Tom Metcalfe

Live Science Contributor

Tom Metcalfe is a freelance journalist and regular Live Science contributor who is based in London in the United Kingdom. Tom writes mainly about science, space, archaeology, the Earth and the oceans. He has also written for the BBC, NBC News, National Geographic, Scientific American, Air & Space, and many others.


Articles by: Tom Metcalfe

Among the finds are this spectacular broken menorah, or ceremonial candlestick, representing the seven-branched menorah in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Synagogue unearthed in Russia may be one of the oldest outside Israel. But not everyone is convinced.

By Tom Metcalfe published

Archaeologists think the temple dates to the first century B.C., before the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

We see a diver at the lake floor, where there are lots of wooden sticks in the ground.

Europe's oldest known village teetered on stilts over a Balkan lake 8,000 years ago

By Tom Metcalfe published

The village likely dates to the time of Europe's first farmers, who arrived from Anatolia about 8,000 years ago.

Human mummified remains lay over a snow bank.

Ötzi the Iceman may have been bald and getting fat before his murder 5,300 years ago

By Tom Metcalfe published

A new DNA analysis reveals that Ötzi the Iceman was genetically predisposed to male-pattern baldness, diabetes and obesity.

A trio of woolly mammoths trudges over snow covered hills. Behind them, mountains with snow covered peaks rise above dark green forests of fir trees.

Europe's 1st humans were likely wiped out by a sudden freeze 1.1 million years ago

By Tom Metcalfe published

Europe underwent "extreme cooling" about 1.1 million years ago, which coincides with a gap in hominin habitation, a new study finds.

A child skeleton is placed faced down in a 17th European grave.

400-year-old 'vampire child' found buried with its foot padlocked to stop it rising from the grave

By Tom Metcalfe published

The child was buried face-down and with an iron padlock on its foot.

Statue of Akhenaten (Reigned c. 1351-1334 BC). 18th Dynasty. One of a series of colossal statues that once lined a colonnade in the Precinct of the Aten at Karnak.

29 lost burials archaeologists have yet to find (and 1 they did)

By Tom Metcalfe published

The burials of famous people provide enduring archaeological mysteries. Here are 30 of the most acclaimed "lost" tombs.

We see sand art with a white swastika-like shape against a red circle and surrounded by white ovals against a larger green bacckground.

What are the origins of the Nazi swastika?

By Tom Metcalfe published

The Nazi symbol is not the same as the ancient Hindu symbol.

We see a group of people standing around the ancient wooden planks of a boat in a desert-like place.

Ancient Roman boat from empire's frontier unearthed in Serbian coal mine

By Tom Metcalfe published

Coal miners found the remains of a Roman boat that likely supplied an ancient frontier city and military headquarters.

We see a woman in an orange jacket doing an archaeological survey near a dirt field.

4,000-year-old cemetery discovered at future rocket launch site in UK

By Tom Metcalfe published

Archaeologists think the burial site dates from about 4,000 years ago, during the Bronze Age.

We see a skeleton in a dirt burial. There is a bronze bar with hooked ends across the skeleton's waist and a bowl to the upper right.

3,000-year-old untouched burial of 'charioteer' discovered in Siberia

By Tom Metcalfe published

The discovery implies horse-drawn chariots were once used in the region, but none have been found.

We see four oil lamps and one human skull against a black background.

Evidence of Roman-era 'death magic' used to speak with the deceased found near Jerusalem

By Tom Metcalfe published

Researchers think the morbid practice originated with pagan people who settled in the region after the Romans drove out the Jews.

We see a pure gold headband close up with the image of a bull with horns.

Elite Bronze Age tombs laden with gold and precious stones are 'among the richest ever found in the Mediterranean'

By Tom Metcalfe published

The obvious wealth of the tombs was based on the local production of copper, which was in great demand at the time to make bronze.

We see a man in a hat in a dirt hole and holding onto part of a rusty, decayed plane.

Metal detectorists find buried WWII aircraft in Ukraine while disarming wartime bomb

By Tom Metcalfe published

The aircraft were sent to the Soviet Union in 1941 to help the Allied war effort, but they were dumped to avoid payment.

A woman in a pink coat holds a rusty sword next to her toddler son and husband, who is wearing a red jacket. They are in a construction area next to an archaeologist in a green shirt.

Viking sword from warrior's grave unearthed in family's yard in Norway

By Tom Metcalfe published

The Viking Age weapon was discovered by a homeowner clearing land for an extension.

We see Victorian buildings in the background and a large dig site in the foreground.

Roman aqueduct and 'luxurious' burials unearthed during construction of underground parking garage in Serbia

By Tom Metcalfe published

The finds in Belgrade date from the period when the city was a regional center of the Roman Empire.

A bronze mask against a gray background.

Complete Bronze Age town with elite tombs discovered in northern China

By Tom Metcalfe published

The site is one of the largest ever discovered dating from China's early Shang Dynasty.

We see the skeletal remains of a woman in a dirt grave. A magnified image box shows an ivory ring around her thigh.

Enigmatic Anglo-Saxon ivory rings discovered in elite burials came from African elephants 4,000 miles away

By Tom Metcalfe published

Hundreds of elite Anglo-Saxon women were buried with mysterious ivory rings. Now, researchers know the ivory came from elephants living about 4,000 miles away from England.

We see a bird's-eye view image of the sandy and rocky desert of northern Peru. Running diagonally in the photo is a high stone wall.

1,000-year-old wall in Peru was built to protect against El Niño floods, research suggests

By Tom Metcalfe published

The research found flood sediments only on the eastern side of a desert wall built almost 1,000 years ago.

We see a dirt field with a flattened barrow (mound) that has cut marks in it like rays from a sun. There are workers and an excavator.

Vast cemetery of Bronze Age burial mounds unearthed near Stonehenge

By Tom Metcalfe published

The cemetery was built at the same time as most of Stonehenge.

We see an underwater wreck of a submarine. The hatch is closed and sea life is growing on the metal of the sub.

Top-secret special-ops submarine from World War II discovered after 20-year search

By Tom Metcalfe published

A veteran Greek diver announced that he'd discovered the wreck of HMS Triumph after searching for more than 20 years.

We see the front of white marble Pan statue against a dark background. It includes his head and torso. He is playing the pipes.

Broken pagan statue of Greek god Pan unearthed at early church ruins in Istanbul

By Tom Metcalfe published

A marble statue of the Greek god Pan was found in "backfill" at an archaeological site in Istanbul that probably came from elsewhere in the ancient city.

Here we see a Nazca line in gray of a bird, with its wings spread out wide.

AI identifies 3 more 'Nazca Lines' figures in Peru

By Tom Metcalfe published

The deep-learning system is 21 times faster than a human at finding ancient "geoglyphs" in aerial photographs of Peru's Nazca Desert.

We see the stone-carved statue of an elephant with its trunk curved downward toward the ground. It is in a dirt-covered area of a grass field.

2,300-year-old Buddhist elephant statue from India is one of the oldest known

By Tom Metcalfe published

Archaeologists in eastern India have unearthed an elephant statue thought to date to the third century B.C., when the region was mainly Buddhist.

Here we see a hand clenching around the end of a wooden spear, with the forefinger in the "open ring" finger loop.

150-year-old mystery of strange half-circles from Paleolithic site in France finally solved

By Tom Metcalfe published

Hurling spear-thrower projectiles at archery targets revealed that these loops may have been finger grips.

Here we see an underground chamber with brick-lined walls.

Hidden tunnel and rooms unearthed under 1,500-year-old church in Istanbul

By Tom Metcalfe published

Archaeologists have excavated subterranean rooms and a tunnel under an early church in Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.

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