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Archaeology

The hand ax, seen here beside a 20-pence coin, is between 40,000 and 60,000 years old.

Cool Finds

A Little Boy Found a Strange Stone on the Beach. Archaeologists Told Him It Was a Neanderthal’s Hand Ax

The artifact is now on display at a museum in southern England. Experts say the find is “so rare that most qualified archaeologists would never find one themselves”

The temple's north tower, which holds a newly discovered chamber

Cool Finds

Hidden Entrance to a Mysterious Ancient Temple Found Tucked Away in an Egyptian Cliff Face

Researchers have been carefully excavating the artifacts and decorative reliefs found at the 2,100-year-old site in the ancient city of Athribis

Thessaloniki's Venizelou subway station contains the ruins of a Roman-era thoroughfare.

Cool Finds

A New Subway System in Greece Is Decorated With the Artifacts Unearthed During Its Construction

An ancient marble thoroughfare and shards of classical pottery are on display in the city of Thessaloniki’s new underground “archaeo-stations”

The coin features the bust of Honorius on one side. The other side depicts a person holding a banner or flag with a cross on it.

Cool Finds

This Mysterious Gold Pendant Featuring a Misspelled Inscription Is an Early Medieval Imitation of a Roman Coin

A metal detectorist in England discovered the unusual piece of jewelry, which was likely made in the late fifth or early sixth century C.E.

Archaeologists Caesar Bita and Filipe Castro dove to investigate the wreck.

New Research

A Mysterious Shipwreck Rests Just 20 Feet Below the Surface. It May Be Connected to Vasco da Gama’s Final Voyage

Researchers think a coral-covered vessel discovered off the Kenyan coast could be the “São Jorge,” a galleon that sank 500 years ago

Scientists created a spear using tar they produced from a makeshift hearth to test whether Neanderthals might have used similar methods to obtain tar.

New Research

A 65,000-Year-Old Hearth Reveals Evidence That Neanderthals Produced Tar for Stone Tools in Iberia

While Neanderthals have been found to create glue-like substances with other materials, this finding, if confirmed, would be the first sign of Neanderthals burning the rockrose plant to make tar

A 2019 drought allowed researchers to excavate some of the typically waterlogged canals.

New Research

Archaeologists Discover Ancient Canals Used to Trap Fish in Belize 4,000 Years Ago

Pre-Maya hunter-gatherers built the system in Central America in response to a drought between 2200 and 1900 B.C.E., according to a new study

The team stands around one of the stone circles.

Cool Finds

Archaeologist Discovers Two Neolithic Stone Circles in England, Supporting a ‘Sacred Arc’ Theory

The idea suggests prehistoric people built a ring of stone circles in modern-day Dartmoor National Park around the same time that Stonehenge was created—and the new finds have just added another piece to the puzzle

The amulet contains an image of King Solomon and a Greek inscription that reads, "Our Lord defeated evil."

Cool Finds

Rare 1,600-Year-Old Pendant Discovered in Turkey Depicts King Solomon Defeating the Devil

The fifth-century artifact was found in the ruins of a structure that may have been connected to the military. Historians think it was used as a protective amulet

The York Theatre Royal says Richard III has been given a voice so he can finally "speak for himself."

Listen to the Resurrected Voice of Richard III—Who Speaks With an Unexpected Accent

A team of experts has created a digital avatar of the maligned monarch, who speaks with a Yorkshire accent. The 15th-century king was born in Northampton, but he spent much of his life in northern England

Tutankhamun's tomb wasn’t plundered or looted to the same extent as others in the Valley of the Kings.

On This Day in History

Why the Discovery of Tutankhamun’s Tomb Was the Most Significant Archaeological Find of the 20th Century

The intact burial—unearthed on this day in 1922—contained a “wonderful” cache of objects linked to the ancient Egyptian pharaoh

As part of the study, researchers created a 3D replica of the ancient mug.

New Research

Ancient Egyptians Drank Psychedelic Concoctions From This 2,000-Year-Old Mug, Study Finds

Scientists have discovered traces of hallucinogens in a small vessel depicting an Egyptian deity that may have been used in ancient rituals

The clay cylinders were found in a tomb containing six skeletons.

Archaeologists Say These Mysterious Markings Could Be the World’s Oldest Known Alphabetic Writing

Found etched into clay cylinders in Syria, the strange symbols date to around 2400 B.C.E.—500 years before other known alphabetic scripts

The engraved plaquettes sport grid-like patterns that researchers think represent fishing nets.

New Research

These Ice Age Artworks Etched Into Rock 15,800 Years Ago May Be the Earliest Known Depictions of Fishing

Found in western Germany, the stone plaques feature etchings of fish trapped in grid-like nets, according to a new study

Italian authorities have recovered several Etruscan antiquities stolen by tomb raiders from a burial site in central Italy.

Italian Police Arrest ‘Clumsy’ Tomb Raiders Who Allegedly Posted Stolen Etruscan Artifacts on Facebook

The items include artistic urns, a bone comb and an ancient sarcophagus with a full skeleton inside

Manatees have rebounded since the 1970s but still face myriad threats.

Archaeologists Piece Together the Origin Story of Florida’s Manatees, Revealing They Were Once Tourists

A new study suggests manatees weren’t permanent residents in the Sunshine State until around the 20th century, drawn in by a warming climate and construction of power plants

This marble tablet weighs 115 pounds and measures two feet tall.

An Ancient Tablet Inscribed With Nine of the Ten Commandments From the Book of Exodus Is for Sale

The marble slab, which dates to between 300 and 500 C.E., is the oldest-known stone tablet inscribed with the Commandments. Nobody recognized its significance until decades after its discovery

Archaeologists believe this area on Smith’s Island, in Bermuda, is where an early British colony flourished and helped sustain the settlers in Jamestown, Virginia.

The Hidden History of Bermuda Is Reshaping the Way We Think About Colonial America

New archaeological finds on the islands have revealed secrets about one of Britain’s first settlements in the Americas—and the surprising ways it changed the New World

This tiny Roman gladiator figurine used to be the handle on a folding knife.

Cool Finds

Ancient Roman Gladiators Were Huge Celebrities Who Even Had Their Own Merch

A tiny gladiator figurine was used as a handle on a 2,000-year-old copper folding knife found in an English river, suggesting that popular fascination with the ancient fighters reached the edges of the empire

Twenty-five years after Angel Island Immigration Station was named to the endangered list, the detention barracks have been restored and an immigration museum has opened in the former hospital building.

These Historic Sites in the U.S. Were Once Endangered. Now They’re Thriving

Since 1988, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has been naming America’s most endangered historic places, attracting much-needed awareness and funding

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