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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

Moai statues on Easter Island 

Cool Finds

Dried Lake Reveals New Statue on Easter Island

The stone monolith is one of the famous moai sculptures scattered across the landscape

First discovered in 1992, the phallus is 6.3 inches long and made of ash wood.

Is This Wooden Artifact an Ancient Roman Phallus?

Thirty years ago, researchers thought that the 2,000-year-old object was a darning tool

Members of the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition raise the Australian flag over Heard Island on December 26, 1947.

See Rare Images of Early 20th-Century Antarctic Expeditions

For the first time, hundreds of photos, lantern slides and glass plate negatives are available to the public

Archaeologists created replica stone points, then experimented with them by firing them at a goat carcass using different methods.

Cool Finds

Archery May Have Arrived in Europe Thousands of Years Earlier Than Thought

New archaeological research suggests Homo sapiens used bows and arrows 54,000 years ago in present-day France

Yemeni artifacts on display during a ceremony to celebrate their repatriation

The Smithsonian Will Temporarily House 77 Repatriated Artifacts Amid Unrest in Yemen

Until the items can be returned, the National Museum of Asian Art will keep them safe

One of the pieces of Cambodian jewelry returned by the estate of antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford

Looted Gold Jewelry Returns to Cambodia

Now back in Phnom Penh, the 77 items may have been worn by Angkorian royalty

Chichén Itzá is home to famous Maya structures such as El Castillo.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Find Elite Residences at Mexico’s Chichén Itzá

The housing complex is the first discovery of its kind in the ruined Maya city

Harley-Davidson made just 450 motorcycles in 1908.

Rare 1908 Harley-Davidson Becomes Most Expensive Motorcycle Sold at Auction

The restored bike, which a collector discovered in a Wisconsin barn, still has many of its original parts

Crews carefully relocated the building to Colonial Williamsburg, a living history museum roughly half a mile away.

Oldest Schoolhouse for Black Children Moves to Colonial Williamsburg

The school educated free and enslaved Black children between 1760 and 1774

The Codex Sassoon, which measures 12 by 14 inches, dates to the late ninth or early tenth century.

World’s Oldest Near-Complete Hebrew Bible Goes to Auction

The Codex Sassoon could break auction records, becoming the most valuable historical document ever sold

The items were found at Thompson Farm, were Harriet Tubman was born into slvery.

Artifacts Unearthed Near Harriet Tubman’s Birthplace

Archaeologists identified a West African spirit cache, a collection of items used to protect a home’s occupants

Murnau mit Kirche II (1910), a roughly 38- by 42-inch painting by Wassily Kandinsky

Kandinsky Painting Returned to Heirs of Jewish Collectors Could Sell for $45 Million

The masterpiece once belonged to Johanna Margarete Stern, who died at Auschwitz in 1944

Portholes on the wreck of the Titanic

Watch Rare New Footage of the Titanic Wreck

A team of oceanographers filmed the video in 1986 during the first detailed study of the sunken ship

An artist's representation of the dinosaur that left the footprint

Cool Finds

Squatting Dinosaur Left Behind a Huge Footprint in England

An archaeologist accidentally came across the fossil that was preserved for 166 million years

A reconstruction of a painted fresco depicting the Battle of Kadesh between the Egyptian Empire and the Hittite Empire.

Severe Drought May Have Contributed to the Decline of the Hittites

The empire abruptly vanished around 1200 B.C.E., and ancient tree rings suggest climate played a role

The seven-inch artillery shell found at Gettysburg National Military Park

160-Year-Old Civil War Artillery Shell Found at Gettysburg

After clearing the area, park officials sent experts to safely detonate the object

Pottery from the wreck of the Josephine Willis, which has been granted historical protection by the British government

Shipwreck Carrying Rare 19th-Century Ceramics Gets Government Protection

The British emigrant vessel sank with a cargo of Victorian pottery on board

Construction workers at the site of the new Metro C subway line in Rome

Cool Finds

Ancient Golden Glass Unearthed During Roman Subway Construction

The artifact depicts Roma, the goddess who personifies the city of Rome

Archaeologists found saffron, as well as peppercorns, almonds, raspberries and other foods.

Cool Finds

Medieval Pantry Stocked With Spices Found in 500-Year-Old Shipwreck

The vessel, called “Gribshunden,” sank off the coast of Sweden in 1495

Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in the 1962 film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird

Gregory Peck’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Script Goes to Auction

Also for sale are gifts from Harper Lee, who remained close with the Peck family for years

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