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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

Archaeologists inside Cueva de Ardales

Cool Finds

Artists Have Been Painting Inside This Spanish Cave for 58,000 Years

Archaeologists finally understand who decorated the Cueva de Ardales

Images from eight decades of the queen’s life were projected onto the megaliths this week.

Images of Elizabeth II Graced Stonehenge This Week—and Pagans Aren’t Happy

Projections on the Neolithic stones have proven controversial before

Archaeologists have located 134 ancient settlements north of Hadrian's Wall in what is now Scotland.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover 134 Ancient Settlements North of Hadrian’s Wall

LiDAR helped researchers find sites once inhabited by those who lived outside Rome’s rule of Britain

Construction workers stumbled on this Maya city while building an industrial park. 

Cool Finds

Construction Crew Stumbles on 1,400-Year-Old Ruins of Maya City

Researchers say the pre-Hispanic metropolis they call Xiol was once home to some 4,000 people

Thieves targeted a $2 million, 18-carat gold tabernacle in a Catholic church this week. 

Thieves Took a $2-Million Tabernacle From a Brooklyn Church

Sacred objects can tempt would-be burglars

Hundreds of sarcophagi have been excavated from the Saqqara archaeological site thus far.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Uncover Hundreds of Colorful Sarcophagi at Saqqara—and They’re Not Done Yet

The 2,500-year-old coffins are the latest in the site’s seemingly endless parade of ancient treasures

Trees at Alerce Costero National Park

A New Candidate for Oldest Tree in the World Is Discovered in Chile

Environmental scientists used unorthodox methods for calculating Alerce Milenario’s age

Adam W. McKinney dances in front of a former KKK headquarters in Fort Worth. 

Past Imperfect

Texas Artists Are Taking Over—and Transforming—a Former KKK Building

Those once terrorized by the Klan will decide on the center’s events and programming

Minnesota River from Gifford Lake Unit, Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area

Human Skull Found by Minnesota Kayakers Dates Back 8,000 Years

The skull fragment will be turned over to Upper Sioux Community tribal officials

Researchers have long tried—and failed—to sequence the complete genome of someone who died in Pompeii. 

This Man Was Encased in Volcanic Ash in Pompeii. Here’s What His DNA Reveals

The adult man’s genome is the first to be fully sequenced from remains found in the ancient city

The artwork’s last owner purchased it for just a few hundred pounds. 

Cool Finds

A Vase Kept in an Ordinary Kitchen Turned Out to Be a Qing-Dynasty Artwork Worth Millions

The rare, blue-and-gold vessel was crafted in 18th-century China

Black soldiers during World War II

History of Now

Nine Army Bases Honoring Confederate Leaders Could Soon Have New Names

Proposed by a government panel, the suggested title changes honor several women and people of color

The ceiling was once so filthy, these depictions of Egyptian goddesses could not be seen.

Temple Restoration Reveals Vibrant Art of Vulture-Like Egyptian Goddesses

Millennia of grime, soot and bird poop had covered up—and preserved—the archaeological treasure

Part of the Field Museum’s new permanent exhibition "Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories."

Past Imperfect

Field Museum Confronts Its Outdated, Insensitive Native American Exhibition

Co-created with Indigenous partners, the new permanent installation reckons with past harm

A group of Chinchorro mummies, dated between 5000 B.C.E. and 3000 B.C.E.

Cool Finds

Can the World’s Oldest Mummies Survive Climate Change and Other Threats in the Coming Decades?

Up to 7,000 years old, the mummified remains are treasured by local residents

Salma brachyscopalis Hampson

U.S. Customs Agents Find Rare Moth Last Spotted in 1912

Larvae and pupae found in seed pods at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport last fall hatched into Salma brachyscopalis Hampson moths

The Carabinieri Police Cultural Heritage Protection Unit returned the painting to the government in a May 19 ceremony.  

Italian Art Police Recovered a Long-Lost Titian. But Is It Really the Renaissance Master’s Work?

The recently confiscated painting is worth an estimated $7 million

Left: Photo of the dress from a Bonhams auction listing. Right: Father Gilbert Hartke with the gifted garment

There’s No Place Like Home—but What’s the Right Place for Dorothy’s Dress From ‘The Wizard of Oz’?

Donated to the head of Catholic University’s drama department in 1973, the garment’s ownership is now at the center of a legal dispute

Red ocher has served many history, from painting cave walls to tanning hides.

Cool Finds

This 12,000-Year-Old Wyoming Quarry Could Be North America’s Oldest Mine

The state’s archaeologists believe people quarried red ocher at Powars II starting 12,840 years ago

Researchers want to recreate the smells of civilizations like ancient Egypt. 

Scientists Recreate Cleopatra’s Favorite Perfume

Reconstructing the scentscapes of bygone civilizations is anything but simple

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