Tattoo by early Japanese tattoo artist K. Akamatsu, ca. 1910s

Explore 200 Years of Tattoo History With This New Book

Celebrated tattoo artist Henk Schiffmacher shows off designs from around the world in images from his private collection

Researchers unearthed three Polish nuns' remains at a municipal cemetery in Orneta.

Researchers Uncover Remains of Polish Nuns Murdered by Soviets During WWII

As the Red Army pushed the Nazis out of Poland in 1945, soldiers engaged in brutal acts of repression against civilians

Wreckage uncovered in Thorpeness, along England's Suffolk coast, may belong to an 18th-century collier, or coal-carrying vessel.

Cool Finds

Storms Reveal Two Historic Shipwrecks on England’s Eastern Coast

Archaeologists have only gotten a “tantalizing glimpse” of the vessels, which are currently inaccessible due to Covid-19 restrictions

Researchers are still investigating who created the tunnel and why.

Cool Finds

Contractors Discover Forgotten Medieval Tunnel Beneath Welsh Garden

The passageway runs along a brook near Tintern Abbey, a 12th-century monastery on the border between Wales and England

A close-up look at one of the pieces of stolen armor

Authorities Recover Intricate Renaissance Armor Stolen From the Louvre in 1983

An appraiser’s quick thinking helped recover the treasures, which vanished from the Paris museum 38 years ago

Some of the animals—including this dog—were buried in pieces of pottery.

Cool Finds

Is This 2,000-Year-Old Egyptian Burial Site the World’s Oldest Pet Cemetery?

Excavations show how humans treated cats, dogs and monkeys in first- and second-century Egypt

Ancient embalmers dipped a piece of red linen in a plant-based concoction before applying the cloth to the deceased's face.

Cool Finds

Oldest Known Mummification Manual Reveals How Egyptians Embalmed the Face

Prior to the find, researchers had only identified two ancient texts detailing the enigmatic preservation process

The bomb may date to the spring of 1942, when the German Luftwaffe heavily bombarded Exeter and other historic English cities.

An Unexploded WWII Bomb Was (Safely) Detonated in England

Routine construction work near the University of Exeter unearthed the 2,204-pound device in late February

Some of the marks seen on the woman's skull predated her death, while others were likely left by natural forces following her burial.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Solve Mystery of 5,600-Year-Old Skull Found in Italian Cave

Natural forces moved a Stone Age woman’s bones through the cavern over time

An early 20th-century photo of the building in its original location on Prince George Street in Williamsburg, Virginia

University Building Identified as One of the U.S.’ First Schools for Black Children

The Williamsburg Bray School educated around 400 free and enslaved students between 1760 and 1774

The researchers virtually opened the letters with an advanced X-ray machine. They then used computers to analyze the folds and create a readable, digital model of the unfolded message.

Art Meets Science

How Researchers Are Reading Centuries-Old Letters Without Opening Them

A new technique enables scholars to unlock the secrets of long-sealed missives

Five months after a missing panel from Jacob Lawrence's Struggle series resurfaced, a second long-lost painting by the artist—pictured here in 1957—has been found.

Cool Finds

Another Long-Lost Jacob Lawrence Painting Resurfaces in Manhattan

Inspired by the recent discovery of a related panel, a nurse realized that the missing artwork had hung in her house for decades

Martin Luther King Jr. and Reverend Ralph Abernathy are taken in for questioning by Birmingham police in 1962.

Cool Finds

Rare Birmingham Jail Logbook Pages Signed by MLK Resurface After Decades

Two sheets of paper from the Alabama prison where the activist penned a famous 1963 letter sold at auction for more than $130,000

The team speculates that ancient Romans used the vehicle for festivals, parades, weddings and other ceremonial events.

Cool Finds

‘Miraculously’ Well-Preserved Ceremonial Chariot Found at Villa Outside of Pompeii

The carriage’s intricate decorations include metal medallions depicting satyrs, nymphs and cupids

The newly restored artworks highlight predator-prey conflicts in the natural world.

Newly Restored Pompeiian Frescoes Capture Hunting Scenes in Vivid Detail

Researchers used a laser to clean the ancient artworks before retouching their faded sections

Just six comparable Ming dynasty bowls are known to survive today.

Cool Finds

Porcelain Bowl Bought at Yard Sale for $35 Could Sell at Auction for $500,000

The blue-and-white vessel is a rare Ming dynasty dish dated to the early 15th century

Six of the statues appear to depict Siddhartha Gautama, while five likely portray the Hindu deity and Buddhist bodhisattva Tara.

Cool Finds

Remnants of Tenth-Century Buddhist Monastery Found in India

The excavation uncovered statues of the Buddha and Tara, a prominent bodhisattva

Rioters enter the U.S. Capitol's rotunda as chemical irritants fill the corridor on January 6, 2021.

History of Now

Curators Seek $25,000 to Repair Artworks Damaged in U.S. Capitol Attack

Rioters vandalized six sculptures and two paintings, in addition to smashing windows, breaking furniture and spraying graffiti

These brightly colored geese have no modern, real-world counterpart.

Tomb Painting Known as Egypt’s ‘Mona Lisa’ May Depict Extinct Goose Species

Only two of the three kinds of birds found in the 4,600-year-old artwork correspond to existing kinds of animals

A crew in Richmond, Virginia, removes a statue of Confederate naval officer Matthew Fontaine Maury on July 2, 2020.

The U.S. Removed Over 160 Confederate Symbols in 2020—but Hundreds Remain

Following mass protests against racial injustice, watchdog group records new push to remove racist monuments from public spaces

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