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.
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2,300-year-old shell mosaic discovered in luxurious home in RomeArchaeologists think the house belonged to a senatorial family during the last years of Rome's Republic.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
romans -
Ancient Egypt's sacred baboons had tough lives, study suggestsAncient baboon mummies show signs of poor diet and lack of sunlight during captivity.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology -
Ancient 'curse tablet' may show earliest Hebrew name of GodArchaeologists working in the West Bank say they've discovered a tiny lead "curse tablet" that may include the oldest known mention of the Hebrew name of God "Yahweh" ever found.
By Tom Metcalfe Last updated
archaeology -
'Curse tablet' with oldest Hebrew name of god is actually a fishing weight, experts argueResearchers say they see no sign of an inscription on a tablet previously thought to contain the Hebrew name for the god Yahweh.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology -
7 extraordinary African kingdoms from ancient times to centuries agoThere's much more to ancient Africa than Egypt.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology -
2,000-year-old coin stash discovered at ancient Buddhist shrine in PakistanResearchers think the coins are from a Buddhist shrine established amid much older ruins.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology -
Chiseled obsidian recovered from Neolithic shipwreck near Capri's 'Blue Grotto'Divers off the coast of Naples, Italy have recovered a large chunk of chiseled obsidian that likely went down in a Stone Age shipwreck more than 5,000 years ago.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology -
Indigenous Mexicans migrated to California 5,200 years ago, likely bringing their languages with them, ancient DNA revealsThe research challenges the idea that languages from prehistoric Mexico spread along with maize farming in California.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology -
2,800-year-old ivory carved with sphinx discovered in TurkeyThe artifact is from an Iron Age settlement at Hattusa that was established after the city was abandoned by the Hittites.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology -
Stone Age Europeans mastered spear-throwers 10,000 years earlier than we thought, study suggestsThe researchers say their study pushes back the dates for the use of spear-throwers in Europe by more than 10,000 years.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology -
'Magical' Roman wind chime with phallus, believed to ward off evil eye, unearthed in SerbiaPhallic objects like this were common in the Roman world to ward off evil.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
romans -
500-year-old Hebrew note reveals 'lost' earthquake swarm in ItalyA Hebrew note found in the Vatican Library describes a 1446 earthquake swarm previously unknown to seismologists.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
planet-earth -
Remains of 2,000-year-old sheep-drawn chariot discovered near 'Terracotta Army' in ChinaOnly the sheep's skeletons remain, but such vehicles appear in Chinese lore.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology -
500-year-old lion drawing in Puerto Rican cave may have been made by an enslaved AfricanThere were no lions in 16th-century Puerto Rico — so was the cave drawing made by someone who'd actually seen one?
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology -
Dozens of centuries-old stone grenades from Ming dynasty discovered at Great Wall of ChinaThe weapons are among a variety of explosive devices used in China during the Ming dynasty.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology -
'World-class aquifer' enabled ancient African kingdom to thrive in the Sahara for hundreds of yearsThe rise and fall of the Garamantes in what is now Libya is a cautionary tale for regions that rely on ancient groundwater.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology -
Cannibalism was a common funerary rite in northwest Europe near end of last ice ageResearch suggests cannibalism was a funerary rite for the Magdalenian people in northwest Europe, but others preferred to bury their dead.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology -
2nd-century Alexander the Great statue with lion's-mane hairstyle unearthed in TurkeyThe discovery shows the popularity of the ancient ruler hundreds of years after his death.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
middle-east -
Norwegian family finds 1,200-year-old Viking treasure while searching for a lost earring in their yardThe discovery includes two roughly 1,200-year-old brooches, made from bronze and once gilded with gold, that may have belonged to an aristocratic woman.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
vikings -
1,400-year-old tomb of emperor in China reveals evidence of royal power struggle among brothers and a warlordAn inscription on the 1,400-year-old tomb shows the dead man, who was posthumously declared emperor, was buried as a duke.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology -
'Ritual text' from lost Indo-European language discovered on ancient clay tablet in TurkeyResearchers are still studying the ancient text of an unknown language, written in cuneiform on a clay tablet.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology -
Cup crafted from prehistoric human skull discovered in cave in SpainA new study suggests that Spain's ancient peoples shared complex beliefs about death and the afterlife.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology -
Early medieval warrior found buried with his weapons in GermanyArchaeologists think the man died during the Merovingian period, an early stage of the Germanic-speaking empire of the Franks.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology -
14th-century shipboard cannon that fired 'stone shots' may be Europe's oldest on recordAn analysis of cloth found inside the cannon suggests that it dates to the 14th century and that the weapon was charged with gunpowder and ready to fire.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
archaeology
