Historic Eras
Historic eras—including prehistory, ancient and modern history—represent time viewed through the lens of human events
Sicily Resurgent
Across the island, activists, archaeologists and historians are joining forces to preserve a cultural legacy that has endured for 3,000 years
February 2005 |
By Richard Covington
Savoring Pie Town
Sixty-five years after Russell Lee photographed New Mexico homesteaders coping with the Depression, a Lee admirer visits the town for a fresh slice of life
February 2005 |
By Paul Hendrickson
A Fine Boy
With a little help from a rattlesnake's rattle, Sacagawea gives birth to a baby she names Jean Baptiste
February 2005 |
By Smithsonian magazine
Rethinking Jamestown
America's first permanent colonists have long been considered lazy and incompetent. But new evidence suggests that it was a prolonged drought—not indolence—that almost did them in
January 2005 |
By Jeffery L. Sheler
Dangerous Liaisons
Severe cold and fraternizing with the Mandan keep Meriwether Lewis' doctoring in demand
January 2005 |
By Smithsonian magazine
The Aztecs: Blood and Glory
A new exhibition probes the contradictions of an advanced civilization that practiced human sacrifice
January 2005 |
By Dan Hofstadter
The Aztecs: Blood and Glory
A new exhibition probes the contradictions of an advanced civilization that practiced human sacrifice
January 2005 |
By Dan Hofstadter
The Vikings: A Memorable Visit to America
Exploring the New World a thousand years ago, a Viking woman gave birth to what is likely the first European-American baby. The discovery of the house the family built upon their return to Iceland has scholars rethinking the Norse sagas
December 2004 |
By Eugene Linden
Secrets of the Maya: Deciphering Tikal
After decades of intense research, the ancient ruins of Mexico and Central America are yielding new insights into the pre-Columbia culture
July 2004 |
By David Roberts
Of Majesty and Mayhem
An exhibition of ancient Maya art points up the opulence and violence of the great Mesoamerican civilization
July 2004 |
By Stanley Meisler
Plutarch's Exemplary Lives
An ancient Greek wrote the book on biography then and now
July 2004 |
By Lance Morrow
Off the Charts
Going where few cartographers have gone before, the expedition members hope to find a river that will carry them all the way to the Pacific Ocean
April 2004 |
By Smithsonian magazine
Osage Oranges Take a Bough
The first shipment of botanical specimens sent to President Jefferson contained the seeds of thousands of miles of fences
March 2004 |
By Smithsonian magazine
A Sumpcious Dinner
William Clark—a better explorer than speller—tells his older brother of the impending transfer of the Louisiana Territory to the United States
February 2004 |
By Smithsonian magazine
Looking For a Few Good Men
While the budding Corps of Discovery plans the expedition near St. Louis, William Clark grades the recruits
January 2004 |
By Smithsonian magazine
Meriwether Lewis Gets His Marching Orders
Jefferson spells out the mission
December 2003 |
By Smithsonian magazine
Mesopotamian Masterpieces
Exquisite art and artifacts from the world's earliest civilization are dazzling visitors to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art
August 2003 |
By Richard Covington
Why Lewis and Clark Matter
Amid all the hoopla, it's easy to lose sight of the expedition's true significance
August 2003 |
By James P. Ronda
Egypt's Crowning Glory
New Kingdom customs rise triumphantly from the dead in "The Quest for Immortality," a dazzling display of treasures from the tombs of the pharaohs
July 2003 |
By Doug Stewart
