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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

Three spears have returned to southeastern Australia for the first time and are being displayed at the University of Sydney’s Chau Chak Wing Museum.

Captain Cook and His Crew Stole These Spears. Centuries Later, They’re Finally Back in Sydney

The artifacts are on display alongside modern spears created by the descendants of the Indigenous Dharawal people

The ancient remains of 108 Aboriginal individuals were exhumed from the Lake Mungo and Willandra Lakes region between 1960 and 1980.

Australia’s Oldest-Known Human Remains Will Be Reburied in the Outback

The decision comes after a decades-long campaign by Aboriginal groups, but not all stakeholders are pleased with the current plan

An 1865 stereograph image of the so-called Sparrow-Hawk, taken just two years after the shipwreck was discovered on a Cape Cod beach

Cool Finds

Is This New England’s Oldest Known English Shipwreck?

New research suggests the vessel is the mysterious “Sparrow-Hawk”

Many superheroes are orphans. A new exhibition at the Foundling Museum in London explores how parental loss shapes their heroic trajectories. 

Why So Many Superheroes Are Orphans

A new exhibition at London’s Foundling Museum explores how growing up without birth parents shapes comic book characters

A zoomed-in view of Edgar Degas' Ukrainian Dancers, previously known as Russian Dancers

Museum Renames Degas’ ‘Russian Dancers’ in Nod to Ukraine

The change arrives amid a push for cultural institutions to recognize distinctions between Russian and Ukrainian culture

The jars vary in shape in size. Some are perfectly round, while others are tall and skinny.

Archaeologists in India Find Dozens of Mysterious Giant Jars

The vessels’ purpose is unknown, but scholars say they may have been used in ancient funerary practices

Ruins of a Norse church in Greenland.

New Research

Why Did the Vikings Abandon Their Most Successful Settlement in Greenland?

A new study argues that an extended drought, and not cold temperatures, drove the Norse settlers from the region

The anchor of Industry, a whaling ship that sank in 1836 in the Gulf of Mexico 

Cool Finds

A Shipwreck, a Robot and an Archival Treasure Hunt Reveal the Diverse History of the Whaling Industry

Free Black Americans and Native Americans once worked on the “Industry,” a whaling ship whose wreck was recently identified in the Gulf of Mexico

NPS Ranger Betty Reid Soskin sits in front of the Rosie the Riveter Visitor Center.

Women Who Shaped History

Betty Reid Soskin, Oldest National Park Service Ranger, Retires at 100

As an NPS employee, she promoted the stories of African American people and women of color who contributed to the home front effort during WWII

Today, Amache is mostly barren grassland dotted with crumbling foundations and a few historic buildings and replicas.

Japanese American Incarceration Camp in Colorado Receives Federal Protection

The Granada Relocation Center, also known as Amache, grew to become the state’s tenth largest city at its peak during World War II

A golden wattle plant in bloom in Australia's Western Desert

Cool Finds

50,000-Year-Old Campfires Reveal the Deep Historical Roots of Australia’s National Flower

Australian wattle or acacia plants were used as firewood by ancient people navigating the harsh climes of the Western Desert, new research finds

A 14th-century illustration depicts accused witches being burned at the stake. More than 2,500 witches were executed under Scotland's 1563 Witchcraft Act.

Scotland Issues Formal Apology to Thousands Accused of Witchcraft

An estimated 2,500 Scots were executed as witches between the 16th and 18th centuries

Fones Cliffs along the Rappahannock River in Virginia. Last week, the Rappahannock Tribe announced the reacquisition of 465 acres of ancestral homeland along the river.

Good News

Ancestral Homeland Returned to Rappahannock Tribe After More Than 350 Years

The historic reacquisition spans 465 acres in the Northern Neck of Virginia

The food library and museum is slated to reopen later this spring.

A Museum in Rome Narrates Italian History Through Cookbooks and Kitchenware

Reopening this spring, Garum explores more than 500 years of local culinary traditions

Spot can reach speeds up to 3mph, has 360 degree vision that helps it avoid obstacles and is protected from dust and rain, per its creator, Boston Dynamics. 

Meet Spot, the Dog-Like Robot Roaming the Ruins of Pompeii

The bot, built by Boston Dynamics, can navigate difficult terrains that humans can’t access safely

“[T]his study show[s] how the owner of the house stimulated the visitor’s senses to convey a message about its power and wealth,” says co-author Danilo M. Campanaro in a statement.

Why Archaeologists Virtually Reconstructed an Ancient House in Pompeii

The team hopes to simulate how visitors would have experienced the space and gain a stronger understanding of the motivation behind Roman designs

A worker prepares a hot air balloon during a festival in Ba Vi National Park, west of Hanoi, Vietnam.

Good News

Good News

Uplifting stories to brighten your day

An illustration of a mummification experiment shows a bound body's breakdown of soft tissue after three weeks, and after seven months.

Researchers Find Potential Evidence of Oldest-Known Mummification

Newly discovered photographs help researchers to re-analyze 8,000-year-old remains from burials in Portugal

Scientists claim that the rock used to carve the Venus of Willendorf statue likely came from Italy.

New Research

3-D Scans Show 30,000-Year-Old Stone Sculpture Dug Up in Austria Likely Came From Italy

Scientists suspect an ancient limestone carving known as the Venus of Willendorf traveled hundreds of miles across the Southern Alps

A protester holds a sunflower during a London rally in support of Ukraine on March 26, 2022.

Why Sunflowers Are Ukraine’s National Flower

People around the world are embracing the bright bloom as a symbol of solidarity with the beleaguered country

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