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

Latest Updates

This map shows how the giant pits and the Larkhill Causewayed Enclosure circle around Durrington Walls and the smaller Woodhenge.

Biggest prehistoric monument in UK discovered just a stone's throw away from Stonehenge

By Laura Geggel

Radiocarbon dates from buried animal bones and shells helped date the pits to 4,500 years ago.

The oldest of the two Viking longhouses at Stöð dates from around A.D. 800, several decades before the commonly accepted date of the settlement of Iceland in A.D. 874.

Oldest Viking settlement possibly unearthed in Iceland

By Tom Metcalfe

Archaeologists have unearthed what may be the oldest Viking settlement in Iceland.

The Newgrange passage tomb is one of the earliest and most elaborate Neolithic monuments in Ireland, but several hundred others are found throughout the country.

Famous Irish tomb yields a surprise — a king born of brother-sister incest

By Tom Metcalfe

Human bones in the famous Newgrange tomb in Ireland belonged to king born of first-degree incest, researchers say.

The excavations also revealed two brick beer cellars, which are thought to have belonged to an inn at the site.

London's 'oldest theater,' built just 3 years after Shakespeare's birth, discovered

By Tom Metcalfe

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) map of the newly discovered temple in the Roman city of Falerii Novi, Italy.

Hidden temple in a buried Roman city discovered by ground-penetrating radar

By Mindy Weisberger

Radar surveys enabled archaeologists to map an ancient Roman city in unprecedented detail — even buildings that were underground.

A 3D image of the Aguada Fénix site, reconstructed from data gathered during an aerial laser survey.

Oldest and largest Maya structure on record discovered in southern Mexico

By Laura Geggel

A previously unknown Maya site in Tabasco, Mexico is the civilization's largest and oldest monumental structure on record.

An aerial view of the Tel Arad fortress that stands in what was once the Kingdom of Judah.

Ancient people in the Kingdom of Judah may have gotten high off weed

By Laura Geggel

This is the oldest known evidence of marijuana from the Kingdom of Judah.

Mammoths congregated here during the last ice age, when it was on the shores of Lake Xaltocan.

A giant mammoth graveyard was just discovered outside Mexico City

By Laura Geggel

Excavators have already found the remains of about 60 mammoths and 15 pre-Hispanic indigenous people.

In Göbekli Tepe, archeologists have uncovered a handful of circular neolithic structures such as this one (Enclosure C), which consist of two T-shaped pillars surrounded by a bunch of slightly smaller inward-facing pillars.

The world's oldest temple was built along a grand geometric plan

By Yasemin Saplakoglu

The construction of Göbekli Tepe was "a deviation from the hunting and gathering way of life."

Co-director of the excavation Barak Monnickendam-Givon standing in the subterranean chambers.

Hidden underground chambers unearthed near Israel's Western Wall

By Yasemin Saplakoglu

It's not clear why ancient people dug up these chambers, but evidence suggests they used them in everyday life.

The bronze coin has the words "Year Two of the Freedom of Israel" with a cluster of grapes in the middle.

When the Romans turned Jerusalem into a pagan city, Jews revolted and minted this coin

By Laura Geggel

A newly discovered coin was minted during a failed Jewish revolt against Rome.

Mitten found at Lendbreen, made from different pieces of woven fabric. Radiocarbon-dated to the ninth century.

Viking 'treasure' of rare artifacts revealed on a long-lost mountain trail

By Mindy Weisberger

Melting ice revealed a long-lost trail in Norway that was strewn with objects dating to the Viking Age.

A radar scan revealed the Viking ship buried underground.

Fungus is destroying a buried Viking ship. Here's how Norway plans to save it.

By Laura Geggel

Archaeologists in Norway are racing to save a buried Viking ship from fungus.

Archaeological investigations following the opening of a sinkhole in Piazza della Rotonda in front of the Pantheon in Rome have unearthed the ancient pavement of the imperial era.

Sinkhole opens near the Pantheon, revealing 2,000-year-old Roman paving stones

By Laura Geggel

A sinkhole that opened in front of the Pantheon in Rome has revealed 2,000-year-old stone pavers.

The remains of the older warrior woman (left) and her husband, which were excavated from the Airagiin Gozgor archaeological site, in the Orkhon province of northern Mongolia.

Two 'warrior women' from ancient Mongolia may have helped inspire the Ballad of Mulan

By Laura Geggel

An ancient Mongolian cemetery held the remains of two 'warrior women.'

Remains of the entrance gate to the ancient city of Megiddo.

Welcome to Armageddon: Meet the city behind the biblical story

By Owen Jarus

Megiddo, a place known in the Book of Revelation as "Armageddon," was occupied between roughly 7000–300 B.C. A prophecy states that in the end times a final battle will be fought near this site.

Archaeologists excavate the Bronze Age burials at Lechlade Skate Park in southwestern England.

4,200-year-old burial of Bronze Age chieftain discovered under UK skate park

By Laura Geggel

The Bronze Age leader's burial had a copper dagger and a 'strike-a-light kit.'

Upper part of the body in Grave 43, during excavation. The girl had an artificially deformed skull; she was buried with a necklace, earrings, a comb and glass beads.

Deformed 'alien' skulls offer clues about life during the Roman Empire’s collapse

By Mindy Weisberger

By studying artificially deformed skulls from a graveyard dating to more than 1,000 years ago, archaeologists are piecing together clues about an ancient community's culture.

The teenage girl's coffin

Mummy of ancient Egyptian teenager, buried in fine jewelry, discovered in Luxor

By Laura Geggel

This teenager was decked out in priceless jewelry.

A team of scientists has found an alignment that occurs between the rising sun and a major street in Turin that was constructed around 28 B.C.

Does an ancient street's 'solar alignment' honor Roman emperor Octavian? Scholars disagree.

By Owen Jarus

Scientists in Turin, Italy, have discovered that a couple of days each year, the rising sun perfectly aligns with one of the city's main streets that was constructed around 28 B.C.