Archaeology

Archaeology is fundamentally the study of humanity and its past. Archaeologists study things that were created, used or changed by humans. They do this by studying the material remains, in other words, the stuff we leave behind.

Related Topics: Anthropology, Fossils, Human Origins, Shipwrecks

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An aerial photo of Stonehenge at sunrise.

Was Stonehenge an ancient calendar? A new study says no.

By Tom Metcalfe published

Was Stonehenge an ancient solar calendar, as a 2022 study claimed? Not at all, says a new study by two scientists who specialize in ancient astronomy.

A statuette of Anadyomene Venus, as she emerges from the ocean, from the Gallo-Roman period.

Roman-era trash dump containing naked Venus statue and other artifacts unearthed in France

By Kristina Killgrove published

Archaeologists have found a trove of artifacts, including two statues of the goddess Venus, in a Roman-era quarry-turned-trash-dump.

This head of a sphinx statue shows Ramesses II, a ruler who expanded Egypt's empire.

Ancient Egyptian pharaoh-sphinx statues unearthed at sun temple

By Owen Jarus published

Archaeologists have discovered broken pharaoh-sphinx statues at an ancient Egyptian sun temple.

This zodiac sign depicts Sagittarius. While the zodiac signs at Esna were known before cleaning was done the work allows them to be seen more clearly. Here we see a centaur with a scorpion's tail aiming a bow and arrow.

Ancient zodiac paintings on Egyptian temple see the light of day after 2,200 years

By Owen Jarus published

A restoration project has revealed ancient Egyptian zodiac paintings and inscriptions at the Temple of Esna.

Photo of Stonehenge as the sun is peaking between the stone arches.

Where is Stonehenge, who built the prehistoric monument, and how?

By Owen Jarus published

The prehistoric monument Stonehenge was built up to 5,000 years ago on Salisbury Plain in England, but its ultimate purpose remains a tantalizing mystery.

One of the two-faced men is shown here. The goblet they hold at left has four hummingbirds drinking out of it and a rigid feather fan is held in the other hand.

1,400-year-old mural of 2-faced men unearthed in Peru may allude to 'cosmic realms'

By Owen Jarus published

Archaeologists have discovered two 1,400-year-old murals of two-faced men within a ceremonial hall that belonged to the Moche culture of Peru.

Notre Dame Cathedral seen at nighttime

Notre Dame is held together by a first-of-its-kind 'iron skeleton,' catastrophic fire revealed

By Jennifer Nalewicki published

During its construction beginning in the 12th century, builders used iron staples to support Notre Dame's masonry.

Upon the hilt of this Celtic sword there is an image of a Celtic warrior, intended to enhance the power of the owner. The head with omega-shaped and finely drawn hair also has large almond-shaped eyes. This type of sword is associated with the La Tène culture, named after the important Celtic site on Lake Neuchâtel in present-day Switzerland and eastern France.

Who were the Celts, the fierce warriors who practiced druidism and sacked Rome?

By Owen Jarus published

The ancient Celts were fierce warriors who lived in mainland Europe. But during the Renaissance, an idea took hold that they lived in the British Isles.

Intricate golden jewelry is displayed on black velvet.

'Very, very rare' gold and silver medieval treasure unearthed in the Netherlands

By Sascha Pare published

Museum curators in the Netherlands think that a dazzling, 800-year-old array of gold jewelry and silver coins unearthed by a metal detectorist was buried in a medieval swamp to save it during wartime.

The content of the primary cremation grave, including: burnt remains of a bone artifact, bent nails, shards of broken glass, and a second century A.D. coin from southern Turkey. Scale in centimeters.

Roman-era tomb scattered with magical 'dead nails' and sealed off to shield the living from the 'restless dead'

By Kristina Killgrove published

A 2,000-year-old tomb discovered in Turkey was sprinkled with "dead nails" and sealed off with bricks and plaster, likely to "shield the living from the dead."

The inscription appears to refer to a Norse king whose face appears in the center of the pendant, and may indicate he claimed descent from the Norse god Odin.

Earliest mention of Odin, 'king of the gods,' found in treasure hoard from Denmark

By Tom Metcalfe published

The oldest known inscription mentioning the Norse god Odin has been found on a gold pendant in Denmark from the fifth century A.D.

The Colchester vase on display at Colchester Castle Museum in the U.K. The vase has a scene of two fighting gladiators.

Gladiators fought in Roman Britain, action-packed cremation urn carvings reveal

By Kristina Killgrove published

A new analysis of the famous Colchester vase indicates that gladiators fought in Roman Britain during the second century A.D.

A hammer and chisel rest on slabs of stone in front of a black background.

Bronze Age craftspeople tempered steel more than 1,000 years before the Romans did it

By Sascha Pare published

Archaeologists have analyzed 2,900-year-old stone carvings and a long-ignored chisel from the Iberian Peninsula, revealing that local craftspeople produced steel long before previously thought.

Ancient blocks with hieroglyphic inscriptions were discovered in Sudan.

Remains of ancient temple with hieroglyphic inscriptions discovered in Sudan

By Owen Jarus published

Archaeologists in Sudan have uncovered the remains of a temple dating to 2,700 years ago.

Archaeologists think the clay jug containing the horde of coins was deliberately buried on a farm in the east of Poland in the second half of the 17th century.

17th-century hoard brimming with 1,000 coins discovered in Poland

By Tom Metcalfe published

A metal detectorist in Poland looking for tractor parts on a farm discovered a 400-year-old coin hoard instead.

This sphinx has a face which some archaeologists believe depicts Roman emperor Claudius.

Newfound ancient Egyptian sphinx statue may depict Roman emperor Claudius, but not everyone agrees

By Owen Jarus published

A sphinx found at an ancient Egyptian temple may depict the face of the Roman emperor Claudius, but not everyone agrees with this interpretation.

The roughly 3,500-year-old bone ice skates found in Xinjiang are almost exactly like prehistoric ice skates found in northern Europe.

Bronze Age ice skates with bone blades discovered in China

By Tom Metcalfe published

Ice skates made of bone have been unearthed from a Bronze Age tomb in western China, suggesting an ancient technological exchange between the east and west of Eurasia.

The 2.2-inch-tall Bronze figure with a hinged phallus found in England may be a representation of a fertility god.

Hinged phallus of 2,000-year-old fertility figurine was 'clearly intended to dangle'

By Kristina Killgrove published

A 2,000-year-old Celtic bronze figure with a hinged phallus is going to auction this week in the U.K.

A Yamnaya grave of a male horse rider found in Malomirovo, Bulgaria. He died between the ages of 65 and 75.

World's 1st horseback riders swept across Europe roughly 5,000 years ago

By Kristina Killgrove published

The world's first horseback riders swept across the steppe roughly 5,000 years ago, a new skeletal analysis of tombs across Europe and Asia reveals.

An endoscope inserted into the hidden corridor reveals that no artifacts are visible within the hidden void.

Cosmic rays reveal 'hidden' 30-foot-long corridor in Egypt's Great Pyramid

By Owen Jarus published

For years, scientists have known there was something hidden above the entrance to the Great Pyramid. Now, they've finally revealed it.