Archaeology, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 17, 2024

Stunning rock art site reveals that humans settled the Colombian Amazon 13,000 years ago

The first humans to settle the Amazon Basin arrived around 13,000 years ago as part of a mass migration that quickly swept across the Americas, researchers have discovered. After coming to what is now Serranía de la Lindosa, an archaeological site on the northern edge of the Colombian Amazon, these...

Feb 17, 2024

'Beautifully preserved,' 3,000-year-old gold clasp unearthed by metal detectorist in UK

An amateur metal detectorist in the United Kingdom has unearthed a remarkable 3,000-year-old gold clasp that would've been used to fasten clothing during the Late Bronze Age (1000 to 800 B.C.). Jonathan Needham discovered the artifact while metal detecting in Staffordshire, a county in central England, according to a statement...

Feb 17, 2024

When did the ancient Egyptians first mummify their dead?

Ancient Egyptians are perhaps best known for the way they treated the dead — from constructing colossal pyramids to filling subterranean tombs with lavish treasures and artifacts. The Egyptians also famously mummified many of the recently deceased to preserve their bodies. But when did people in ancient Egypt start mummifying...

Feb 20, 2024

31 of the world's most valuable treasures that are still missing

A huge number of priceless treasures have disappeared from the historical record throughout the ages. These artifacts often go missing due to theft or under mysterious circumstances during times of war or disaster, when they can't be protected or when military forces decide to take those treasures as a trophy....

Feb 21, 2024

'Completely surreal': Metal detectorist unearths 1,500-year-old gold ring in Denmark

An amateur metal detectorist in Denmark has unearthed a rare gold ring that may have belonged to a previously unknown royal family with ties to the Kingdom of France. Lars Nielsen discovered the large, ornately decorated gold ring, set with a red semiprecious stone, while exploring Emmerlev, a parish in...

Feb 23, 2024

Bright-red pigment is one of the earliest examples of Bronze Age lipstick

A bright-red pigment housed inside a small stone vial could be one of the oldest known examples of lipstick in the world. Archaeologists recovered the Bronze Age cosmetic in 2001 in Jiroft, a city in southeastern Iran, after the Halil River flooded and swept through several nearby cemeteries from the...

Feb 27, 2024

1,000 burials and medieval village found in excavation of abbey destroyed in French Revolution

The excavation of a medieval French abbey has revealed more than 1,000 burials, including those of plague victims, in its cemetery as well as the remains of a nearly 1,200-year-old village underneath the building. The dig at Beaumont Abbey reveals almost eight centuries of use before the events of the...

Feb 27, 2024

'Rare' metal slab found in Maryland was once part of a suit of armor worn by colonists

A flattened scrap of metal buried at the site of a 17th-century colonial fort in Maryland was once part of a suit of armor, X-rays reveal. Archaeologists discovered the slightly concave slab that's about the size of a cafeteria tray while conducting excavations in a cellar at Historic St. Mary's...

Feb 28, 2024

Copper Age necropolis unearthed in Italy contains skeletal remains and still-sharp weapons, maybe from ancient warriors

Archaeologists in Italy have unearthed a Copper Age necropolis that contains nearly two dozen tombs and a collection of weapons. The discovery was made in November at San Giorgio Bigarello, a municipality in northern Italy, during the construction of a community garden. However, researchers had no idea how extensive the...

Feb 28, 2024

Ancient Troy: The city and the legend of the Trojan War

Troy is an ancient city and archaeological site in modern-day Turkey, but is also famously the setting for the legendary Trojan War in Homer's epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. In legend, the city of Troy was besieged for 10 years and eventually conquered by a Greek army led...

Feb 29, 2024

14 wrecks that expose 'what life was like on slaver ships' identified in the Bahamas

Archaeologists in the Bahamas have identified the underwater wrecks of 14 sailing ships involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade between Africa and the Americas, a new report finds. The wrecks include the Peter Mowell, an American schooner that sank off Lynyard Cay near Great Abaco Island in 1860 with about...

Mar 1, 2024

4,000-year-old copper dagger unearthed by metal detectorist in Poland

A metal detectorist has discovered a 4,000-year-old copper dagger, likely from an elite warrior, in a forest near the village of Korzenica in southeast Poland. The Korzenica dagger is so far the oldest metal dagger discovered [in] south-eastern Poland, said Marcin Burghardt, an archaeologist at the Orsetti Tenement House Museum...

Mar 1, 2024

Remains of 7th-century Saxon town discovered under central London

Workers have uncovered the ruins of a Saxon town beneath The National Gallery in London, revealing that the centuries-old town was much larger than previously thought. The discovery was made during underground tunneling for ongoing redevelopment of the art museum, in celebration of its 200th anniversary. Upon alerting the authorities...

Mar 3, 2024

1,000-year-old vessels found in Guatemala held tobacco possibly used as 'narcotics to induce deep sleep, visions and divinatory trances'

Residue on pre-Hispanic ceramic vases unearthed in Guatemala contain traces of nicotine, a new chemical analysis reveals. Archaeologists discovered the pottery collection at the archaeological site of Cotzumalhuapa, which served as one of Mesoamerica's greatest cities during the Late Classic Period (A.D. 650 to 950), according to a study published...

Mar 4, 2024

Europe's last hunter-gatherers had sophisticated societies that helped them avoid inbreeding

High-tech DNA analysis of skeletons buried 8,000 years ago in France reveals that the last hunter-gatherer groups in Europe likely developed cultural strategies to avoid inbreeding, a new study suggests. An investigation into the genomes of 10 people who lived between 6350 and 4810 B.C. revealed few biological links among...