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Ancient Civilizations

Currently, tourists can only view the archaeological site from street level.

Site of Julius Caesar’s Assassination Will Be Transformed Into Open-Air Museum

Rome’s “Area Sacra,” a sunken square home to the ruins of four ancient temples, doubles as a sanctuary for stray cats

Bronze mirrors like the one pictured here were luxury items in Han dynasty China. Researchers recently discovered a trove of 80 ancient mirrors at a cemetery in Shaanxi Province.

Cool Finds

Trove of 2,000-Year-Old Bronze Mirrors Found in Ancient Chinese Cemetery

The well-preserved artifacts bear inscriptions such as “Eternal Joy,” “Family Wealth” and “Long Memory”

The letters used in the ancient alphabet bear a distinct resemblance to Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Cool Finds

Pottery Shard May Be ‘Missing Link’ in the Alphabet’s Development

An inscription found on a 3,500-year-old vessel suggests that a standardized script arrived in Canaan earlier than previously thought

One of the more than 100 earthen mounds preserved at the Mounds State Historic Site

Why Did Cahokia, One of North America’s Largest Pre-Hispanic Cities, Collapse?

A new study challenges the theory that resource exploitation led to the Mississippian metropolis’ demise

Archaeologists say the skeletons are in an "average state" of preservation.

Why Were These Ancient Adults Buried in Jars on the Island of Corsica?

Researchers are unsure of the unusual funerary practice’s purpose but point out that such burials were typically reserved for children

Decades before Teotihuacán's conquest of Tikal in 378 A.D., the two cities may have enjoyed a friendly relationship.

Cool Finds

Were These Ancient Mesoamerican Cities Friends Before They Became Foes?

Ruins found in the Maya metropolis of Tikal appear to be an outpost of the distant Teotihuacán

A team uncovered the lost city while searching for a mortuary temple last September.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Egypt Discover 3,000-Year-Old ‘Lost Golden City’

Hailed as one of the country’s most significant finds in a century, the site dates to a time of political, religious and artistic change

The markings on the slab may represent river systems, settlements, fields and barrows.

Cool Finds

Is This 4,000-Year-Old Bronze Age Slab the Oldest Known Map in Europe?

New research suggests the stone, first discovered in 1900, may have represented the territory of an ancient king

Egyptian officials moved 22 mummies—including 18 kings and 4 queens—to the newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.

Why Egypt Paraded 22 Ancient Pharaohs Through the Streets of Cairo

Officials organized the lavish, made-for-TV event in hopes of revitalizing the country’s tourism industry

Explore the true history and myths behind six “terrible” women, from the all-knowing Sphinx to the fire-breathing Chimera and the lesser-known shapeshifter Lamia.

Men Have Feared Women for Millennia. Just Look at the Monsters of Greek Mythology

A new collection of essays considers how the villainous women of classical antiquity, from Medusa to the Sphinx, resonate in contemporary Western society

Retouched composite image of the mural and its surroundings

Cool Finds

3,200-Year-Old Mural of Knife-Wielding Spider God Found in Peru

Local farmers accidentally destroyed 60 percent of the shrine complex that houses the ancient Cupisnique painting

Hunter-gatherers in what is now Russia likely viewed the wooden sculpture as an artwork imbued with ritual significance.

New Research

This Wooden Sculpture Is Twice as Old as Stonehenge and the Pyramids

New findings about the 12,500-year-old Shigir Idol have major implications for the study of prehistory

Fragment of a gold mask unearthed at Sanxingdui, an archaeological site in southwest China

3,000-Year-Old Gold Mask, Silk Linked to Enigmatic Civilization Found in China

The state of Shu left behind few written records. A trove of 500 newly excavated objects may offer insights on the mysterious kingdom

Researchers have developed this theoretical model to explain the workings of the Antikythera mechanism, the 2,000-old ancient Greek device that is often referred to as the "first computer."

New Research

Scientists May Have Discovered How the Ancient Greeks’ ‘First Computer’ Tracked the Cosmos

Researchers proposed a new theoretical model for the Antikythera Mechanism, a 2,000-year-old device used to chart the universe

Overhead view of the mass grave, which contains the remains of at least 41 Copper Age people

Analysis of 6,200-Year-Old Grave Raises New Questions About Neolithic Massacre

Researchers in Croatia extracted DNA from 38 victims of a fifth-millennium B.C. mass killing

The fragments contain Greek translations of verses from the books of Zechariah and Nahum.

Cool Finds

Dozens of Dead Sea Scroll Fragments Found in Israeli Cave

The pieces of parchments are the first of their kind discovered during archaeological excavations in 60 years

The site is comprised of six sectors, the last of which was recently excavated.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Traces of Early Christian Community in Egypt

Active between the fourth and eighth centuries A.D., the vast site housed multiple churches, monastic cells and other structures

Can You Dig It volunteers took part in excavation work at Little Wood Hill in 2019.

Cool Finds

Hazelnut Shell Sheds Light on Life in Scotland More Than 10,000 Years Ago

Amateur archaeologists discovered the shell, along with evidence from an Iron Age structure, in 2019

Researchers posit that the helmet's owner was a Greek soldier who fought in the fifth-century B.C. Persian Wars.

Was This Helmet Worn by an Ancient Greek Soldier During the Persian Wars?

Found in Haifa Bay, Israel, in 2007, the bronze headgear boasts an intricate, peacock-like pattern

Ancient embalmers dipped a piece of red linen in a plant-based concoction before applying the cloth to the deceased's face.

Cool Finds

Oldest Known Mummification Manual Reveals How Egyptians Embalmed the Face

Prior to the find, researchers had only identified two ancient texts detailing the enigmatic preservation process

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