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Cool Finds

The new study analyzed 131 skeletons dated to between 7100 and 5950 B.C.E.

Ancient DNA Reveals That Men Moved in With Their Brides’ Families in This Neolithic Settlement

A new study suggests that a 9,000-year-old society in Catalhoyuk, a proto-city in southern Anatolia, may have established a “female-centered” social structure

Crews were repairing a sinkhole in York, England, when they stumbled upon the remains of a large medieval hospital.

Cool Finds

A Sinkhole Opened Up on a Busy Street in England, Revealing the Remains of a Massive Medieval Hospital

Centuries ago, the site was home to St. Leonard’s Hospital, a sprawling monastic facility that provided care to sick individuals and supplied meals for prisoners at nearby York Castle

Salvage archaeologists clean the mosaic floor's elaborate centerpiece.

Cool Finds

See a Vibrant, Colorful Mosaic Discovered at an Ancient Roman Settlement in France

Perched on a hill overlooking the town of Alès, the site, which was salvaged before construction on modern houses began, also boasts advanced architecture

The pieces were jumbled together when the building was demolished.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Say They’ve Pieced Together the Ancient Fragments of the ‘World’s Most Difficult Jigsaw Puzzle’

More than 1,800 years ago, the thousands of pieces formed colorful frescoes that covered the walls of a luxurious villa in Londinium, the precursor to modern-day London

The Venus of Kolobrzeg was unveiled earlier this month at the city museum.

Cool Finds

This Rare, 6,000-Year-Old Limestone Fertility Figurine Could Be Poland’s Archaeological ‘Find of the Century’

Dating back to the Neolithic era, the so-called Venus of Kolobrzeg is the first artifact of its kind unearthed in the European country

These gold coins, known as cobs, date to 1707, the year before the San José sank.

Cool Finds

These Gold Coins May Solve the Mystery of the ‘World’s Richest Shipwreck,’ Confirming Its Identity as a Legendary 18th-Century Galleon

Minted in Peru in 1707, the money bolsters the evidence that the wreck is the Spanish ship “San José,” which sank off the Colombian coast in 1708 with treasure worth billions on board

The fading pages of the manuscript were sitting in a screened-in porch at a home in Barrington, Rhode Island, for years.

Untold Stories of American History

Tattered Pages Discovered in Storage Reveal an Enslaved Man’s Daring Bid for Freedom—and His Second Life at Sea

Historians are investigating the haunting handwritten manuscript, which chronicles Thomas White’s escape from slavery in Maryland and adventures around the world nearly 200 years ago

Aerial view of the villa, with thermal baths at the bottom right, the garden and fountain in the center, and the agricultural fields expanding to the left

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Stumble Onto Sprawling Ancient Roman Villa During Construction of a Road in France

Located near Auxerre, the grand estate once possessed an exorbitant level of wealth, with thermal baths and heated floors

Titled The Despair, the sculpture depicts a woman holding her leg.

Cool Finds

This Stunning Sculpture Was Sitting on a Family’s Piano. It Turned Out to Be an Original Rodin

Titled “The Despair,” the rare artwork just sold at auction for $1 million. For many years, its owners had assumed it was merely a copy

The Rising Squall, Hot Wells, from St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol, J.M.W. Turner, 1792

Cool Finds

This Long-Lost Landscape Painted by a Teenage J.M.W. Turner Was Found Hiding in Plain Sight

Showcasing the Romantic artist’s early innovations with oil paint, “The Rising Squall” could fetch up to $400,000. Before it was reattributed, it sold for just $506 at auction last year

A marble sarcophagus depicting a drinking contest between Hercules and Dionysus

Cool Finds

Ancient Sarcophagus Unearthed in Israel Portrays an Epic Drinking Contest Between the God Dionysus and the Mythical Hero Hercules

Archaeologists say the marble coffin is the first of its kind found in the region. The story it depicts is more often seen in mosaics

The fragment belongs to a gold arm-ring composed of eight braided gold rods.  

Cool Finds

A 1,000 Year-Old Gold Bracelet Fragment Found on a British Isle Dates Back to When Vikings Ruled the Land

Archaeologists believe the piece was made by a skilled goldsmith and was potentially used as currency

View of Olinda, Brazil, with Ruins of the Jesuit Church, Frans Post, 1666

Cool Finds

This 17th-Century Dutch Painting Was Rescued From a Dusty Barn Attic in Connecticut. It Just Sold for More Than $7 Million

Painted in 1666, “View of Olinda, Brazil, With Ruins of the Jesuit Church” is a masterpiece by Frans Post, one of the first European-trained artists to depict the landscapes of Dutch Brazil

Conservation work at Gran Pajatén

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover More Than 100 Structures Linked to a Mysterious Pre-Columbian Civilization in the Remote Peruvian Andes

Based in high-altitude urban centers, the Chachapoya resisted conquest by the Inca Empire for centuries

The five dwarf planets recognized by the International Astronomical Union are Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea and Makemake—and these are pictured with 2017 OF201 in a telescope image.

Astronomers Discover a Possible Dwarf Planet Far Beyond Neptune, Where There Should Have Only Been Empty Space

As it orbits the sun once every 25,000 years, the celestial body 2017 OF201 travels beyond the Kuiper Belt into a region thought to be largely devoid of objects

Paintings in the tomb of Amum-em-Ipet depict a funeral procession and banquet.

Cool Finds

Egyptian Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Tombs Belonging to Three Senior Statesmen Who Helped Keep the New Kingdom Running

The burials were found at Dra Abu el-Naga, a necropolis for nobles and officials on the West Bank of the Nile River

The wreckage is submerged under nine feet of water in Lake Michigan.

Cool Finds

He Went Out to Catch Fish in Lake Michigan—and Discovered a 102-Year-Old Shipwreck Instead

Angler Christopher Thuss stumbled upon the scuttled tugboat “J.C. Ames,” which was located just nine feet below the surface off the coast of Manitowoc, Wisconsin

This ebony figurine was found in a child's grave.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Two Rare African Figurines in 1,500-Year-Old Christian Burials in Israel

The artifacts were buried in the graves of a young woman and child, who may have converted to Christianity in Africa before traveling to the region, researchers say

Historian David Carpenter examines the digitized document.

Cool Finds

Harvard Bought This Stained Copy of the Magna Carta for $27.50. It Turned Out to Be an Original

Issued by Edward I in 1300, this version of the historic text is one of only seven known surviving copies. It’s been hiding in plain sight in Harvard Law School’s library since 1946

The scroll previously known only as PHerc. 172 was written by the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus.

Cool Finds

These Ancient Scrolls Have Been a Tantalizing Mystery for 2,000 Years. Researchers Just Deciphered a Title for the First Time

Mount Vesuvius’ eruption preserved the Herculaneum scrolls beneath a blanket of ash. Two millennia later, X-ray scans show that one of them is a philosophical text called “On Vice”

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