Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Archaeology

Discovered in a bog in Glen Affric, the tartan is now on view at V&A Dundee.

Cool Finds

This 16th-Century Cloth Is Scotland’s Oldest-Known Tartan

A bog in the Highlands preserved the fabric, now on view for the first time, for hundreds of years

A depiction of the Scorpio zodiac sign at the Temple of Esna in Egypt

See Colorful Paintings of the Zodiac Signs From an Ancient Egyptian Temple

Newly restored, the Ptolemaic era reliefs were previously covered by a layer of dirt and soot

New research suggests Native Americans used horses of European descent long before colonizers arrived in the American West.

New Research Rewrites the History of American Horses

Native Americans spread the animals across the West before Europeans arrived in the region, archaeological evidence and Indigenous knowledge show

A view of the more than 2,000 mummified ram skulls found at the temple in Abydos

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover 2,000 Mummified Ram Skulls in Temple of Ramses II

The skulls were likely left as offerings about 1,000 years after the pharaoh’s death

Archaeologists collect samples from a prehistoric caribou hunting site on Alpena-Amberley Ridge in Lake Huron.

America's Waterways: The Past, Present and Future

Clues to the Lives of North America’s First Inhabitants Are Hidden Underwater

Submerged prehistory holds insights on the first humans to live in North America

Lego Caveman comes armed with a toy wooden club.

Did Our Ancestors Actually Wield Clubs?

Inspired by pop culture depictions of cavepeople, an archaeologist searches for what is real and what is a myth

A woman throws flowers on the boxes containing human remains at Waldfriedhof cemetery.

Berlin Holds Funeral for Bone Fragments Linked to Nazi Research

Discovered in 2014, the remains of at least 54 victims were buried at a ceremony this week

One of the scrolls carbonized by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius

You Could Win $1 Million by Deciphering These Ancient Roman Scrolls

The Herculaneum scrolls have remained unreadable since their discovery in 1750, but researchers hope to change that

Richard’s life has long sparked debate, with two competing views of the last Yorkist king emerging in the centuries after his reign ended in 1485.

Based on a True Story

‘The Lost King’ Dramatizes the Search for Richard III’s Remains. The Monarch’s Life Was Even More Sensational

A new film offers a sympathetic portrait of the 15th-century ruler, who seized the crown from his nephew before dying on the battlefield

More than two million people visit Chichén Itzá in Mexico each year.

Mexico’s Chichén Itzá Is Getting a New Museum

Officials hope the new facility will attract an influx of tourists arriving on the controversial Maya Train

The ruins of structures in the newly discovered town on Siniyah Island

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Find the Persian Gulf’s First Known Pearling Town

Located 30 miles north of Dubai, the settlement dates to the sixth century C.E.

The full treasure includes 4 ear pendants, 39 silver coins and 2 strips of gold leaf.

Cool Finds

1,000-Year-Old Gold Earrings and Silver Coins Unearthed in the Netherlands

Lorenzo Ruijter, a Dutch treasure hunter, discovered the cache with his metal detector

A long-tailed macaque uses a stone to get at food. The striking of one stone on another accidentally creates stone flakes the monkeys don't use.

Stone Flakes Made by Monkeys Raise Questions About Early Human Tools

The flakes accidentally produced by long-tailed macaques resemble those thought to have been made by early humans

The sphinx has a "slight smile," according to archaeologist Mamdouh Al-Damati.

Cool Finds

Smiling Sphinx Statue Unearthed in Egypt

Researchers suspect the Roman-era limestone figure may depict the emperor Claudius

The Malalmuerzo Cave in southern Spain, where archaeologists uncovered the fossilized teeth of an ancient hunter-gatherer.

Ancient DNA Sheds Light on Europe’s Hunter-Gatherers

Researchers looked at the genomes of several hundred people who lived before, during and after the last ice age

Studying skeletal remains, researchers identified six criteria that could indicate whether someone rode horses.

Archaeologists Find Evidence of Earliest Known Horseback Riders

New research indicates that humans were riding horses as early as 5,000 years ago

The comb measures roughly two inches and has nearly a dozen teeth.

Ancient Comb Made From Human Skull Unearthed in England

The Iron Age artifact may have been used as an amulet rather than a hairstyling tool

For the first time, researchers have discovered remnants of Roman-era wooden spikes meant to deter attackers.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Wooden Spikes Described by Julius Caesar

Until recently, no traces of the military technology had ever been found

Moai statues on Easter Island 

Cool Finds

Dried Lake Reveals New Statue on Easter Island

The stone monolith is one of the famous moai sculptures scattered across the landscape

First discovered in 1992, the phallus is 6.3 inches long and made of ash wood.

Is This Wooden Artifact an Ancient Roman Phallus?

Thirty years ago, researchers thought that the 2,000-year-old object was a darning tool

Page 53 of 125