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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

The 3D-printed board based on scans of the original game board discovered at Vindolanda

3D Printing Gives New Life to an Ancient Game Board Discovered at a Roman Fort Near Hadrian’s Wall in England

Soldiers and civilians alike enjoyed the strategy game Ludus Latrunculorum in the Roman Empire, especially in Roman Britain

The country’s oldest specialty smallpox hospital in New York City

America's 250th Anniversary

The Oldest Black Church in the U.S., the Wright Brothers’ Home and a New York Hospital Are Among the American Heritage Sites in Urgent Need of Preservation

For its “Irreplaceable America” list in honor of the 250th birthday of the United States, the World Monuments Fund chose endangered historic sites of innovation, creativity and spirituality to publicize and support

Isles of Scilly Museum curator Xavier Duffy examinating recovered treasures with diver Todd Stevens

Cool Finds

An Archival Discovery Became a Treasure Map Leading a Diver to a 17th-Century Shipwreck Carrying Coins and Gold Jewelry

See artifacts recovered thanks to a clue about the last resting place of a lost captain from an East India Company ship that went down near the Isles of Scilly

First Bank of the United States in Philadelphia

Alexander Hamilton’s First National Bank Revolutionized the U.S. Economy. After Sitting Shuttered for Years, the Philadelphia Landmark Reopened as a Museum

A controversial idea right after the American Revolution, the First Bank of the United States proved prescient. Visitors can now check out its historic home after a $43 million makeover

The torch and part of the arm of the Statue of Liberty on display at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia

America's 250th Anniversary

As France Prepares to Light Up the Statue of Liberty for America’s 250th, Peek Into the History of the Symbol of Trans-Atlantic Friendship

Here’s how three French idealists—an abolitionist, a sculptor and the engineer behind the Eiffel Tower—brought the representation of freedom to life

The large, engraved stela was a highlight of the dig.

Cool Finds

This Ancient Monolith That Archaeologists Unearthed in Mexico May Depict People Receiving ‘Divine Liquid’ in a Ritual

The stela was found with a large, decorated platform and remnants of offerings in the state of Veracruz

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

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