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The tokens are roughly the size of a half-dollar coin and feature markings etched into their surfaces.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Ancient Tokens That Roman Soldiers Used to Play Strategy Games

The lentil-shaped objects were unearthed in Hadrianopolis, an ancient city in modern-day Turkey, that once hosted a Roman fortress

The marble head dates to Egypt's Ptolemaic period (305 to 30 B.C.E.), but it was found in a seventh-century C.E. house.

Cool Finds

See the Haunting Stone Face of a Ptolemaic Statue Unearthed Near the Ancient Egyptian City of Alexandria

The statue was found at Taposiris Magna, an archaeological site where some researchers suspect Cleopatra and Mark Antony are entombed

The golden helmet of Coțofenești at the Drents Museum

Art Thieves Blew Up a Dutch Museum’s Door to Steal an Ancient Golden Helmet From Romania

The blast took place in the middle of the night, allowing the burglars to abscond with four valuable objects connected to Romania’s cultural heritage

Experts determined that the Japanese hand grenade was inactive.

Staffers Find a Japanese Hand Grenade From World War II at a Museum in Kentucky

After police and the nearby bomb squad investigated to the scene, they announced that the weapon was inactive and safe

Researchers from the the Polytechnic University of Milan are mapping the castle's subterranean structures.

Cool Finds

Secret Passageways Recorded in Leonardo da Vinci’s Sketches Discovered Beneath a Medieval Castle in Milan

Using ground-penetrating radar and laser scanners, researchers identified subterranean structures just a few feet below the ground. The pathways may connect Sforza Castle to a nearby basilica

Researchers discovered 614 stone plaques and fragments at Vasagård West, an archaeological site on the Danish island of Bornholm.

New Research

Neolithic Farmers May Have Buried These Mysterious Stones to Bring Back the Sun After a Volcanic Eruption

Using ice core samples, researchers linked a natural disaster with a trove of nearly 5,000-year-old artifacts discovered at an archaeological site in Denmark

The gold medal still has its original ribbon and leather case.

This Rare Gold Medal From the 1904 Olympics Sold for More Than $500,000

The artifact, from the first Games held in the United States, reaped the third-highest price ever fetched for an Olympic medal at auction

The helmet was made in the Corinthian style, though historians don't know whether the style actually originated in Corinth.

You Can Buy a 2,500-Year-Old Corinthian Helmet Worn by a Warrior in Ancient Greece

Experts think the well-preserved bronze artifact was made between 500 and 450 B.C.E. It will be sold at auction on January 25

This copy of the Declaration was printed by Robert Luist Fowle of New Hampshire.

This Rare Printing of the Declaration of Independence Could Sell for $4 Million

Made by a printer in New Hampshire, this 1776 broadside edition was created to disseminate America’s founding document to the public

An elite resident of Pompeii used these baths to entertain guests.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Pompeii Discover Private Spa Where Dozens of Guests Bathed in Luxury 2,000 Years Ago

The well-preserved thermal bath complex was unearthed at a lavish home likely owned by a member of the ancient city’s elite

The exhibition includes a re-creation of Mount Vesuvius' eruption in 79 C.E.

What Was Life Like in Pompeii Before Mount Vesuvius Erupted Nearly 2,000 Years Ago?

An immersive new exhibition in Australia uses artifacts, sounds and projections to recreate the ancient Roman city

A Revolutionary War pension and bounty land warrant application submitted by James Lambert

Can You Read This Cursive Handwriting? The National Archives Wants Your Help

Anyone with an internet connection can volunteer to transcribe historical documents and help make the archives’ digital catalog more accessible

Researchers analyzed DNA from a rare Iron Age burial site in southwest England.

New Research

Scientists Discover Celtic Society Where Men Left Home to Join Their Bride’s Community

DNA extracted from 57 individuals buried in a 2,000-year-old cemetery provides evidence of a “matrilocal” community in Iron Age Britain, a new study suggests

Maayan Margulis and Shira Lifshitz clean the mosaic.

Cool Finds

See the Greek Biblical Inscription Embedded in an Ancient Mosaic Floor Discovered in Israel

Archaeologists think the tiles once lined a Byzantine-era monastery. The complex also included a large warehouse and winepress

Zora Neale Hurston wanted to tell the world about the "real ... historical Herod, instead of the deliberately folklore Herod."

Why Was Zora Neale Hurston So Obsessed With the Biblical Villain Herod the Great?

The Harlem Renaissance author spent her last years writing about the ancient king. Six decades after her death, her unfinished novel has finally been published for the first time

Archaeologists unearthed roughly 1,500 decorated stone blocks that once made up part of Hatshepsut's valley temple.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Intricately Decorated Blocks From Hatshepsut’s Temple in Egypt

Officials have announced a number of discoveries during excavations around the valley temple of the powerful Egyptian queen, who reigned during the 15th century B.C.E.

Experts are concerned that artifacts and bootprints on the moon might be affected by lunar landing missions, space tourism and space junk.

The Moon Makes the List of the World’s Most Endangered Cultural Heritage Sites in 2025

Earth-bound landmarks ravaged by war, climate change, tourism and other threats also landed in the World Monuments Watch report

Researchers studied tattoos on this mummified hand.

New Research

Scientists Are Using Lasers to Reveal Intricate Tattoos on Peruvian Mummies

A new study sheds light on tattoo designs found on more than 100 mummies from Chancay culture, a group that lived on the Peruvian coast between roughly 900 and 1500 C.E.

The two Just Stop Oil activists spray-painted "1.5 is dead" on the gravestone of Charles Darwin.

Climate Activists Spray-Paint Warning on Charles Darwin’s Grave

The two protesters hoped to draw attention to reports that global temperatures in 2024 exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for the first time

Researchers think there may be as many as 20 graves at the site in southwest Norway.

Metal Detectorists Discover 1,200-Year-Old Graves That May Have Belonged to High-Status Viking Women

Excavations in Norway revealed a rich variety of artifacts, including jewelry, textile tools and stones positioned in the shape of a ship

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