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Archaeology

An artist's rendition of Sheffield Castle

Archaeologists Are Excavating Sheffield Castle, One-Time Prison of Mary, Queen of Scots

The Scottish queen spent 14 years imprisoned at the medieval stronghold

The Oldest American Combat Ship Ever Found

In 1935, an old wooden boat was found in a lake in upstate New York. It was the USS Philadelphia - the oldest U.S. gunboat ever recovered

New Research

Egyptians Cracked Recipe for Embalming Resin Well Before Time of the Pharaohs

A new analysis shows that the Egyptian mummies were being made long before 2600 B.C.

New Research

Tools Offer More Complex, Cooperative Picture of Easter Island Society

Basalt axes from one quarry area indicate cooperation between clans, not warfare over resources as previously hypothesized

Extreme weather events likely had severe consequences, depleting harvests and weakening humans and livestock alike

Animal Fat Found in Clay Pottery Reveals How Ancient People Adapted to Drought

Neolithic farmers switched from cattle to goat herding, abandoned communal dwellings for smaller households to adjust to new climate

Early humans made stone tools out of whichever rocks happened to be lying nearby, ignoring quality in favor of convenience

Laziness May Have Contributed to the Decline of Homo Erectus

Researchers suggest early humans pursued “least-effort strategies” when crafting tools, collecting resources

Beer-drinking cups being excavated at Khani Masi held some of the earliest chemical evidence of beer. Researchers had to take extra precautions to avoid contaminating the cups with modern compounds.

Ancient Ceramic Cups Reveal Oldest Direct Evidence of Beer in Mesopotamia

Researchers are working on resurrecting the recipe

A new chemical analysis showed that the clothes the mummies were buried in were dyed with cinnabar, a toxic pigment.

These Chilean Mummies Were Buried in Mercury-Laced Red Clothing

The Cerro Esmeralda site, where two human sacrifices were buried, shows traces of cinnabar, a toxic pigment

Archaeologists identified the library based on a series of wall niches that once housed ancient scrolls

Cool Finds

Cologne Archaeologists Unearth Foundations of Germany’s Oldest Known Library

The library, which was built between 150 and 200 C.E., held an estimated 20,000 ancient scrolls

Cool Finds

1,000-Year-Old Handprint From “Europe’s Lost People” Discovered In Scotland

The mark was left by a Pictish coppersmith at Swandro, a site in the Orkney Islands that is quickly washing into the sea

New Research

People Were Messing Around In Texas at Least 2,500 Years Earlier Than Previously Thought

Pre-Clovis projectile points and other artifacts at the Gault Site date back 16,000 years ago or even earlier

Scientists don full-body suits to minimize contamination and disturbance of the precious artifacts uncovered in the 1617 church in Jamestown, Virginia, where a new skeleton awaits identification.

A Jamestown Skeleton is Unearthed, but Only Time—and Science—Will Reveal His True Identity

Jamestown Rediscovery archeologists use new technology to uncover the bones of one of the first English colonists

Archaeologists unearthed a 14-room home, likely used by a commander of Emperor Hadrian's Praetorian Guard, back in March

Cool Finds

Construction on Rome’s Newest Subway Line Is Revealing a Trove of Ancient Treasures

Archaeologists have unearthed 2,000-year-old barracks, a military commander’s home and thousands of artifacts

Conservators working on the H.L. Hunley

Cool Finds

New Clues About Why the Confederate Submarine H.L. Hunley Sank

An emergency keel-block release suggests the crew did not panic, meaning they may have been incapacitated when the sub went down

The Cairns Broch site in Orkney, Scotland

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Find 2,000-Year-Old Wooden Bowl, Strands of Hair in Northern Scotland

The Iron Age artifacts were sealed in a subterranean chamber of the Cairns Broch, a tower-like stone structure

Cool Finds

Egyptian Authorities Open Sealed Ptolemaic-Era Sarcophagus

Rampant speculation about what was inside the black granite tomb has swirled since the relic was first discovered at a building site in Alexandria

Some of the finds from the excavated building, which because of its size, decorations and location archaeologists speculate is a church.

An Early Christian Church May Have Been Found in Rome

The structure, inlaid with beautiful colored marble, was built around the time that Christianity began to gain widespread acceptance

The historic cemetery where remains of 95 individuals, believed to be African American prisoners forced to work on a plantation, were discovered.

Remains of 95 African-American Forced Laborers Found in Texas

The deceased are believed to have been among thousands of black prisoners who were put to work as part of a post-Civil War “convict-leasing system”

This gilded mummy mask was recently discovered in a burial chamber in Saqqara, Egypt. Archaeologists called the find a "sensation."

Mummification Workshop and Trove of Burial Relics Found in Egypt

‘We are standing before a goldmine of information,’ one expert said

Behaviors requiring the most pressure were smashing bones for marrow and producing flint flakes

Did the Human Hand Evolve as a Lean Mean Bone-Smashing Machine?

Of nearly 40 things Pleistocene people might have done with their hands, getting to yummy marrow requires the most force and dexterity

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