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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

Alfred Lepère’s Faune Chasseur is back on display at the Musée de Picardie, in Amiens, France.

Mysteriously Stolen More Than 30 Years Ago, and Illicitly Transported to the U.S., This 300-Pound Sculpture Is Finally Back Home in France

Alfred Lepère’s hulking “Faune Chasseur” artwork is once again on display at the Musée de Picardie, in Amiens

Tasmanian devils used to live across mainland Australia, but wild populations now inhabit only the island state of Tasmania.

Cool Finds

Tasmanian Devils Lived Alongside Humans in Northwestern Australia as Far Back as 45,000 Years Ago, Researchers Find

Fossils and marked bones unearthed in a Juukan Gorge cave suggest that the marsupial species not only once lived in the region but may have been a “garbage compactor on four legs” for its human population

The survey uncovered surviving remnants of structures from the 13th-century convent.

Cool Finds

The Ruins of a Long-Lost Medieval Convent Have Been Discovered Just a Few Feet Beneath a Soccer Field

St. Clare’s Convent closed in the 16th century, and researchers assumed all traces of it had been lost. But a new ground-penetrating radar survey revealed surprisingly intact remains of pillars, rooms, cloisters, a courtyard and a church

An 1849 painting by Adolphe Yvon depicts Dmitry Donskoy, who is widely regarded as a Russian hero, in the Battle of Kulikovo. Donskoy’s remains were discovered in Moscow in August. 

Russia Sends the Centuries-Old Remains of a Medieval Warrior Prince to Its Front Line in Ukraine, Hoping to ‘Spiritually Strengthen’ Troops

A reliquary containing part of the right hand of Dmitry Donskoy, whose crypt was discovered in August, has been dispatched to Donetsk

“If Emmett Till Lived: Freedom on American Ground” is on view now through December 19.

What If Emmett Till Had Lived? A New Exhibition Imagines an Alternate Future for the Murdered Black Teenager

Featuring photographs by more than 110 artists, the show honors Till’s memory by inviting viewers to contemplate the person he might have become had he made it to adulthood

The recovered artifacts range from a newspaper clipping of 1889 theater showtimes to a typed schedule for one of Elizabeth II’s diplomatic receptions.

Renovations at Buckingham Palace Have Revealed Fascinating Artifacts Previously Lost to Time Lodged in Its Walls and Floors

The findings include a card game tournament ticket, an important newspaper clipping and the schedule for a diplomatic evening event under Elizabeth II

A staircase leads into the central chamber of the newly discovered Chimú tomb near Trujillo, Peru.

Unsealed for the First Time in 600 Years, This Tomb in Peru Was Just Declared the ‘Discovery of the Decade’

Archaeologists excavating Chan Chan, the capital of the pre-Inca Chimú civilization, found an undisturbed mausoleum that held the remains of at least 38 individuals, as well as a trove of rich funerary goods

The gown is heading to auction for the first time in decades.

Princess Diana’s ‘Revenge Dress’ Is Heading to Auction for the First Time in Nearly 30 Years

The fashion icon wore the strapless silk frock the same day her then-estranged husband publicly admitted to having an affair

Part of a radius, a forearm bone, from a Denisovan, the first ever identified.

Cool Finds

Scientists Find a Trove of Denisovan Fossils and Tools in Southwest China, Giving an Unprecedented Glimpse Into Our Extinct Cousins’ Lives

Relatively few fossils belonging to the enigmatic early human have been unearthed in the past. Two new studies describe seven Denisovan fossils and more than 1,300 stone and bone tools

The collection of Viking Age coins found by a metal detectorist scouring his hometown

Cool Finds

A Finnish Metal Detectorist Was Shocked to Unearth a Trove of Viking Age Silver in His Hometown. Then His Detector Went Off Again

Weighing a combined ten pounds, the artifacts are estimated to be 1,000 years old and constitute Finland’s largest coin hoard of the era

The Great Mosaic is 33 feet high and 52 feet wide.

Ancient Rome’s Largest Fresco and Mosaic Complex, Featuring Depictions of a Mysterious Maritime City, Opens to the Public After 2,000 Years

The massive artworks, created in the first century C.E., were discovered in the 1990s during excavations of the Baths of Trajan

The maxilla and molars of an individual who lived between 16,000 and 25,000 years ago

New Research

Archaeologists Discover the World’s Oldest Evidence of Habitual Drug Use in the Teeth of a Hunter-Gatherer Who Lived Up to 25,000 Years Ago

This individual may have regularly sucked on betel nuts, known for their mind-altering properties, leading to worsening dental disease. Researchers say the discovery sheds light on addiction in prehistoric environments

Agatha Christie boards a train in 1922, during a ten-month trip around the world with her first husband.

The Life of Agatha Christie, the World’s Best-Selling Novelist, Goes Under the Microscope at the British Library

An upcoming London exhibition will explore the breadth of Christie’s ‘remarkable’ experiences through letters, photographs, a typewriter and a replica of her Hawaiian surfboard

The statue of a human riding a leopard was found during excavations over the summer.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Uncover a Neolithic Sculpture of a Human Riding a Leopard That’s ‘Unlike Anything We Have Encountered Before’

The artifact was found during excavations at Karahan Tepe, an 11,000-year-old site in southeastern Turkey. Created long before the invention of writing, the 2.3-foot-tall sculpture’s purpose is a mystery

The 42 teeth discovered at the burial site belonged to large mammals.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Excavating a Roman-Era Cemetery in Poland Were Surprised to Stumble Upon a 5,000-Year-Old Necklace Made of 42 Teeth

Crafted from the teeth of large mammals, such as wolves, deer, bears and perhaps even humans, the jewelry was found in a grave in southern Poland that may belong to an important patriarch of the Corded Ware culture

The 1894-S Barber dime is considered one of the rarest American coins. 

A ‘Legendary’ 132-Year-Old Dime Recently Sold for More Than $1.2 Million at Auction. What Makes It So Extraordinary?

Only 24 of the 1894-S Barber dimes were minted in San Francisco in June 1894, and just nine known specimens exist today

Researchers spotted invasive devil firefish swimming around the wreck.

This Hospital Ship Sank Off Albania’s Coast During World War II. Now, It’s Teeming With Marine Life

A new survey of the “Po” has revealed a thriving underwater ecosystem, including rare Mediterranean monk seals

The treasure was found at a home in Rebild, a municipality in northern Denmark.

Cool Finds

Routine Yard Work Reveals a Trove of Viking Silver—the Largest Treasure of Its Kind Ever Discovered in Denmark

The collection includes coins, jewelry, silver bars and a tiny artifact shaped like Thor’s hammer. Experts say the roughly 700 items were buried during the tenth century

Study co-author Lisa Tauxe inserts samples into a thermal demagnetizer.

New Research

Researchers Have Figured Out How to Spot Fake Ancient Pottery Using the Earth’s Magnetic Field

The magnetic North Pole has shifted over the millennia, leaving clues in the minerals that make up clay antiquities

Egyptian officials announced the new discoveries last week.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover a 4,000-Year-Old Tomb With a False Door at Egypt’s Ancient Saqqara Necropolis

In addition to the tomb, which once belonged to a high-ranking official, excavations revealed a network of burial shafts that still held human remains and funerary objects

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