Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Archaeology

The altar's inscription suggests pilgrims traveled great distances to reach the religious site.

Cool Finds

Altar to Ancient Greek God Pan Found Embedded in Wall of Byzantine Church

Christians in what is now northern Israel may have repurposed the basalt structure as a deliberate affront to pagan worshippers

Early Puebloans wove turkey feathers into yucca fiber to make the blanket.

In the Ancient American Southwest, Turkeys Were Friends, Not Food

An 800-year-old blanket made out of turkey feathers testifies to the bird’s significance in Pueblo culture

A map of Doggerland, which once connected Britain to mainland Europe

Study Rewrites History of Ancient Land Bridge Between Britain and Europe

New research suggests that climate change, not a tsunami, doomed the now-submerged territory of Doggerland

Ancient artists created the works between 12,600 and 11,800 years ago.

Cool Finds

Tens of Thousands of 12,000-Year-Old Rock Paintings Found in Colombia

The images—heralded by researchers as “the Sistine Chapel of the ancients”—depict animals, humans and geometric patterns

A new book Incredible Archaeology: Inspiring Places From Our Human Past, out this month from Smithsonian Books, explores some of the world's most spectacular ancient wonders.

Twelve Ancient and Enduring Places Around the World

From Smithsonian Books, towering temples, dramatic works of art and early settlements that have stood the test of time

The Langfonne ice patch has shrunk dramatically over the past 20 years.

Cool Finds

Melting Ice in Norway Reveals Ancient Arrows

Finds from reindeer hunts span 5,000 years, from the Stone Age to the medieval era

Once a thriving international trade hub, the archeological site of Hegra (also known as Mada'in Saleh) has been left practically undisturbed for almost 2,000 years.

Hegra, an Ancient City in Saudi Arabia Untouched for Millennia, Makes Its Public Debut

The archaeological site, now open to tourists, offers clues about the mysterious empire that built it and its more famous sister city of Petra in Jordan

Archaeologists made plaster casts of the pair, who are thought to be a high-status older man and a younger enslaved individual.

Cool Finds

Well-Preserved Remains of Two Vesuvius Victims Found in Pompeii

The pair’s clenched feet and hands testify to the agonizing nature of their death by thermal shock

The musket balls arrived in Scotland two weeks after the Jacobites' defeat at Culloden Moor.

Cool Finds

Trove of Musket Balls Sent to Aid Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite Rebellion Found

The ammunition, shipped from France to Scotland in hopes of helping to restore the Stuart dynasty to the throne, arrived too late

At least 38 people, including 12 stillborn infants, were buried in the Port Tampa cemetery, which disappeared from records following the base's opening in 1941.

Possible 20th-Century Black Cemetery Found Beneath Florida Military Base

Opened in 1941, the MacDill Air Force Base was built over a graveyard where at least 38 people were buried

Routine sewage work in Athens unearthed a bust of Hermes, the Greek god of trade, wealth, luck, fertility, animal husbandry, sleep, language, thieves and travel.

Cool Finds

Ancient Bust of Greek God Hermes Found During Work on Athens’ Sewage System

The well-preserved sculpture, which dates to around 300 B.C., was once used as a street marker

Behind Stonehenge's iconic stone structures, a busy road creates constant noise and is prone to traffic jams.

Why a Newly Approved Plan to Build a Tunnel Beneath Stonehenge Is So Controversial

Proponents say the tunnel will reduce noise and traffic, but some archaeologists fear that it will damage artifacts at the historic site

Artist's rendering of the Edo Museum of West African Art's exterior

A New Museum of West African Art Will Incorporate the Ruins of Benin City

Designed by architect David Adjaye, the museum will reunite looted artifacts currently housed in Western institutions

The photographs document daily life starting in the late 1920s. For additional information on the archive, contact collections@derrystrabane.com.

See Northern Ireland Through the Lens of a Pioneering Woman Archaeologist

Newly digitized photographs by educator and historian Mabel Remington Colhoun cover the 1920s through the 1980s

The Nazis persecuted and murdered Roma people across Europe.

Remnants of Concentration Camp Used to Imprison Roma Found in Czech Republic

All of the 130-plus Roma people interned at the WWII–era site in Liberec were later murdered by the Nazis at death camps

Compared to other P. robustus males recovered from a nearby cave system called Swartkrans, DNH 155 (pictured here) was much smaller and had more female-like characteristics.

Newly Unearthed Skull Reveals How Ancient Hominids Evolved to Survive a Changing Climate

“Paranthropus robustus” evolved sturdier skulls to be able to eat new, tough vegetation

The researchers found a statuette of a woman holding a musical instrument that appears to be a drum.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Golan Heights Unearth Fort Dated to Time of Biblical King David

Researchers say the newly discovered site was probably part of the enigmatic Kingdom of Geshur

In 2018, researchers used ground-penetrating radar to locate the remains of the Gjellestad Viking ship.

Researchers Excavating Norwegian Viking Ship Burial Find Remnants of Elite Society

Archaeologists discovered traces of a feast hall, farmhouse, temple and 13 additional burial mounds

Two new research ventures appear to support the idea that Roanoke's colonists split into two or more groups after abandoning the North Carolina settlement.

Pottery Fragments May Hold Clues to Roanoke Colonists’ Fate

Disputed findings suggest some residents of the “Lost Colony” settled 50 miles west of their original home

An aerial view of the Mount Pleasant henge, as seen during excavations in the early 1970s

Evidence of Neolithic Construction Boom Found at British ‘Mega-Henge’

New research suggests ancient humans built the Mount Pleasant henge in as little as 35 to 125 years

Page 83 of 121