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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

This amber pendant is expected to fetch £100,000 to £150,000 at auction.

Sold for Just £5,588, This Amber Pendant Turned Out to Be a Rare Tudor-Era Portrait of Elizabeth I. Now, It’s Going on Auction for £100,000

A master craftsman carved the likeness around 1600, possibly as a commission from the English monarch herself. A parrot on the back of the heart-shaped object symbolizes Elizabeth’s status as a “virgin queen”

Some of the Neanderthal remains that were analyzed in the new study

Why Did Neanderthals Go Extinct? Inbreeding Probably Wasn’t to Blame for Their Demise in Northwestern Europe, a Study Suggests

In contrast to those who resided in Siberia, Neanderthals who lived in what’s now Belgium and France shortly before the species vanished seem to have been genetically diverse and healthy

The project is set to take about five years.

The Hall of Raphael Frescoes in the Pope’s Residence at the Vatican Is Getting a Much-Needed Restoration With the Help of Lasers

Conservators will spend the next five years cleaning and retouching the Renaissance frescoes, which date back to the early 16th century

A first printing of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in German, from July 6-8, 1776

America's 250th Anniversary

After the Founders Declared Independence, Printers Quickly Translated the Text for German-Speaking Americans

The document, printed in a gothic typeface, was translated in Philadelphia. One of two surviving copies is going on display in Berlin ahead of America’s 250th birthday

A nomad on his horse, from the sixth to seventh century 

Genghis Khan Is Remembered for His Vast Empire and Fearsome Warriors. This Exhibition Explores His Cultural Legacy

The Royal Armouries Museum will show nearly 250 rare artifacts—from saddles to early paper money—that reveal a side of the Mongol Empire that’s often neglected

Scientists collected samples from 11 caves in Spain and Portugal.

In a Scientific First, Researchers Recovered Ancient DNA That Humans Left Behind on Rock Art and Cave Walls

DNA preservation on cave walls is highly variable, but scientists say their work is an important step on the path toward gaining a deeper understanding of our creative ancestors

Researchers found carved stone monuments on the site.

Cool Finds

Deep in the Mexican Jungle, Archaeologists Discovered a Lost Maya City That May Yield Clues About the Civilization Just Before It Collapsed

Researchers hacked through more than three miles of vegetation to get to the site, which lies out of bounds of familiar logging tracks. There, they found unique carved stelae and altars

Researchers have virtually unwrapped a nearly five-foot-long segment of PHerc. 1667.

Scientists Have Deciphered the Surviving Fragments of a 2,000-Year-Old Philosophical Treatise Frozen in Time by Mount Vesuvius’ Eruption

The papyrus manuscript was part of a vast library preserved by volcanic ash. Now, the remaining passages—which examine ethics, knowledge and human nature—are accessible for the first time since 79 C.E.

Modern humans and our relatives have occupied Wonderwork Cave in South Africa for around two million years.

Early Humans May Have Used Fire 1.8 Million Years Ago, Nearly Doubling the Age of the Oldest Known Evidence for the Feat

In Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa, burned bones were found in a dirt layer associated with Homo erectus. The inhabitants probably hadn’t mastered fire-making, but researchers say they may have moved and maintained flames from a natural fire

A fossilized Homo naledi skull

New Research

Did These Prehistoric Primates Really Bury Just Their Female Dead Deep in a Cave?

Researchers say that the fossilized bones of “Homo naledi,” so far found exclusively underground in South Africa, lack a key genetic male marker

Mushroom clouds from atomic bombs over Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right) 

The Lost Memoir of a Hiroshima Survivor Was Rediscovered. Now, It Will Be Published as a Book and Adapted for Film

Nearly 80 years ago, Kiyoshi Tanimoto documented the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing during World War II. His manuscript was recently found in a U.S. library

The Mozart notebook was found in a stack of roughly 20 manuscripts at the National Library of France.

Cool Finds

Why Did the Handwriting in This 248-Year-Old Notebook Look Familiar? It Turned Out to Be a Forgotten Mozart Manuscript

While working as a tutor in 1778, the composer created seven short pieces for flute and harp with his student’s help. This month, audiences heard the works performed for the very first time

Archaeologists found 82 pit houses, where they suspect people lived and worked.

Were Vikings Really ‘Uncivilized’ Barbarians? Large Textile-Production Site Discovered in Denmark Challenges That Stereotype

The massive settlement, which spans more than a million square feet, likely dates to the late Iron Age or early Viking Age between 600 and 950 C.E.

Gaps in the western pediment have been filled in with marble blocks.

Greece Restored Part of the Parthenon’s Western Facade, Revealing Its Original Shape Not Seen in Centuries

The project in Athens started in 2017 and involved quarrying, transporting, hand-carving and placing new marble blocks in one of the landmark’s triangular pediments

With the letter, George Washington accepted British surrender at Yorktown, paving the way for American independence. 

America's 250th Anniversary

A Letter Signed by George Washington That Helped Pave the Way for American Independence Goes on Display in London

Washington dictated and signed the letter in October 1781 to formally accept the British surrender at Yorktown, writing of his “ardent desire to spare the further effusion of blood”

The Heerlen curse tablet has an ancient Greek inscription.

Cool Finds

This Magical Curse Written in Greek on a Small Lead Tablet Was Meant to Punish Enemies Nearly 2,000 Years Ago

The lead curse tablet was discovered in a city square in the Netherlands and recently deciphered by researchers in Germany

An abandoned section of the railway in Myanmar photographed in 2015

This Infamous ‘Death Railway’ Station, Built by Forced Labor From Prisoners of War and Civilians in World War II, Was Just Revealed in Thailand

The Nithe Station, usually submerged under a reservoir, will be accessible this summer as officials drain the site to perform dam maintenance

Aerial view of excavations at the newly discovered villa in Castel di Guido

Cool Finds

Authorities Investigated Reports of an Illegal Excavation in Rome. Then, They Stumbled Upon an Ancient Villa Adorned With Mosaics

In the second century C.E., Roman emperors such as Marcus Aurelius and Antoninus Pius frequented the area where the residence was found

The two protomes, approximately 1,700 years old, were found laying face-down inside an empty wine vat in a villa near the Mediterranean Sea. 

Cool Finds

Two Well-Preserved Roman Busts Were Discovered Inside a Wine Vat in Israel Near the Capital City of a Roman Province

One is inscribed with the name “Lycurgus,” suggesting the bust may depict the legendary founder of ancient Sparta

This weekend, thousands of people are expected to gather at Stonehenge to celebrate the summer solstice.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Evidence That a Wooden Prototype for Stonehenge May Have Aligned With the Solstice 500 Years Before the Stone Circle

The remains of a wooden monument in southern England, three miles away from Stonehenge, may demonstrate Neolithic people’s interest in the heavens

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