Archaeology (Page 3)

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

Latest in Archaeology

Rendering of a reconstructed polybolos within a virtual environment derived from reality-based documentation of the city walls. Digital survey and 3D model by S.B.; rendering and animation by V.C. with Lumion Pro Student 2024.

Rome unleashed an ancient ‘machine gun’ on Pompeii

Terracotta incense burner with the investigated ash residues. The rim is adorned with three female figures, probably depicting deceased persons who were venerated after their death.

What did Pompeii smell like before it burned?

By Margherita Bassi

Probable examples of Indigenous dice tools

The first gamblers were Ice Age women on the Great Plains

Bone phallus with partial pixelation

Ancient Roman bone penis discovered in forgotten museum box

Roman mosaic depicting bare chested woman armed with whip chasing a leopard

First female ‘beast-huntress’ gladiator depiction uncovered in lost mosaic

Illustration of Neanderthal tribe butchering large elephant near lake

Neanderthals hunted giant elephants in Europe

Man giving thumbs up next to Viking age ship beam

Sewer line workers stumble on Viking ship timber

Close up of two people clinking together red wine glasses

This pinot noir hasn’t changed in 500 years

Inscribed sling bullet (B19655) found at Hippos with the inscription ΜΑΘΟΥ, meaning "Learn your lesson!" Credit: Eisenberg et al. 2026

2,100 years ago, someone hurled a rock inscribed with ‘Learn your lesson!’

A scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings

The biggest medieval march in English history never actually happened

A black chess player about to win against a light-skinned cleric. Chess problem 88 in the Libro de axedrez, dados e tablas (Seville, 1283). Credit: Patrimonio Nacional. Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de El Escorial

Medieval chess was more inclusive than the world around it

Close up of bronze bull head sculpture held in palm

Hiker finds 3,000-year-old bull sculpture in Spain

an illustration showing bronze age women weaaving

3,500-year-old loom tells a revolutionary tale

By Laura Baisas

two pages of an ancient book. one has text while the other has an illustration of a saint

Long-lost page from Greek manuscript discovered in French art museum

By Margherita Bassi

an ice cap in the alps. it is topped with snow, but brown spots show significant melting

Alpine glacier holds history dating back to the Romans. And it’s melting—fast.

By Nidhi Sharma

Bathymetric view of USS Monitor, looking at the stern of the wreck with the boilers and inner framework of the armor belt captured by Northrop Grumman using μSAS™.

Civil War shipwreck remains in ‘fantastic’ shape on ocean floor

two parrots with red, green, and blue feathers sitting in a tree

Ancient Andean parrot trade route stretched over 300 miles

By Laura Baisas

Shattered clay container with 100s of gold coins scattered around it

A buried jar of imperial gold coins resurfaces in Russia

Ancient Mayan water filters stopped a lot—just not mercury poisoning

purple crystals

Humans’ love of crystals goes back at least 6 million years

By Laura Baisas

Aerial photograph of the excavation area for the new fire station building on Lohagenweg in Hüllhorst. The tree cover marks the course of the source stream, which formed the basis for the construction of the former farmstead. Photo: LWL-AfW / A. Koch

2,500-year-old settlement found during fire station construction

An oil painting titled "The Pythia" by Camillo Miola, depicting the Oracle of Delphi in ancient Greece. The Pythia, a young woman in white and gold robes with a heavy gold necklace, is shown in a trance-like state, seated on a tall bronze tripod. Several priests in white tunics surround her, some holding olive branches and one taking notes on a tablet. In the foreground, two figures in ornate blue and gold robes kneel in prayer or supplication before a low stone altar. The scene is set against a deep red wall, with laurel leaves scattered across the floor and a large, dark omphalos stone visible on the left.

Ancient Greece’s most famous oracle was just high on gas fumes

By Andrew Coletti

Oval limestone with line etchings that likely represent a board game played in ancient Rome

Mystery stone is actually ancient Roman board game

an illustration of a woman wearing an ancient headdress made with antler bones, fur, and teeth

7,000-year-old deer antler headdress uncovered in Germany

By Margherita Bassi

a large goat with grey fur and large horns

Ireland’s native goats date back to Bronze Age

By Laura Baisas

Black and white photo of Iron Age mass grave bones in Serbia

One of Europe’s largest Iron Age mass graves contains mostly women and children

The Adorant figurine from Geißenklösterle Cave, approximately 38,000 years old, consists of a small ivory plate bearing an anthropomorphic figure and multiple sequences of notches and dots. The application of these marks suggests a notational system, most notably in the rows of dots on the back of the plate.

Earliest known writing dates back over 40,000 years

bones laid out in a grave

Stone Age burial ground reveals deep family trees

By Margherita Bassi

Clay footprint in Scottish beach sand

Dog walkers find 2,000-year-old footprints on beach in Scotland

a tunnel under roman ruins

Inside the Colosseum’s Passage of Commodus, where emperors once walked

By Margherita Bassi

Old coins from Spain, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Federal Republic of Germany and Austria. These coins are dating from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

How to start a coin collection

19th century Japanese coin in metal detectorist's hand

Metal detectorist finds 19th century Japanese coin in Australia

Stirling, Scotland - August 1, 2020, old medieval cemetery around Port of Menteith Parish Church

Medieval elite still received fancy burials despite disease stigma

white bird poop on a black car

Bird poop powered this pre-Hispanic kingdom

By Margherita Bassi

Bow drill in action, New Kingdom tomb painting from Western Thebes, Tomb of Rekhmire, object 31.6.25, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain

Forgotten hand tool rewrites ancient Egyptian history

Bison bones are scattered across the Bergstrom site in central Montana.

Why bison hunters abandoned a kill site 1,200 years ago

By Laura Baisas

Scans of severed skull fragments from Iberian Peninsula

Severed head rituals were more widespread in Iron Age Iberia than we thought

a mummy's decorative outer shell on display in a musuem

Scientists want you to smell ancient Egyptian mummies

By Laura Baisas

A close-up of a person's mouth smiling, showing teeth fitted with metal dental braces on both the upper and lower rows. The image focuses on the orthodontic brackets and wires, with the person’s nose and lips framing the smile.

Why our ancestors had straight teeth without braces

By Sara Kiley Watson

Various angles of silver pendant with Roman gem inlay next to measurement references

Metal detectorist finds medieval pendant with a Roman ‘secret’

ruins of a roman bath

How a hobbyist’s hunch uncovered hidden Roman military camps

By Mack DeGeurin

Two paleolithic skeletons displaying dwarfism in museum exhibit

Skeletons reveal Stone Age mother and daughter had a rare genetic condition

State park official on beach next to 19th century shipwreck wood

Winter storms uncover 19th-century shipwreck on New Jersey beach

A full-length color photograph of a young woman figure skating on an outdoor ice rink. She is wearing a pale green long-sleeved skating dress and white skates, captured in a graceful pose with her arms extended and one leg trailing behind her. The background features a tall, modern office building, bare trees, and a mountain range under a pale sky, reflecting a mid-century winter aesthetic.

From bones to steel: Why ice skates were a terrible idea that worked

Medieval portrait of Richard Rolle

Forgotten, priceless medieval book found in school library

rock art showing a clawed hand and an animal

World’s oldest-known rock art found in Indonesian cave

By Laura Baisas

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