Science
Archaeology
Making a Roman Emperor
A newly discovered monumental arch in Serbia reveals a family's rise to power in the late second century A.D.
10 min |
July/August 2024
Archaeology
The Assyrian Renaissance
Archaeologists return to Nineveh in northern Iraq, one of the ancient world's grandest imperial capitals
10+ min |
July/August 2024
Archaeology
Java's Megalithic Mountain
Across the Indonesian archipelago, people raised immense stones to honor their ancestors
8 min |
July/August 2024
Archaeology
THE SONG IN THE STONE
Located in a desert gorge in southern Peru, Toro Muerto is one of the richest rock art sites in South America. It includes at least 2,600 boulders bearing petroglyphs, many featuring figures known as danzantes who appear to be dancing.
1 min |
July/August 2024
Archaeology
A Very Close Encounter
New research has shown that human figures painted in red on a rock art panel in central Montana depict individuals engaged in a life-or-death encounter during an especially fraught historical moment.
1 min |
September/October 2023
Archaeology
A Sword for the Ages
A zigzag pattern, now tinged with the green-blue patina of oxidized metal, adorns the octagonal hilt of a rare sword dating to the Middle Bronze Age in Germany (1600-1200 B.C.) that was recently excavated in the Bavarian town of Nördlingen.
1 min |
September/October 2023
Archaeology
Ancient Egyptian Astrology
For centuries, layers of soot have coated the ceilings and columns in the entrance hall of Egypt's Temple of Esna. Now, an Egyptian-German team of researchers, led by Hisham El-Leithy of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and Christian Leitz of the University of Tübingen, is restoring the temple's vibrant painted reliefs to their original brilliance.
1 min |
July/August 2023
Archaeology
BRONZE AGE POWER PLAYERS
How Hittite kings forged diplomatic ties with a shadowy Greek city-state
10 min |
September/October 2023
Archaeology
RITES OF REBELLION
Archaeologists unearth evidence of a 500-year-old resistance movement high in the Andes
8 min |
September/October 2023
Archaeology
Secrets of Egypt's Golden Boy
CT scans offer researchers a virtual look deep inside a mummy's coffin
8 min |
September/October 2023
Archaeology
When Lions Were King
Across the ancient world, people adopted the big cats as sacred symbols of power and protection
8 min |
September/October 2023
Archaeology
UKRAINE'S LOST CAPITAL
In 1708, Peter the Great destroyed Baturyn, a bastion of Cossack independence and culture
10+ min |
September/October 2023
Archaeology
LAPAKAHI VILLAGE, HAWAII
Standing beside a cove on the northwest coast of the island of Hawaii, the fishing village of Lapakahi, which is surrounded by black lava stone walls, was once home to generations of fishers and farmers known throughout the archipelago for their mastery of la'au lapa'au, or the practice of traditional Hawaiian medicine. \"
2 min |
September/October 2023
Archaeology
A MORE COMFORTABLE RIDE
Although the date is much debated, most scholars believe people 5,000 years ago. For thousands of years after that, they did so without saddles. \"In comparison with horse riding, the development of saddles began relatively late, when riders began to care more about comfort and safety in addition to the horse's health,\" says University of Zurich archaeologist Patrick Wertmann.
1 min |
September/October 2023
Archaeology
PREVENTING THE RETURN OF THE DEAD
An archaeological team excavating a necropolis at the site of Sagalassos in southwest Turkey uncovered an unusual and very eerie tomb.
1 min |
September/October 2023
Archaeology
DRAMATIC ENTRANCE
Four miniature terracotta masks found in the Roman city of Jerash in Jordan shed light on its theater district in the second century A.D. Excavators from the University of Jordan unearthed the masks in a doorway of a structure.
1 min |
September/October 2023
Archaeology
PIZZA! PIZZA?
When Pompeian authorities recently unveiled a new wall painting, it launched an international debate.
1 min |
September/October 2023
Archaeology
ROYAL WHARF
During excavations in Oslo's Bjørvika neighborhood, archaeologists have uncovered a portion of the foundations of a medieval wharf.
1 min |
September/October 2023
Archaeology
SUNKEN CARGO
Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) archaeologists have begun to investigate 44 tons of marble building materials that a swimmer spotted in shallow water 600 feet off the coast of the ancient Roman port of Caesarea after they were exposed by a recent storm.
1 min |
September/October 2023
Archaeology
RAM HEADS FOR RAMESSES
While exploring the surroundings of the temple of the pharaoh Ramesses II (reigned ca. 1279-1213 B.C.) in the ancient Egyptian city of Abydos, archaeologists from New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World uncovered an enormous collection of mummified animal heads in an ancient storage area.
1 min |
September/October 2023
Archaeology
THE ELEPHANT AND THE BUDDHA
While working in the village of Gada Balabhadrapur on the banks of the Daya River in India's state of Odisha, archaeologists unearthed a three-foot-tall sculpture of an elephant dating to the third century B.C., a time when Buddhism flourished in the area.
1 min |
September/October 2023
Archaeology
NOSE TO TAIL
Los Angeles' first Chinatown was settled starting around 1880, south of the city's historic center, the Los Angeles Plaza. Over the next two decades, the densely populated neighborhood expanded to the northeast and became home to a range of Chinese-owned businesses. These included markets that sold fare such as plum sauce for seasoning roast meat and restaurants that served up delicacies such as bird's nest soup and century eggs.
3 min |
September/October 2023
Archaeology
An Elegant Enigma
The luxurious possessions of a seventeenth-century woman continue to intrigue researchers a decade after they were retrieved from a shipwreck
7 min |
July/August 2023
Archaeology
AFRICA'S MERCHANT KINGS
The early Christian kingdom of Aksum was at the heart of a great maritime trading network
10+ min |
July/August 2023
Archaeology
DEFENDING THE CANYONLANDS
Rare shields from the American Southwest are a legacy of a turbulent time in Native history
8 min |
July/August 2023
Archaeology
Inside a Magnificent Celtic Tomb
New investigations of an Iron Age burial in France reveal the source of one woman's exceptional power
10 min |
July/August 2023
Archaeology
Rise of the Persian Princes
In their grand capital Persepolis, Achaemenid rulers expressed their vision of a prosperous, multicultural empire
10+ min |
July/August 2023
Archaeology
OFF THE GRID
One of Mexico's most important archaeological sites is hidden in plain view in the Tlalpan borough of southern Mexico City.
2 min |
July/August 2023
Archaeology
BIG GAME HUNTING
Archaeologists rarely unearth the remains of large predators such as leopards, lions, and bears. But University of Haifa archaeologist Ron Shimelmitz and his colleagues wondered if, by looking at a large number of sites over thousands of years, they could identify evidence showing that ancient people hunted these fearsome creatures.
1 min |
July/August 2023
Archaeology
HYBRID HOARD
A hoard of silver and gold items buried in the Netherlands 800 years ago-possibly for safekeeping during a time of war-was recovered by a licensed metal detectorist.
1 min |