Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Cool Finds

The two-wheeled wagon found in the grave is a particularly rare find.

Cool Finds

Construction in Germany Revealed the ‘Princely Grave’ of a Celtic Warrior Who Was Buried With Weapons and a Two-Wheeled Wagon

Archaeologists say the find proves “the previously only assumed presence of a local Celtic elite.” Grave goods also included gold jewelry and a jug imported from modern-day Tuscany

How teenage participants moved on a schoolground in Spain. 

Researchers Accidentally Discover That Humans Prefer to Turn Counterclockwise. But They Still Have No Idea Why

The effect transcends factors like culture, gender and handedness, causing the scientists, who were initially studying social distancing behavior, to scratch their heads

Workers recovered this cannon from the Savannah River in 2022.

Cool Finds

Workers Dredging the Savannah River Stumbled Upon 19 Cannons That Had Been Underwater Since the Revolutionary War

The centuries-old artifacts emerged from the riverbed between 2021 and 2022. Experts spent several years carefully restoring 17 of them, which will make their public debut in a new exhibition

Theodore Roosevelt greeting supporters shortly before the assassination attempt in October 1912

Theodore Roosevelt Survived an Assassination Attempt Because a Speech Tucked Inside His Pocket Slowed the Bullet. He Insisted on Delivering His Remarks Anyway

“I am very much uninterested in whether I am shot or not,” he told an audience in Milwaukee. Newly discovered documents shed light on how the 26th president wanted the incident to shape his legacy

Graffiti spanning more than a century is scrawled on the walls of the Roman villa.

Cool Finds

These Italian Teenagers Stayed Overnight at Their School. They Found Ancient Roman Ruins Hidden in the Basement

Students at a high school in Rome stumbled upon a well-preserved villa that dates to the mid-second century C.E. Eventually, archaeologists hope to open the sprawling space to the public

The blue-fronted lorikeet was first described based on seven specimens collected in the 1920s.

Cool Finds

This Colorful Parrot Had Been Seen Only Once Over the Past Century. Birders Just Rediscovered It in an Unexplored Indonesian Forest

First described in the 1920s from seven specimens, the blue-fronted lorikeet hadn’t been spotted since 2014. Bird-watchers on a recent trek snapped photos of the rare bird and captured the first known audio recordings of its calls

Many of the delicate ceramics are still intact.

Cool Finds

A Shipwreck ‘Almost Beyond Belief’ Stunned Archaeologists in Norway With Its Cargo of Intact Porcelain Dishes and Luxury Goods

So far, archaeologists have recovered 40 artifacts from the discovery, an 18th-century shipwreck that likely will yield thousands more treasures

The band is gold and the gem is a nicolo, or “little onyx.”

Cool Finds

See the ‘Spectacular’ Gold-and-Gemstone Ring a Roman Likely Buried for Safekeeping 1,700 Years Ago

The ring, discovered in an English field and deemed a “treasure,” has ties to a power grab that a military leader made in Roman Britain

Elisenda of Montcada founded the Royal Monastery of St. Mary of Pedralbes in 1327. She was buried there after her death in 1364.

Archaeologists Excavating a Monastery in Spain Identified the Remains of a 14th-Century Queen—and Multiple Skeletons Buried in the Wrong Graves

The tomb of Elisenda of Montcada has long fascinated experts. But the team was surprised to learn that burials supposedly belonging to a medieval knight and abbess held entirely different individuals

The painted wall in 2024, enhanced on the right by a DStretch filter

Cool Finds

A Century After Causing Controversy, Red Cave Markings in Wales Are Classified Again as Britain’s Oldest Rock Art

The team of scientists used modern dating methods to confirm an old hypothesis by the rock art’s initial discoverers

A conservator holds the wood and wax booklet. 

Cool Finds

From a Medieval Latrine in Germany, Archaeologists Extracted a Pristine Leather Notebook That Preserved Latin Cursive for Centuries

The writing in the booklet suggests it belonged to an upper-class merchant, who may have had a mishap while using the toilet 800 years ago

The Roman funerary marker in the custody of FBI New Orleans in November 2025

Cool Finds

Why Was This Ancient Roman Soldier’s Gravestone Hidden in a Louisiana Backyard? Archaeologists Solved the Mystery—and Helped Return the Artifact to Italy

The funerary marker, which surfaced on a New Orleans property last year, once belonged to a Roman soldier who died nearly 2,000 years ago. Officials repatriated the stone in a recent ceremony in Rome

Archaeologists discovered the burial in Colchester, a city in Essex, England, which served as the first capital of Roman Britain. 

Cool Finds

A Woman Buried in an Elaborate Roman Coffin With Precious Grave Goods Was ‘Clearly Cherished by Her Family and Her Community,’ Archaeologists Say

A new exhibition in Colchester, England, site of the first capital of Roman Britain, explores the “Lexden Lady” and her collection of treasures

Different metal detectorists discovered the two "Lamb of God" coins at separate locations in Denmark.

Cool Finds

An English King Minted These Coins to Ward Off a Viking Invasion. Instead, the Seafaring Raiders Turned the Pennies Into Jewelry

Aethelred the Unready viewed the attacks on his kingdom as divine retribution. He hoped that a show of public penance, including the creation of coins featuring religious imagery, would help earn God’s forgiveness

Archaeologists and volunteers excavate the site in the Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve.  

Cool Finds

Researchers Discovered the Remnants of a Secret, Illegal Whisky Distillery in a Stunning Scottish Park

The copper still, likely used to make whisky, would have been hidden away from the oversight of tax collectors after Scotland outlawed unlicensed distilling centuries ago

The golden artifact, a sword scabbard fitting perhaps belonging to an elite warrior leader 

Cool Finds

A Hiker in Norway Found an Elite Warrior’s Golden Sword Ornament. It Was Likely a Sacrifice to the Gods Made During a Time of Turmoil

Volcanic eruptions, climate change, crop failures, famine and plague all may have swept through Norway in the sixth century C.E., putting pressure on leaders and their communities

During World War I, the Tampa protected convoys from submarine attacks.

Divers Discover the Shipwreck of a World War I-Era Coast Guard Cutter, Which Vanished With 131 Sailors on Board in 1918

The wreckage of the “Tampa,” which was torpedoed by a German submarine, was found 50 miles off the coast of Cornwall, England. The disaster was the largest single American naval combat loss of life during the war

The funerary practice of pouring gypsum into ancient coffins means that imprints of clothing and bodies remain in burial sites in York, England.

Cool Finds

In the Ancient World, This Pigment Was Worth More Than Gold. Archaeologists Discovered It Buried With Babies in Roman Coffins

A funerary custom in Roman Yorkshire of pouring liquid gypsum over bodies before burial preserved traces of Tyrian purple

A virtual reconstruction of the Berlanga Cup

Cool Finds

This Souvenir Bowl May Have Commemorated an Ancient Roman Soldier’s Service at Hadrian’s Wall. It Was Discovered on a Spanish Farm 1,900 Years Later

The artifact is decorated with an illustration of the defensive fortification in northern England, but it was unearthed some 1,200 miles away. A new study suggests the design reflects a soldier’s achievements at the site

Seven of the coins from the newly discovered hoard, which is the largest of its kind ever found in Norway

Cool Finds

See the Largest Viking Age Hoard Ever Found in Norway. At Nearly 3,000 Coins and Counting, the Cache Is a Once-in-a-Lifetime Find

Buried in the mid-11th century, the stash includes silver pieces minted under rulers such as Cnut the Great, Aethelred the Unready and Harald Hardrada

Page 1 of 281