History News and Articles - Archaeological Discoveries

The Tsar Bomba explodes over the Russian Arctic

Russia declassifies footage of 'Tsar Bomba' — the most powerful nuclear bomb in history

By Brandon Specktor

In 1961, Russia detonated the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful nuke in history, over a remote Arctic island. New footage has been declassified and shared on YouTube.

an image of etchings that may be Britain's oldest artwork

Britain's oldest artwork may depict mammoths from a drowned land

By Tom Metcalfe

Britain's oldest artworks have been unearthed on the Channel Island of Jersey, showing what apperar to be Ice Age scenes of mammoths in ancient lands now drowned by the sea.

Youths found an 1,100-year-old gold hoard during an excavation in Israel.

Stash of pure, 24-carat gold coins unearthed in Israel

By Laura Geggel

All that protected this jar of gold was a nail and a good hiding spot.

Live Science podcast 'Life's Little Mysteries' Episode 48: Mysterious Beer

By Live Science Staff

This alcoholic beverage has quenched thirsts for thousands of years and is one of the oldest chemistry experiments in the world.

Massive stone structures in Saudi Arabia may be some of oldest monuments in the world

By Owen Jarus

Mysterious stone structures that dot lava fields and deserts across Saudi Arabia may be some of the oldest monuments in the world, scientists say.

A World War II poster touting carrots and other vitamin-rich vegetables.

Can carrots give you night vision?

By Benjamin Plackett

No, Churchill just really wanted Brits to eat more carrots.

Scientists used a micro CT scanner to 'unwrap' a mummified kitten without even touching it

Mummified kitten 'strangled' to death before being offered to the gods, new 3D scans reveal

By Brandon Specktor

Researchers scanned the mummified corpses of a cat, a snake and a bird, revealing the grim details of their deaths

Richard the Lionhearted leads his Crusaders in battle against the Muslims at Arsuf.

Crusader battlefield where 'Richard the Lionheart' defeated Muslims is unearthed in Israel

By Laura Geggel

Several clues indicate that a field near Tel Aviv is the site of the 1191 battle.

One of the distinctive stone tools, made with an ancient flint-knapping technology known as Nubian Levallois, found at the archaeological site in the Negev Desert.

Ancient stone 'breadcrumbs' reveal early human migration out of Africa

By Tom Metcalfe

Would you rather use inches or centimeters?

Why doesn't the US use the metric system?

By Benjamin Plackett

Identity, politics and good, old fashioned resistance to change.

The square and compass symbol of the Freemasons.

Freemasons: Behind the veil of secrecy

By Tom Garlinghouse

Freemasonry is often misunderstood as a cult or a religion, but it's actually the world's largest fraternal organization with a long and complex history.

The title page of the Great Bible, which has yielded its secrets after more than four centuries.

Thomas Cromwell used 'cut and paste' to insert himself into Henry VIII's Great Bible

By Eyal Poleg, Paola Ricciardi

New research reveals a plot by Henry VIII's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell to change the balance of power on the Great Bible's front page, just a year before his execution for high treason.

The Beisamoun pyre fields, where the cremated burial was discovered, during the crepuscular hours.

Oldest human cremation in the Near East unearthed

By Laura Geggel

In 7000 B.C., a kiln-like pit became the site of the earliest know human cremation in the Near East.

Only one-third of the circle has been excavated so far but a projection was created to give a better sense of its size. The portion that has been excavated is shown at far left. Archaeologists estimate the circle to be about 20 meters (66 feet) in diameter.

4,500-year-old 'timber circles' discovered in Portugal

By Owen Jarus

The remains of several timber circles constructed over 4,500 years ago have been discovered at the Perdigões complex archaeological site in Portugal.

Bruce Tucker was brought to the Medical College of Virginia Hospital on May 24, 1968, after falling and suffering a skull fracture.

Landmark transplant in 1960s Virginia performed with heart stolen from a Black man

By Mindy Weisberger

A groundbreaking heart transplant in Virginia in 1968, one of the first in the world, was performed using the heart of a Black patient that was taken without his family's knowledge.

Book excerpt: 'The Organ Thieves' (Simon and Schuster, 2020)

By Mindy Weisberger

White surgeons racing to perform a pioneering transplant in 1968 took a Black patient's heart — but didn't tell his family.

Fires may have made humans more social by giving them a place to gather around.

When did humans discover how to use fire?

By Tara Santora

Fire influenced the evolution of humanity.

Mystery ancestor mated with ancient humans. And its 'nested' DNA was just found.

By Stephanie Pappas

Today's humans carry the genes of an ancient, unknown ancestor, left there by hominin species intermingling perhaps a million years ago.

This lidar image shows the site at Navan Fort where the archaeologists did their survey work.

Massive ancient temple complex may lurk beneath famous Northern Ireland fort

By Laura Geggel

Archaeologists have found Iron Age temples and medieval structures in Northern Ireland.

The stone box, its cap and contents: a figurine made of shell, representing a llama or alpaca, and a miniature gold arm band.

1st intact evidence of Incas' underwater ritual offerings found in a lake in the Andes

By Mindy Weisberger

Spanish records dating to the 16th century hinted that the Inca people performed underwater ritual offerings, and archaeologists have finally found one that's still intact.