Historic Eras
Historic eras—including prehistory, ancient and modern history—represent time viewed through the lens of human events
Via Aurelia: The Roman Empire's Lost Highway
French amateur archaeologist Bruno Tassan fights to preserve a neglected 2,000-year-old ancient interstate in southern Provence
June 2009 |
By Joshua Hammer
A Tour of France’s Cave Homes
In France’s Loire Valley, domesticated cave dwellings, known as troglodyte homes, offer a history as rich as the region’s chateaus
May 19, 2009 |
By Kristin Ohlson
What’s the Deal about New Deal Art?
As the first of the New Deal acts that funded public art projects with federal money, the PWAP produced more than 15,000 works of art in just six months
May 19, 2009 |
By David A. Taylor
The Legends Behind the Dragon Boat Festival
Celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, Duanwu Jie honors storied history with culinary treats
May 15, 2009 |
By Jeninne Lee-St. John
Dancing for Mao
A photograph of a 5-year-old girl made her famous in China—and haunted the man who took it
May 2009 |
By Jennifer Lin
The Measure of Genius: Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel at 500
Half a millennium later, the story of the painting of the Sistine Chapel is as fascinating as Michelangelo’s masterpiece itself
April 10, 2009 |
By Jamie Katz
Carving Out the West at the Great Smoke Conference
In 1851, American Indian tribes gathered to seek protection of their western lands from frontiersman on the Oregon Trail
April 02, 2009 |
By Paul VanDevelder
Booting Up a Computer Pioneer’s 200-Year-Old Design
Charles Babbage, the grandfather of the computer, envisioned a calculating machine that was never built, until now
April 02, 2009 |
By Aleta George
Eudora Welty as Photographer
Photographs by Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist Eudora Welty display the empathy that would later infuse her fiction
April 2009 |
By T.A. Frail
Genghis Khan’s Treasures
Beneath the ruins of Genghis Khan’s capital city in Central Asia, archaeologists discovered artifacts from cultures near and far
March 25, 2009 |
By Abigail Tucker
Roman Splendor in Pompeii
Art and artifacts reveal the elaborate maritime pleasure palaces established by Romans around the Bay of Naples
March 16, 2009 |
By Jason Edward Kaufman
Solving a 17th-Century Crime
Forensic anthropologists at the National Museum of Natural History find answers to a colonial cold case
March 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Endangered Site: Fenestrelle Fortress, Italy
The "Great Wall of the Alps" covers 320 acres and is one of the largest fortified structures in Europe
March 2009 |
By T. A. Frail
Endangered Site: Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem
The basilica believed to mark the birthplace of Jesus Christ has survived invasions, rebellions and earthquakes
March 2009 |
By Abigail Tucker
Endangered Site: Chan Chan, Peru
About 600 years ago, this city on the Pacific coast was the largest city in the Americas
March 2009 |
By Bruce Hathaway
Ireland’s Endangered Cultural Site
A new tollway threatens the archaeologically rich Hill of Tara that is the spiritual heart of the country
March 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Endangered Site: The City of Hasankeyf, Turkey
A new hydroelectric dam threatens the ancient city, home to thousands of human-made caves
March 2009 |
By Diane M. Bolz
Endangered Site: Xumishan Grottoes, China
This collection of ancient Buddhist cave temples date back to the fifth and tenth centuries, A.D.
March 2009 |
By Lyn Garrity
Endangered Site: Historic Route 66, U.S.A.
The 2,400 mile highway was eclipsed by interstate highways that bypassed neon signs of roadside diners
March 2009 |
By Megan Gambino
Dampier Rock Art Complex, Australia
On the northwestern coast of Australia, over 500,000 rock carvings face destruction by industrial development
March 2009 |
By Laura Helmuth
