ARCHAEOLOGY

A fragment of the organic glass found inside the skull of the deceased individual in Herculaneum.

A Vesuvius Victim’s Brain Turned into Glass, and Scientists Think They Know How

The Herculaneum resident, killed by the volcanic eruption in 79 CE, presents the only known vitrified brain on Earth. Now, researchers have a theory for how it happened.

Ancestral Puebloan ruins in Chaco Canyon National Historical Park.

How Pack Rats Solved a Chaco Canyon Mystery

Chaco Canyon was once the vibrant religious center of a Native American culture whose collapse long remained a mystery—until pack rat middens revealed an important clue.

A wooden tablet covered in still-undeciphered Rongorongo script.

8 Ancient Writing Systems That Haven’t Been Deciphered Yet

Without a Rosetta Stone for these centuries-old writing systems, the meaning of the texts may never be known.

Fossilized human footprints in New Mexico’s White Sands National Park are between 21,000 and 23,000 years old and pre-date the Clovis people in North America.

8 Ancient Archaeological Sites That Pre-Date the Clovis People

Archaeologists used to think that the Clovis people were the first inhabitants of the Americas some 13,500 years ago. The evidence from these ancient sites says otherwise.

From this moment on, multiple entities have argued over ownership of the ‘Titanic’

Who Owns the ‘Titanic’?

The complicated legal case involving salvage rights to the RMS ‘Titanic’ continues, 40 years after the famous shipwreck was rediscovered.

15 Solid Facts About the Rosetta Stone

Its value as the key that unlocked the meaning of Egyptian hieroglyphs is world-famous—but the turbulent history surrounding the Rosetta Stone’s discovery and translation is more obscure.

Artifacts at the ‘Titanic’ wreck may never see the light of day.

‘Titanic’ Salvage Missions Placed on Indefinite Hold Thanks to Legal Issues

A blend of bureaucracy and saltwater is conspiring to keep any of the ship’s remaining secrets from being brought to the surface.

The 5500-year-old trepanned skull of a woman now displayed in a Swiss museum.

A Brief History of Trepanation, One of the World’s Oldest Surgeries

The practice of drilling or scraping a hole into the skull’s cranial vault has been performed for thousands of years.

A famous fresco in Pompeii’s Villa of the Mysteries.

14 Incredible Facts about Pompeii, the Roman City Frozen in Time

In 79 CE, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 20 feet of ash, preserving amazing details about daily life in the Roman Empire.

The spectacular Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru.

13 Amazing Facts About Machu Picchu

The Inca stronghold of Machu Picchu has astounded and confounded visitors since it was unveiled to the wider world more than 100 years ago by an ambitious Yale professor.

The famous Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado was home to Ancient Puebloan people for hundreds of years.

15 Ancient Cities You Can Still Visit

Make sure your passport is current, book your flight, and let yourself imagine the lives of the people who called these ancient cities home.

An exact replica of a cave painting in Lascaux showing a bison and aurochs facing each other, along with small horses and deer.

12 Astounding Facts about the Lascaux Cave Paintings

The astonishing cave paintings of bison, deer, and extinct animals were discovered by accident in France in 1940. They offer a tantalizing glimpse into prehistory.

The Parthenon sits atop Athens’s Acropolis.

12 Facts About the Acropolis of Athens

The ancient Acropolis has loomed over the Greek city of Athens for more than 3000 years as a defensive citadel, temple complex, weather station, and even a site of resistance against the Nazis.

Cats become royalty at the Shanghai Museum.

Cats Invited to Egyptian Exhibit for ‘Meowseum Nights’ in Shanghai

The Shanghai Museum‘s “Meowseum Nights” allowed cats to witness their history.

12 Amazing Facts About Petra

Carved from rock in modern-day Jordan, Petra prospered for centuries under Nabataean and Roman rule. This dazzling settlement is now one of the region’s greatest attractions.

An exact replica of some of the drawings in Chauvet Cave, including the quartet of horses and a woolly rhinoceros.

13 Facts About the Chauvet Cave Paintings

The Chauvet Cave paintings are tens of thousands of years old and depict iconic animals that are now extinct. Even Werner Herzog was impressed.

A 1920 mural by paleoartist Charles Robert Knight depicting Cro-Magnon people painting on cave walls at Font-de-Gaume, France.

Neanderthal vs. Cro-Magnon: What’s the Difference?

These prehistoric members of our genus, ‘Homo,’ occupy different branches of the human family tree.

A replica of the Laetoli footprints discovered in Laetoli, Tanzania; The original footprints were dated to 3.6 million years ago.

9 Fascinating Discoveries that Changed Our Understanding of Human Evolution

Scientists have uncovered ancient fossils, prehistoric artwork, and other clues to human evolution. Here are nine of the most revealing discoveries that have changed our understanding of our early ancestors—and ourselves.

The Discoveries of 21 Human Ancestors, Mapped

Within the last 200 years, we’ve discovered about two dozen species of hominins in Europe, Africa, and Asia—which you can see laid out in this map.

DNA Identifies Medieval Man Thrown Down a Well, Confirming a Norse Saga’s Tale

According to a medieval saga, the Norwegian “Well Man” might have been used as a biological weapon.

Tollund Man—a bog body at the Silkeborg Museum in Denmark

8 Kinds of Mummies That Aren’t From Ancient Egypt

China, Chile, and New Zealand are a few places that have historic mummies of their own.

Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Illinois.

11 Ancient Native American Earthworks You Can Visit

Hundreds—even thousands—of years ago, Native American peoples built complex and mysterious earthworks. Here are 11 you can visit for a glimpse into prehistory.

The knight’s tombstone rediscovered at Jamestown.

Jamestown’s Mysterious Black Tombstone Originated in Belgium, Archaeologists Say

Scientists examined microscopic fossils in the tombstone and suggest the jet-black slab with an English knight’s insignia could have come only from one place.

A Los Angeles high school turned out to be a hotbed for fossils.

Millions of Marine Fossils Discovered Beneath Los Angeles High School

Millions of fossils, from shells to the largest known shark species, were unearthed beneath San Pedro High School.