Archaeology

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

Latest in Archaeology

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