Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

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

Trending Today

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

None

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

The lamprey's jawless yet toothy mouth is ideal for hooking onto victims' flesh

Cool Finds

Toothy Medieval Sea Monster Remains Found in London

The lamprey, a jawless fish that uses its teeth to hook onto the flesh of prey, was a favorite delicacy amongst British royals past and present

Two high schoolers from Akron, Ohio, stumbled upon the tool while sifting through sediment during a dig at the estate

Cool Finds

Students Unearth 6,000-Year-Old Stone Axe at Mount Vernon

The tool, which was likely used for cutting or carving wood rather than as a weapon, was crafted during 4000 B.C.

American South

New National Monument in Kentucky Honors Black Civil War Troops

Over 10,000 African-American troops mustered at Camp Nelson, which also offered refuge for their enslaved wives and children

Look inside, if you dare. Or if you have a forensics degree.

Cool Finds

Is This the Bag That Held Sir Walter Raleigh’s Mummified Head?

Legend has it his wife retained his embalmed head. But while the sack dates to the correct era and was found in his son’s home, scholars are not convinced

Contemporary hot chocolate bears little resemblance to the bitter drink enjoyed by ancient South and Central American civilizations

Cool Finds

Cacao Was First Cultivated in South America, Not Mexico and Central America

New study pinpoints birth of chocolate to some 5,300 years ago, or nearly 1,500 years earlier than previously believed

Viking tar kiln.

New Research

Was the Vikings’ Secret to Success Industrial-Scale Tar Production?

Evidence suggests that the ability to mass-produce tar bolstered their trade repertoire and allowed them to waterproof and seal their iconic longships

Hovenden House.

Trending Today

Developers and Preservationists Clash Over Underground Railroad Stop

Opponents say a plan to build 67 townhomes near Hovenden House and Abolitionist Hall outside Philadelphia will destroy the area’s heritage space

The damage inflicted to the glass box encasing Magna Carta

Man Arrested for Trying to Steal an Original Copy of the Magna Carta

The suspect was apprehended after taking a hammer to a glass case containing the 13th-century document

Federal police forensic specialists investigate the cause of the fire that tore through Brazil's National Museum in Rio de Janeiro.

Five Things We’ve Learned Since Brazil’s Devastating National Museum Fire

Luzia, the oldest human fossil in the Americas, was recovered from the rubble

Page 207 of 346