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Astonishing artifacts: A glimpse into how people lived in the past

Latest about astonishing artifacts

A colorful embroidered scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicts the death of King Harold

Bayeux Tapestry: A 1,000-year-old embroidery depicting William the Conqueror's victory and King Harold's grisly death

By Kristina Killgrove published

A long roll of cloth embroidered with key scenes from British history is a unique medieval chronicle.

Archaeology
Reconstruction of an animal-themed headdress worn by a Mesolithic woman

Bad Dürrenberg headdress: An elaborate 9,000-year-old headpiece worn by a female shaman in Europe

By Kristina Killgrove published

A lavish 9,000-year-old grave in central Germany revealed the burial of a powerful female shaman.

Archaeology
Anthropomorphic light brown clay tablet shaped like a domino with circular depressions scattered across it

Doban-kun: A 'cute' human-shaped counting tool from prehistoric Japan

By Kristina Killgrove published

This anthropomorphic clay tablet was likely used in an ancient ritual by the Jōmon culture in Japan.

Archaeology
Six-frame animated gif of a small white marble statuette of a dwarf; his arms, legs, and part of his head are missing

Dancing dwarf: A 2,300-year-old ancient Egyptian statue of a godlike man with a muscular 6-pack

By Kristina Killgrove published

This marble statuette is emblematic of Ptolemaic-era art: a mishmash of styles with a decidedly Egyptian twist.

Ancient Egyptians
A fragmented wooden tablet with Latin writing on it in charcoal ink on display against a neutral background

2,000-year-old RSVP: A birthday invitation from the Roman frontier that has the earliest known Latin written by a woman

By Kristina Killgrove published

This wafer-thin wooden tablet from a first-century Roman fort in the U.K. includes a heartfelt birthday party invitation.

Archaeology
Two people look at an ancient wooden lyre on display at a museum

Queen Puabi's lyre: A bull-headed music maker played for Mesopotamian royalty 4,500 years ago

By Kristina Killgrove published

A lyre in a treasure-laden royal tomb discovered in Mesopotamia is the earliest stringed instrument ever found.

Archaeology
The metal Sutton Hoo helmet as reconstructed in the British Museum.

Sutton Hoo helmet: A gold- and jewel-encrusted relic with ties to Beowulf and a lost Anglo-Saxon king

By Kristina Killgrove published

Fragments of a helmet recovered from the Sutton Hoo ship burial show that early-medieval metalwork could be decorative and functional.

Archaeology
Roman scutum from Dura-Europos; it is long, semi-cylindrical and red with other colorful designs and a large hole in the middle.

Roman scutum: An 1,800-year-old shield dropped by a Roman soldier who likely died in battle

By Kristina Killgrove published

A wood and leather shield dating to around A.D. 250 is one of only a few complete Roman scuta ever found.

Archaeology
Small round cuneiform tablet with writing and a triangle

Babylonian tablet preserves student's 4,000-year-old geometry mistake

By Kristina Killgrove published

A small clay tablet from the site of Kish in Iraq reveals a student calculated the area of a triangle incorrectly 4,000 years ago.

Archaeology
A 16th-century mask made out of wood and tiled with turquoise may represent Xiuhtecuhtli, the Aztec god of fire.

Mask of Xiuhtecuhtli: A 600-year-old mask of the Aztec fire god taken as treasure by conquistadors

By Kristina Killgrove published

This stunning blue mask may represent the Aztec cycle of death and renewal.

Archaeology
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