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Artifacts

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To Return Priceless Artifacts, or Not

Marine archaeologists rescued the shipwrecked H.L. Hunley (above, a computer rendering) in August 2000 more than 135 years after it sank during the Civil War.

Saving Our Shipwrecks

New technologies are aiding the search for one Civil War submarine, and the conservation of another

The site covers some 80,000 acres. UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site in 1983.

Saving Machu Picchu

Will the opening of a bridge give new life to the surrounding community or further encroach upon the World Heritage Site?

Though sundials have been around 3,000 years, William Andrewes (indicating the lateness of the hour in his garden in Concord, Massachusetts) is perhaps the first to build one showing the time in multiple places simultaneously.

The Shadow Knows

Why a leading expert on the history of timekeeping set out to create a sundial unlike anything the world has ever seen

Preservationists (including Allimam Achahi, far left, and Abdel Kader Haidara) are trying to rescue the city's rare manuscripts from centuries of neglect. "They must be protected," says Haidara.

The Treasures of Timbuktu

Scholars in the fabled African city, once a great center of learning and trade, are racing to save a still emerging cache of ancient manuscripts

These whale-oil lamps were found in the Arabia, along with bullwhips, doorknobs, pickles and more.

Time Capsule

A riverboat’s telltale contents included 133-year-old pickles. Want one?

James McNeill Whistler's palette, c. 1888-90.

Refined Palette

Scholars say this 19th-century artifact could have belonged to the celebrated American painter

In most Akan states, gold-ornamented sandals identify a ruler. It is taboo for a chief to walk barefoot; to do so, followers believed, would invite disaster.

West African Gold: Out of the Ordinary

The inventive goldwork and royal regalia of Ghana’s Akan people —on display in a new exhibition— are drawn, strikingly, from daily life

The family of Cesar Chavez donated this jacket to the National Museum of American History shortly after the labor leader's death.

When Union Leader Cesar Chavez Organized the Nation’s Farmworkers, He Changed History

Cesar Chavez’ black nylon satin jacket with the eagle emblem of the United Farm Workers is held in the Smithsonian collections

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Towering Mysteries

Who built them and why? An amateur archaeologist tries to get to the bottom of some astonishing structures in Tibet and Sichuan Province, China

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Man of the Hour

Master horologist John Metcalfe keeps on ticking

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Mesopotamian Masterpieces

Exquisite art and artifacts from the world’s earliest civilization are dazzling visitors to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art

[ 1942 Harley-Davidson ] National Museum of American History

Wild Thing

For 100 years, Harleys have fueled our road-warrior fantasies

Keeping our valuable collections (Chinese ivory) from risk.

Curiosities and Wonders

Where do you put all those treasures?

The original Ishtar Gate (left, a 1980s replica) was moved to Berlin in 1903. It was built in 572 B.C.; both Nebuchadnezzar II and the prophet Daniel would have walked through it.

Saving Iraq’s Treasures

As archaeologists worldwide help recover looted artifacts, they worry for the safety of the great sites of early civilization

Despite heavy internecine fighting near Kabul for more than a decade, the simple but majestic marble tomb of Mohammed Babur the Conqueror has largely escaped damage.

The Enduring Splendors of, Yes, Afghanistan

A writer and photographer crisscross a nation ravaged by a quarter century of warfare to inventory its most sacred treasures

In 1855 (the year of this daguerreotype), rocking horses symbolized middle-class affluence. Today, hand-carved horses are largely for the wealthy.

Happy Trails

As freshly carved toys or treasured heirlooms, well-bred rocking horses ride high in the affections of kids and collectors alike

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Unearthing Athens’ Underworld

Throughout the decade-long construction of the city’s new metro, archaeologists have found a trove of treasures

The eye-catching cigarette packages in Johnson's collection served as advertisements as well as containers, testaments to legions of company artists. English Craven A's, American One-Elevens and Scottish Cuba Blends are from the first half of the 20th century.

Pack Rat

First Virgil Johnson gave up smoking. Then he gave up his breathtaking collection of tobacco-nalia

One of the most striking arrays of Neolithic monuments in Britain, the Ring of Brodgar is on the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland. Dating from about 2500 B.C., the ring's stones form a perfect circle 340 feet in diameter. (The tallest of the surviving stones is 14 feet high.) A ditch surrounding the ring, dug out of bedrock, is 33 feet wide and 11 feet deep. Archaeologist Colin Renfrew, who partially excavated the site in 1973, estimates the ditch would have required 80,000 man-hours to dig.

Romancing the Stones

Who built the great megaliths and stone circles of Great Britain, and why? Researchers continue to puzzle and marvel over these age-old questions

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