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Mysteries

This wooden tool, which was likely used to dig through mud, was found near elephant bones.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearthed a 430,000-Year-Old Stick. After Careful Analysis, They Say It Could Be the Oldest Wooden Tool Ever Discovered

Found in southern Greece, the stick was one of two wooden artifacts that appear to have been shaped intentionally, according to a new study

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

This late 16th-century portrait of Anne Boleyn (left) closely resembles a circa 1590 portrait of Elizabeth I (right), as well as two separate likenesses of Mary I and Edward IV. The paintings appear to share the same established “face pattern” of the then-queen, Elizabeth.

Why Do These Tudor-Era Portraits of Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I Look So Strikingly Similar?

The artist behind the works may have used Elizabeth’s likeness as a template in other royal portraits to visually emphasize her resemblance to previous monarchs and reinforce her status as the legitimate Tudor heir

Italian officials gather at the site of the basilica in the town of Fano.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Say They’ve Finally Found a Long-Lost Basilica That Matches the Description the Architect Wrote 2,000 Years Ago

The structure is the first known evidence of a building attributed to Vitruvius, the author of an architectural treatise that influenced thinkers like Leonardo da Vinci

Cloud-9, shown in magenta. The circle represents the region where researchers focused their search for stars—the peak of radio emission.

Astronomers Find an Odd Space Cloud, Like a Galaxy Without Stars, That Could Shed Light on the Secrets of Dark Matter

Named “Cloud-9,” the discovery is a new type of celestial object known as a RELHIC, which is unlike anything scientists have ever observed

Strange fossils reveal that predatory fish with a wide array of dental setups once stalked prehistoric waters.

Sharklike Fish With Weird, Buzz-Saw Jaws Sliced Through the Seas, Then Vanished. Now, Paleontologists Are Unraveling Their Secrets

These “total monsters of fishes” are extinct today, though new clues about their lives come from CT scans and their closest living relatives: the big-eyed ratfish of the deep sea

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

Divers visited the site between 2022 and 2024.

New Research

Archaeologists Discover Mysterious 7,000-Year-Old Stone Wall Beneath the Waves Off the Coast of France

The sturdy, well-built structure was likely constructed on dry land at a time when sea levels were much lower than they are today

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 new Banksy artwork near the Centre Point tower in London

Banksy Unveils Two New Murals of Children Gazing Up at the Sky Days Before Christmas

Some onlookers are interpreting the identical artworks, which appeared on the streets of London, as a commentary on homelessness in the city

Divers explored the wreck site for the first time in August.

Mysterious Shipwreck Discovered in ‘Pristine’ Condition in Lake Ontario—With Its Masts Still Standing

Divers found the well-preserved vessel while searching for a different wreck called the “Rapid City,” which sank near Toronto in 1917

The researchers based their conclusions on an intact ancient construction site found at Pompeii.

New Research

This Ancient Construction Site in the Ruins of Pompeii Is Revealing New Secrets About the 2,000-Year-Old Recipe for Roman Concrete

New research suggests the Romans used a method known as “hot mixing” to produce self-healing concrete, which allowed them to build structures that endured for centuries

Harappa was one of the large cities created by the Indus Valley civilization.

Why Did This Advanced Ancient Civilization Collapse? New Research Suggests Climate Change Played a Role

The Indus Valley civilization, located in present-day Pakistan and India, went through four periods of intense drought, which may have led to the society’s demise

Walter Reed Parpart Jr. (right), the radioman on one of the missing planes, poses in front of a Fort Lauderdale sign in 1945.

How the Disappearance of Flight 19, a Navy Squadron Lost in 1945, Fueled the Legend of the Bermuda Triangle

Eighty years ago, five planes vanished during a training run off the Florida coast. A patrol plane sent to search for the men went missing, too, giving rise to a host of conspiracy theories

Researchers found bird bones and jewelry, including this bowl-shaped brooch, in the grave.

Mysterious Viking Age Woman Found Buried With Scallop Shells Covering Her Mouth

Archaeologists discovered the unusual ninth-century grave on a farm along the coast of central Norway

A 3D model of the skull likely belonging to Béla, Duke of Macsó

New Research

Forensic Analysis Identifies Skeleton as a Medieval Hungarian Duke Who Was Brutally Murdered 750 Years Ago

Based on DNA evidence and numerous cut marks on the bones, scientists think that multiple assailants attacked Béla, Duke of Macsó, in 1272. The victim was likely unarmed and unprotected by armor

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

The Edmund Fitzgerald measured 729 feet long and had a gross tonnage of 13,632.

Nobody Knows What Sank the ‘Edmund Fitzgerald.’ But Its Doomed Final Voyage Will Always Be America’s Defining Shipwreck

Fifty years after the freighter disappeared into the depths of Lake Superior, the mystery of its demise—and the mournful ballad it inspired—still haunt the popular imagination

An artist's rendition of a group of Nanotyrannus dinosaurs attacking a juvenile T. rex

This Tiny Tyrannosaur Could Settle a Huge Scientific Debate

A new analysis of a fossil unearthed in 2006 provides a fresh line of evidence that a separate tyrannosaur lineage called Nanotyrannus lived alongside the famous T. rex

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