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Archaeology

Researchers identified seven prehistoric human footprints at Alathar, a dried-up lake bed in Saudi Arabia.

New Research

Human Footprints Found in Saudi Arabia May Be 120,000 Years Old

If confirmed, the footfalls would represent the oldest evidence of Homo sapiens’ presence on the Arabian Peninsula

A newly discovered Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Oulton, England, includes more than 200 graves.

Cool Finds

This Anglo-Saxon Cemetery Is Filled With Corpses’ Ghostly Silhouettes

All that remains of several individuals buried in a 1,400-year-old graveyard are shadowy traces of their skeletons

A portrait in marble of the emperor, circa A.D. 60.

Nero, History’s Most Despised Emperor, Gets a Makeover

For nearly 2,000 years, the Roman ruler has been depicted as an egotistical monster who fiddled while Rome burned. But is this image accurate?

Los Machos rock shelter and schematic rock art panel

New Research

Fingerprint Analysis Reveals New Insights on Prehistoric Rock Art’s Creators

Study suggests an adult man and a juvenile girl crafted the red ocher paintings seen at Spain’s Los Machos rock shelter

A new study suggests the Nebra Sky Disc is 1,000 years younger than previously assumed.

New Research

Is This Ancient Map of the Cosmos Younger Than Previously Thought?

A controversial new analysis of the Nebra Sky Disc suggests the artifact dates to the Iron Age, not the Bronze Age

Drone images show the location of a council circle found on an ancestral Wichita site in Kansas.

New Research

Drone Imaging Reveals Pre-Hispanic ‘Great Settlement’ Beneath Kansas Ranch

The 164-foot-wide earthwork is the sixth ancestral Wichita “council circle” discovered in the region

Researchers identified a "trench" previously dated to modern times as a 3,700-year-old fissure.

New Research

Did an Earthquake Topple This Ancient Canaanite Palace?

Excavations at Tel Kabri in Israel revealed physical evidence of a natural disaster

A one-inch-long gaming piece found at the site of a former Roman fort in Chester, England

Cool Finds

Roman Gaming Piece Crafted Out of Bone Found in England

Ancient soldiers may have used the oblong token to play “Ludus Latrunculorum,” or the “Game of Mercenaries”

This painting depicts the night the Phoenix steamboat caught fire on Lake Champlain.

Cool Finds

Lost Pieces of 19th-Century Steamboat Wreck Found in Vermont

Divers discovered the Phoenix’s hull in 1978, but the vessel’s wheels remained lost—until now

Volunteers at Bamburgh Castle discovered the foundations of an ancient roundhouse.

Cool Finds

Traces of 2,000-Year-Old Roman Roundhouse Found in Northern England

Excavations at Bamburgh Castle uncovered the foundations of a circular dwelling dated to the Roman occupation of Britain

The hoard includes 453 bronze objects, including axe heads, spearheads, sword fragments and bracelets

Cool Finds

London’s Largest Cache of Bronze Age Objects Is on View for the First Time

The Havering Hoard includes 100 pounds of artifacts recovered from an ancient enclosure ditch

The Meroe pyramids in northeastern Sudan sit about1,650 feet from the banks of the Nile. Now, the site's royal bath is at risk of damage from record flooding.

Record Flooding Threatens Millennia-Old Pyramids in Sudan

Rising water levels could damage ancient structures at Meroe and Nuri

This intricately carved capital may have been part of a royal palace.

Cool Finds

Remnants of Ancient Palace Discovered in Jerusalem

Experts say the stone ruins, which may have once housed royalty, likely date to the early seventh century B.C.

Remains of the archaeological crypt of Ile de la Cité

The Notre-Dame Crypt Reopens for the First Time Since the Fire

To mark the occasion, a new exhibition in the area under the cathedral’s courtyard honors novelist Victor Hugo and architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc

New digital reconstruction of Abbot John of Wheathampstead

Facial Reconstruction Reveals Medieval Monk’s ‘Impish’ Features

Researchers digitally revived Abbot John of Wheathampstead 555 years after his death

Archaeologists first spotted the sturgeon's bony plates near a barrel in the Gribshunden shipwreck.

Cool Finds

Well-Preserved Atlantic Sturgeon Found in 15th-Century Danish Shipwreck

The fish’s remains were stored in a barrel in the royal vessel’s pantry

The 1,100-year-old sword found in Norway measures about three feet long.

Cool Finds

Norwegian Archaeologists Unearth Grave of Left-Handed Viking Warrior

Vikings’ weapons were often buried on the opposite side of where their owners had held them in life, pointing toward belief in a “mirror afterlife”

The rusted metal casket that holds the preserved heart of Pierre David (1771-1839), former mayor of Verviers

Renovations Reveal 19th-Century Mayor’s Heart Entombed in Belgian Fountain

Workers unearthed a metal box thought to contain the local leader’s organ last month

A scale model of Stonehenge used to test the ancient monument's acoustics

New Research

Scientists Map Stonehenge’s Soundscape

Study of small-scale model sheds light on how conversation, music moved through the massive monument

Fragment of a 1,400-year-old chalice found near Hadrian's Wall in northern England

Cool Finds

Britain’s Oldest Example of Christian Graffiti Found Near Hadrian’s Wall

Researchers at Vindolanda unearthed a 1,400-year-old lead chalice covered in religious symbols

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