A 14th-century gold coin found by a metal detectorist in England sold for $185,000 at auction on Tuesday.

Amateur Treasure Hunter Unearths Rare 14th-Century Gold Coin

The leopard florin was minted in 1344 and is one of just five of its kind known to survive today

Elisabetta Sirani (1638–1665), Portia Wounding Her Thigh, 1664, Oil on canvas

You Know Artemisia Gentileschi—Now Learn About These Other Renaissance Women Artists

An exhibition on view at the Detroit Institute of Arts focuses on Italian women artists who held their own in the male-dominated art world

Medieval manuscripts featuring stories about King Arthur and Camelot

Art Meets Science

How Much Medieval Literature Has Been Lost Over the Centuries?

A new analysis suggests that just 9 percent of manuscripts produced in Europe during the Middle Ages survive today

A view of Teotihuacan, San Juan Teotihuacan, Mexico

Here Are the World’s 25 Most Endangered Cultural Heritage Sites

The World Monument Fund’s list includes sites in the Maldives, Pakistan, the United States and elsewhere, but was finalized before the war in Ukraine

Empty frames at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum are a tangible reminder of the 1990 theft. 

History of Now

A Tantalizing Clue Emerges in the Unsolved Gardner Museum Art Heist

Boston police officers tell local media that the 1991 murder of Jimmy Marks might be linked to modern history’s biggest art heist

The largest cache of embalming vessels discovered in Egypt included pots containing resins, oils and myrrh.

These Ancient Egyptian Artifacts Reveal New Details on the Mummification Process

Archaeologists discover a large cache of ceramic pots from the sixth century B.C.E. containing resins, oils and myrrh used for embalming

President Biden announced his pick to fill the US Supreme Court vacancy on Friday: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Women Who Shaped History

What to Know About Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Historic Nomination to the Supreme Court

Jackson, a 51-year-old Harvard graduate and former public defender, would be the first Black woman on the Court

Experts have authenticated the leather hat worn by Amelia Earhart through archival photographs.

Amelia Earhart’s Leather Flying Cap Sells at Auction for $825,000

Worn by the famed aviator during her 1928 flight across the Atlantic, the lost helmet was kept for nearly a century in the closet of a Minnesota home

The mummified remains of eight children, who may have been sacrificed, was found near the tomb of an elite individual of pre-Incan society.

Cool Finds

Eight Mummified Children Found in Peru May Have Been Sacrificed in an Ancient Funeral Ritual

The remains were discovered in the tomb of an elite member of a pre-Inca city buried 1,200 years ago

Flea-ridden rats in crowded medieval cities were the primary cause of Black Death infections in the 14th century, which historians believe killed off nearly half the European populaton. A new study argues, however, that the death toll may have in fact been way lower. 

New Research

The Black Death Wasn’t as Deadly as Previously Thought, Research Suggests

Ancient pollen deposits reveal that some areas of Europe may have experienced a ‘much lighter touch’ of the disease, according to the study

Crew members of the Endurance enjoy a quick game of soccer while on a three-year Imperial Trans-Antarctica Expedition in 1915. The 144-foot ship sank in the Anarctic Ocean that same year.

Track Marine Archaeologists Searching Icy Antarctic Seas for Ernest Shackleton’s ‘Endurance’

A team aboard a modern icebreaker will survey the site with state-of-the-art underwater drones in hopes of finding the historic vessel

Archaeologists found a 5,300 year old skull, possibly from an elderly woman, that showed signs of early ear surgery.

Cool Finds

5,300-Year-Old Skull Offers Earliest Known Evidence of Ear Surgery

Bone growth suggests the patient survived the procedure, which was likely conducted to treat an infection

A Native American group is seeking the return of three artifacts, including these moccasins, taken from the dead following the Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota in 1890.

Native Americans Urge Scottish Museum to Return Artifacts From Wounded Knee Massacre

The Lakota tribe is in talks with the institution for the repatriation of a necklace, bonnet and moccasins taken from the dead following the 1890 atrocity

A monument in Germany acknowledges Halvorsen's contributions during the Berlin Airlift.

How the ‘Candy Bomber’ Left a Lasting Legacy in Cold War Germany

Former WWII pilot Gail S. Halvorsen is still fondly remembered as the American who delivered sweets to German children during the Berlin Airlift

The chamber pot stands about 12.5 inches tall and measures 13.5 inches wide at the rim.

New Research

Parasite Eggs Help Archaeologists Identify Ancient Roman Chamber Pot

The ceramic vessel contained whipworm eggs found in human feces, debunking the theory that it simply served as a storage jar

Scientists tested 16 hearth locations inside Lazaret Cave near Nice, France, to determine how early humans used fire.

New Research

Why Early Humans Built Fires in the Center of Lazaret Cave

A new study suggests pre-Neanderthals carefully placed their hearths to minimize smoke exposure while maximizing room for activities

Archaeologist pulled 12 Revolutionary War era cannons from the Savannah River in January. 

Cool Finds

How Did So Many Revolutionary War Cannons End Up in the Savannah River?

Archaeologists pull another dozen sediment-encrusted artillery pieces after finding three last year

Archaeologists found a 5,000-year-old drum, a clay ball and a polished bone pin at a burial site in the English village of Burton Agnes. 

An Ornate, 5,000-Year-Old Stone Drum Is the U.K.’s Most Significant Prehistoric Art Find in a Century

Now on view in London, the chalk sculpture was buried alongside three children between 3005 and 2890 B.C.E.

The tiny Piel Island has an inn and pub and an ancient castle.

Good News

A Tiny English Island Is Looking for a New Monarch to Run its Pub

Piel Island needs its ruler to manage its inn and maintain its campgrounds

Harriet Jacobs, who escaped enslavement to write Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861), created these three dolls for the children of writer Nathaniel Parker Willis around 1850-60. 

History of Now

Black Dolls Tell a Story of Play—and Resistance—in America

A new exhibition traces the toys’ history from handmade cloth figures to an American Girl character

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