Archaeology

A rendering of the lobby of the Statue of Liberty Museum, featuring the statue's original torch

From Lady Liberty to Hollywood to the Middle East, These Are the Most Exciting Museums Opening in 2019

Visit new institutions devoted to mascots, spies, archaeological sites, American icons and much more this year

Easter Island Statues May Have Marked Sources of Fresh Water

A spatial analysis of the island's moai and ahu seem to line up with ancient wells and coastal freshwater seeps

Icelandic horses today

Burials Suggest Icelandic Vikings Had a Thing for Stallions

Adding some insight into their little-known funerary practices, DNA analyses confirm that sacrificial stallions were buried in Viking graves

Dental calculus on the lower jaw a medieval woman entrapped lapis lazuli pigment.

Blue Pigments in Medieval Woman’s Teeth Suggest She Was a Highly Skilled Artist

A new study posits the woman was licking brushes covered with pigments of lapis lazuli, a rare and expensive stone used to decorate illuminated manuscripts

"House A" excavation detail

In Land of Lincoln, Long-Buried Traces of a Race Riot Come to the Surface

Archaeologists recently uncovered the remains of five houses that lay witness to the tragedy that set Springfield, Illinois, on fire in 1908

The Key Marco Cat was unearthed at Marco Island off Florida’s southwestern shore in the late 19th century.

This Hand-Carved Panther Statuette Embodies a Lost Civilization’s Harmony With Nature

Calusa Indians harnessed the bounty of Florida’s estuaries with respect and grace

The shell mound erected above the woman's grave prevented acidic soil from destroying her remains

Archaeologists Identify Oldest Known Human Burial in Lower Central America

The unusually muscular young woman was buried in what is now Nicaragua nearly 6,000 years ago

In this 2018 photo provided by Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, INAH, a skull-like stone carving and a stone trunk depicting the Flayed Lord, a pre-Hispanic fertility god depicted as a skinned human corpse, are stored after being excavated from the Ndachjian–Tehuacan archaeological site in Tehuacan, Puebla state, where archaeologists have discovered the first temple dedicated to the deity.

Archaeologists Find First-Known Temple of ‘Flayed Lord’ in Mexico

While the rituals associated with the site may not be entirely clear, identifying the ruins of a temple to the deity Xipe Tóte is an important discovery

Ice merchants stored imported blocks of frozen Norwegian fjords in this massive egg-shaped structure

London Archaeologists Unearth Subterranean Georgian-Era Ice Store

The entrance to the cavernous chamber, which was used to hold ice before the advent of modern refrigeration, was covered up following the Blitz

A patrol returns to Forward Operating Base Tillman, in eastern Afghanistan. It was closed in 2012, the year after this double exposure was made.

The New Archaeology of Iraq and Afghanistan

The once-fortified outposts that protected U.S. troops are relics of our ambitions abroad

he famous “Catwalk Site," one of the open air displays at the National Museums of Kenya Olorgesailie site museum, which is littered with ~900,000 year old handaxes.

What We Learned About Our Human Origins in 2018

From an upper jaw to red ocher paintings, two Smithsonian scholars note the significant discoveries in human evolution this trip around the sun

(Mårten Teigen, Museum of Cultural History; Associated Press; Stocktrek Images, Inc. / Alamy; CDC / James Gathany; Philippe Charlier; Brian Palmer; David Iliff via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 3.0; Alamy; Pasini et al. / World Neurosurgery / Elsevier; Donovan Wiley; Library of Congress)

Our Top 11 Stories of 2018

From a 50-year-old political scandal to swarms of genetically engineered mosquitos, here are Smithsonian.com's most-read stories

Preserved Horse, Saddled, Harnessed and Ready to Flee, Found in Villa Outside Pompeii

Archaeologists found ornamental pieces of a harness and saddle, suggesting the horse was ready to ride when the volcano blew its top

The 1999 discovery of the Nebra Sky Disc, a 3,600-year-old bronze object adorned with gold renderings of celestial bodies, sparked resurgence of interest in deceased prince, who was buried at same archaeological site

This Bronze Age Regicide May Be World’s Oldest-Known Political Murder

The prince of Helmsdorf’s skeleton revealed three brutal injuries, including one that suggests he knew his killer and attempted to fend off the attack

3D printed model of Pumapunku

Archaeologist Reconstructs Ruins of Tiwanaku Temple in Bolivia Using 3-D Printing Technology

It was like an ‘elaborate lego set,’ says UC Berkeley's Alexei Vranich

We Finally Know What Sank the U.S.S. San Diego During World War I

After six visits to the ship and sophisticated modeling, historians have concluded that a German mine sunk the cruiser off the coast of New York in 1918

Early felines spread out across the world in two distinct waves

Cats Have Actually Grown Larger Over Time—Unlike Most Domesticated Species

Between the Viking Age and modern times, felines increased in size by 16 percent

The Cruces de Molinos site in the Chilean Andes contains rock art depictions of llama caravans, possibly marking a ceremonial site for caravaners passing through the mountains.

Thousand-Year-Old Rock Art Likely Served as a Gathering Point for Llama Caravans Crossing the Andes

Trade caravans, whether supported by mules, camels or llamas, have helped archaeologists piece together the past in many corners of the world

Recently Deciphered 4,500-Year-Old Pillar Shows First Known Record of a Border Dispute

The marble stele, held in the British Museum's collections for 150 years, also includes the first known use of the term “no man’s land”

Found Near the Thames: A Centuries-Old Skeleton, Still Wearing Thigh-High Boots

The owner of the unusual footwear likely made his living on the water

Page 71 of 87