Smart News History & Archaeology

An aerial view of the city's canal system taken in 2012

UNESCO Recommends Adding Venice to List of World Heritage in Danger

Throngs of tourists and rising water levels are threatening to overwhelm the historic city

The family of Henrietta Lacks pose with a statue of Henrietta Lacks and the artist at an unveiling in the United Kingdom in 2021.

Henrietta Lacks' Family Settles Lawsuit Over the Use of Her Cells Without Consent

Lacks' endlessly replicating cancer cells, collected without her knowledge in 1951, have enabled major medical breakthroughs

Researchers found parts of the original church beneath the cathedral's quire.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover 900-Year-Old English Cathedral's Hidden Medieval Crypt

The team also found the original foundations of Exeter Cathedral's high altar, Roman-era structures and empty graves

Mountaineers came upon the gear and remains of a hiker missing since 1986 last month.

Melting Swiss Glacier Reveals Remains of Climber Who Disappeared in 1986

As climate change warms the planet, more discoveries of human remains and objects in ice are expected to occur

An archaeologist works on the second lead sarcophagus discovered, which is engraved with dolphins.

Cool Finds

Roman-Era Cemetery With Over 100 Tombs Unearthed in Gaza

The "unprecedented" dig also yielded two rare lead sarcophagi decorated with images of grapes and dolphins

Archaeologists uncovered human remains and a mysterious arrangement of boulders at the site in the Shetland Islands.

4,000-Year-Old Cemetery Discovered Beneath Future Rocket Launch Pad in U.K.

Artifacts found at the site will help scientists shed new light on the groups living on the Shetland Islands

An aerial view of the excavation site, where archaeologists found what they think are the ruins of Emperor Nero's theater

Cool Finds

Have Archaeologists Finally Found Emperor Nero's Lost Theater?

Ahead of a planned luxury hotel, excavations have revealed what may be the ruins of the venue

Researchers think that servants maintained the site year round, while royals only came to Machu Picchu during the dry season.

New Research

Servants at Machu Picchu Came From Distant Corners of the Inca Empire

The city's servant class was a genetically diverse community, according to a new study of ancient DNA

Frida Kahlo's Diego on My Mind (Self-Portrait as Tehuana) (1943)

Follow Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera Through Post-Revolution Mexico

The famous couple's artistic and political legacies are at the center of a new exhibition in Australia

The grave held a sword, usually buried with men, as well as a mirror, usually buried with women.

New Research

Iron Age Warrior Buried With a Sword and Mirror Was a Woman, Study Says

The unusual burial on a small island off of England sheds new light on women's role in Iron Age warfare

The interior of Transfiguration Cathedral, the largest church building of Odesa, was damaged by a Russian missile that hit the altar on July 23.

Russian Strike Severely Damages Odesa's Transfiguration Cathedral

Congregants sifted through the wreckage, clearing rubble and searching for artifacts

An illustration of the small dog found at a Roman villa in Oxfordshire, England

Cool Finds

Remains of Chihuahua-Sized Dog Unearthed at Roman Britain Villa

The tiny pup was likely a beloved pet, not an animal bred for hunting or herding

Archaeologists recovered a collection of blown-glass tableware in excellent condition.

Cool Finds

'Perfectly Preserved' Glassware Recovered From 2,000-Year-Old Shipwreck

The Roman vessel may have sunk while transporting glass from the Middle East to France

In 1946, the British garrison welcomed the returning residents of Alderney, who had evacuated prior to the Nazi occupation in 1940. 

How Many Died in Nazi Concentration Camps on British Soil?

The U.K. is investigating the death toll on the island of Alderney, which German soldiers occupied in 1940

Artist Oscar Nilsson based the facial reconstruction on DNA and skeletal analyses.

Art Meets Science

See the Face of a Woman Who Died in a Shipwreck in 1628

A new facial reconstruction vividly resurrects Gertrude, one of 30 people killed during the sinking of the Swedish warship "Vasa"

Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, at home in Chicago

Biden Establishes National Monument Honoring Emmett Till and His Mother

Three sites connected to the 14-year-old boy's murder in 1955 will now receive federal protection

Researchers found evidence of eight different spices on 12 stone tools at the Óc Eo archaeological complex in southern Vietnam.

Archaeologists Uncover Oldest Evidence of 'Curry' Outside of India

Ancient spice processing in Southeast Asia reveals an early trade of ingredients for dishes that Westerners often call “curry”

U.S. authorities have returned a rare copy of a letter by Christopher Columbus, which vanished from Venice decades ago.

Stolen in the 1980s, a Rare Christopher Columbus Letter Returns to Italy

The document is among several missing copies of the letter to be recovered from the U.S. in recent years

The project required more than 5,470 hours of conservation stitching, lining and reconstruction.

See Stunning Tudor Tapestries Restored to Their Former Glory

The 13 panels are on view as a set for the first time in 24 years

The monument, designed by artists Amanda Williams and Olalekan B. Jeyifous, will be placed at an entrance to Prospect Park.

Women Who Shaped History

A Monument Honoring Shirley Chisholm, the First Black Congresswoman, Is Coming to Brooklyn

After years of delays, New York City officially approved a statue commemorating the borough native and political trailblazer

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