Tom Metcalfe

Two polished stone balls shaped about 5,500 years ago — linked to a mysterious practice almost unique to Neolithic Britain — have been discovered in an ancient Scottish tomb.

A wooden pole made from an oak tree trunk and carved into the shape of a pagan idol 1,600 years ago has been unearthed in a bog in Ireland.

Archaeologists in southwest Russia have unearthed a trove of medieval silver at a site where treasure was often hidden from an invading Mongol army in the 13th century.

The stone structure was part of a ceremonial landscape.

Smoke from massive wildfires in Russia's eastern Siberia region has reached the geographic North Pole "for the first time in recorded history," according to NASA.

A secret cache of Nazi artifacts — including badges adorned with eagles and swastikas, and a portrait of Adolf Hitler — has been found in Hagen, Germany.

The mountaintop Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in southern Peru was built and inhabited decades earlier than previously believed.

An immense stone that defined the sacred city limits of ancient Rome almost 2,000 years ago has been unearthed by construction workers in the historic center of the city.

Iceland may be the last exposed remnant of a nearly Texas-size continent — called Icelandia — that sank beneath the North Atlantic Ocean about 10 million years ago

The submerged remains of a Roman road have been found on the seafloor of the Venice lagoon, along with archaeological structures that are thought to be what's left of a dock and settlements.

Cannabis, the source of marijuana, originated in northwest China, where local strains are most like the original strain of cannabis cultivated more than 12,000 years ago.

A mysterious wooden structure built in Italy more than 3,000 years ago may have been a Bronze Age "infinity pool" that reflected the sky during religious rituals.

A hoard of silver coins minted in the Carolingian Empire may have been part of a historic ransom to save Paris from a Viking invasion.

A bronze amulet inscribed with the name of God and symbols for protection against the curse of the "evil eye" has been rediscovered after being lost in Israel 40 years ago.

Archeologists are investigating a lawn that's thought to cover the mass grave of the victims of a wartime massacre in Singapore, ahead of the construction of a hospital extension on the site.

The influenza virus that caused the 1918 pandemic mutated into variants, much like the novel coronavirus has done in the current pandemic, century-old virus samples reveal.

In a newly discovered letter written by Albert Einstein, the renowned physicist suggested there could be a link between the migrations of birds and "unknown" physical processes.

Divers have confirmed the identity of the wreck of a British submarine called HMS Urge, quashing controversial claims that it was sunk by Italian warplanes during a secret mission.

A tiny grave holding the remains of a 3-year-old child is now the oldest deliberate burial of a Homo sapiens individual in Africa.

An ancient tomb thought to date back more than 3,000 years has been discovered in southwest Ireland by workmen carrying out land improvements on a farm.

A handful of Arabian silver coins found in New England may be the last surviving relics of history's most notorious act of piracy — and perhaps one of the most famous pirates who ever lived.