Anthropology
World’s Oldest Purse Adorned with Dog Teeth
The world's oldest purse features a decoration that doesn't look so different from modern beading. It's just way more gruesome.
June 29, 2012 |
By Sarah Laskow
The Swimsuit Series, Part 2: Beauty Pageants and the Inevitable Swimsuit Competition
In the latest chapter of the series, we look at how bathing suits came to be an integral part of the Miss America competition
June 28, 2012 |
By Emily Spivack
Greek Subway Dig Uncovers Marble Road from Roman Empire
The vast network of roads built by the Romans spanned from England to India and is considered one of the main drivers of the expansive reach of the Empire. Eighteen hundred years later, Greek workers digging a new subway line in the city of Thessaloniki have stumbled across a 230-foot long stretch of a Roman marble [...]
June 27, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
The Indelible Mister Rogers
Besides how to be a good neighbor, Mr. Rogers taught us other lessons, especially about the impact of a comforting change of clothes
June 25, 2012 |
By Emily Spivack
How Bathing Suits Went From Two-pieces to Long Gowns and Back
Bikinis may have been illegal in 1900, but they were all the rage in ancient Rome
June 22, 2012 |
By Emily Spivack
How Easter Island Statues ‘Walked’ To Their Stations
How were those gigantic Easter Island statues—the moai—moved from the quarry to their final stations? One going theory, popularized by Guns, Germs and Steel author Jared Diamond, has it that they were put on wooden sledges and pulled over a system of log rails. But here’s another theory: the statues, ranging from four to 33 [...]
June 21, 2012 |
By Sarah Laskow
Pirate Vampire Dug Up in Bulgaria
Sorry, Dracula, Bill Compton and Team-Edward. An older vampire is in town, at least in Bulgaria. In the Black Sea town of Sozopol, a 700-year-old skeleton was found with metal stakes where the man’s heart had been, attracting flocks of onlookers to the church graveyard where the remains were discovered. Visitors also crowded to see [...]
June 21, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Welcome to Threaded! And a Dig Through the Archives
Welcome to Threaded, your go-to fashion blog for all things historical and sartorial
June 20, 2012 |
By Emily Spivack
Things That Humans Did Not Invent (Including Art)
We humans like to think of ourselves as unique creatures that do all sorts of neat tricks other species can’t manage. But Alistair Pike, a British archaeologist, says his new method of dating cave paintings shows that Neanderthals, not humans, could have created some of the earliest art. Granted, it’s just a bunch of red [...]
June 18, 2012 |
By Sarah Laskow
Howard Carter: Famous Archaeologist, Not-So-Famous Painter
Didn’t know he was an artist too? "Tut tut!"
May 09, 2012 |
By K. Annabelle Smith
How Humans Became Moral Beings
In a new book, anthropologist Christopher Boehm traces the steps our species went through to attain a conscience
May 04, 2012 |
By Megan Gambino
Found: Letters from the Hindenburg
A new addition to the Smithsonian collections tells a new story about the legendary disaster
May 2012 |
By Abigail Tucker
Kelly Slater, the Chairman of the Board
An ode to surfing’s fiercest, most successful competitor – who now has a place in the Smithsonian collections
May 2012 |
By Owen Edwards
The Secret Lives of Medieval Books
A new method reveals which pages of ancient religious texts were most frequently used—and which prayers perpetually put readers to sleep
April 26, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
Using Space Satellites to Spot Ancient Cities
Computer analysis of satellite imagery has revealed what could be a record number of archaeological sites
March 20, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
Clovis People Hunted Canada’s Camels
North American camels went extinct at the end of the last ice age. Were humans partly to blame?
March 13, 2012 |
By Bruce Dorminey
Oldest American Rock Art Found in Brazil
The petroglyph, with a head, hands and "oversized phallus" is around 10,000 years old
February 23, 2012 |
By Virginia Hughes
What the Inuit Taught Scientists About Killer Whales
The native people knew what orcas ate, how they hunted prey, how the prey responded to the whales and when and where predation occurred
February 06, 2012 |
By Greg Laden
How Old is That Silk Artifact?
A chemist from the Textile Museum is perfecting a new technique for understanding the past
February 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
How One Mummy Came to the Smithsonian
An American diplomat’s memento takes center stage after 125 years
February 2012 |
By Owen Edwards
