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Doban-kun: A 'cute' human-shaped counting tool from prehistoric JapanThis anthropomorphic clay tablet was likely used in an ancient ritual by the Jōmon culture in Japan.
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Dancing dwarf: A 2,300-year-old ancient Egyptian statue of a godlike man with a muscular 6-packThis marble statuette is emblematic of Ptolemaic-era art: a mishmash of styles with a decidedly Egyptian twist.
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2,000-year-old RSVP: A birthday invitation from the Roman frontier that has the earliest known Latin written by a womanThis wafer-thin wooden tablet from a first-century Roman fort in the U.K. includes a heartfelt birthday party invitation.
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Queen Puabi's lyre: A bull-headed music maker played for Mesopotamian royalty 4,500 years agoA lyre in a treasure-laden royal tomb discovered in Mesopotamia is the earliest stringed instrument ever found.
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Sutton Hoo helmet: A gold- and jewel-encrusted relic with ties to Beowulf and a lost Anglo-Saxon kingFragments of a helmet recovered from the Sutton Hoo ship burial show that early-medieval metalwork could be decorative and functional.
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Roman scutum: An 1,800-year-old shield dropped by a Roman soldier who likely died in battleA wood and leather shield dating to around A.D. 250 is one of only a few complete Roman scuta ever found.
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Babylonian tablet preserves student's 4,000-year-old geometry mistakeA small clay tablet from the site of Kish in Iraq reveals a student calculated the area of a triangle incorrectly 4,000 years ago.
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Mask of Xiuhtecuhtli: A 600-year-old mask of the Aztec fire god taken as treasure by conquistadorsThis stunning blue mask may represent the Aztec cycle of death and renewal.
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Book of Kells: A 1,200-year-old manuscript made by monks escaping the VikingsThe Book of Kells is considered one of the finest surviving medieval manuscripts.
