Latest articles by Kristina Killgrove
Ancient 'urine flasks' for smelling (and tasting) pee uncovered in trash dump at Caesar's forum in Rome
Archaeologists have unearthed 500-year-old 'urine flasks' at a medical dump within Caesar's forum in Rome.
Mysterious 'painted people' of Scotland are long gone, but their DNA lives on
A new look at eight skeletons from two Pictish cemeteries reveals that the enigmatic Picts weren't from afar, as medieval historians suggested, but that they had local roots.
Oldest Scottish tartan ever found was preserved in a bog for over 400 years
Scotland's oldest true tartan dates to between 1500 and 1600.
Indigenous people of the American West used 'sacred' horses a half-century earlier than previously thought
Indigenous oral histories and archaeological evidence are rewriting the story of how horses came to the American West.
Roman-era trash dump containing naked Venus statue and other artifacts unearthed in France
Archaeologists have found a trove of artifacts, including two statues of the goddess Venus, in a Roman-era quarry-turned-trash-dump.
Roman-era tomb scattered with magical 'dead nails' and sealed off to shield the living from the 'restless dead'
A 2,000-year-old tomb discovered in Turkey was sprinkled with "dead nails" and sealed off with bricks and plaster, likely to "shield the living from the dead."
Gladiators fought in Roman Britain, action-packed cremation urn carvings reveal
A new analysis of the famous Colchester vase indicates that gladiators fought in Roman Britain during the second century A.D.
Hinged phallus of 2,000-year-old fertility figurine was 'clearly intended to dangle'
A 2,000-year-old Celtic bronze figure with a hinged phallus is going to auction this week in the U.K.
World's 1st horseback riders swept across Europe roughly 5,000 years ago
The world's first horseback riders swept across the steppe roughly 5,000 years ago, a new skeletal analysis of tombs across Europe and Asia reveals.
Stunning gem-covered gold earrings discovered in 800-year-old hoard in Germany
Byzantine earrings and an Islamic-style coin were found by a town key to Viking trade in Germany.
Ancient Roman 'spike defenses' made famous by Julius Caesar found in Germany
Archaeologists have found ancient Roman "barbed wire," famously used and written about by Julius Caesar, for the first time near a German silver mine.
Medieval synagogue that predates the Inquisition found hidden under Spanish nightclub
A highly significant find, this 14th-century synagogue is a rare example of Jewish religious life in medieval Spain.
Archaeologists find unexploded artillery shell under Gettysburg battlefield
Archaeological work ahead of a rehabilitation project at a Gettysburg battlefield revealed an unexploded artillery shell from the Civil War.
Viking warriors sailed the seas with their pets, bone analysis finds
A Viking cemetery in England doesn't just hold the cremated remains of these warriors but also the beloved animals they brought from Scandinavia.
Vast subterranean aqueduct in Naples once 'served elite Roman villas'
Once played in by local children, a vast tunnel that goes through a hill in Naples, Italy, is actually a Roman aqueduct, archaeologists say.
Enslaved people were kidnapped from all across Africa, rare look at DNA from colonial cemetery reveals
In 2013, South Carolinians made the unexpected discovery of a Colonial-era cemetery holding the remains of enslaved people. Now, a genetic analysis of some of these individuals reveals their origins.
20,000-year-old cave painting 'dots' are the earliest written language, study claims. But not everyone agrees.
Stone Age dots, lines and Y-shaped marks might represent a type of proto-writing created by hunter-gatherers who lived in Europe at least 20,000 years ago.
People 'finger painted' the skulls of their ancestors red in the Andes a millennium ago
An analysis into finger-painted skulls found in Peru, some from individuals who died up to a millennium ago, reveals that people painted their ancestors' skeletal remains.
Notre Dame's spire had 2 hidden coffins beneath it. Now, scientists know who was buried there.
Remains of two wealthy men — one clergy and the other young and noble — have been discovered in the lead sarcophagi found buried at Notre Dame.
Gold-and-garnet cross necklace found buried with wealthy medieval British woman
Archaeologists in England were surprised to discover an elaborate cross with human faces and a gold-and-garnet necklace in an early medieval burial.
Man holding penis and flanked by leopards is world's oldest narrative carving
The 11,000-year-old carved relief, found in Turkey, is the oldest narrative carving on record.
Medieval man buried in Poland had two kinds of dwarfism
Archaeologists in Poland excavating a cemetery by a monastery have discovered the remains of a medieval man who had two different forms of dwarfism.
Protective childbirth tattoos found on ancient Egyptian mummies
Some ancient Egyptian mothers got tattoos that were likely meant to protect them during childbirth and during the postpartum period, an analysis of their mummies reveals.
