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Archaeology

Leatherback sea turtle hatchlings rush toward the water

Cool Finds

Baby Sea Turtles’ Fossilized Tracks Found in South Africa

Researchers recorded trackways left by relatives of modern loggerhead and leatherback turtles

A photograph of a red slipped ware globular pot placed near the head of the skeleton that yielded ancient DNA. There are lines as well as indentations on the upper right side, just below the rim. The indentations on the body of the pot could be examples of ancient graffiti and/or "Indus script."

Rare Ancient DNA Provides Window Into a 5,000-Year-Old South Asian Civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization flourished alongside Mesopotamia and Egypt, but the early society remains shrouded in mystery

Cool Finds

Artifacts from the Final Battle of the English Civil War Uncovered During Road Project

In 1651, Parliamentary forces defeated Royalist troops, forcing Charles II into exile

Dishes and bottles found at the site in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve.

Cool Finds

Hidden Japanese Settlement Found in Forests of British Columbia

More than 1,000 items have been unearthed there, among them rice bowls, sake bottles and Japanese ceramics

A digital reconstruction of Lilias Adie's face

Wanted: The Missing Bones of a Scottish ‘Witch’

Officials in Fife have put out a call for the remains of Lilias Adie, who died in prison in the early 1700s after being accused of witchcraft

The dig site at Cooper's Ferry.

Cool Finds

Idaho Site Shows Humans Were in North America 16,000 Years Ago

The site at Cooper’s Ferry along the Salmon River is more evidence humans first traveled along the coast, not via an ice-free corridor

The site of Brattahlid, the eastern settlement Viking colony in southwestern Greenland founded by Erik the Red near the end of the 10th century A.D.

A Warming Climate Threatens Archaeological Sites in Greenland

As temperatures rise and ice melts, Norse and Inuit artifacts and human remains decompose more rapidly

Marine archaeologists explore the HMS Terror on the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean. To get a look inside the ship, divers deployed a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV.

Divers Get an Eerie First Look Inside the Arctic Shipwreck of the HMS Terror

Marine archaeologists exploring the 19th-century vessel could discover clues about what befell the sailors of the Franklin expedition

New Research

The Ancient Greeks Used Machines to Lift Stones 150 Years Earlier Than Previously Believed

An examination of grooves on blocks of stone from early temples suggest they were lifted and then levered into place using a frame

A geoduck shell found scatted among other shells discarded by the Tseshaht peoples 500 to 1000 years ago suggests that the community had been harvesting and eating geoduck for centuries.

This Centuries-Old Geoduck Shell May Rewrite the Rules About Who Can Harvest the Fancy Clam

A remnant from a meal long gone, the find in British Columbia could give the region’s indigenous communities an important legal claim

Cool Finds

An 8,000-Year-Old Platform in Britain Could Be the Oldest Boat-Building Site Ever Discovered

The Stone Age platform, where log boats may have been constructed, reveals early knowledge of advanced wood working techniques

The mysterious skeleton emerged from Lake Mungo, a dry lakebed in Australia marked by sand drifts.

A 42,000-Year-Old Man Finally Goes Home

At long last, the remains of Mungo Man are at rest after an agonizing clash between modern science and an ancient spirituality

In a 21st-century tribute to antiquity, bronze sculptures by the late Igor Mitoraj, including this centaur, grace the public grounds of the archaeological site.

The New Treasures of Pompeii

From gorgeous artworks to grimacing corpses, archaeologists are still uncovering the truth about life—and death—in the doomed city

Graduate student Karen Fleming recreated Hilda's face using wax

Art Meets Science

See the Face of Hilda, a Toothless Iron Age Druid Woman

A Scottish university student has recreated Hilda’s likeness out of wax

Europe's cave bear population started crashing around 40,000 years ago—roughly the time period when modern humans arrived on the continent

Ice Age Humans Likely Played Major Role in Cave Bears’ Extinction

Researchers have long debated whether human activity or climate change precipitated the species’ demise

The Pompeiian sorceress' kit contained about 100 different objects.

Cool Finds

A Sorceress’ Kit Was Discovered in the Ashes of Pompeii

The box of small trinkets was likely used to perform fertility and love rituals and to look for omens about birth and pregnancy

The Fincha Habera rock shelter in the Ethiopian Bale Mountains served as a residence for prehistoric hunter-gatherers.

Archaeologists Uncover Evidence of an Ancient High-Altitude Human Dwelling

A trove of artifacts have surfaced in Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains, at a rocky site more than 11,000 feet above sea level

Saber-toothed cats likely ambushed plant-eating prey in forests, not open grassland

Fossils Reveal Why Coyotes Outlived Saber-Toothed Cats

Contrary to popular belief, carnivorous cats and canines probably didn’t hunt the same limited pool of prey

Researchers hypothesize that magnetic figures may have been crafted to memorialize the dead, with the attractive forces of the sculptures representing a lingering life force.

Mesoamerican Sculptures Reveal Early Knowledge of Magnetism

Stone figures with magnetized cheeks and navels suggest the pre-Maya civilization of Monte Alto understood the attractive force

Ngwevu intloko skull

After 30 Years, a South African Dinosaur Is Identified as a New Species

The fossil, held for decades at the University of Witwatersrand, was previously thought to belong to the most common dinosaur species in South Africa

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