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Archaeology

An example of a moai wearing a red scoria pukao.

New Research

The Clever Way the Easter Island Statues Got Hats

A new analysis of the 13-ton red stone pukao show the carvings were likely rolled up ramps to the leaning statues

Top contenders include King Ahab of Israel, King Hazael of Aram-Damascus and King Ethbaal of Tyre

Could This Sculpted Head Depict a Little-Known Biblical King?

Archaeologists uncovered the enigmatic two-inch head at Abel Beth Maacah, site of an ancient crossroads

How Bad Weather Delayed the Norman Invasion of England

It’s 1066 and William of Normandy and his massive army of 14,000 men are preparing to cross the English Channel and invade England

Painting of four species of rat, including the Polynesian rat (right).

New Research

Rat Bones Reveal How Humans Transformed Their Island Environments

Rodent remains prove an ideal tool for investigating changes on three Polynesian island chains

The Violent 1066 Battle of Stamford Bridge

The 1066 battle of Stamford Bridge was said to be so violent that a giant mountain of bones remained a half century later

Cool Finds

This 4,000-Year-Old Jar Contains Italy’s Oldest Olive Oil

Traces of oleic and linoleic acid found on a central Italy jar pushes the timeline of the substance in the region back an estimated 700 years

The Startling Alternative Theory of How Humans Arrived in America

On an island off the east coast of Maryland, a stone spearpoint sticking out of a coastal cliff stuns archaeologists

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Uncover 20,000-Year-Old Kangaroo Cook Out

The site in Pilbara is one of many helping to define human movements in Australia

New Research

How a Copper Coin Mummified a Baby’s Hand

The preemie was buried in a jar in an medieval cemetery with a coin to “pay” for passage into heaven

Zhao Kangmin, the Archaeologist Who Pieced Together China’s Terracotta Warriors

Kangmin, who died earlier this month, was one of the first archaeologists on the scene when the famed relics were discovered in 1974

Ceramic box base with a Chinese inscription that mentions a place, Jianning Fu, which dates from AD 1162 to 1278. From the Java Sea Shipwreck.

New Research

An 800-Year-Old Shipwreck Helps Archaeologists Piece Together Asia’s Maritime Trade

A new date for the Java Sea shipwreck could shed light on the politics of Chinese trade routes

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover They’ve Been Excavating Lost Assyrian City

Cuneiform tablets revealed the site in Iraqi Kurdistan is the legendary city of Mardaman

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Oaxaca’s Pre-Hispanic Monte Albán Ruins to Be Restored

World Monuments Fund raised $1 million to help repair 15 structures at the World Heritage Site that were impacted by a 2017 earthquake

Panga ya Saidi

New Research

People Lived in This Cave for 78,000 Years

Excavations in Panga ya Saidi suggest technological and cultural change came slowly over time and show early humans weren’t reliant on coastal resources

Archaeologists in Alexandria, Virginia, have unearthed three 18th-century ships that were buried to extend the city's land.

Three 18th-Century Ships Found in Old Town Alexandria Tell a Story of Colonial-Era Virginia

Another intentionally buried ship was found just a block away from the newly discovered finds in 2015

Scanning Tut's tomb

Trending Today

Sorry, There Are No Secret Chambers in King Tut’s Tomb

After two contradictory radar scans, Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities commissioned a third comprehensive survey that revealed no voids beyond the tomb walls

Cool Finds

No, the Bone of Saint Clement Was Probably Not Just Found in London’s Trash

A waste hauler found the bone fragment in a case sealed with red wax and tied with red cords. It included a faded label reading: “Ex Oss. S Clementis PM”

Mid 15th-century diners sit down to an elaborate meal in this illustration from an anonymous artist.

New Research

DNA From Ancient Latrines Reveal What People Ate Centuries Ago

By digging in ancient toilets, researchers uncovered genetic material that tells of past diets and diseases

Sandby Borg ring fort

New Research

1,500-Year-Old Massacre Unearthed in Sweden

Archaeologists have so far uncovered the bodies of 26 men and children on the coastal village of Sandby Borg, possible victims of a local power struggle

Cuneiform tablet seized by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from Hobby Lobby.

Cool Finds

Some of Hobby Lobby’s Smuggled Artifacts May Come From Lost Sumerian City

Among the 3,800 artifacts being repatriated to Iraq today include pieces believed to be from Irisagrig, a site archaeologists have yet to find

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