Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Ancient Civilizations

New Research

Did the Greeks Help Sculpt China’s Terra Cotta Warriors?

New analysis and DNA evidence suggests the 8,000 life-sized figures in emperor Qin Shi Huang’s necropolis owe their inspiration to the Greeks

Gold signet ring showing five elaborately dressed female figures gathered by a seaside shrine

New Research

Gold Rings Found in Warrior’s Tomb Connect Two Ancient Greek Cultures

Analysis of four gold rings and some 2,000 other recently uncovered objects points to the exchange of ideas and goods between two ancient peoples

New Research

New DNA Analysis Shows How Cats Spread Around the World

Felines spread in two waves including moving around Europe on Viking ships, according to researchers

Cool Finds

World’s Oldest Fish Hooks Discovered in Okinawa

The 23,000-year-old barbs are made from snail shell. The discovery shows that early people had the resources to survive on the isolated island

Cool Finds

Amateur Archaeologist Discovers Significant Amount of Scotland’s Ancient Rock Art

Musician and avid walker George Currie has catalogued 670 pieces of prehistoric rock art in the Highlands

This image shows a scrap of the indigo-dyed fabric (right) and a diagram of the cloth (left), highlighting the blue stripes.

New Research

Earliest Evidence of Indigo Dye Found at Ancient Peruvian Burial Site

The dyed fabrics represent the earliest known use of indigo in the world, predating Egyptian samples by about 1,600 years

A death god holds a prisoner captive in this page from the Grolier Codex.

New Research

New Analysis Shows Disputed Maya “Grolier Codex” Is the Real Deal

Archaeologists long thought the document was forged, but a recent study suggests otherwise

Aleppo, Syria, in 2010. Since 2012, the city has been home to a fierce battle in Syria's civil war.

Trending Today

Five Times Aleppo Was the Center of the World’s Attention

Will the once-regal city survive this moment in the spotlight?

Cool Finds

Ancient Egyptian Stories Will Be Published in English for the First Time

Translated from hieroglyphics on monuments, tombs and papyri, the book will present tales few outside of academia have read

This 2,000-year-old scroll is covered with mysterious words in Aramaic.

Cool Finds

A Guide to Ancient Magic

In antiquity, love or revenge was just a spell away

New Research

Tree Rings Help Circle in on Dating Pre-History Events

Solar flares create spikes in the Carbon-14 of woody plants that can provide anchor years for more accurate dating of artifacts

One of the dig sites at Durrington Walls where researchers have uncovered a post that once held a large, prehistoric timber post.

Cool Finds

The So-Called “Superhenge” Was Made of Wood, Not Stone

New research shows that the ancient structure was also taken down in a hurry

The remains of a teenage boy found near an altar dedicated to Zeus at Mt. Lykaion

Cool Finds

Did the Ancient Greeks Engage in Human Sacrifice?

The remains uncovered at an altar to Zeus on Mount Lykaion may confirm legends about human sacrifice at the shrine

Esther Williams, Million Dollar Mermaid

The Paris Olympics

Synchronized Swimming Has a History That Dates Back to Ancient Rome

Before it reached the Olympics, the sport was a spectacle of the circus and vaudeville

Excavations at Tell Yunatsite, Bulgaria

Cool Finds

World’s Oldest Gold Object May Have Just Been Unearthed in Bulgaria

A small gold bead shows that Copper Age people in the Balkans were processing gold 6,500 years ago

Temple where the remains of a body and two important hieroglyphic slabs were discovered in Xunantunich

Cool Finds

Rare Maya Burial Temple Discovered in Belize

Excavations at Xunantunich have uncovered the remains of a body and hieroglyphics that tell the story of the snake-head dynasty

Remains discovered in the village of Lajia, allowing researchers to date the massive earthquake and flood on the Yellow River

New Research

Does a Massive Flood Confirm China’s Creation Myth?

Evidence shows a cataclysmic flood occurred along the Yellow River 3,200 years ago

The ancient carving after it was vandalized by well-intentioned youth.

Trending Today

One of the Earliest Images of Skiing Was Destroyed by Youths Trying to “Improve It”

The petroglyph was made 5,000 years ago

A reconstruction from the 3,700-year-old remains of Ava, a woman unearthed in the Scottish Highlands

Cool Finds

Meet Ava, a Bronze Age Woman From the Scottish Highlands

A forensic artist has recreated the face of a woman alive 3,700 years ago

Pankration scene: the pankriatiast on the right tries to gouge his opponent's eye; the umpire is about to strike him for this foul.

The Paris Olympics

The Ancient History of Cheating in the Olympics

Punishment for cheating and bribery in the Olympics of Ancient Greece could include fines, public flogging and statewide bans from competition

Page 51 of 59