Cool Finds

The artwork’s last owner purchased it for just a few hundred pounds. 

Cool Finds

A Vase Kept in an Ordinary Kitchen Turned Out to Be a Qing-Dynasty Artwork Worth Millions

The rare, blue-and-gold vessel was crafted in 18th-century China

A group of Chinchorro mummies, dated between 5000 B.C.E. and 3000 B.C.E.

Cool Finds

Can the World's Oldest Mummies Survive Climate Change and Other Threats in the Coming Decades?

Up to 7,000 years old, the mummified remains are treasured by local residents

Left: Photo of the dress from a Bonhams auction listing. Right: Father Gilbert Hartke with the gifted garment

There’s No Place Like Home—but What’s the Right Place for Dorothy's Dress From 'The Wizard of Oz'?

Donated to the head of Catholic University’s drama department in 1973, the garment's ownership is now at the center of a legal dispute

Red ocher has served many history, from painting cave walls to tanning hides.

Cool Finds

This 12,000-Year-Old Wyoming Quarry Could Be North America's Oldest Mine

The state's archaeologists believe people quarried red ocher at Powars II starting 12,840 years ago

Artisans hired by Mehtjetju only made rough drafts of the carvings planned for the entrance to his tomb.  

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Egypt Unearth 4,300-Year-Old Tomb of Man Who Handled His Pharaoh’s ‘Secret Documents’

Artisans likely didn’t get a chance to finish decorating Mehtjetju’s final resting place, researchers say

The Neolithic-Era henge was completely obscured by overgrown vegetation. 

Cool Finds

Volunteers Uncover Rare, 4,800-Year-Old Stone Circle in England

Ground scans at Castilly Henge revealed seven pits where ancient stones once stood

Soldiers transported the amphorae, which were in excellent condition, to a local museum for safekeeping.

Ukrainian Soldiers Uncover Fourth-Century Urns While Digging Defense Trenches

The amphorae are the latest archaeological find in a country whose cultural treasures are threatened by war

Workers discovered the massive complex after coming across a hidden access point during restoration work on a historic house.

Cool Finds

This Huge Underground City May Have Been a Refuge for 70,000 Early Christians

The complex may have been used as a shelter during Roman rule in Turkey

Created in 1979, the wax sculpture was used as the model for different editions of Dalí works in platinum, gold, silver and bronze.

Cool Finds

Long-Lost Dalí Sculpture Could Be Worth $20 Million

For four decades, the rare was artwork was thought to be missing

An electrical works project led archaeologists to uncover this Aztec-era dwelling. 

Cool Finds

Construction Workers Uncover Massive 800-Year-Old Aztec Dwelling in Mexico City

The accidental discovery has a long, layered history

The first-ever image of a black hole in the Milky Way

New Research

Here’s What the Black Hole in the Center of the Milky Way Looks Like

A team of scientists from around the world collaborated to get a visual peek of the supermassive object

This Assyrian rock art discovered under a home in southeastern Turkey was hidden by local looters. 

Cool Finds

Ancient Rock Art Depicting Divine Procession Discovered in Secret Chamber Beneath Turkish House

It may have been created as a way for Neo-Assyrian officials to curry favor with local residents

The giants of Mont'e Prama are thought to be 3,000 years old. 

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth 3,000-Year-Old Giant Statues in Sardinian Necropolis

The seven-foot statues have expressionless faces—and a mysterious history

Archaeologist Carol Anne Barsody scans the mummified ibis to create a 3-D model of it for an upcoming exhibition.

Mislabeled for a Century, Mysterious Mummy Reclassified as Sacred Ibis

Previously identified as a hawk, the bird was one of millions killed as offerings to the ancient Egyptian god Thoth

The newly-discovered limestone statuette is over 4,500 years old.

Cool Finds

Palestinian Farmer Digs Up 4,500-Year-Old Goddess Sculpture

While working his land, Nidal Abu Eid uncovered a statue of Canaanite deity Anat

Antiques dealer Laura Young purchased the bust at Goodwill for $34.99.

Cool Finds

Ancient Roman Sculpture Likely Looted During WWII Turns Up at Texas Goodwill

Experts are debating who the bust portrays, but they agree on one thing—a thrift store is an unusual spot to find a millennia-old statue

Adam Hardin's 2.38-carat brown diamond "Frankenstone" is the size of a pinto bean.

Cool Finds

Treasure Hunter Unearths 2.38-Carat 'Frankenstone' Diamond

Adam Hardin discovered the impressive brown gem at an Arkansas state park

The clay pot contained 1,290 Roman coins.

Cool Finds

Amateur Archaeologist Stumbles Onto Trove of Coins Dated to Constantine the Great's Reign

Found in Switzerland, some of the buried Roman coins were minted during a time of relative political stability, between 332 and 335 C.E.

Archaeologists now think this is a devotional pool to an ancient god, not a harbor or ship repair area. 

Cool Finds

An Ancient 'Harbor' Was Actually a Sacred Pool Designed for Scanning the Stars

Archaeologists think the devotional zone was dedicated to the god Ba'al

Native American artists created the cave drawings sometime between 660 and 949 C.E.

3-D Scans Reveal Gigantic Native American Cave Art in Alabama

A new analysis identifies four life-size human figures and an 11-foot rattlesnake drawn on the ceiling of an unnamed cavern

loading icon