STONES, BONES, AND WRECKS

Why the Sri Lankan Navy Raised a World War II Shipwreck—And Then Sank It Again

The British passenger ship SS Sagaing was attacked by Japanese bombers in 1942.

Stormy Waters Carry a 19th-Century Shipwreck to Florida Beach

The hull is remarkably well-preserved.

Ice Age Human Footprints in Canada Reveal a Walk on the Beach Taken 13,000 Years Ago

New evidence that early North Americans cruised the Pacific coast.

Aerial photo of site Mt05, a circular enclosure (140 meter diameter) located on a hilltop.

Part of the Amazon Thought to Be Uninhabited May Have Been Home to 1 Million People

Life in the Amazon before colonization was more bustling than previously thought.

Museum Finds 2500-Year-Old Mummy in a Sarcophagus Marked 'Empty'

After receiving the coffin in 1860, the museum finally decided to open it up last year.

The 'Alien' Mummy Is of Course Human—And Yet, Still Unusual

Ata has never been an alien, but she's always been an enigma.

8 Cemeteries Unearthed at Construction Sites

People that came before us are sometimes underfoot.

Microsoft's Co-Founder Finds WWII Ship Lost for 76 Years

The USS 'Juneau' had five brothers stationed there at one time. Then tragedy struck.

UK Archaeologists Have Found One of the World’s Oldest 'Crayons'

The red ochre pigment might have been used for art or to color animal skins.

Forensic Analysis Suggests Bones Discovered on a Pacific Island May Belong to Amelia Earhart

The analysis supports the theory that Earhart died a castaway.

New Program Trains Dogs to Sniff Out Art Smugglers

Every year, billions of dollars in ancient artifacts and other cultural objects are looted and sold around the world. A new project is training dogs to sniff them out.

Archaeologists Say They May Have Found the Skeleton of the Pirate "Black Sam" Bellamy

The bones were found near Bellamy's ship, the Whydah, which wrecked off the coast of Massachusetts in 1717.

This Mass Grave in England May Hold the Skeletons of Hundreds of Viking Invaders

In the late 9th century, Vikings across Scandinavia banded together to invade England.

Phil Arnold/Professional Coin Grading Service

Gold Worth Millions, Salvaged From a 19th-Century Shipwreck, Is Going on Display in California

And you can buy some of it.

Local Reporter May Have Found the Burned Remains of the Last American Slave Ship

The ship arrived in Alabama in 1859 in defiance of a law that prohibited importing slaves to the U.S. To hide the evidence of its illegal venture, its captain burned and sunk the ship, and its wreck has been lost to history. Until now.

Scientists Crack the Cryptic Code of a 2000-Year-Old Dead Sea Scroll

Haifa University researchers pieced together more than 60 tiny parchment fragments to decipher the document.

Buckingham Palace Was Built With Jurassic Fossils, Scientists Find

The British palace's limestone is riddled with mineralized microbes from 200 million years ago.

©Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello

Inside the Kitchen of Thomas Jefferson's Acclaimed—and Enslaved—Chef James Hemings

Hemings learned the art of French cooking in Paris and brought haute cuisine to America.

8 Amazing Things Discovered During the Expansion of the London Underground

Europe’s largest engineering project uncovered countless historic treasures, ranging from bones to Tudor bowling balls.

Construction Workers Discover World War II–Era German Burial Ground in Estonia

An estimated 35,000 German soldiers died in Estonia during World War II while fighting Soviet troops.

Scientists Accidentally Discover Ancient Hepatitis B in a 16th-Century Mummy

They thought they were studying the earliest evidence of smallpox, but found a different disease altogether.

Illustration by Eric S. Carlson in collaboration with Ben A. Potter

11,500-Year-Old Skeleton Reveals an Unknown Group of Ancient Migrants to the Americas

The infant's genome—the oldest complete genetic profile of a New World person—reveals the existence of a human lineage that was previously unknown to scientists.

Maritime archaeologists survey the Rouse Simmons shipwreck on the bottom of Lake Michigan.

Captain Santa’s Last Sail: The Mysterious Fate of the Christmas Tree Ship

The ship was a Christmas tradition in Chicago until one stormy night in 1912.

Australian Government, Copyright Commonwealth of Australia

Wreck of Australian World War I Submarine Found After 103 Years

Australia's first sub, the AE1, disappeared off Papua New Guinea on September 14, 1914.

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