Archaeology (Page 5)

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

Latest in Archaeology

A Yangtze finless porpoise hunting in China’s Poyang Lake. Fish are jumping all around the porpoise as it leaps out of the water.

Poems spanning 1,400 years tell the tale of a revered porpoise

By Laura Baisas

Mummified priest holding cross in coffin with skull blurred out

Mummified Austrian priest’s rectum played important role in preservation

Nut’s cosmological vignette on the outer coffin of Nesitaudjatakhet in the collection of Odessa Archaeological Museum OAM 52976 (C107). Nut’s body is covered in stars as well as a thick, undulating black curve that runs from the soles of her feet to the tips of her fingers. This curve, surrounded by stars on both sides, is reminiscent of the Milky Way’s Great Rift. Credit: Mykola Tarasenko; Odessa Archaeological Museum, NASU

Tomb art suggests Egyptian sky goddess wore the Milky Way galaxy

Pile of historic gold coins

Hikers discover nearly 600 gold coins dating back to 1808

The introductory page of the pamflyt compiled of cheese. It is written in loopy script on beige paper.

Oldest known English book on cheese advises against drinking dog milk

By Laura Baisas

Toucan beak decorated with beads in museum display

Lavish gravesite confirms women’s power in ancient South America

FB marketplace listing plus ship photo

Man buys WWI shipwreck for $400 on Facebook Marketplace

By Annie Colbert

Two men standing over iron chariot wheel artifact in field

Iron Age chariot wheel found under golf course in Scotland

four jugs of wine are painted on to the wall of ancient ruins

Cheers to Bronze Age humans for delicious Italian wine

By Laura Baisas

Oil painting of Gladiator fighting a lion in the Colosseum in Rome

Gladiator bones finally confirm human-lion combat in Roman Europe

World War II jeep found at site of underwater shipwreck

NOAA needs help identifying car found in WWII shipwreck

a large bird with brown, gray, and white plumage walks in an open grassland

Ancient funerals may have included a ritual feast on a giant bird

By Laura Baisas

An illustration of what the aurora might have looked like during a polar reversal about 41,000 years ago. The green glow of an aurora is much further south than we see it today.

Sunscreen may have kept ancient humans alive during a polar reversal

By Laura Baisas

a large gold nugget

Huge gold nugget found by metal detector enthusiasts set for auction

By Laura Baisas

A burned section of a large ice age fireplace.

Ice age humans built sophisticated fireplaces

By Laura Baisas

Gary Feinman and a crew member exposing a plaster floor on Terrace 925 in El Palmillo.

Inequality isn’t inevitable, according to ‘unprecedented’ archeology study

small gumballs in bright colors including green, blue, red, pink, orange, white, yellow, and purple

Chew on this: The 10,000-year history of gum

By Lauren Leffer

several stone tools uncovered in a cave

Archaeologists hike up a cliff and find 20,000-year-old stone tools

By Laura Baisas

Cave site on near ocean coast of Malta at sunset

Cave discovery could rewrite 1,000 years of Mediterranean history

Archeologists find ancient child remains inside Maya altar

By Laura Baisas

Archeologists working on gravesite excavation

Mass grave of over 120 Roman soldiers found under soccer field

Medieval copy of Canterbury Tales

A surprising number of medieval scribes were women

Top down photo of stone grave site

Sacrificed teens discovered in ancient Mesopotamian burial site

This image, made with Multispectral Imaging and processed using the Minimal Noise Fraction method, brings out annotations on the left-hand side which were invisible to the naked eye, including the stamp ‘Huntingfield’ believed to have been added in the 16th century when the manuscript was repurposed as a binding.

Rare Merlin and King Arthur text found hidden in binding of medieval book

Close up of Sutton Hoo helmet fragments

Metal detector find may rewrite history of 7th century helmet

An Egyptian pharaoh tomb excavation site with people working

A mystery pharaoh’s massive tomb was discovered in Egypt

Depas goblet, excavated by Heinrich Schliemann, 15 cm high, collection of classical archaeology, University of Tübingen. Credit: Valentin Marquardt, University of Tübingen

Trojans of all classes enjoyed a nice jug of wine

Close up of mask-like face decoration on Iron Age vessel

Amateur metal detector uncovers massive Iron Age treasure hoard

An 1803 portrait of Schinderhannes (left). Recent Genetic analyses have now also made it possible to determine the color of his skin, eyes, and hair, as well as positively identifying his skeleton (right).

Famed German robber’s skeleton identified after 220-year-long mix-up

By Laura Baisas

Mummy on sheet and cardboard with pixelated midsection

Medieval mummy found in accused smuggler’s home

a man with long dark hair and beard is wearing a white and green robe and holding a shepherd's crook. he is a actor portraying saint patrick

Where are St. Patrick’s remains? It’s a hot debate.

By Laura Baisas

Original fossil (ATE7-1) alongside the mirrored right side by means of virtual 3D imaging techniques of the face of a hominin assigned to Homo aff. erectus found in level the TE7 of Sima del Elefante site.

1.4-million-year-old bones deepen mystery of who reached Europe first

Flagstones enclosure seen shortly after construction in the middle Neolithic period.

This ‘unusual’ stone circle may predate Stonehenge

By Laura Baisas

Diagram of Lapedo child grave site

Scientists pinpoint age of suspected human-Neanderthal hybrid child

five stone puppets on a basic background

Highly expressive ancient puppets found in Salvadorian pyramid

By Mack DeGeurin

Blue gloved hands using tool on animal bone relic

1.5 million years ago, human ancestors used hippo bones to make tools

A fragment of the black organic glass found inside the skull of the deceased individual in Herculaneum.

Mount Vesuvius eruption turned a victim’s brain into glass

a skill with an iron nail driven through it

New clues to the ‘nailed head ritual’ uncovered in Spain

By Laura Baisas

Philippines ocean coast with mountains

Southeast Asian sailors possibly mastered seafaring before Polynesians

Skull in CT scanner

Viking mouths were a painful mess

Aerial view of Great Wall of China surrounded by forests

The Great Wall of China is 300 years older than we thought

Egyptian relief artwork of Thutmose II

Pharaoh’s tomb is the biggest ancient Egyptian discovery since King Tutankhamun

Artwork depicting 16th century bear baiting match

Gruesome bear fights once entertained Elizabethan England

A selection of the mummified bodies in the exhibition area of the Egyptian museum in Cairo.

What do Egyptian mummies smell like? Surprisingly pleasant.

Cut and impact marks indicating cannibalism on various human parts of the skeleton from the Maszycka Cave.

Butchered skulls point to Europe’s Ice Age cannibals

a hand written text from the 16th century CE

500-year-old Transylvanian diaries detail the peril of the Little Ice Age

By Laura Baisas

Diagram showing potential labret piercing abrasions on teeth

Ice Age hunter-gatherers may have had cheek piercings, even as children

Selection of coins and jewelry from Hezingen Nordic archeological site

‘Devil’s money’ discovered at medieval cult site

A portion of the Bayeux Tapestry showing King Harold riding to his residence, Bosham. The full tapestry depicts the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.

Medieval toilet helps uncover lost home of the England’s last Anglo-Saxon King

By Laura Baisas

the stone remains of a castle, revealing an archway, wall, and a tower

In a global crisis, working harder isn’t the best solution

By Laura Baisas

a step pyramid built with stone above several smaller buildings

Apex predators were sacrificed nearly 2,000 years ago in Teotihuacán

By Laura Baisas

Sforza Castle and fountain

Da Vinci was right: Secret tunnels found in Italian castle

Quill pen on old journal with parchment background and handwriting.

Know how to read cursive? The National Archives wants you.

By Laura Baisas

two stones with depictions of the sun engraved on them

Neolithic Europeans sacrificed stones to beg the sun to return

By Laura Baisas

an archeologist wearing a hard hat digs in a hole alongside skeletal remains

British Iron Age burial grounds reveal women had power

By Laura Baisas

The bow of the RMS Titanic as it sits under the water.

‘Titanic’ artifact salvage efforts paused indefinitely

The 3D map on the Ségognole 3 cave floor in the Paris Basin in northern France.

Oldest-known 3D map also celebrated the female form

By Laura Baisas

a line of gold coins, which feature emperors, on a black background.

Rare Roman gold coins discovered in Luxembourg

By Laura Baisas

several dark dots on mummified skin. the skin appears to be white since it is under a strong white light

Intricate tattoos on 1,200-year-old mummy revealed by lasers

By Laura Baisas

a skull next to a yellow note that reads: "Skull from Ephesus.”

Sorry, this skull does not belong to Cleopatra’s sister

By Laura Baisas

Atmospheric photo of the site at dusk, showing the location at the convergence of two gorges. 2023 excavations of inner fortress are visible in foreground.

Drone reveals ancient fortress is 40x larger than archaeologists once thought

By Mack DeGeurin

a tomb in a desert

Archaeologists find the 4,000-year-old tomb of an overachieving Egyptian magician

By Laura Baisas

A general view of (L-R) the church of Santi Luca e Martina, the Arch of Septimius Severus, the ruins of the Temple of Saturn and - in the background - the Amphitheatrum Flavium, commonly known as Colosseum (in Italian: Colosseo), on March 31, 2024 in Rome, Italy.

Ancient lead pollution may have lowered IQs across the Roman Empire

By Lauren Leffer

Roman stone coffin being excavated in England

Construction crew discovers Roman stone coffin under British road