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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

German warships dating to World War II are visible again in the Danube River, as they were in 2024 as pictured here.   

The Danube River Has Fallen to Record-Low Water Levels, Revealing Nazi Warships, Bombs and Woolly Mammoth Bones In Its Channel

Residents and researchers are finding historic and prehistoric relics as Europe’s second-longest river dries

Introduced in 1919, the Oriole was a three-seat biplane produced by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company in Garden City, New York.

These Early Biplanes Documented the Arctic, Captured Newsreel Footage and Witnessed Lindbergh’s Historic Flight. Now, a Rare Example Will Hang in a Museum

The Cradle of Aviation Museum recently acquired a Curtiss Oriole, three-seat biplane manufactured at a nearby Garden City factory

The quake rocked Kumamoto on the Japanese island of Kyushu.

This 400-Year-Old Impenetrable Japanese Castle That Survived a Samurai Siege Just Crumbled in an Earthquake

In 1877, a force rebelling against Emperor Meiji attacked Kumamoto Castle on Japan’s southern Kyushu island

A Texas man displayed the Civil War-era artifact as a conversation piece for years.

Cool Finds

A Man Used This Civil War Artifact as a Paperweight on His Desk. The Bomb Squad Told Him It Was Actually a Live Explosive

The device turned out to be an artillery shell designed for a Parrott rifle in the mid-1800s. Experts safely detonated it at a firing range near San Antonio

A European depiction of Spanich and Inca conflict

Smallpox DNA Hidden for Centuries in Mummies Found in Chile Suggests European Colonists Brought the Virus to the Americas

Researchers say they found the first direct, molecular proof of the deadly trajectory the virus took

Each bird figurine measures less than an inch long.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Two Thumbnail-Size Bird Sculptures Carved From Mammoth Ivory 40,000 Years Ago

Measuring less than an inch long, the figurines were buried beneath Germany’s Hohle Fels Cave, where some of the world’s oldest known figurative artworks have been found

Archaeologists used lidar to “see” through the Amazon’s dense canopy and discovery nearly 400 previously undocumented geoglyphs.

Mysterious Shapes Hidden Beneath the Amazon Canopy Reveal a Sprawling Ancient Civilization Much Bigger Than Researchers Expected

Scientists recently discovered hundreds of monumental, geometric earthworks known as “geoglyphs” in northern Brazil from the Aquiry civilization

Visitors with regular admission tickets are not usually allowed inside the monument.

Want to Spend Some Alone Time With Stonehenge? This August, Lucky Visitors Get the Chance to Enter the Stone Circle Before the Site Opens to Tourists

Almost every day next month, management of the prehistoric landmark in England will draw a winning ticket and offer a unique experience to a visitor before the daily bustle begins

The bronze sword measures nearly two feet long.

Cool Finds

A Man Unearthed a Mysterious Metal Object Sticking Straight Up From the Ground. It Turned Out to Be a 2,700-Year-Old Sword

Marcin Wiśniewski found the weapon while metal detecting in a forest near the Polish city of Gdańsk. Experts told him that it likely dates to between 900 and 700 B.C.E.

The sandstone blocks were photographed at the wreck site in the 1970s.

Australia’s Most Notorious Shipwreck Tells a Story of Murder, Slavery, Mutiny—and, Now, ‘Surprisingly Sophisticated’ Trade in the 17th Century

When the Dutch East India Company’s flagship “Batavia” sank in 1629, it went down with large, carved sandstone blocks in its hold. The stones are now shedding light on trade at the dawn of global capitalism

Students and volunteers have been excavating the Roman mosaic from a field near near Halberton, Devon.

Cool Finds

A Metal Detectorist Discovered Tiny Tiles in a Farmer’s Field. A Spectacular Ancient Roman Mosaic Was Buried Beneath the Surface

The polychrome mosaic once decorated a small room in a lavish villa complex. Researchers, students and volunteers have been working together to excavate the rare site in southwestern England

A man discovered the wreckage while picking berries.

Cool Finds

A Man Picking Berries in the Forest in Poland Might Have Stumbled Upon the Wreckage of an Allied Airplane From World War II

Experts are still investigating but note that an earlier discovery nearby identified part of the wing of a British Lancaster bomber

The gold treasures found on the ship collectively weigh more than 21 ounces.

New Research

This Medieval Byzantine Shipwreck Boasts More Gold Treasures Than Any Other Vessel Found Beneath the Mediterranean

The vessel sank in the Adriatic Sea in the seventh or eighth century C.E. Its cargo included a gold signet ring likely associated with the emperor Heraclius and gold belts encrusted with rubies, emeralds and pearls

The five cannonballs ranged in size from grapefruit to cherry.

TSA Officers Found Five Cannonballs Stolen From a Civil War Fort in a Checked Suitcase at an Alabama Airport

The inert artifacts gave security officers in Gulf Shores a good scare. Investigators say the weapons came from Fort Morgan, which guards Mobile Bay

Archaeologists created a curved support structure that mimics the ceiling’s original shape.

Cool Finds

See a Rare Ceiling Fresco From Pompeii That Archaeologists Are Carefully Reassembling, Piece by Piece, Like an Ancient Puzzle

Located in the banquet hall of a home with an adjoining bakery, the fresco shows the mythological romance of Dionysus, the god of revelry and wine, and Ariadne, the Cretan princess

This map shows modern languages and their risk of dying out. 

Three Millennia Ago, Humans May Have Spoken Thousands More Languages Than We Have Today, During a Linguistic ‘Golden Age’

A new study suggests linguistic diversity reached its peak between 1000 B.C.E. and 1000 C.E. before declining

The pot was unearthed by University of Florida students this spring.

Cool Finds

Students in Florida Discovered a 400-Year-Old Intact Pot That Reveals Conflict Among Indigenous, Spanish and English Powers

Archaeology students at the University of Florida discovered the rare vessel at the site of the former Mission San Francisco de Potano, established in 1606 when Florida was under Spanish rule

The brown trout were likely introduced to guarantee a food source if reindeer hunts were unsuccessful, according to a new study.

Hunter-Gatherers Brought Trout to a Norwegian Mountain Lake 7,000 Years Ago, the Earliest Known Example of Humans Translocating Fish

Researchers have long known that the animals were introduced into the region’s high-altitude bodies of water, but they weren’t sure when it happened or whether humans had a hand. Analyses of recently discovered ancient fish traps provide new clues

The facial reconstruction of a man the team named Respectus

Their Names Were Lost to History. But Now, You Can See What Their Faces May Have Looked Like When They Lived in a Roman-Era City Nearly 2,000 Years Ago

A new exhibition in Budapest features 16 facial reconstructions based on skulls excavated from the ancient city of Aquincum. Curators don’t know the details of their lives, but they’ve invented backstories to fill in the gaps

Researchers discovered burned, ashy layers surrounding a standing stone that was placed in the cave 2,000 years ago.

Aboriginal Spiritual Leaders Performed ‘Magic, Healing, Cursing’ Rituals in This Australian Cave for 25,000 Years, New Research Finds

Archaeologists collaborated with members of the GunaiKurnai Aboriginal community to explore layers of ash from burned grasses dating back thousands of years inside Cloggs Cave

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