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Lavish Roman villa discovered outside Rome's walls may have been frequented by Hadrian and Marcus AureliusThe villa, which came to light because it was illegally excavated, was found in an area frequented two millennia ago by the emperors Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.
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Mask of Mictlantecuhtli: A 500-year-old mask of the Aztec god of the underworld, who tore apart the dead as they entered his realmAstonishing Artifacts This skull-shaped mask was made to be used in a ritual involving the Aztec god of death.
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'Political motivations' of Inca emperor led to the sacrifice of 3 children on a snow-capped volcano over 500 years ago, study suggestsAn analysis of corn, cassava and coca plants discovered with sacrificed Inca children reveals they died during the reign of one of the last Inca emperors.
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Complete skin of an adult horse found with 10th-century woman and newborn in rare Siberian burialArchaeologists found a rare medieval burial of a woman, newborn child and horse in southern Russia.
3 Commentsarchaeology -
2,000 years ago in Scotland, people removed a corpse's brain and fashioned the arm bones into toolsA new analysis of 2,000-year-old skeletons found in northern Scotland has revealed an unusual funeral ritual involving the manipulation of dead bodies.
archaeology -
Ditch full of 7,000-year-old headless human skeletons discovered in Slovakia, baffling archaeologistsArchaeologists are unsure why people in Stone Age Slovakia removed corpses' heads before burying them in a neighborhood ditch.
archaeology -
Roman bath clog: The world's oldest shower shoes were found at a fort along Hadrian's WallAstonishing Artifacts The Romans were the first to wear clog-style footwear to the baths to protect their feet from the hot floor and to better navigate slippery surfaces.
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Italian teenagers discover 1,800-year-old Roman luxury house underneath their high school gymAfter being notified by mischievous high school students, archaeologists uncovered a large and luxurious second-century Roman house near the Colosseum.
17 Commentsromans -
Archaeologists study the International Space Station and Everest to figure out 'how humans adapt in this impossible place where we have no business going'Interview Archaeologists are turning their attention and research skills to far-flung places on the Earth and beyond, discovering new information about how humans survive in extreme environments.
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17,000-year-old stripes of red in a Welsh cave are the oldest rock art in the UK, study findsOver a century after a red-lined cave wall was discovered, scientists have determined that it represents the U.K.'s oldest rock art.
5 Commentsarchaeology -
Gessel gold hoard: A 3,300-year-old stash of gleaming treasures that's one of the largest Bronze Age hoards from EuropeAstonishing Artifacts The Gessel gold hoard is among the largest treasures ever discovered in prehistoric Europe but has only three pieces of jewelry in it.
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Skeletal remains of Queen Elisenda, one of the most powerful rulers in medieval Europe, unearthed in Barcelona — along with several others who bore unexplained stab woundsIn honor of the 700th-anniversary founding of the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria Pedralbes in Barcelona, scientists opened eight 14th-century graves and studied the 25 people found inside, including a queen.
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1,200-year-old gold hoard discovered in Saudi Arabia may have been buried by a medieval pilgrimArchaeologists have unearthed a 1,200-year-old hoard of gold, silver and gemstones that was buried along a medieval pilgrimage route in Saudi Arabia.
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Toxic plant on Ming dynasty-era surgical tools may be world’s oldest chemical evidence of topical anestheticAn analysis of residue on centuries-old surgical tools reveals the use of a toxic anesthetic in Ming dynasty-era Chinese medicine.
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Bead net funerary shroud: A 2,500-year-old beaded veil from Egypt depicting the deceased's transformation into OsirisAstonishing Artifacts This funerary shroud was made from thousands of multicolored beads and woven to represent a human face and a large scarab beetle.
2 CommentsAstonishing Artifacts -
Scurvy-plagued whalers' remains discovered at 'Corpse Point' in SvalbardSkeletons of early modern whalers reveal widespread scurvy, pipe smoking and heavy physical labor.
archaeology -
800-year-old notebook and fancy silk toilet paper discovered in medieval latrine in GermanyArchaeologists recovered the 10-page wax notebook with Latin writing and its leather carrying case from a medieval latrine in Germany.
archaeology -
1,200-year-old giant 'death jar' in Laos contains generations of human skeletonsExcavation of a large stone vessel from the mysterious Laos Plain of Jars has confirmed its use in an ancient funerary tradition.
archaeology -
Daunian kyathos: A 2,700-year-old ceramic cup from Italy decorated with an exuberant-looking, bug-eyed fellowAstonishing Artifacts A pre-Roman ceramic cup or ladle that could inspire kitchenware today — this li'l dude is excited to mix!
8 CommentsAstonishing Artifacts -
8-year-old African American boy from Colonial Maryland found buried with white Colonists, and it's unclear if he was enslavedA 17th-century cemetery from Colonial Maryland held the remains of an 8-year-old boy with majority African ancestry, as well as two indentured servants.
7 Commentsamericas -
Hantavirus cruise: 41 people in the United States being monitored as investigation into outbreak source continuesTake a look back at our live coverage during the cases of hantavirus aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius.
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Homo erectus genetic material sequenced for the first time, and it shows 'deep genetic links' with modern humansA new study of six Homo erectus individuals from China reveals one amino acid variant that distinguished this archaic human from all other human lineages and one that it passed on to modern humans via Denisovans.
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'Speculation' and 'egregious failure': 30 researchers publish scathing critiques of study that questioned date of early human occupation of Monte Verde in ChileDozens of scientists have banded together to pen scathing research letters to the journal Science about the publication of a study claiming the 14,500-year-old Monte Verde archaeological site in Chile is much younger than shown.
3 Commentsamericas -
Lion's head pendant: An ancient Egyptian board game piece that was later repurposed into a magical religious object with baboonsAstonishing Artifacts An ancient Egyptian board game piece was repurposed centuries later in Sudan into a dazzling gold-and-amethyst pendant.
Astonishing Artifacts
