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Trade

In 1823, 17 enslaved people were sold at an auction in Barbados in the name of Britain's then-king, George IV.

The British Crown Enslaved Thousands at the Height of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. New Research Reveals Their Stories

A leading historian examines how the monarchy not only tolerated slavery but also administered it, profited from it and sanctioned its cruelties

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 vessel was transporting intricately carved gravestones and grinding mortars when it sank.

You Can Now See 750-Year-Old Artifacts Recovered From England’s Oldest Shipwreck

Gravestone slabs, cauldrons and other items recovered from the “Mortar Wreck” are now on display at the newly reopened Poole Museum in southern England

The Tugunbulak settlement was inhabited between the 6th and 11th centuries. 

Archaeologists May Have Found the Lost Iron City of the Silk Road in the Remote Highlands of Uzbekistan

Researchers are uncovering what they think is the metropolis of Marsmanda, an iron-making city that could rewrite the history of the famed trade route

Hell, unknown artist, circa 1510 to 1520

This Disturbing 16th-Century Painting of Hell Linked Satan and His Demons With the New World Beyond Europe

The panel features monsters with African, Indigenous Caribbean and intersex features, encouraging viewers to connect the sins and punishments depicted to those considered “other”

Storage jars found among the cargo known as Dor L1

New Research

Three Shipwrecks Discovered Off the Coast of Israel Shed New Light on the History of Iron Age Maritime Trade

An anchor, basket handles, jars and other artifacts were found among the cargoes at the three sites, the oldest of which dates to the 11th century B.C.E.

Divers excavating the 12th-century Huaguangjiao One wreck uncover stacked Song dynasty bowls.

Treasure Trove of Shipwrecks Along China’s Coast Reveals How East Met West on the Maritime Silk Road

Sunken finds in the South China Sea testify to rich trade networks used over hundreds of years. The sea routes brought porcelain, tea and other goods from Asia to Africa, the Middle East and Europe

The wampum beads found this summer by Calum Brydon, an archaeology graduate student

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Seven Rare Wampum Beads at 17th-Century English Settlement in Canada

Indigenous groups created the small beads from mollusk shells. They’re the first artifacts of their kind ever found at the Colony of Avalon in Newfoundland

The lion may have been brought from China in the mid-1260s and modified in Venice between 1270 and 1290.

New Research

Was Venice’s Iconic Winged Lion of St. Mark’s Square Made in Ancient China?

New research suggests that the famous bronze statue may have originally guarded a Chinese tomb before arriving in Venice in the late 13th century

Piles of marigold garlands at the 170-year-old Mullick Ghat flower market in Kolkata. The flowers are ubiquitous at Hindu religious rituals and festivals.

From Flower Markets and Colonial Forts to Shrines and Battlefields, Take a Journey Into the Heart of India

Traveling down a river in West Bengal reveals the enduring imprint of empire—and the soul of a region shaped by centuries of change

The site was occupied by an unknown Celtic tribe.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Celtic Settlement Filled With Jewelry, Amber and Coins in the Czech Republic

The 62-acre settlement was likely established in the fourth century B.C.E. Researchers think it may have served as a major trading hub

The box given to Brand contained records from the Dutch East India Company.

Cool Finds

Stolen Historic Documents Surface in Attic—Ten Years After an Employee Used Them as Collateral to Borrow Money

The thief likely took the trove when he worked for the Dutch National Archives in 2015. Recently, someone found them in storage and contacted art detective Arthur Brand

Through this model of community-based conservation, Peru’s vicuña population has grown to over 200,000.

How an Ancestral Peruvian Ceremony Is Saving the Once-Endangered Vicuña

Each year in the first weeks of June, Indigenous communities in the Andes form a human chain to corral the camelids and shear their valuable wool

The CSS Shenandoah surrendered to the British government in November 1865, after traveling 17,000 miles in just three months in hopes of evading capture by Union warships.

Untold Stories of American History

A Confederate Raider Fired the Final Shots of the Civil War in the Arctic, Two and a Half Months After Robert E. Lee Surrendered

The CSS “Shenandoah” only learned of the Confederacy’s defeat in the summer of 1865. That June, the cruiser’s crew sank 24 American merchant vessels, unaware that the conflict had already ended

Visitors pose atop Arch Rock, a geological formation on Mackinac Island.

How America’s Forgotten Second National Park Lost Its Federal Status—and Gained a New Lease on Life as a State Park

Much of Mackinac Island was designated as a national park in 1875, but it proved to be too expensive for the government to maintain, so it was transferred to the State of Michigan in 1895

This ebony figurine was found in a child's grave.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Two Rare African Figurines in 1,500-Year-Old Christian Burials in Israel

The artifacts were buried in the graves of a young woman and child, who may have converted to Christianity in Africa before traveling to the region, researchers say

The ancient people of Carthage, located in modern Tunisia, did not have ancestry in common with the Levantine Phoenicians that established their culture, according to a new study.

Carthaginians, Ancient Rome’s Infamous Enemies, Are Not Exactly Who Scholars Thought They Were, Ancestry Study Suggests

DNA reveals that the people of Carthage, a powerful independent colony founded by the Phoenicians, had little genetic similarity to their counterparts in the Levant

Researchers investigated 12th- and 13th-century manuscripts from an abbey in France that were clad in furry outer covers.

Some ‘Hairy’ Medieval Books Were Covered in Sealskin, and Researchers Don’t Know Exactly Why

Historians were surprised when analyses revealed Catholic monks used pinniped hides for the protective outer layer on some manuscripts, rather than skins from the local boars and deer

Jason Sandy mudlarking along the River Thames in London

Cool Finds

History-Hunting Mudlarks Scour London’s Shores to Uncover the City’s Rich Archaeological Treasures

A new exhibition at the London Museum Docklands spotlights hundreds of mudlarking finds, from Bronze Age tools to Viking daggers to medieval spectacles

A Harper's Weekly illustration of Confederate soldiers driving Black Americans south in 1862

Untold Stories of American History

After Confederate Forces Captured Their Children, These Black Mothers Fought to Reunite Their Families

During the Civil War, Confederates targeted free Black people in the North, kidnapping them to sell into slavery. After the conflict ended, two women sought help from high places to track down their lost loved ones

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