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Ancient Civilizations

Excavations have uncovered 40 tombs made of Hellenistic-era ceramics, along with various artifacts and ceramic vessels.

Cool Finds

Severe Drought in Iraq Reveals Dozens of Ancient Tombs Created 2,300 Years Ago

The tombs, which likely date to Iraq’s Hellenistic period, were discovered along the Mosul Dam reservoir

The bodies were arranged into crouched positions, then propped over or placed near a fire to slowly dehydrate.

New Research

The World’s Oldest Mummies Might Be These Smoke-Dried, 12,000-Year-Old Skeletons From Southeast Asia

The human remains predate Chile’s Chinchorro mummies and the famously preserved pharaohs of ancient Egypt by millennia

The helmet was discovered at the site of the Battle of the Egadi Islands.

Cool Finds

Divers Find a Well-Preserved Roman Helmet From the Naval Battle That Ended a Punic War

The Montefortino-style headwear was found with its cheek guards intact

The Uan Muhuggiag mummy is housed at Libya's National Museum, where it rests in a glass case on a cushion of cotton.

Africa’s Oldest Mummy Is a Toddler Who Died 5,400 Years Ago, Nearly a Millennium Before the Egyptians Started Mummifying Their Dead

Libya’s civil war has placed the Uan Muhuggiag mummy at risk. But negotiations are underway to transport the rare artifact from Libya to Rome, where it will undergo restoration and scientific analysis

Eldarir checked three large suitcases full of artifacts in 2020.

Man Who Tried to Smuggle 600 Looted Ancient Egyptian Artifacts in Three Checked Suitcases Is Going to Prison

Ashraf Omar Eldarir failed to declare the stolen goods when he entered the United States through New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport in 2020

A crane lifts an ancient sculpture from Abu Qir Bay near Alexandria, Egypt.

Cool Finds

Ancient Statues Emerge From the Waters Off Egypt’s Coast, Where They’d Been Hiding for Thousands of Years

Several large sculptures were among the trove of artifacts that divers recovered from the waters near Alexandria, Egypt. Officials say the site may have been an extension of the nearby city of Canopus

The flip-flop mosaic decorated the floor of a cold pool room in the villa's bath complex.

Archaeologists Are Investigating an Ancient Mosaic Depicting Sandals That Look Strangely Like Modern Flip-Flops

The colorful artwork decorates the frigidarium of the Villa Romana del Casale, a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Sicily

The newly conserved felt hat is now on view at the Bolton Museum in Bolton, England.

A 2,000-Year-Old Sun Hat Worn by a Roman Soldier in Egypt Goes on View After a Century in Storage

The felt cap—one of only three surviving examples of its kind—was recently conserved by a museum in England

A handler holds her Chihuahua dogs in the grooming area at the 149th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on February 10, 2025, in New York City. 

How One Chihuahua Proved to Be a Link to the Ancient Dogs That Moved to Latin America With the Spread of Agriculture

New research shows that ancient dogs did not join Indigenous people in Central and South America until farming became popular—especially of maize

Digital 3D models of the female Pazyryk individual, using visible-spectrum photographs (A) and near-infrared photography (B).

Gorgeous, Hidden Animal Tattoos Discovered on a More Than 2,000-Year-Old ‘Ice Mummy’ by Using Digital Imaging

The ancient tattoos, which would have required trained artistry and hours of work, would be difficult for even modern tattooists to produce, a new study suggests

Based on the fragment, experts digitally reconstructed the piece of torso armor.

Cool Finds

Rare Fragment of 3,200-Year-Old Bronze Chest Armor Unearthed in Czech Republic

Bronze armor made by skilled craftsmen was reserved for elite warriors, according to experts from the Brno City Museum

Researchers found a 4,000-year-old handprint on the bottom of a "soul house," a clay funerary object popular during Egypt's Middle Kingdom period.

Cool Finds

See a Stunningly Well-Preserved, 4,000-Year-Old Handprint Left Behind by an Ancient Egyptian Potter

The find “takes you directly to the moment when the object was made,” says curator Helen Strudwick

The site was occupied by an unknown Celtic tribe.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Celtic Settlement Filled With Jewelry, Amber and Coins in the Czech Republic

The 62-acre settlement was likely established in the fourth century B.C.E. Researchers think it may have served as a major trading hub

This flint arrowhead was found embedded in a human rib at the Roc de les Orenetes site in northeastern Spain.

An Archer Shot This Bronze Age Human in the Back. 4,000 Years Later, the Arrow Is Still Embedded in the Victim’s Rib Bone

The attack took place during a period of conflict between groups living in the Pyrenees mountains in modern-day Spain

The engraving depicts a boat featuring a palanquin-like structure.

New Research

Does This Ancient Rock Carving Depict One of Egypt’s Earliest Rulers?

New research suggests the engraving, which shows an elite individual sitting in a boat, may be up to 5,100 years old

An aerial view of Peñico in Peru

Archaeologists Unveil a 3,500-Year-Old City in Peru That Sheds Light on the Caral Culture

Known as Peñico, the city is now open to tourists. It was once a vibrant urban center that connected coastal, mountain and jungle communities

"Mysteries From the Deep: Exploring Underwater Archaeology" features interactive experiences, 3D models and excavated artifacts.

How Underwater Archaeology Brings Secrets to the Surface, From Lost Shipwrecks to Submerged Cities

An immersive new exhibition at the Intrepid Museum in New York City spotlights the science and technology behind the discipline

Archaeologists and volunteers excavating the site in Willersey

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Traces of an Iron Age Settlement and Roman Villa in England

The excavation, which followed the discovery of two Roman swords in 2023, is providing historians with fresh insights into Britain’s ancient history

A facial reconstruction using a 3D scan of the skull

New Research

Scientists Have Sequenced an Ancient Egyptian Skeleton’s Entire Genome for the Very First Time. Here’s What They Found

Dating back more than 4,500 years, the skeleton belonged to a middle-aged man who may have worked as a potter and likely descended from ancestors in North Africa and Mesopotamia

Scholars with the "Constructing the Limes" project led the research on the newly discovered site.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Roman Army Camp in the Netherlands—15 Miles Beyond the Empire’s Northern Border

Researchers think the camp was built during the second century C.E. Stretching across 22 acres, it was identified using a computer model developed by an archaeology student

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