Archaeology

Sarah Parcak

American Ingenuity Awards

Space Archaeologist Sarah Parcak Uses Satellites to Uncover Ancient Egyptian Ruins

The Indiana Jones of low Earth orbit harnesses 21st-century technology to uncover long-buried treasures

Three Taíno Indian sisters pose during a family pig roast in eastern Cuba, where there’s a small but growing movement to explore the indigenous culture that Columbus encountered in 1492.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Cuba

Searching for Cuba's Pre-Columbian Roots

A newfound quest for identity has led some Cubans to reclaim their Taíno Indian heritage

Once 2,000 square miles in Virginia and North Carolina, the swamp today is perhaps one-tenth that size.

Deep in the Swamps, Archaeologists Are Finding How Fugitive Slaves Kept Their Freedom

The Great Dismal Swamp was once a thriving refuge for runaways

Mary Beard on Pompeii's Showiest Family

The Valentes were a wealthy Pompeii family that used lavish, high-end parties to gain political clout. Classicist Mary Beard walks us through the remains

Wolfgang Neubauer (at Carnuntum’s center) estimates the population at 50,000.

Austria

The Discovery of a Roman Gladiator School Brings the Famed Fighters Back to Life

Located in Austria, the archaeological site is providing rich new details about the lives and deaths of the arena combatants

Did Atlantis Really Have Indoor Plumbing?

In 1967, archeologists discovered Akrotiri. It may be the missing city of Atlantis, as well as the origin of the modern toilet

Karen L. King, the Hollis professor of divinity, believes that the fragment's 33 words refers to Jesus having a wife

The Inside Story of a Controversial New Text About Jesus

According to a top religion scholar, this 1,600-year-old text fragment suggests some early Christians believed Jesus was married—possibly to Mary Magdalene

The Temple of the Plumed Serpent is adorned with carved snake heads and slithering bodies.

A Secret Tunnel Found in Mexico May Finally Solve the Mysteries of Teotihuacán

The chance discovery beneath a nearly 2,000-year-old pyramid leads to the heart of a lost civilization

Was King Tut's Tomb Built for a Woman?

An archeologist notes that King Tut's chamber was designed and decorated differently from other Egyptian pharaohs

How to Unroll a Dead Sea Scroll Without Destroying It

In 1952, a remarkable copper scroll was uncovered by archaeologists near the Dead Sea. It would take four years for scientists to agree on a way to open it

This gold appliqué, more than six millennia old, appears to be a bull but has buffalo-like horns.

Mystery of the Varna Gold: What Caused These Ancient Societies to Disappear?

Treasure found in prehistoric graves in Bulgaria is the first evidence of social hierarchy, but no one knows what caused the civilization's decline

The Incredible History of Sunken Ships in San Francisco

In 1850, hundreds of migrant ships arrived in San Francisco, fueled by gold rush. But many of these ships weren't needed after that and were simply sunk

On a remote plateau, researchers reveal a royal capital whose splendors prefigure the glories of the Angkor complex.

The Lost City of Cambodia

Deep in the jungles of southeast Asia, archaeologists have rediscovered the remains of an invisible kingdom that may have been the template for Angkor Wat

The Ichthyornis is a toothed bird that links birds with reptiles.

The "Sistine Chapel of Evolution" Is in New Haven, Connecticut

Charles Darwin never visited the Yale museum, but you can, and see for yourself the specimens that he praised as the best evidence for his theory

Conestoga (AT 54) at San Diego, circa January 1921

With the Discovery of the USS Conestoga, Researchers Have Solved a Mystery That Was Nearly 100 Years Old

Even a century later, the news has brought relief to the families of the sailors who went down with their ship

Virtual reality headsets at the 2015 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam allow visitors to view digital reconstructions of artifacts destroyed by ISIS.

The Heroic Effort to Digitally Reconstruct Lost Monuments

Scholars create a virtual archive of antiquities destroyed by extremists in Syria and Iraq

The statue of Abu Bint Deimun, from third century B.C. Hatra, Iraq. A global network of preservationists are teaming up to protect the world’s antiquities.

Crash Courses Prepare Art Conservators for Catastrophic Disasters

Smithsonian experts train a brave band of conservators in northern Iraq to brace buildings and rescue artifacts in a hurry

The mausoleum of Cyrus in a cyanotype from a glass plate negative from the papers of Ernst Herzfeld.

How a German Archaeologist Rediscovered in Iran the Tomb of Cyrus

Lost for centuries, the royal capital of the Achaemenid Empire was finally confirmed by Ernst Herzfeld

A human-headed winged bull from the eighth century B.C. Assyrian royal palace in Khorsabad. ISIS razed the city’s ruins last year.

The Race to Save Syria's Archaeological Treasures

The deliberate destruction of antiquities by ISIS and others in the birthplace of human civilization is cultural genocide

The embellished cave temples of Badami are among the earliest examples of rock-cut caves in southern India. The Chalukyas, who ruled over Deccan between the sixth and eighth centuries, oversaw the transition from rock-cut to freestanding, structural architecture.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: India

The Remarkable Cave Temples of Southern India

Deccan's intricate monuments, many of which are carved into cliffs, date back to the sixth century

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