in Lake Michigan

A stone rock with etched art. On one side, a human figure and probably a dog are pecked in with dots. A bow and arrow are carved above the hand on the right side. On the other side, there is a human figure, an unknown figure, and a large boat.

Lost, ancient cult site unearthed near a Norwegian highway

Petralona skull of ancient hominin

Hominin skull discovered in 1960 finally gets an accurate age

a dire wolf skull. it has large front teeth

Dire wolf skull could fetch over $30,000 at auction

By Laura Baisas

Example of knotted khipu cords next to ruler for siz referenc

Human hair-based recordkeeping was widespread in Incan Empire