Archaeology

Editor's Picks

Illustration of ancient humans in White Sands.
The 1st Americans were not who we thought they were For decades, we thought the first humans to arrive in the Americas came across the Bering Land Bridge 13,000 years ago. New evidence is changing that picture.
A projectile point, a stone blade and a rod typical of the Clovis culture.
13 of the oldest archaeological sites in the Americas Archaeological discoveries throughout the Americas are pushing back the date for when humans reached the New World by thousands of years, rewriting the long-standing theory that people arrived only 13,000 years ago.
Photo of Stonehenge as the sun is peaking between the stone arches.
Where is Stonehenge, who built the prehistoric monument, and how? 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.

Latest about Archaeology

An ancient Egyptian clay vessel depicting a human.

Elite ancient Egyptian woman was embalmed with exotic ingredients smelling of vanilla and larch, new analysis reveals

By Jennifer Nalewicki published

Chemical analyses have revealed the specific components ancient Egyptians used to embalm the dead, including exotic ingredients that were acquired through trading.

Ancient Egyptians
We see different angles of a skull against a black background.

Human and ape ancestors arose in Europe, not in Africa, controversial study claims

By Charles Q. Choi published

A newly described fossil suggests that the ancestor of humans and apes arose in Europe, not in Africa.

Archaeology
A box containing stone figurines depicting humans.

Stone human 'effigies' unearthed at Aztec temple in Mexico City were likely looted in battle and offered to the gods

By Jennifer Nalewicki published

Archaeologists in Mexico City discovered a bevy of stone objects carved to look like humans at a former Aztec site.

Archaeology
We see a diver underwater who is examining the remains of a plane on the lake floor.

Wreckage from Tuskegee airman's warplane recovered from Lake Huron

By Tom Metcalfe published

The recovered wreck will help tell the full story of America's first Black military pilots.

Archaeology
The Pyramids of Giza, seen here with the Milky Way in the background, are not Egypt's oldest pyramids.

How old are the Egyptian pyramids?

By Owen Jarus published

And why did the ancient Egyptians build pyramids in the first place?

Ancient Egyptians
Excavation tent in the foreground at Cham-Äbnetwald, with green countryside and mountains in the distance.

Ancient Roman walls discovered in Swiss Alps are an 'archaeological sensation'

By Laura Geggel published

Archaeologists have unearthed ancient Roman walls in the foothills of the Swiss Alps.

Romans
The latest reconstruction of the face of Bonnie Prince Charlie is based on analyses of his death masks and forensic techniques.

See the likeness of Bonnie Prince Charlie, who led Scottish clan uprising against the British crown

By Tom Metcalfe published

The new look of Charles Edward Stuart as a young man is based on forensic studies of his death masks.

Archaeology
The front and back of a silver coin from the Roman Empire.

8-year-old unearths Roman-era silver coin in school sandbox

By Jennifer Nalewicki published

A young boy in Germany discovered a silver coin dating to the ancient Roman Empire.

Romans
Among the finds are this spectacular broken menorah, or ceremonial candlestick, representing the seven-branched menorah in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Synagogue unearthed in Russia may be one of the oldest outside Israel. But not everyone is convinced.

By Tom Metcalfe published

Archaeologists think the temple dates to the first century B.C., before the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

Archaeology
Here we see the entrance to at ancient Egyptian temple at Abu Simbel. There are four giant seated pharaohs, two on either side of the entrance.

Did the ancient Egyptians really marry their siblings and children?

By Owen Jarus published

Ramesses II married his daughter and Cleopatra VII married her brother, but how common was marriage within royal and commoner families?

Archaeology
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