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Cool Finds

Though the wooden buildings have long since rotted away, the postholes and beam slots are still there.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Stumble Upon Mysterious Medieval Village While Preparing for New Wind Farms in England

The previously unknown settlement appears to have been abandoned at some point in the 1300s, but researchers don’t know why

Divers swept away sand and silt to reveal the wreck.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Say They’ve Unearthed a Massive Medieval Cargo Ship That’s the Largest Vessel of Its Kind Ever Found

Spotted off the coast of Denmark, the “Svaelget 2” is a cog, a kind of large trading vessel used in the Middle Ages. Experts say the 600-year-old discovery is “exceptionally well-preserved”

The bell, shaped like a boar's head, would have topped a long, thin pole.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Ancient War Trumpet That Once Struck Fear in the Hearts of Enemies on the Battlefield

Known as a carnyx, the instrument is only the third of its kind to be found in Britain. It was discovered in the territory of the Iceni tribe, which fought the Romans under the leadership of the queen Boudicca

Five quartz arrowheads unearthed in South Africa contained traces of toxins.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Just Discovered the Oldest Known Evidence of Poison Arrows, Which Hunters Used to Slow Down Their Prey 60,000 Years Ago

New research reveals traces of plant toxins on arrow tips in South Africa, suggesting that the technique was used tens of thousands of years earlier than scientists thought

The silver penny dates to the late 1130s.

Cool Finds

A Metal Detectorist Discovered the Earliest Known Coin Ever Produced in a Scottish Mint

Experts previously thought the first Scottish coins were minted in England, but this penny came from Edinburgh. National Museums Scotland has now acquired the historic piece of silver

The company plans to offer tours of its new headquarters, giving members of the public a chance to see the sculpture.

Cool Finds

Forgotten for Decades in a Dusty Mall Basement, a Long-Lost Harry Bertoia Sculpture Is Back on Display

The untitled 26-foot-tall piece now hangs in the seven-story atrium of General Motors’ new global headquarters, in Detroit

Archaeologists unearthed a fresco depicting a peahen that mirrors a peacock found on another part of the same wall.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover ‘Sumptuous’ Frescoes at Ancient Villa Preserved by Mount Vesuvius’ Eruption

Fragments of a peahen, a comedic theatrical mask and other intriguing finds are providing new insights into the history of the Villa of Poppaea

Volunteers have discovered more than 400 shoes while cleaning up rock pools.

Cool Finds

Hundreds of Mysterious Victorian-Era Shoes Are Washing Up on a Beach in Wales. Nobody Knows Where They Came From

The leading theory is that the black leather boots, which were discovered by volunteers, were traveling on a cargo ship that sank nearby roughly 150 years ago

Fascinating finds unveiled in 2025 ranged from an Auguste Rodin sculpture to a ring bearing the likeness of the goddess Venus Victrix.

Cool Finds

Seventy-Two Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2025, From a Luxury Spa in Pompeii to a Pair of World War I Messages in a Bottle

The year’s most exciting discoveries included the site where a young George Washington stopped a friendly fire incident, the missing torso of a Buddha statue and a hidden Picasso painting

Our most-read stories of the year spotlighted a Eugène Delacroix painting, horseshoe crabs, the Dionne quintuplets and more.

Ten Top Smithsonian Stories of 2025, From Eerie Clay Puppets With Detachable Heads to a New Look at the American Revolution

The magazine’s most-read articles of the year included a deep dive on the Scopes “monkey trial,” an interview with award-winning documentarians and a profile of quintuplets who found fame during the Great Depression

The Hjortspring boat is displayed at the National Museum of Denmark.

New Research

The Mysterious Hjortspring Boat That Sank in Denmark 2,400 Years Ago Is Still Revealing Its Secrets

New research suggests indicates that Scandinavia’s oldest known example of a wooden plank boat may have sailed to attack the island of Als from the east, indicating a planned effort

Ancient ruins displayed at Colosseo-Fori Imperiali, a new subway station near the Colosseum in Rome

You Can Now See 2,000-Year-Old Thermal Baths and Military Barracks Without Ever Leaving Rome’s New Subway Stations

Two recently opened stops by the Colosseum double as museums, showcasing the ancient artifacts and ruins unearthed during their construction

The trove included 60 complete tulas.

New Research

Archaeologists Unearth Cache of Aboriginal Stone Tools Buried in Australia 170 Years Ago

Known as “tulas,” the 60 artifacts are only the second discovery of this size to be found in Australia. Researchers think they may have been created for trade

Researchers think the Greek graffiti found on the boat dates to the first century C.E.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover 2,000-Year-Old Ancient Egyptian Pleasure Boat That May Have Once Made Luxurious Voyages Along the Nile

Unearthed off the coast of Alexandria, the vessel may have once measured 115 feet long. Experts think it would have held a “luxuriously decorated cabin” and a team of 20 rowers

Panel one of the Ketton mosaic, which was discovered in 2020 by a farmer's son

New Research

Historians Say This Rare Mosaic Found on a British Farm Depicts Scenes From a Long-Lost Account of the Trojan War

New research suggests that the illustrations may have been based on “Phrygians,” a tragedy by the Athenian playwright Aeschylus, rather than the “Iliad”

An international team of archaeologists from Italy, Spain and Tunisia has been excavating Henchir el Begar since 2023.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Ancient Roman Olive Oil Production Facilities in North Africa

Located in western Tunisia, the plants operated between the third and sixth centuries and likely helped supply precious olive oil to Rome

Evidence of prehistoric flint tool-making dating to approximately 4300 B.C.E.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Digging Beneath Britain’s Houses of Parliament Discover 6,000-Year-Old Flint Artifacts and a 2,000-Year-Old Roman Altar Fragment

During restorations at the Palace of Westminster in London, excavations have revealed a trove of historic objects, the oldest of which date to around 4300 B.C.E.

Most of the canoes are still submerged in Lake Mendota, but archaeologists have recovered two of them.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Wisconsin Unearth an Ancient ‘Parking Lot’ With 16 Dugout Canoes—Including One That’s 5,200 Years Old

The team has several theories about how Indigenous groups created and used the vessels, which were discovered during research over the past five years

Researchers used more than 400 samples of materials, such as this carbon-rich substance, to train and test the new A.I. system. 

Cool Finds

A.I. Reveals Signs of Early Life in 3.3-Billion-Year-Old Rocks. Next, It Could Continue the Search in Space

The new approach looks at the distribution of molecular fragments in material, allowing for broad surveys in degraded specimens

The log boats were all made the same way, but each one is unique.

Cool Finds

These Ancient Log Boats Unearthed in England Were Each Carved From a Single Tree Trunk 3,000 Years Ago

First discovered in 2011, three vessels are the centerpiece of a new exhibition about craftsmanship and transportation methods in Bronze Age Britain

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