Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Artifacts

The curved walls were likely designed to help the fortress withstand wind and sand erosion.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover 3,500-Year-Old Egyptian Military Fortress in the Sinai Desert

Excavations are shedding light on what life was like at the ancient site, which may have once housed hundreds of soldiers at a time

The Fabergé Winter Egg was designed by Alma Pihl.

This Rare Fabergé Egg Might Set a World Record at Auction for the Third Time in Its History

Commissioned by the Russian emperor Nicholas II, the diamond-covered Winter Egg is expected to fetch $27 million when it goes under the hammer in London on December 2

The cache includes a mix of coins and other treasures.

Cool Finds

This Fisherman Was Digging for Worms in Sweden When He Stumbled Upon a Trove of Medieval Silver

Experts think that someone may have buried the copper cauldron full of coins and jewelry to keep it safe during a tumultuous period in the 12th century

The stone is dedicated to soldier Sextus Congenius Verus.

Cool Finds

The Mystery of the Ancient Roman Gravestone Discovered in a Family’s Backyard Has Been Solved

The couple hadn’t known how the artifact made its way to their property in New Orleans. But after their story went viral, a former owner of the home came forward with new information about the object

The pillar is topped with a simple carving of a human face.

Cool Finds

A Human Face Was Carved Into This Stone Pillar in Turkey 11,000 Years Ago

The T-shaped pillar is the first with a face to be found in the Stone Age archaeological sites of Turkey’s Taş Tepeler

The stone is dedicated to soldier Sextus Congenius Verus.

Cool Finds

A Married Couple in New Orleans Found a Stone in Their Backyard. It Turned Out to Be an Ancient Roman Soldier’s Gravestone

The piece bears a Latin inscription describing the legionary’s service aboard a warship

Students will have a chance to study the mysterious artifacts in a new course slated to launch in the fall of 2026.

Cool Finds

Someone Donated These Mysterious Artifacts to a Thrift Shop. Experts Think They Might Date to Medieval Times

A shopper who said he was an archaeologist spotted the 11 rings and two medallions and alerted a volunteer

More than 250 looted objects are on display in UNESCO's Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects.

The World’s First Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects Wants Its Collection to Shrink, Not Grow

Visitors can explore 3D renderings of stolen artworks, historical artifacts, rare books and more in UNESCO’s new digital museum

Generations of bearded vultures return to the same nesting sites for centuries, offering archaeologists a glimpse into the past.

Generations of Bearded Vultures Stashed Humans’ Treasures, Including a 650-Year-Old Sandal, in These Bird Nests

Researchers recovered more than 200 human artifacts from historical nests in southern Spain

The piece was carved from local red deer antler.

Cool Finds

A Rare Medieval Hair-Styling Tool Was Found at Scotland’s Eilean Donan Castle

The artifact is part of a large assemblage of excavated artifacts recently acquired by National Museums Scotland

During the summer of 2025, a team of divers pulled up 1,051 silver coins known as reales, five gold coins called escudos and other gold artifacts.

Divers Recover More Than $1 Million Worth of Gold and Silver Coins From 310-Year-Old ‘Treasure Fleet’ Shipwrecks

The vessels sank in a violent hurricane off the coast of Florida in July 1715, when they were traveling from Cuba to Spain with an estimated $400 million worth of coins and jewels from the New World

The wampum beads found this summer by Calum Brydon, an archaeology graduate student

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Seven Rare Wampum Beads at 17th-Century English Settlement in Canada

Indigenous groups created the small beads from mollusk shells. They’re the first artifacts of their kind ever found at the Colony of Avalon in Newfoundland

Deep-sea divers retrieve artifacts from the wreckage of the Britannic, which rests nearly 400 feet below sea level.

The Titanic’s Sister Ship, the Britannic, Sank in 1916. For the First Time, Divers Have Recovered Artifacts From Its Wreck

The luxury liner was requisitioned as a hospital ship during World War I. Thirty people died after the vessel struck a German naval mine and sank off the coast of Greece

The bronze coins were found in a pit inside a complex of tunnels dug during the Great Revolt.

Cool Finds

Did Ancient Jews Hide These Coins for Safekeeping During a Fourth-Century Revolt Against Roman Rule?

A cache of coins bearing the faces of the Roman emperors Constantius II and Constans I was discovered in underground tunnels created by Jews in what is now northern Israel

Director Steven Spielberg kneeling with a camera during the production of Jaws

Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s ‘Jaws’ With This Sprawling Exhibition at the Academy Museum

Visitors will learn about the making of the beloved summer blockbuster through more than 200 props, costumes, recreated sets and annotated script pages

The bracelet was taken by a staffer at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

A 3,000-Year-Old Bracelet Belonging to an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Has Been Stolen, Sold and Melted Down for Gold

After the artifact went missing from Cairo’s Egyptian Museum in early September, authorities began carefully tracking down its whereabouts

Some of the artifacts stored in the al-Kawthar building had been unearthed at the St. Hilarion Monastery.

Archaeologists in Gaza Rushed to Rescue Thousands of Ancient Artifacts From an Impending Airstrike

In just six hours, workers evacuated 70 percent of the historic collection, including objects from one of the Middle East’s oldest Christian monasteries. The remaining 30 percent was lost in the attack

The whistle, pictured here, reminded researchers of Stone Age bone whistles found in Europe.

New Research

This Drilled Cow Bone May Have Been an Ancient Egyptian Cop’s Whistle

The artifact, found 17 years ago, was recently replicated and tested by researchers

The buried limestone chamber dates to the third or fourth century C.E.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Albania Unearth Tomb Belonging to an Upper-Class Roman Who Died 1,700 Years Ago

The limestone chamber is marked with inscriptions identifying the deceased and honoring the deity Jupiter. Officials say it’s the first tomb of its kind to be found in the country

The Oseberg, a Viking ship built in 820 C.E., moved to its new home at the Museum of the Viking Age at the speed of ten inches per minute.

The Best-Preserved Viking Ship in the World Just Survived Its Treacherous Final Journey

For more than ten years, experts have been painstakingly planning to move three 1,000-year-old vessels—the “Oseberg,” “Gokstad” and “Tune”—about 115 yards to their new home in Oslo

Page 7 of 58