Archaeology

An arch made from a bowhead whale jaw stands over traditional whaling boats in Barrow, Alaska.

As the Arctic Erodes, Archaeologists Are Racing to Protect Ancient Treasures

Once locked in frozen Alaskan dirt, Iñupiat artifacts are being lost to the sea, sometimes faster than scientists can find them

Cows graze near a huge replica of a dinosaur at the Balasinor fossil park. The area is littered with hundreds of dinosaur bones, teeth, skulls and eggs tens of millions of years old.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: India

Meet India's Dinosaur Princess

Aaliya Sultana Babi is doing everything in her power to protect and promote India's most significant fossil park

This ancient skull has a terrible tale to tell.

New Research

An Ancient, Brutal Massacre May Be the Earliest Evidence of War

Even nomadic hunter-gatherers engaged in deliberate mass killings 10,000 years ago

Wooly mammoths would have been challenging but desirable prey for early humans.

New Research

Humans Were in the Arctic 10,000 Years Earlier Than Thought

Distinctive cut marks on a Siberian mammoth represent the first known evidence of human hunters this far north

A researcher examines the mummified hand of Ötzi the Iceman.

New Research

The Iceman's Stomach Bugs Offer Clues to Ancient Human Migration

DNA analysis of the mummy's pathogens may reveal when and how Ötzi's people came to the Italian Alps

Dr. Maxime Aubert, archeologist and geochemist, uses his headlamp to examine the cave art at Leang Lompoa in Maros, Indonesia.

A Journey to the Oldest Cave Paintings in the World

The discovery in a remote part of Indonesia has scholars rethinking the origins of art—and of humanity

Deep Earth creepy crawlies, mushrooms making rain, and a Maya city buried in ash are just a few highlights from this year's collection of science stories.

Cool Science Stories You May Have Missed in 2015

Quantum spookiness, a Maya city buried in ash and more in this year’s surprising science

Overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Bethsaida was a day’s walk from Nazareth. When Jesus returned to his boyhood hometown to preach, the Gospels say he was rejected by a mob.

Unearthing the World of Jesus

Surprising archaeological finds are breaking new ground in our understanding of Jesus’s time—and the revolution he launched 2,000 years ago

The site where workers found crypts just a few feet beneath the surface.

Construction Workers Find 200-Year-Old Bodies Buried Just a Few Feet Below Greenwich Village

Two crypts uncovered near Washington Square Park a reminder of New York City’s past

Document Deep Dive

A Look Inside Howard Carter's Tutankhamun Diary

The famed archaeologist took detailed notes of what he found inside King Tut's tomb

This small amphora from the Fourni wrecks likely carried luxury goods.

A Shipwreck Graveyard Has Been Found Off This Greek Archipelago

A recent expedition to the Fourni islands uncovered piles of ancient cargo, including types of amphorae never before seen on the seafloor

Ask Smithsonian

Ask Smithsonian: How Do You Make a Mummy?

Mummification has been practiced for eons and the Egyptians are the best known, but not the only practioners

This Bronze Age skull is from the Yamnaya culture, which later developed into the Afanasievo culture of Central Asia, one of the peoples that carried early strains of plague.

New Research

Plague Was Infecting Humans 3,300 Years Earlier Than Thought

DNA from Bronze Age victims helped pinpoint mutations that allowed the disease to go from localized illness to deadly pandemic

In Wisconsin, Evidence of Human Sacrifice

Wisconsin's Aztalan State Park is home a mysterious pyramidal mound built by the prehistoric Native Americans who once lived there

A bowl done in a style first seen around A.D. 1100 has “acid blooms” on its interior—imperfections suggesting that someone used modern soaps to clean the bowl up, possibly to fetch a higher price on the black market.

An Exclusive Look at the Greatest Haul of Native American Artifacts, Ever

In a warehouse in Utah, federal agents are storing tens of thousands of looted objects recovered in a massive sting

A museum worker wearing gloves holds up a cuneiform clay tablet, one of a collection of over 100, on display at a museum in Jerusalem.

What the Heck is Cuneiform, Anyway?

The writing system is 6,000 years old, but its influence is still felt today

A view from Mota Cave in Ethiopia, where archaeologists found the remains of a 4,500-year-old human.

New Research

Back to Africa: Ancient Human Genome Reveals Widespread Eurasian Mix

Genes from a 4,500-year-old skeleton from Ethiopia show how migrations shaped modern populations

Age of Humans

See the Two Ship Graveyards That May Become New Marine Sanctuaries

The first marine sanctuaries approved by NOAA in 15 years are home to a plethora of shipwrecks

A Bronze Age mummified skeleton lies tightly curled in Bradley Fen in Cambridgeshire, England.

New Research

Mummies May Have Been Scattered Across Bronze Age Britain

Skeletal analysis hints that, intentional or not, mummification may have been more common than previously thought

Divers examine ceramic artifacts that may hold clues about ancient medicines, perfumes and food.

Antikythera Shipwreck Yields New Cache of Ancient Treasures

Scientists have recovered more than 50 artifacts from the site, including a bronze armrest that was possibly part of a throne

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