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Caves

The vestiges of two limestone tuberculosis huts can still be seen in Mammoth Cave.

When Tuberculosis Patients Quarantined Inside Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave

In the early 1840s, believing the air was therapeutic, Kentucky doctor John Croghan ran a consumption sanatorium deep underground

Researchers say the incisors' removal may have served as an indicator of social status or membership in a specific group.

Why Are These Medieval-Era Skulls Found in Gabon Missing Their Front Teeth?

Intact, 500-year-old upper jaws discovered in an African cave bear evidence of deliberate facial modification

Using growth layers on the bear's skull, the researchers dated the remains at 35,000 years old and concluded that the cave bear was an adult around ten years old when it died.

This 35,000-Year-Old Skull Could Be the First Evidence of Humans Hunting Small Cave Bears

The hole in the specimen may have been from injuries inflicted with a spear or during a postmortem ritual

Warming temperatures allowed archaeologists to begin examining the barracks, which had previously been sealed off by a glacier, in 2017.

Cool Finds

Melting Glacier in the Italian Alps Reveals Trove of World War I Artifacts

Excavations at the summit of Mount Scorluzzo offer rare glimpse into lives of soldiers fighting in the White War

Recent research unearthed a trove of remains at a site that first yielded a Neanderthal skull in 1939.

Cool Finds

Remains of Nine Neanderthals Butchered by Hyenas Found in Italian Cave

The fossilized bones appear to belong to one woman, seven men and a young boy

Archaeologist Sergio Grosjean points to ancient handprints that decorate the interior of a cave in Mexico.

Cool Finds

1,200 Years Ago, Maya Children Decorated This Hidden Cave With Handprints

Archaeologists discovered the remarkable art about two decades ago but only publicized their findings now

Elite Vikings constructed a huge stone boat for use in rituals at the Surtshellir cave.

Cool Finds

Did Vikings Host Rituals Designed to Stop Ragnarök in This Volcanic Cave?

New findings at a cavern in Iceland point to decades of elite ceremonial activity aimed at preventing the apocalypse

The Wheeler Geologic Area in Colorado's La Garita Wilderness was once a national park.

You Can Still Visit These Six Former National Parks

Despite being delisted by the NPS, these spots are worth exploring thanks to their rich history and sheer beauty

Some of the marks seen on the woman's skull predated her death, while others were likely left by natural forces following her burial.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Solve Mystery of 5,600-Year-Old Skull Found in Italian Cave

Natural forces moved a Stone Age woman’s bones through the cavern over time

The newly discovered face cream represents the earliest known instance of a Chinese man using cosmetics.

Cool Finds

This 2,700-Year-Old Chinese Face Cream Combined Animal Fat and ‘Moonmilk’

Researchers found the ancient moisturizer in a nobleman’s tomb

Humans once lived alongside megafauna such as this elephant bird, giant lemurs, dwarf hippos and giant tortoises on Madagascar.

Droughts and Human Interference Wiped Out Madagascar’s Gigantic Wildlife 1,500 Years Ago

The species had survived droughts before, but human interference was the final nail in the mega-sized coffin

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

The cave angel fish's unique pelvic shape was first documented in 2016. Its uncommon anatomy allows it to walk with all four appendages the way a salamander or a lizard might.

New Research

Study Finds Ten Species of Fish That May Have a Secret Talent for Walking on Land

The strange fish may help researchers envision the gaits of Earth’s first terrestrial vertebrates

"Human Forms" is on view through November.

Ancient Israeli Cave Transformed Into Art Gallery

For his latest show, artist Ivo Bisignano created a series of massive wooden sculptures that mimic the cavern’s curvature

Polish explorers check a footage from a remote-operated vehicle deep in the Czech Republic's deepest cave.

New Research

World’s Deepest Freshwater Cave Is Twice as Deep as Previously Thought

New research shows the Hranice Abyss in the Czech Republic is 3,280 feet deep

Archaeologists discovered these fossilized fragments of grass deep inside South Africa's Border Cave.

Cool Finds

200,000-Year-Old Bedding Found in South Africa May Be World’s Oldest

New study suggests ancient humans slept on layers of grass and ash, which was used to ward off insects

A set of 120,000-year-old shells from the Qafzeh Cave in northern Israel. Ancient humans collected these shells, which had natural perforations, and arranged them on lengths of string.

Cool Finds

New Research Suggests Humans Invented String at Least 120,000 Years Ago

Marks found on ancient shells indicate that they were laced together to create necklaces

Rock piles like the one pictured here helped ancient miners navigate the subterranean network.

An Underwater Cave Once Hosted the Americas’ Oldest Known Ocher Mine

Humans have valued the rich red pigment for hundreds of thousands of years

This diagram shows the different kinds of animal bones used to make the 48,000-year-old tools.

Cool Finds

Evidence of Early Bow-and-Arrow Hunting Discovered in Sri Lanka

If confirmed, the 48,000-year-old find will be the oldest known instance of bowhunting outside of Africa

The Fox tunnel is one of only two underground facilities dedicated exclusively to the scientific study of permafrost where a visitor can actually walk around inside the frozen earth.

In a Tunnel Beneath Alaska, Scientists Race to Understand Disappearing Permafrost

What lies inside the icy cavern seems more and more like a captive, rare animal, an Earth form that might soon be lost

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