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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

Walrus-tusk wealth

Greenland’s Vikings Got Wealthy Off Walrus Tusks

New DNA study reveals how the Norse Greenlanders cornered the market on ivory in Europe

New Research

This New Zealand Natural Wonder Is Probably Gone for Good

A new study reconfirms that the Pink and White Terraces were destroyed by a volcano in 1886 and can’t be dug up

Last November, "Salvator Mundi" sold for $450 million, becoming the most expensive work of art ever sold privately or at auction

Historian Asserts That Leonardo’s Assistant Painted Majority of ‘Salvator Mundi’

The Oxford research fellow names Bernardino Luini as main artist, believes da Vinci only painted between five to 20 percent of the painting

The Air Force's X-37B space plane.

Trending Today

The U.S. Military Has Been in Space From the Beginning

While the proposed branch of the armed forces may be controversial, the history of the so-called “Space Force” is longstanding

One-fifth of the men who presided over the Roman Empire were assassinated

Why Roman Emperors Were More Likely to Be Assassinated During Droughts

Low rainfall leads to poor harvests, starving troops, more mutinies and higher risk of regicide

Scorched Earth from Ireland Fire Illuminates WWII-Era Sign

The site is one of more than 80 ‘Éire markings’ that proclaimed Ireland’s neutrality during the war

Trending Today

A Memorial Sign to Emmett Till Was Defaced With Four Bullet Holes

This is the third time the marker of the African-American boy’s brutal torture and murder in Mississippi in 1955 has been vandalized

“Today, they started to demolish my studio ‘zuo you’ in Beijing with no precaution,” the long-time dissident wrote on Instagram

Authorities Raze Ai Weiwei’s Beijing Studio

The contemporary art giant is known for his caustic criticism of the Chinese government

A plan for the Virginia women's monument

American South

New Virginia Monument Will Pay Tribute to Hundreds of Historic Women

The monument features 12 bronze statues and a wall etched with 400 additional names of women who played an important role in shaping Virginia’s history

Researchers studied the cremated remains of between 10 and 25 individuals interred at Stonehenge

Why Did the Welsh Bury Their Dead at Stonehenge?

Study suggests cremated remains found at the site belong to outsiders who may have brought stones from Welsh quarry, aided monument’s construction

Following Malcolm X's 1965 assassination, the original manuscript and unpublished chapters of his autobiography remained hidden from the public

New York Public Library Acquires Unpublished Chapter of Malcolm X’s Autobiography

The public is just weeks away from being able to view these “lost” works

Researchers at the Spencer Museum of Art in Lawrence, Kansas, have attributed the painting to British portraitist and illustrator John Vanderbank

Have Researchers Unraveled the Six-Decade Mystery of a Kansas Museum Portrait?

The team believes it has identified the rightful artist behind ‘Mrs. Thomas Pelham,’ a nearly life-size portrait depicting an 18th-century aristocrat

Roosevelt and LeHand.

Cool Finds

Rare Home Movies Show the Private Lives of the Roosevelts

The 16mm film depicts the first couple picnicking, boating, and socializing with their friends, family and advisors

McCartney has long claimed that he wrote the melody to "In My Life," but Lennon stated that his songwriting partner had only contributed to the middle section of the tune. This study suggests they were both wrong

Statistics Offer Answer to Decades-Long Dispute Over Authorship of Beatles Hit

Researchers say there is less than a one in 50 chance that Paul McCartney composed the melody of “In My Life”

A new chemical analysis showed that the clothes the mummies were buried in were dyed with cinnabar, a toxic pigment.

These Chilean Mummies Were Buried in Mercury-Laced Red Clothing

The Cerro Esmeralda site, where two human sacrifices were buried, shows traces of cinnabar, a toxic pigment

Archaeologists identified the library based on a series of wall niches that once housed ancient scrolls

Cool Finds

Cologne Archaeologists Unearth Foundations of Germany’s Oldest Known Library

The library, which was built between 150 and 200 C.E., held an estimated 20,000 ancient scrolls

Bird's eye view of the 1893 Columbian Exposition, which Olmsted was instrumental in planning

24,000 Documents Detailing Life of Landscape Architect Frederick Law Olmsted Now Available Online

Collection includes journals, personal correspondence detailing development of Biltmore estate, U.S. Capitol grounds and the Chicago World’s Fair

Trending Today

Remains of Tuskegee Airman Found in Austria

Researchers and archaeologists have recovered the remains of distinguished flyer Lawrence E. Dickson whose plane crashed during a mission in 1944

MASTODON MAXIMUS. CUV. [Cuvier]; Orra White Hitchcock (1796–1863); Amherst, Massachusetts; 1828–1840; pen and ink and watercolor wash on cotton, with woven tape binding

Art Meets Science

Art, Science and Religion Blend in Exhibition Honoring Illustrator Orra White Hitchcock

Orra’s paintings and drawings depict the natural world in colorful detail

Salvador Dalí, "Gala Placidia. Galatea of the Spheres," 1952

Catalonia

Why Gala Dalí—Muse, Model and Artist—Was More Than Just Salvador’s Wife

Barcelona exhibition draws on 315 artifacts to unravel the myths behind central surrealist figure

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