A 1960s studio portrait of a baby girl wearing a pink dress

Unraveling the Colorful History of Why Girls Wear Pink and Boys Wear Blue

Children used to wear the same white dresses, regardless of gender. But clothing styles and color preferences shifted in the mid-20th century

Newgrange is one of Ireland's most famous Neolithic passage tombs.

These Massive Monuments Hosted Community Gatherings Where Prehistoric People Mingled, Feasted and Buried Their Dead

A new study contradicts the long-held assumption that Ireland’s Neolithic passage tombs were reserved for members of an elite ruling family

Get your costumes on. It's slush cup season.

Why Skiers Are Ending the Season With a Splash—and Keeping the Raucous Tradition of Pond Skimming Alive

For nearly 100 years, die-hards have been saying goodbye to winter by speeding down the slopes and water skiing over massive puddles

 An artist's rendering of the altar

New Research

Archaeologists Unearth Intricately Decorated Altar That May Have Been Used for Ancient Sacrifices in Guatemala

Discovered in the ruins of Tikal, the altar sheds light on strained relations between the Maya city and Teotihuacán—which was located more than 600 miles away

Tutankhamun's burial mask is made of gold and precious stones.

New Research

Clay Artifacts Found in King Tut’s Tomb May Have Been Part of a Ritual Honoring the Egyptian God Osiris

The four clay troughs were initially thought to have served as stands for gold-plated staffs. Now, a researcher has presented a new theory about their purpose

The well-known Nabulsi knafeh consists of crumbled Nabulsi cheese topped with fried kataifi pastry.

The TikTok-Famous Dubai Chocolate Traces Its Origins to the 13th-Century Middle East

Generation Z is putting its own spin on knafeh, a dish first designed to quash a caliph’s hunger pangs

Thousands of years ago, people had been buried both inside and outside of this cist tomb.

New Research

Why Were These Teenagers Chosen as Human Sacrifices at an Ancient Mesopotamian Cemetery?

Researchers previously assumed that some of the graves at the site were royal burials. A new study presents a different theory, which challenges existing ideas about early class structures

A granite statue located in Tombos, an ancient Egyptian outpost in present-day Sudan

New Research

Lower-Class Workers May Have Been Buried in Ancient Egyptian Pyramids Alongside Elites

When researchers examined skeletons buried in present-day Sudan, they found evidence that some had belonged to workers who performed hard labor

Sharad Purnima: The Autumn Full Moon, Nathdwara, Rajasthan state, India, opaque watercolor, tin and gold on cotton, possibly handwoven, late 19th century

See These Newly Restored Massive Paintings Devoted to a Hindu God

The artworks, part of a new exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, help shed light on a traditional religious practice

An artistic interpretation of what Flagstones might have looked like shortly after it was constructed

New Research

Could This Prehistoric Burial Site Have Influenced the Construction of Stonehenge?

Researchers say that Flagstones, a large circular enclosure in southern England, dates to around 3200 B.C.E.—which means it predates Stonehenge by several hundred years

Aerial view of the mikvah site

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth 1,600-Year-Old Jewish Ritual Bath—the Oldest Ever Found in Europe

Located in Ostia Antica, the mikvah dates to the late fourth or early fifth century C.E. Researchers say it’s the earliest discovery of its kind outside the Middle East

The discoveries include gold-plated beads, eye-shaped amulets and a small statue of three Egyptian gods.

Cool Finds

See the Stunning Golden Jewelry, Amulets and Small Statues Unearthed at an Ancient Egyptian Temple

Found at the Karnak Temple complex in Luxor, the 2,600-year-old trove includes a necklace depicting a golden trio of Egyptian deities

Ever since it debuted in 2008, the Running of the Reindeer has become one of the signature events of the Fur Rendezvous Festival.

Every March, Runners Race Reindeer Through the Streets of Anchorage

For three and a half blocks, athletes and ungulates share the road during the headlining event of Alaska’s Fur Rendezvous Festival

The three larger figurines measure about a foot tall.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Clay Puppets With Open Mouths and Detachable Heads That ‘Resemble Modern Toy Dolls’

The figurines were discovered in a largely unexcavated site in El Salvador. Some 2,400 years ago, they were controlled by strings that passed through their necks

The tomb’s centerpiece carving depicts a reclining man.

Cool Finds

Ancient Tomb Decorated With Stunning Reliefs and a Mysterious Inscription Discovered Beneath a Courtyard in Turkey

Found in the province of Şanlıurfa, the rock tomb features depictions of a reclining man and two winged women alongside an illegible inscription

The circle was found during construction in a small town in northern Denmark.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Denmark Discover 4,000-Year-Old Circle of Wooden Posts Resembling Stonehenge

The monument once featured more than 80 posts, which formed a circle measuring nearly 100 feet across. Its prehistoric builders may have used it as a ritual site

The frescoes in Pompeii's House of Thiasus

Cool Finds

See the Stunning Frescoes of a Mysterious Dionysian Cult Discovered in Ancient Pompeii

Created more than a century before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 C.E., the wall paintings provide rare insights into secret rituals conducted in the Roman city

The suitcase was likely made in the 1920s.

Cool Finds

Suitcase Belonging to the Legendary Archaeologist Who Discovered King Tut’s Tomb Surfaces in England

Howard Carter used the luggage while working in Egypt before giving it to a fellow researcher in 1939. Now, it’s heading to the auction block

Alaska’s hardiest residents have gathered around the frozen waterfalls of Valdez—some of them up to 900 feet tall—to hone their skills, test their mettle and celebrate the state’s tight-knit ice climbing community.

Learn to Ice Climb at Alaska’s Most Extreme Community Festival

For more than 40 years, Alaskans have been gathering in the tiny coastal town of Valdez to celebrate the art of climbing ice

The 13 adults discovered at the site appear to have be positioned in a similar way: seated, with their backs resting against the eastern wall of a pit.

Why Were All of These Bodies Buried Sitting Upright and Facing West More Than 2,000 Years Ago?

Archaeologists are still unraveling the mysteries of an unusual burial site in Dijon, France, which dates to between 450 and 25 B.C.E.

Page 1 of 34