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Ancient Civilizations

The star of this dive was the discovery of a bronze arm, mottled from centuries underwater.

Antikythera Shipwreck Yields New Cache of Treasures, Hints More May Be Buried at Site

The discovery of an ancient bronze arm is a rare archaeological find

Qalatga Darband is located in the triangular spit of land beyond the bridge on the right

Drones Reveal Unexplored Ancient Settlement in Iraqi Kurdistan

The settlement was first spotted in declassified Cold War spy images from the 1960s

3D recreation of an Roman galley found on the floor of the Black Sea

Cool Finds

Exceptionally Preserved Ancient Ships Discovered in the Black Sea

Since 2015, the Maritime Archaeological Project expedition has uncovered 60 wrecks, covering 2,500 years of maritime history

One of the Roman cavalry swords recovered from Vindolanda

Cool Finds

Rare Roman Cavalry Swords And Toys Unearthed Along Hadrian’s Wall

The newly discovered artifacts are the latest discovery at Vindolanda, once a remote outpost of the Roman empire

Cool Finds

New Kingdom Goldsmith’s Tomb Discovered in Egypt

The tomb of Amenemhat and his wife Amenhotep includes a statue of the couple, mummies, statues and funerary masks

Akkadian cuneiform script from the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery archives.

Brush up on Your Ancient Akkadian With New Online Dictionary

The dead language was once the dominant tongue in Mesopotamia

This clay tablet written around the year 1800 B.C.E. may represent the oldest known use of trigonometry

New Research

Ancient Babylonian Tablet May Hold Earliest Examples of Trigonometry

If true, it would mean the ancient culture figured out this mathematical field more than a millennia before its known creation

New Research

How the Silk Road Created the Modern Apple

A genetic study shows how wild Kazakhstan apples dispersed by traders combined with other wild species to create today’s popular fruit

An ancient knee joint that shows signs of grinding between the bones, a result of osteoarthritis

New Research

What a 6,000-Year-Old Knee Can Teach Us About Arthritis

By studying bones dating back thousands of years, researchers find that the disease may not be just a part of getting old

Carthaginian general Hannibal is legendary for bringing tens of thousands of soldiers, cavalrymen, and thousands of horses, mules and African elephants through the Alps during the Second Punic War.

New Research

Silver Composition in Coins Confirms the Story of the Rise of Rome

Lead isotopes in Roman coins reveal the defeat of Carthage financed Rome’s expansion throughout the Mediterranean

This Mysterious Stone Structure Is Older Than Stonehenge

Until recently, Britain’s Stonehenge was thought to be the world’s oldest set of stone monuments

Excavation at Burghead

Cool Finds

Dig Uncovers Artifacts From One of “Europe’s Lost People”

A archaeological excavation in Burghead Fort has uncovered a longhouse from the Picts, a late Iron Age and early Medieval powerhouse

Armenia

Unraveling the Mystery of the “Armenian Stonehenge”

Cool Finds

World’s Oldest Smiley Face May Decorate a Hittite Jug

Researchers did not notice the cheery, 3,700-year-old expression until they restored the ceramic

Tabula Peutingeriana.

Where to See Some of the World’s Oldest and Most Interesting Maps

Chart humanity’s course through history with these antique navigational tools

Josiah Wedgwood, of Wedgwood pottery fame, was also a staunch abolitionist and designed this medallion to further the cause.

This Anti-Slavery Jewelry Shows the Social Concerns (and the Technology) of Its Time

The ‘Wedgwood Slave Medallion’ was the first modern piece of protest jewelry

One of the tablets found at the fort

Cool Finds

Cache of Roman Messages Found Near Hadrian’s Wall

The 25 well-preserved wooden tablets include a soldier’s request for time off

NASA's Earth-orbiting satellite Hinode observes the 2011 annular solar eclipse from space.

How Eclipse Anxiety Helped Lay the Foundation For Modern Astronomy

The same unease you feel when the moon blots out the sun fueled ancient astronomers to seek patterns in the skies

The White Horse at Uffington, Oxfordshire

Against All Odds, England’s Massive Chalk Horse Has Survived 3,000 Years

Cleaning up the Uffington Horse is the neigh-borly thing to do

The Huey Tzompantli

Cool Finds

Aztec “Skull Tower” Contains Remains of Women and Children

The tzompantli were once believed to only contain the skulls of conquered male warriors

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