Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Archaeology

Archaeologists hope the flowers will shed new light on rituals conducted by the ancient residents of Teotihuacán.

Cool Finds

1,800-Year-Old Flower Bouquets Found in Tunnel Beneath Teotihuacán Pyramid

The well-preserved plants were likely used in a ritual ceremony

So far, researchers have discovered 100 plague victims buried in 60 graves.

Construction in Poland Reveals Graves of 18th-Century Plague Victims

The Great Northern War plague outbreak peaked between roughly 1708 and 1712

The cranium of an adult male, likely 25 to 30 years old, shows healed trauma affecting the upper jaw. The injury was probably caused by a punch from another individual in a fight.

Human Remains From the Chilean Desert Reveal Its First Farmers Fought to the Death

Three thousand years ago desert dwellers fatally stabbed and bashed each other, possibly due to diminishing resources

The couple's skeletons (left) and an artist's rendition of the pair (right)

Cool Finds

1,500-Year-Old Skeletons Found Locked in Embrace in Chinese Cemetery

The couple was probably buried during the Northern Wei period, when Buddhism was taking hold in the region

An aerial view of Poland's "Death Valley," where the Nazis carried out mass executions during World War II

Remains of Nazi Massacre Victims Discovered in Poland’s ‘Death Valley’

In January 1945, German forces murdered around 500 Polish resistance fighters in a forest near the village of Chojnice

The wine press dates to the Byzantine period.

Cool Finds

Byzantine-Era Wine Press, Gold Coin Found Near Tel Aviv

The 1,400-year-old currency shows Golgotha, identified as the site of Jesus’s crucifixion, on one of its sides

The excavation site lies next to Holy Trinity Church in the English village of Cookham.

Cool Finds

Lost Monastery Run by Early Medieval Queen Discovered in England

Cynethryth ruled alongside her husband, King Offa of Mercia, during the seventh century C.E.

Inscription mentioning renovation of the settlement's hospital

Cool Finds

Ancient Christian Settlement in Egypt Shows Evidence of Urban Planning

Dated to the sixth century C.E., the Marea complex boasted public baths and a hospital

Walker's map is now in the Smithsonian's archives. In an 1873 report, he described relics he'd found, including "immense quantities of broken pottery."

This Map Details Florida’s Disappearing Native American Landscape

A 19th-century reporter’s invaluable guide offers a look at the earliest residents of the area surrounding the Tampa Bay

In the Southwest, Morris documented what she described as a “treasure trove”—a “topography rich in large dry caves, neatly adapted to ancient dwellings and graveyards.”

Women Who Shaped History

Groundbreaking Archaeologist Ann Axtell Morris Finally Gets the Cinematic Treatment

Nearly a century after Morris excavated ancestral Native lands, filmmakers return with an inclusive approach that brings Navajo Nation onto the big screen

The metals oxidized over time, creating an enormous mass of coins.

Cool Finds

Israeli Tour Guide on Camping Trip Discovers 1,700-Year-Old Coins

The cache of currency, melded together over the centuries, weighs 13 pounds

Adults in ancient Rome were typically cremated, making the well-preserved skeleton an an unusual find.

Cool Finds

Roman Priest’s Exceptionally Well-Preserved Remains Found in Pompeii

Marcus Venerius Secundio died in his 60s decades before Mount Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 C.E.

The Iron Age sculpture is one of only a dozen of its kind found in Ireland to date.

Cool Finds

Eight-Foot-Tall, 1,600-Year-Old Statue of Pagan Deity Found in Ireland

The well-preserved wooden sculpture may have been part of a ritual site where animal sacrifices were carried out

Workers outside the village of Geldibuldu in southeastern Turkey in 1981, when researchers were collecting botanical remains at an archaeological site nearby.

Why British Archaeologists Are Battling With the Turkish Government Over Seeds

The ancient plants at the heart of the conflict are essential to science—and might hold clues to new superfoods

Excavation of a grave at the Roman site in 1992

Traces of Lead Found in 5,000-Year-Old Human Remains

A new study details the link between lead production and the metal’s presence in bones buried at a Roman cemetery

Researchers successfully recovered one of the two prehistoric timbers.

Cool Finds

5,000-Year-Old Wooden Stakes Discovered at Neolithic Site in Scotland

Excavations at Orkney’s Ness of Brodgar revealed two prehistoric pieces of timber

The key handle depicts a "barbarian" fending off a lion as four young onlookers watch in horror.

Cool Finds

Did Officials in Roman Britain Throw Condemned Prisoners to the Lions?

A key handle unearthed in Leicester suggests executions in imperial colonies involved wild animals

Experts transported the boat in a shock-absorbing metal container carried by a remote-controlled vehicle imported from Belgium.

Why King Khufu’s Solar Boat Is on the Move After 4,600 Years

Officials transported the pharaoh’s wooden ship from the Pyramids of Giza to its new home at the Grand Egyptian Museum

The 1,900-year-old segment dates to the early stages of the wall's construction.

Cool Finds

Overlooked Section of Hadrian’s Wall Discovered Beneath Busy Newcastle Street

Routine work in the English city revealed a ten-foot stretch of the barrier that once marked the Roman Empire’s northwest frontier

This iron dagger's well-preserved wooden handle may help researchers date artifacts found in Konthagai.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Dagger Linked to Enigmatic Indian Civilization

A blade found in the state of Tamil Nadu offers new evidence of an urban center that thrived as long as 2,500 years ago

Page 73 of 125