Archaeology

Reproduction of early English vessels at Jamestown, Virginia.

Age of Humans

Rising Seas Threaten to Swallow These Ten Global Wonders

Climate change-induced increases in sea level are forcing archaeologists and communities to get creative and make tough calls

The World's Oldest Papyrus and What It Can Tell Us About the Great Pyramids

Ancient Egyptians leveraged a massive shipping, mining and farming economy to propel their civilization forward

A diver holds a granite head, meant to be the head of a priest, from the Ptolemaic period. The now-hollow eyes were probably inlaid when it was first made in ancient Egypt.

Sunken Treasures From Ancient Egypt Are Now on Display in France

The Arab World Institute in Paris shows off 250 artifacts once lost underwater

Ancient mummified bodies stand guard over windswept deserts near the Nazca and Ica mountain summits.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Inca Road

The Fascinating Afterlife of Peru's Mummies

From inside stone palaces and atop sacred mountaintops, the Inca dead continued to wield incredible power over the living

Krzyżtopór Castle in Ujazd, Poland, once the largest castle in all of Europe, now in a state of ruin.

Visit the Ruined Castles of Poland

Grand but dilapidated structures from many centuries ago dot the country’s landscape

Scientists have for the first time identified the four people buried in Jamestown's first church. They are (from left) minister Robert Hunt, Sir Ferdinando Wainman, Captain Gabriel Archer and Captain William West.

New Jamestown Discovery Reveals the Identities of Four Prominent Settlers

The findings by Smithsonian scientists dig up the dynamics of daily life in the first permanent British settlement in the colonies

A section of the digitally unwrapped Ein Gedi scroll, bearing text from Leviticus.

1,500-Year-Old Text Has Been Digitally Resurrected From a Hebrew Scroll

Special software helped reveal the words on a burned scroll found inside a holy ark near the Dead Sea

Brazil's Surui people, like the man pictured above, share ancestry with indigenous Australians, new evidence suggests.

New Research

A DNA Search for the First Americans Links Amazon Groups to Indigenous Australians

The new genetic analysis takes aim at the theory that just one founding group settled the Americas

A Deep Dive Into the Skeleton of the Oldest-Known Modern Bird

A fossil found in China may offer new clues about avian evolution

The view inside Pompeii's old granary

The Fall and Rise and Fall of Pompeii

The famous archaeological treasure is falling into scandalous decline, even as its sister city Herculaneum is rising from the ashes

Previous analysis of the Kennewick Man's skull suggested that he might be closely related to Asian populations and Polynesians. But new genetic analysis indicates his ancestral roots are in the Americas.

New Research

Genome Analysis Links Kennewick Man to Native Americans

Ancient DNA sequenced from the skeleton adds to the controversy over the individual's ancestry

The Plain of Jars in northeast Laos may be related to burial rituals dating back 2,000 years—but the site still proves a mystery to archeologists.

Ancient Urns or Drinking Vessels for Giants? Behind the Mysterious Plain of Jars in Laos

A grassy area studded with hulking, 2,000-year-old jars provides a surreal sight as well as an archeological puzzle

A rendering of the USS Nautilus, the world's first atomic submarine. The real Nautilus is now open to the public, docked in Connecticut so that visitors can walk around inside and explore the torpedoes and living quarters.

Urban Explorations

Step Inside a Famous Submarine

Where to visit historic subs this summer—or ride in a modern one

A modern-day bottle of Veuve Clicquot "Grand Dame" champagne.

New Research

170-Year-Old Champagne Recovered (and Tasted) From a Baltic Shipwreck

The uncorked bubbly goes from notes of wet hair and cheese to something spicy and smoky, enologists report

Only a Handful of People Can Enter the Chauvet Cave Each Year. Our Reporter Was One of Them.

A rare trip inside the home of the world’s most breathtaking cave painting leaves lasting memories

One of the colossal Buddha statues, before it was destroyed.

Planned Afghan Cultural Center Will Honor Ancient Statues Destroyed by the Taliban

The winning design will memorialize two ancient Buddha statues demolished in 2001

Terrifying. An ancestor of the modern-day croc stood nine feet tall and walked on its hind legs. It's been lovingly christened the "Carolina Butcher."

Before There Were Crocodiles, There Was the "Carolina Butcher"

A newly discovered crocodilian ancestor was a nine-foot-tall predator that stood on its hind legs

At the Batadomba-lena rock shelter in Sri Lanka, scientists found evidence that humans were living off rainforest resources as early as 20,000 years ago.

Anthropocene

Humans Relied on Rainforest Riches 12,000 Years Earlier Than Thought

Fossil remains suggest that prehistoric people in Sri Lanka may have eaten monkeys and other forest species

A closeup of the Ledi jaw taken just steps from where it was found in the Afar region of Ethiopia.

Anthropocene

Oldest Human Fossil Unearthed in Ethiopia

At about 2.8 million years old, the Ledi jaw may belong to "the stem for the Homo genus," according to its discoverers

DNA from Richard III’s bones revealed two instances of royal infidelity since the 14th century.

They Found Richard III. So Now What?

What the remains of the "hunchback" king can teach us about other English royals

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