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Cool Finds

Archaeologists continue to dig around the Roman temple complex in the Netherlands.

Cool Finds

In the Netherlands, Volunteer Archaeologists Find Roman Temple Complex

The site was likely used by soldiers near the Roman Empire’s northern border

View of Nehalem Beach, where the ship was wrecked, with Neahkahnie Mountain in the distance

Cool Finds

Rare Timbers From 17th-Century Spanish Shipwreck Discovered Off Oregon Coast

The Manila galleon—and its cargo of silk, porcelain and beeswax—vanished en route to Mexico in 1693

Rome’s new Museum of Rescued Art opens with some 100 objects on display.

Cool Finds

At Museum for Rescued Art, Italy Displays Stolen Artifacts It Has Recovered

The museum will showcase items before returning them to their original locations

Archaeologists found the remains of roughly 350 frogs near an Iron Age roundhouse.

How Did Thousands of Frog Bones End Up Buried at an Iron Age Settlement?

Archaeologists are trying to make sense of the remains, found in a ditch in England

Bronze sacrificial altar unearthed at the Sanxingdui archaeological site

Cool Finds

Trove of 13,000 Artifacts Sheds Light on Enigmatic Chinese Civilization

The Bronze Age Sanxingdui culture is known for its intricate masks and artworks

Johan Danckerts, The Wreck of the Gloucester Off Yarmouth, 6 May 1682, circa 1682

Cool Finds

Wreck of Long-Lost Royal Battleship Discovered Off English Coast

Divers discovered the H.M.S. “Gloucester” in 2007, but authorities kept the news buried for 15 years as they waited to secure the site

This Renaissance painting was found in a 90-year-old woman's bedroom. It recently fetched around $320,000 at a London auction.

Cool Finds

Renaissance Masterpiece Found Hanging in a 90-Year-Old Woman’s London Bedroom

“The Depiction of the Madonna and Child,” by a follower of Filippino Lippi, sold for around $320,000

A new exhibition in Marseille recreates the famous cave and the art found within. 

Innovation for Good

Tour a Submerged Cave Packed With Paleolithic Art—Without Ever Venturing Underwater

As sea levels rise, an immersive new exhibition in Marseille lets visitors explore an inaccessible cavern’s archaeological treasures

The depiction of a young Maya maize god is consistent with other portrayals of beheaded Maya deities. 

Cool Finds

1,300-Year-Old Corn God Statue Shows How the Maya Worshipped Maize

The deity was linked to renewal and creation in Mesoamerican culture

The marble tablet celebrates the achievement of about 30 Greek youths. 

Cool Finds

2,000-Year-Old ‘Yearbook’-Like Tablet Celebrates a Group of Ancient Greek Grads

Attikos and his friends were ready to become full Athenian citizens

Archaeologists got brief access to the city during another drought in 2018, but this is the first time they managed a comprehensive site study.

Cool Finds

Drought in Iraq Reveals 3,400-Year-Old City

Archaeologists raced against time to map the once-submerged ancient metropolis

Archaeologists inside Cueva de Ardales

Cool Finds

Artists Have Been Painting Inside This Spanish Cave for 58,000 Years

Archaeologists finally understand who decorated the Cueva de Ardales

Archaeologists have located 134 ancient settlements north of Hadrian's Wall in what is now Scotland.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover 134 Ancient Settlements North of Hadrian’s Wall

LiDAR helped researchers find sites once inhabited by those who lived outside Rome’s rule of Britain

Construction workers stumbled on this Maya city while building an industrial park. 

Cool Finds

Construction Crew Stumbles on 1,400-Year-Old Ruins of Maya City

Researchers say the pre-Hispanic metropolis they call Xiol was once home to some 4,000 people

Hundreds of sarcophagi have been excavated from the Saqqara archaeological site thus far.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Uncover Hundreds of Colorful Sarcophagi at Saqqara—and They’re Not Done Yet

The 2,500-year-old coffins are the latest in the site’s seemingly endless parade of ancient treasures

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

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