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Indigenous Peoples

A painting of the San José, which sank off Cartagena, Colombia, in 1708. Archaeologist Roger Dooley commissioned this illustration based on his research on the galleon.

Archaeologists Discovered the ‘Holy Grail’ of Shipwrecks a Decade Ago. Now, They’re Finally Beginning to Unravel the Secrets of the ‘San José’

A new book by author Julian Sancton explores the lengthy quest to find the Spanish galleon—and the political firestorm that has engulfed the wreck ever since

Ada Blackjack was the only survivor of a 1921 expedition to Wrangel Island, a remote landmass above the Arctic Circle.

Meet 13 People Who Survived on Deserted Islands, From a Real-Life Robinson Crusoe to a Noblewoman Marooned With Her Lover

Ahead of the release of Sam Raimi’s “Send Help,” revisit the stories of Alexander Selkirk, Marguerite de la Rocque, the Tongan castaways and others who endured in remote locales

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is finally set to open in L.A.’s Exposition Park on September 22.

These Are the Top Ten Most Anticipated Museums Opening Around the World in 2026

New institutions dedicated to digital art, exploration, hip-hop, conservation and more are expected to welcome visitors this year

An illustration of humans hunting cetaceans 5,000 years ago

New Research

These Baffling Bone Artifacts Discovered by an Amateur Archaeologist May Be the World’s Oldest Whale Harpoons

After revisiting items from a Brazilian museum, researchers think humans may have been hunting whales 5,000 years ago, a millennium earlier than previously thought

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

A written description (left) of New Zealand flax (illustrated on the right) references an Indigenous name for the plant: “haragag.”

Newly Digitized Records Reveal How Indigenous People Shared Their Knowledge of New Zealand’s Plants With Captain Cook’s Crew

Long-overlooked documents housed at London’s Natural History Museum testify to the exchange of information between 18th-century European botanists and their Indigenous counterparts

Aerial view of Vardo, Norway, the fishing town at the center of the 17th-century Finnmark witch trials

How a Sudden Winter Storm in 1617 Sparked the Deadliest Witchcraft Trials in Norwegian History

During the 17th-century Finnmark witch trials, 91 people were executed in Norway’s northernmost region, mainly by burning at the stake

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

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

Experts spent two days trying to save the whale, which weighed roughly 20,000 pounds.

When a Humpback Whale Got Stranded in Oregon, a Native Community Turned the Tragedy Into a Revival of a Traditional Practice

Members of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians salvaged a beached whale’s remains, a practice that hadn’t been performed in generations

Researcher Carolyn Boyd examines a Pecos River style pictograph in Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site.  

New Research

Researchers Discover the Shocking Age of the Mysterious Pecos River Rock Art

The murals were painted on limestone canyon walls, in the same style, over the span of four millennia

Ottawa, Truman Lowe, pine, peeled willow saplings, 1992. Installation view of "Cultural Confluence: Work by Truman Lowe," February 9–September 16, 2017, Plains Art Museum, Fargo, North Dakota

With His Sculptures Full of Natural Splendor, Artist Truman Lowe Could Make Wood Look Like Water

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian is hosting the first major retrospective of the Ho-Chunk sculptor’s work

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

Smithsonian magazine's picks for the best history books of 2025 include We the People, The Stolen Crown and Medicine River.

The Best Books of 2025

The Ten Best History Books of 2025

Our favorite titles of the year resurrect overlooked histories and examine how the United States ended up where it is today

Members of the Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk) Nation caught the crafty female wolf on camera.

Watch a Wolf Cleverly Raid a Crab Trap for a Snack. It Might Be the First Evidence of a Wild Canid Using a Tool

Footage from British Columbia shows just how intelligent wild wolves can be, but scientists are divided as to whether the behavior constitutes tool use

The Palos Verdes Kelp Forest Restoration Project near Los Angeles forms an ecosystem that is home to many creatures.

Underwater Forests Return to Life off the Coast of California, and That Might be Good News for the Entire Planet

Wondrous kelp beds harbor a complex ecosystem that’s teeming with life, cleaning the water and the atmosphere, and bringing new hope for the future

Researchers used drones to capture high-resolution aerial imagery of the Band of Holes.

New Research

Thousands of Mysterious Holes Dot the Landscape in Peru. Archaeologists Say They May Finally Know Why

New research suggests the Band of Holes functioned as a barter marketplace before becoming an accounting system for the Inca

Experts think the cross-shaped pit reflects the Maya view of the universe.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Say They’ve Found a 3,000-Year-Old Map of the Cosmos at an Ancient Maya Site in Mexico

New research sheds light on a cross-shaped pit found at Aguada Fénix, a monumental complex discovered several years ago

A John Trumbull painting of the death of General Hugh Mercer at the Battle of Princeton in 1777

America's 250th Anniversary

Ken Burns Says His New Documentary Forced Him to Revisit Everything He Thought He Knew About the American Revolution

Ahead of the PBS production’s premiere, the legendary filmmaker and co-director Sarah Botstein share insights on their research process and the surprising, long-overlooked stories featured in the six-part series

For more than four decades, the Athabascan Fiddle Festival has filled community halls in Fairbanks with a sound that is both global and distinctly Native.

How Old-Time Fiddle Music Took Root in Indigenous Alaska

In Fairbanks, fiddling thrives—bridging cultures, sustaining traditions and filling the dance floor with life

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