Archaeology

This double-edged iron sword was found in Denmark’s Tisso Lake.

The Vikings’ Bad Boy Reputation Is Back With a Vengeance

A major new exhibition is reviving the Norse seafarers’ iconic image as rampagers and pillagers

A scientist examines a 1500-year-old tooth from a Justinian plague victim in the lab.

Bubonic Plague Family Tree Sheds Light on the Risk of New Outbreaks

The Black Death and the Justinian Plague arose separately from the same pathogen. Could a new strain emerge in the future?

Matera’s paleolithic past has made it a thriving tourist destination: It is competing with cities like Siena and Ravenna to be the European Capital of Culture 2019.

How Matera Went From Ancient Civilization to Slum to a Hidden Gem

Once the “shame of Italy,” the ancient warren of natural caves in Matera may be Europe’s most dramatic story of rebirth

Villagers construct a new bridge over the Apurimac River, in Huinchiri, Peru, in 2012.

The Earliest and Greatest Engineers Were the Incas

Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough treks to Peru to see how Machu Picchu was built

People in Mexico Were Using Chili Peppers to Make Spicy Drinks 2400 Years Ago

New analysis of the insides of ancient drinkware shows chemical traces of Capsicum species, proof positive that its owners made spicy beverages

CT scans (left) and photos (right) of the skull

This Fossil Skull Unearthed in Tibet Is the Oldest Big Cat Ever Found

The fossil belongs to a newly discovered species called Panthera blytheae and is between four and five million years old

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What Is a Species? Insight From Dolphins and Humans

More than 70 definitions exist for what makes a species--each is applied to a different group of organisms & uses different methods for determining a label

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The Clovis Point and the Discovery of America’s First Culture

Beautifully crafted blades point to the continent’s earliest communities

Can ancient skeletons teach us about our genetic past?

Ancient Skeletons Reveal Genetic History of Central Europe

The skeletons, between 7,500 and 3,500 years old, house DNA that trace waves of migrations from regions across Europe

Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes / He star'd at the Pacific—and all his men / Look'd at each other with a wild surmise— / Silent, upon a peak in Darién. —John Keats

Following in the Footsteps of Balboa

The first European to glimpse the Pacific from the Americas crossed Panama on foot 500 years ago. Our intrepid author retraces his journey

The Romans may have first come across the colorful potential of nanoparticles by accident, but they seem to have perfected it.

This 1,600-Year-Old Goblet Shows that the Romans Were Nanotechnology Pioneers

Researchers have finally found out why the jade-green cup appears red when lit from behind

Food residue encrusted on 6,000-year-old pottery fragments from Northern Europe, such as the one above, show traces of mustard seed, which was likely used as a seasoning for fish and meat.

Ancient Pottery Fragments Show That Prehistoric Humans Used Spices Too

Shards of 6,000-year-old cooking pots from northern Europe show traces of mustard seed, likely used as a seasoning for fish and meat

Plant impressions found underneath a pair of ancient humans (at left) indicate they were buried atop a bed of flowers (as depicted at right).

Archaeologists Find Evidence of Flowers Buried in a 12,000-Year-Old Cemetery

Plant impressions found underneath a pair of ancient humans in Israel indicate they were buried ceremonially, atop a bed of flowers

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This Bumpy-Faced Reptile Ruled the Prehistoric Desert

Newly excavated fossils tell us more about the cow-sized, plant-eating Bunostegos akokanensis, which roamed Pangea around 260 million years ago

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This Castle’s Toilet Still Holds Parasites From Crusaders’ Feces

The presence of whipworm and roundworm eggs suggest that crusaders were especially predisposed to death by malnutrition

A Neanderthal rib bone was discovered to have a lesion associated with a tumor (top specimen). The missing bone tissue is starkly apparent compared to a normal Neanderthal rib shown below.

Evidence for the Oldest Ever Bone Tumor Was Just Found in a Neanderthal Fossil

A 120,000-year-old rib bone, originally found in Croatia, shows that tumors aren't always caused by exposure to pollution

Zahi Hawass, shown in silhouette inspecting murals in Giza, laments the halt of many restoration projects since his departure. "Antiquities are collapsing in front of my eyes," he says.

The Rise and Fall and Rise of Zahi Hawass

The long-reigning king of Egyptian antiquities has been forced into exile—but he’s plotting a return

Ponce de León's name wasn't tied to the Fountain of Youth until 14 years after his death.

Ponce De Leon Never Searched for the Fountain of Youth

How did this myth about the Spanish explorer even get its start?

New archaeological analysis shows that King Richard’s remains were buried in an awkward position, leaning against the wall of a grave that wasn’t dug large enough.

New Study Finds That King Richard III Was Buried in a Hurry

The British king's remains, discovered in a parking lot, were dropped in an awkward position in a grave that wasn't dug large enough

Detail of cut marks found on the girl’s jaw, or lower mandible in a stereo-microscopic photo.

Starving Settlers in Jamestown Colony Resorted to Cannibalism

New archaeological evidence and forensic analysis reveals that a 14-year-old girl was cannibalized in desperation

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