Researchers carefuly wrapped the tusk in strips of plaster-covered burlap for protection.

Cool Finds

A Hunter Was Out Looking for Deer in West Texas. He Found a Rare Mammoth Tusk Instead

Discovered in the drainage area of a creek bed, the tusk was initially thought to be “just an old stump”

Aerial view of the mikvah site

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth 1,600-Year-Old Jewish Ritual Bath—the Oldest Ever Found in Europe

Located in Ostia Antica, the mikvah dates to the late fourth or early fifth century C.E. Researchers say it’s the earliest discovery of its kind outside the Middle East

The slab was donated to an Australian high school by a geologist who discovered it at a nearby coal mine.

Cool Finds

Students Walked Past This Rock for 20 Years. It Turned Out to Host 66 Dinosaur Footprints From the Jurassic Period

A paleontologist studied the 200-million-year-old prints that had been hiding in plain sight, then discovered even more tracks in another rock sitting in a nearby parking lot

The rolled-up message contained a list of people who had worked on the theater's construction.

Cool Finds

Man Discovers Message in a Bottle Hidden Above a Historic Scottish Theater’s Stage, Untouched for Nearly 120 Years

A theater patron found the glass bottle behind a decorative crown positioned 40 feet above the stage. The note was dated 1906, the year the King’s Theater opened in Edinburgh

An artistic rendering of Saturn and a few of its many moons

Cool Finds

Astronomers Discover 128 New Moons Orbiting Saturn, Cementing the Planet’s Title of ‘Moon King’

The sheer number of objects suggests scientists will soon have to grapple with what counts as a moon versus what’s just a large rock

The discoveries include gold-plated beads, eye-shaped amulets and a small statue of three Egyptian gods.

Cool Finds

See the Stunning Golden Jewelry, Amulets and Small Statues Unearthed at an Ancient Egyptian Temple

Found at the Karnak Temple complex in Luxor, the 2,600-year-old trove includes a necklace depicting a golden trio of Egyptian deities

The poem was discovered by researcher Leah Veronese.

Cool Finds

‘Politically Repurposed’ Copy of Famous Shakespearean Love Sonnet Discovered Inside a 17th-Century Poetry Collection

The rare handwritten copy of “Sonnet 116” features several additional lines, which may have been an attempt to insert British royalist ideas into the romantic ode, according to researchers

The three larger figurines measure about a foot tall.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Clay Puppets With Open Mouths and Detachable Heads That ‘Resemble Modern Toy Dolls’

The figurines were discovered in a largely unexcavated site in El Salvador. Some 2,400 years ago, they were controlled by strings that passed through their necks

A bone tool shaped on a 1.5-million-year-old elephant humerus

Cool Finds

Human Ancestors Were Making Bone Tools One Million Years Earlier Than Previously Thought

Archaeologists have discovered a collection of prehistoric animal bones in Tanzania that suggests early humans figured out how to transfer tool-making techniques “from stone to bone” 1.5 million years ago

Nikau Dix holds a carved waka piece he found in the creek.

Cool Finds

A Fisherman and His Son Noticed Strange Pieces of Wood on a Beach. They Turned Out to Be Fragments of a Polynesian Canoe

The boat, known as a waka, was unearthed in the Chatham Islands. Researchers say it could be one of the most significant discoveries of its kind

The tomb’s centerpiece carving depicts a reclining man.

Cool Finds

Ancient Tomb Decorated With Stunning Reliefs and a Mysterious Inscription Discovered Beneath a Courtyard in Turkey

Found in the province of Şanlıurfa, the rock tomb features depictions of a reclining man and two winged women alongside an illegible inscription

In 1974, thieves replaced Woman Carrying the Embers by Pieter Brueghel the Younger with a magazine cutout.

Cool Finds

Eagle-Eyed Experts Say They’ve Solved the Mystery of a Missing Masterpiece—Half a Century After It Was Stolen

Brueghel’s famous 17th-century painting “Woman Carrying the Embers” vanished from a Polish museum in 1974. Fifty years later, it’s been rediscovered at a museum in the Netherlands

The circle was found during construction in a small town in northern Denmark.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Denmark Discover 4,000-Year-Old Circle of Wooden Posts Resembling Stonehenge

The monument once featured more than 80 posts, which formed a circle measuring nearly 100 feet across. Its prehistoric builders may have used it as a ritual site

An aerial image of the excavation site in Cumbria

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Say They’ve Unearthed Britain’s Largest Known Viking-Age Building Beneath a Family Farm

A team of experts and enthusiasts discovered the structure at High Tarns Farm in northwest England. Researchers think it dates to between the late 10th and early 11th centuries

This George Romney sketch was discovered in a dumpster in upstate New York.

Cool Finds

This 18th-Century Sketch by a Renowned English Portraitist Was Hiding in a Dumpster in New York

The tiny drawing by artist George Romney depicts Henrietta, Countess of Warwick. It will be sold at an upcoming auction in London

The frescoes in Pompeii's House of Thiasus

Cool Finds

See the Stunning Frescoes of a Mysterious Dionysian Cult Discovered in Ancient Pompeii

Created more than a century before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 C.E., the wall paintings provide rare insights into secret rituals conducted in the Roman city

The suitcase was likely made in the 1920s.

Cool Finds

Suitcase Belonging to the Legendary Archaeologist Who Discovered King Tut’s Tomb Surfaces in England

Howard Carter used the luggage while working in Egypt before giving it to a fellow researcher in 1939. Now, it’s heading to the auction block

The photos were taken between 1966 and 1970.

Can You Identify the Mystery Photographer Who Captured Thousands of Captivating Images of 1960s San Francisco?

Discovered in an abandoned storage locker, the 2,042 processed color slides and 102 rolls of black-and-white film depict key moments in the city’s history

The "wooly devil" has fuzzy foliage and maroon flowers made up of conspicuous ray petals.

Meet the ‘Wooly Devil,’ the First New Plant Genus Discovered in a National Park Since 1976

A volunteer spotted the tiny, fuzzy plant with maroon florets while exploring the remote northern corner of Big Bend National Park in Texas

The double-edged sword was deliberately broken into three pieces.

Cool Finds

Metal Detectorists Stumble Upon a Rare 2,000-Year-Old Roman Sword in Poland

Researchers think the weapon, which had been deliberately broken and burned, was once part of a funerary ritual for a local warrior

Page 4 of 271