Smart News History & Archaeology

Quai Branly Museum in Paris houses a collection with more than 300,000 indigenous art of Africa, Asia, America and Oceania.

French Report Recommends the Full Restitution of Looted African Artworks

The report was commissioned by President Emmanuel Macron, who has advocated for repatriation

Civil War Photo Sleuth's software identifies up to 27 "facial landmarks" evident in images uploaded to database

Art Meets Science

Facial Recognition Software Is Helping Identify Unknown Figures in Civil War Photographs

Civil War Photo Sleuth aims to be the world’s largest, most complete digital archive of identified and unidentified Civil War-era portraits

Cool Finds

Did These Ancient Juglets—Found in a Bronze Age Burial in Israel—Contain Vanilla?

The finding suggests vanilla was being used 2,500 years earlier and half a world from where we thought, but vanilla experts are skeptical on the findings

The Statue of Liberty’s Original Torch Gets a New Home

The torch, which was replaced in the 1980s, has been moved to a new museum on Liberty Island

The museum featured replicas of a pioneer school, mining cabin, blacksmith's shop and more

Paradise's Gold Nugget Museum Falls Victim to Camp Fire

The beloved local institution was founded in 1973 to commemorate the town’s prospecting past

Confederate Troops on the Las Moras, Texas

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Texas Will Finally Teach That Slavery Was Main Cause of the Civil War

Slavery has been upgraded to the primary cause in the curriculum, however states' rights and sectionalism will still be taught as "contributing factors"

This eagle pendant was once worn by Founding Father Alexander Hamilton to signify his membership in an elite society

Hamilton Family Heirlooms to Go on View at Philadelphia Exhibition

Artifacts include an eagle pendant owned by Alexander Hamilton and a gold mourning ring worn by Elizabeth following his death

Two of the recovered artifacts feature depictions of winged serpents

Authorities Recover Three Moundville Artifacts Stolen in Devastating 1980 Heist

Nearly four decades, ago, the theft claimed 264 Native American items dating back 800 years from the Erskine Ramsey Archaeological Repository

Cool Finds

Mini Terracotta Army Unearthed in China

A Han Dynasty-era pit includes 300 soldiers, guard towers, farm animals and everything else a noble might need in the afterlife

Findings from burials from Hellenistic and Roman times

Excavation Hints at Opulent Lifestyle Enjoyed by Inhabitants of Ancient Greek City

This is the first time that residential remains have been discovered at Tenea, once thought to have been founded by Trojan prisoners

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No, Archaeologists Probably Did Not Find a New Piece of the Antikythera Mechanism

A bronze disc found near the shipwreck last year is likely not a cog wheel from the ancient Greek astronomical proto-computer

Cool Finds

Tomb Full of Sacred Cats and Beetles Found in Egypt

The recently opened tomb in the Saqqara necropolis included gilded feline statues and extremely rare mummified scarab beetles

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Letter Shows Einstein’s Prescient Concerns About ‘Dark Times’ in Germany

In 1922, after fleeing Berlin out of fear for his safety, Einstein wrote to his sister about his new ‘reclusive’ life

Cool Finds

It's True: Ancient Gauls Embalmed the Severed Heads of Their Enemies

Chemical analysis shows that ancient accounts of the warriors preserving heads using pine resin are accurate

Cool Finds

Listen to the Moment the Guns Fell Silent, Ending World War I

A new exhibit at the Imperial War Museum uses seismic data collected during the war to recreate the moment the Armistice went into effect

The Science and Cell teams sequenced a total of 64 ancient human genomes

This Week Has Offered a Slew of Insights on the Western Hemisphere’s First Humans

Studies reveal rapid yet uneven movement south in at least three migratory waves, complicating story of the Americas' settlement

At Fort Sill, Oklahoma, you can see "Atomic Annie," the first and only cannon to ever fire a nuclear shell.

This Veterans Day, Visit America’s Top Military Sites

A new book offers a guide to the museums, bases and once-secret locations that reveal America’s complex military history

A Victorian era time capsule marks one of the project's most unique early finds

10,000 Years of British History to Be Unearthed in Excavations in Advance of Planned Rail Line

Initial finds include hunter-gatherer site on outskirts of London, Wars of the Roses battlefield, Industrial Revolution burial guard

Abnormalities identified included misshapen skulls and jaws, bowed femur and arm bones

Did Rampant Inbreeding Contribute to Early Humans’ High Rate of Skeletal Deformities?

Researcher identified 75 skeletal or dental defects in sample of just 66 sets of ancient remains

Ganymedes and the heron.

Cool Finds

Recently Unearthed Roman Latrine Was Full of Dirty Jokes

Mosaics uncovered in a Roman bathroom in modern-day Turkey reminds us that bathroom humor has ancient roots

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