Archaeology

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

Latest in Archaeology

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