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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

The historic cemetery where remains of 95 individuals, believed to be African American prisoners forced to work on a plantation, were discovered.

Remains of 95 African-American Forced Laborers Found in Texas

The deceased are believed to have been among thousands of black prisoners who were put to work as part of a post-Civil War “convict-leasing system”

The Meghalayan Age’s “timestamp” is an isotopic shift found in a single stalagmite growing from the floor of the Mawmluh Cave in Meghalaya, India

Welcome to the Meghalayan Age, the Latest Stage in Earth’s 4.54-Billion-Year History

Geologists say the stage began 4,200 years ago, when a global mega-drought devastated agricultural societies

To create her dazzle camouflage design, Auerbach used a process known as marbling, or swirling pools of ink on paper to generate fluid patterns

Art Meets Science

NYC Fireboat Rebranded in Vibrant Dazzle Camouflage to Commemorate WWI

Vessels cloaked in clashing colors, patterns attempted to confuse U-boat commanders by distorting their perception of a ship’s speed, size and location

Trending Today

Indian Supreme Court Orders Government to Restore the Taj Mahal — or Demolish It

After the government failed to file plans for restoring the monument, which is discolored by bug poo and pollution, the court has demanded action

Tsar Nicholas II and his family

DNA Analysis Confirms Authenticity of Romanovs’ Remains

Will Russia’s fallen royal family finally receive a full burial from the Orthodox Church?

Archaeologists unearthed the 14,400-year-old breadcrumbs while excavating a pair of stone fireplaces in northeast Jordan

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Evidence of Bread Baked Before Advent of Agriculture

The bread, which was found in northeast Jordan, dates back about 14,400 years and likely resembled modern-day wraps

Cool Finds

Drought Reveals Giant, 4,500-Year-Old Irish Henge

The circular structure in the Boyne Valley was discovered by drone photographers searching for signs of hidden Neolithic sites

This gilded mummy mask was recently discovered in a burial chamber in Saqqara, Egypt. Archaeologists called the find a "sensation."

Mummification Workshop and Trove of Burial Relics Found in Egypt

‘We are standing before a goldmine of information,’ one expert said

Anna Freud's signet ring.

Cool Finds

Exhibit Reveals Rings From Freud’s “Secret Committee”

The founder of psychoanalysis handed out the rings to students, colleagues and friends who supported and spread his theories

Behaviors requiring the most pressure were smashing bones for marrow and producing flint flakes

Did the Human Hand Evolve as a Lean Mean Bone-Smashing Machine?

Of nearly 40 things Pleistocene people might have done with their hands, getting to yummy marrow requires the most force and dexterity

The document actually consisted of multiple sheets of papyrus that had been glued together, perhaps to be used as book binding in a common form of medieval “recycling”

Researchers Unlock Secrets of Basel Papyrus

Now identified as a late antiquity medical document, the 2,000-year-old papyrus describes the phenomenon of female “hysterical apnea”

New Research

Oldest Stone Tools Outside Africa Unearthed in China

Six artifacts date to 2.1 million years ago, potentially rewriting what we know about which species led the migration out of Africa

It took a 7.1 magnitude earthquake to unveil one of the pyramid’s oldest secrets: an ancient shrine buried about six-and-a-half feet below Tláloc’s main temple

Cool Finds

Earthquake Reveals 12th-Century Temple Hidden Within Aztec Pyramid

The structure, which lay buried beneath two Aztec temples for centuries, is dedicated to the rain god Tláloc

Black and white photographic print of Emmet Till and his mother, Mamie Till Mobley.

The Justice Department Has Reopened Its Investigation into the Murder of Emmett Till

A report states that the department received “new information” connected to the case

A look inside the VR experience

Take a VR Tour of an Egyptian Queen’s Elaborate Tomb

The resting place of Queen Nefertari, the favorite wife of Ramses II, is largely closed to visitors, but it can now be explored virtually

A Roman fish processing factory in the city of Baelo Claudia

New Research

Romans May Have Hunted Whales to Extinction in Their Home Waters

New analysis suggests that right and gray whales were not only once present in the Mediterranean Sea but likely common in the region

An 8,000-year-old skull found in Gua Cha, Malaysia, provided DNA used in the study

New Research

Ancient DNA Offers Insight on Origins of Southeast Asia’s Present-Day Population

Researchers sequenced 26 genomes using DNA samples dating as far back as 8,000 years

Cool Finds

Oldest Greek Fragment of Homer Discovered on Clay Tablet

The verses come from the ancient city of Olympia and date to the Roman era

The remains of this medieval castle at Castell Llwyn Gwinau, Tregaron, were almost completely plowed over, but they show clearly under parched conditions.

A Heat Wave is Revealing Centuries-Old Sites in Wales

Hot, dry weather creates perfect conditions for crop marks to form above historic settlements

The unusual placement of the victims' limbs (the right humerus, or upper arm bone, in yellow, is tossed across the right femur, or thigh bone, in red) suggests they were strewn haphazardly across the burial pit rather than carefully buried.

7,000-Year-Old German Grave Shows New Side of Neolithic Brutality

The eight men and one woman bear signs of precisely inflicted blunt force cranial trauma, suggesting they were victims of mass execution

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