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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

A digital reconstruction of a 2,000-year-old sarcophagus fragment adorned with the face of a leopard

2,000-Year-Old Leopard Face Painting Reconstructed From Egyptian Sarcophagus

To the ancient Egyptians, the big cat symbolized strength and power, demarcating a tomb of high status

Artemisia Gentileschi's newly attributed David and Goliath painting

Cool Finds

Once Attributed to a Male Artist, ‘David and Goliath’ Painting Identified as the Work of Artemisia Gentileschi

Conservation efforts uncovered the Baroque artist’s signature along the hilt of David’s sword

3-D model of Head of Amenhotep III on Sketchfab

Education During Coronavirus

You Can Now Download 1,700 Free 3-D Cultural Heritage Models

A new Sketchfab collection brings models of fossils, artwork and more into the public domain

The restored dagger and sheath, following nine months of sandblasting and grinding

Cool Finds

Archaeology Intern Unearths Spectacular, 2,000-Year-Old Roman Dagger

After a nine-month restoration, the elaborately decorated blade and its sheath gleam as if brand new

Muhammad Ali speaks during a press conference held before his fight against Argentina's Oscar Bonavena.

This Exhibit Asks You to Caption Photos of People Caught in Mid-Sentence

National Portrait Gallery exhibit features snapshots of Muhammad Ali, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.

Two winners split the Plougastel-Daoulas contest's grand prize of €2,000.

Has This Boulder’s Mysterious, Centuries-Old Inscription Finally Been Deciphered?

Two newly publicized translations suggest the message is a memorial to a man who died in the 1700s

Stone tools found at the Dhaba site from the same time as the Toba volcanic super-eruption.

Ancient Humans May Have Survived Supervolcano Eruption Nearly 74,000 Years Ago

Stone tools in north-central India suggest that ancient residents adapted to a world cooled by volcanic ash

Parliament at sunset

Cool Finds

Secret 17th-Century Passageway Discovered in British House of Commons

Parliament has posted photos of its members and collaborators delighting in the discovery

Barbara Karinska, “Emeralds” costume from Jewels, original designed in 1967. Lent by the New York City Ballet

From Ballerina Flats to Tutus, Ballet Has Left Its Mark on Fashion

A new exhibition in NYC features high-end couture, historic ballet costumes and modern athletic wear

Tourists wait to see Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.

More Than One Million People Saw the Louvre’s Blockbuster Leonardo da Vinci Exhibition

The record-breaking show attracted almost double the number of visitors as the Paris museum’s 2018 Delacroix retrospective

A scanned page from The Lytille Childrenes Lytil Boke, a 15th-century courtesy book of table manners and etiquette for kids

Don’t Pick Your Nose, 15th-Century Manners Book Warns

The taboo on booger hunting stretches back centuries, reveals a book recently digitized by the British Library

Gardens alongside the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace became archaeological sites where Girl Scouts discovered handmade nails and a shard of pottery.

Girl Scouts Join Archaeological Dig at Birthplace of Organization’s Founder

The 200-year-old house, where Juliette Gordon Low was born in 1860, is undergoing renovations to increase its accessibility

A half-submerged stone inscribed with Luwian hieroglyphs detailing the fall of Phrygia

Cool Finds

Ancient Inscription Unveils the King Who May Have Toppled Midas

A newly discovered stone hints that a lost civilization defeated the ancient Turkish kingdom of Phrygia around the eighth century B.C.

A reconstruction image showing the scale and decorated interior of Bishop Bek’s 14th-century chapel at Auckland Castle

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Identify Site of Long-Lost Chapel Razed During English Civil War

The “sumptuously constructed” 14th-century chapel was roughly the same size as Sainte-Chapelle in Paris

A Dixie Highway marker on Georgia State Route 3

Parts of Florida Highway Honoring the Confederacy Will Be Renamed in Honor of Harriet Tubman

Miami-Dade County commissioners unanimously approved plans to rename local stretches of Dixie Highway

Posed in Hampton, Virginia, Katherine Johnson stands before a backdrop of gathering clouds, "symbolic of the obstacles ... that she had to face in her career," says curator William Pretzer.

Women Who Shaped History

Smithsonian Curators Remember Katherine Johnson, NASA Mathematician Highlighted in ‘Hidden Figures,’ Who Died at 101

An African American woman who battled workplace discrimination, Johnson performed crucial calculations to send astronauts into space

A coral-covered propeller of a U.S. SBD-5 Dauntless dive bomber stands on the sea floor in Truk Lagoon.

Three U.S. Planes Lost During World War II Found in Pacific Lagoon

Project Recover, a nonprofit dedicated to locating MIA service members, identified the planes’ location

Archaeologists uncovered nine walls made of human bones beneath Saint Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium.

Walls Made of Ancient Human Leg Bones Found Beneath Belgian Church

The macabre creations are likely the product of an overcrowded cemetery cleared out hundreds of years ago

Shawn Walker, Neighbor at 124 W 117th St, Harlem, New York, ca. 1970-1979

Library of Congress Acquires 100,000 Images by Harlem Photographer Shawn Walker

The African American photographer was a founding member of the Kamoinge Workshop, an art collective launched during the 1960s

A 55-inch wide sarcophagus and what appears to be an altar are seen in an underground chamber at the ancient Roman Forum.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Possible Shrine to Romulus, Rome’s Legendary Founder

An underground temple and sarcophagus discovered in the Roman Forum may pay homage to the mythical figure

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