Weapons

An overview of the Olorgesailie basin landscape, where the archeological site exists that contains stone weapons and tools

To Adapt to a Changing Environment 400,000 Years Ago, Early Humans Developed New Tools and Behaviors

When the East African Rift Valley transformed dramatically, new weapons arose and trade expanded

Archaeologists inspect the Anglo-Saxon warlord's grave.

Newly Unearthed Warrior's Grave Poised to Redraw Map of Anglo-Saxon England

Nicknamed the "Marlow Warlord," the six-foot-tall man was buried on a hill overlooking the Thames sometime in the sixth century A.D.

The hoard includes 453 bronze objects, including axe heads, spearheads, sword fragments and bracelets

London's Largest Cache of Bronze Age Objects Is on View for the First Time

The Havering Hoard includes 100 pounds of artifacts recovered from an ancient enclosure ditch

The 1,100-year-old sword found in Norway measures about three feet long.

Norwegian Archaeologists Unearth Grave of Left-Handed Viking Warrior

Vikings' weapons were often buried on the opposite side of where their owners had held them in life, pointing toward belief in a "mirror afterlife"

The mushroom cloud from Tsar Bomba was 42 miles high, about seven times the height of Mount Everest

Russia Declassifies Video From 1961 of Largest Hydrogen Bomb Ever Detonated

The blast was over 3,000 times bigger than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima

Allied freighters ablaze in the harbor of Bari, Italy, after the German attack.

How a Chemical Weapons Disaster in WWII Led to a U.S. Cover-Up—and a New Cancer Treatment

The physician who led the investigation into a deadly explosion in Italy found the truth, and some hope

The helmet has been on view at England's Preston Park Museum since 2012.

Millennia-Old Headgear Is One of Just Two (Almost) Intact Viking Helmets

A new study dates a piece of armor found in Britain in the 1950s to the tenth century A.D.

Amateur treasure hunter Mariusz Stepien found the cache of Bronze Age artifacts (including these pieces of a horse harness) while searching a field with a metal detector.

Rare Bronze Age Sword, Horse Harness Unearthed in Scotland

The "nationally significant" trove of 3,000-year-old artifacts also includes a pendant, rings and chariot wheel axle caps

Various types of North and South American fluted points

Ancient Artisans in Arabia, the Americas Invented Same Technology Independently

New research suggests stone fluting served different purposes in the two regions

All this could be yours—for the right price. An auction for this North Dakota Cold War-era missile site begins on August 11.

You Could Own an Abandoned Cold War Missile Site in North Dakota

The 50-acre fixer-upper has potential as a tourist attraction or a pandemic bunker

A man wheels his bicycle through Hiroshima days after an atomic bomb leveled the city.

Nine Harrowing Eyewitness Accounts of the Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

More than seventy-five years ago, the atomic blasts killed an estimated 200,000 people

The B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay was one of a few dozen World War II-era aircraft specially modified for the express purpose of delivering atomic weapons.

Why the Enola Gay, the Plane That Dropped the First Atomic Bomb, Will Always Inspire Debate

The Enola Gay, fully restored and on view at the Smithsonian, left an indelible mark

One of the Last Living Manhattan Project Scientists Looks Back at the Atomic Bomb Tests

Peter Lax was just a teenager when he went to Los Alamos to join the team that developed the deadly weapon

This diagram shows the different kinds of animal bones used to make the 48,000-year-old tools.

Evidence of Early Bow-and-Arrow Hunting Discovered in Sri Lanka

If confirmed, the 48,000-year-old find will be the oldest known instance of bowhunting outside of Africa

The Bayeux Tapestry depicts Harold II with an arrow jutting from his head, but whether the English king actually died in this manner remains a point of contention.

Medieval Arrows Inflicted Injuries That Mirror Damage Caused by Modern Bullets

New research demonstrates the immense power of the medieval English longbow

Two skeletons unearthed in Lechlade, England, date back to around 2200 B.C.

Bronze Age Chieftain's Remains Found Beneath U.K. Skate Park

The Beaker man was buried alongside four cowhide "rugs," an eight-inch copper dagger and a wrist guard made of rare green stone

An artist's rendering of two early hominins hunting waterfowl on the Schöningen lakeshore with throwing sticks

300,000-Year-Old Stick Suggests Human Ancestors Were Skilled Hunters

The ancient throwing stick may have been used by Neanderthals or an even earlier hominin

Researchers staged fights using recreated Bronze Age weapons to better understand how they might have been used in ancient fighting.

Scientists Stage Sword Fights to Study Bronze Age Warfare

Research suggests bronze blades, thought by some to be too fragile for combat, were deadly weapons across ancient Europe

Serafino Jamourlian of the monastery of San Lazzaro degli Armeni and Vittoria Dall'Armellina with a newly rediscovered 5,000-year-old sword

Graduate Student Discovers One of World's Oldest Swords in Mislabeled Monastery Display

At 5,000 years old, the weapon predates the era when humans first started using tin to make bronze

The restored dagger and sheath, following nine months of sandblasting and grinding

Archaeology Intern Unearths Spectacular, 2,000-Year-Old Roman Dagger

After a nine-month restoration, the elaborately decorated blade and its sheath gleam as if brand new

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