archaeology

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Dig Uncovers Foundation of Schoolhouse for Enslaved

Cellar, ceramics discovered at site of Virginia's former Williamsburg Bray School

(Newser) - Archaeologists in Virginia have unearthed the foundation of a building from the 1700s that once supported the nation's oldest surviving schoolhouse for Black children, the College of William & Mary announced Wednesday, per the AP . The university in Williamsburg said the foundation is nearly completely intact. Archaeologists also uncovered...

Ancient Viking Graves Yield Pearls, Gold Thread, a Dog

30 graves uncovered near Aarhus, Denmark, may link to King Harald Bluetooth

(Newser) - Archaeologists digging in northern Denmark have uncovered a Viking burial site brimming with rare treasures, shedding new light on the lives—and afterlives—of ancient nobility. The discovery of the 10th-century burial site near Aarhus, made during construction work, revealed a collection of ancient items including pearls, coins, ceramics,...

Experts: Yep, Wreck Is Captain Cook's Endeavour

Australian museum's determination has yet to be backed by Rhode Island officials

(Newser) - After years of debate, researchers have confirmed the final resting place of Captain James Cook's HMS Endeavour as Rhode Island's Newport Harbor. The Endeavour, famous for Cook's 18th-century Pacific voyages and for claiming Australia for Britain, had long been the subject of speculation. In 2022, the...

Ancient Farm Site Showcases Indigenous Ingenuity
Ancient Farm
Site Showcases
Indigenous Ingenuity
NEW STUDY
Jun 10, 2025 9:29 AM CDT

Ancient Farm Site Showcases Indigenous Ingenuity

Menominee ancestors grew crops for centuries, despite challenging conditions

(Newser) - A new archaeological study is spotlighting Michigan's Upper Peninsula as home to what experts now call the "most complete" ancient agricultural site in the eastern US, per the New York Times . The area, known as Sixty Islands and considered sacred by the Menominee Nation, contains traces of...

Ancient Wall in Mongolia's Gobi Desert Did More Than Defend

Researchers find the medieval barrier managed resources, set imperial boundaries

(Newser) - A new study is shedding light on the Gobi Wall, a massive but little-understood medieval barrier that crosses 200 miles of Mongolia's highland deserts. For their research published in the journal Land , archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the National University of Mongolia, and Yale combined satellite...

Dead Sea Scrolls Are Older Than We Knew
Dead Sea Scrolls Are
Older Than We Knew
NEW STUDY
Jun 5, 2025 7:16 AM CDT

Dead Sea Scrolls Are Older Than We Knew

AI-assisted study dates texts to the time of the original Bible authors

(Newser) - Some of the Dead Sea scrolls are up to a century older than previously believed, with several as old as original books from the Bible, according to researchers helped by artificial intelligence . The ancient scrolls, discovered in caves on the north shore of the Dead Sea in the West Bank...

Museum Tries to Identify Remains of 4 Confederate Soldiers

Remains were found on grounds of Virginia building used as makeshift hospital

(Newser) - Archaeologists in Virginia were excavating the grounds of a building that stored gunpowder during the American Revolution when they uncovered the eye sockets of a human skull. The team carefully unearthed four skeletons, including one with a bullet in the spine, and three amputated legs. They quickly surmised the bones...

Archaeologists Unearth More Ancient Finds Near Luxor

Egypt unveils 3 new tombs of prominent statesmen in Dra' Abu el-Naga necropolis

(Newser) - Egypt unveiled three new tombs of prominent statesmen in the Dra' Abu el-Naga necropolis in Luxor, officials said Monday. Archaeologists discovered tombs dating back to the New Kingdom period (1550BC–1070BC) and identified the names and titles of their owners through inscriptions found within, according to a statement by the...

Vandal Filmed Defacing World Heritage Site

Man spray-painted crude image on wall at Peru's historic Chan Chan

(Newser) - Authorities in Peru are searching for a man caught on camera spray-painting a crude image on a wall at Chan Chan, a centuries-old archaeological site and UNESCO World Heritage Site. The act of vandalism occurred on one of Chan Chan's original walls, with video footage of the incident...

We Might've Underestimated Neanderthal Toolmaking
We Might've Underestimated
Neanderthal Toolmaking
NEW STUDY
May 12, 2025 8:32 AM CDT

We Might've Underestimated Neanderthal Toolmaking

New analysis suggests 'sophisticated' spears were wielded by Neanderthals, not their ancestors

(Newser) - A set of wooden spears long thought to be among the world's oldest hunting weapons may actually be a bit younger than scientists previously believed, and possibly the work of Neanderthals rather than their ancestors. The spears, made from spruce and pine, were unearthed in a German coal...

Charred Vesuvius Scroll Gives Up Its Author

PHerc. 172 identified as part of Greek philosopher Philodemus' 'On Vices'

(Newser) - There's been a "very exciting development" in the two-year-old Vesuvius Challenge, an effort to decode ancient scrolls charred by the AD79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. As unrolling the 2,000-year-old carbonized scrolls unearthed in Herculaneum guarantee damage, if not total destruction, scholars have been using powerful 3D X-rays...

Ancient Mass Grave May Be Only One of Its Kind

Mass grave is found during renovations of a soccer field in Vienna

(Newser) - During an otherwise routine renovation of a Vienna soccer field, construction crews unearthed a startling secret buried for centuries—a mass grave from the 1st-century Roman Empire that may be among the only ones of its kind. The remains are thought to belong to warriors who were battling Germanic tribes,...

In a Sea of Stones, Toddler Makes an Ancient Find

3.8K-year-old amulet is linked to the Bible's Canaanites

(Newser) - A 3-year-old exploring an archaeological site in Israel last month reportedly stumbled upon an ancient treasure: an amulet dating back 3,800 years. Ziv Nitzan and her family were visiting Tel Azekah, a hill created by the layered debris of ancient settlements, when the toddler picked up the scarab amulet...

Egypt's Latest Royal Tomb Is a Mystery

Abydos tomb, some 3.6K years old, has been stripped of identifiers of its occupant

(Newser) - Egypt has announced the discovery of its second royal tomb in the same year. Weeks after revealing the discovery of King Thutmose II's tomb , archaeologists unveiled the discovery of a looted tomb belonging to another pharaoh, who remains unidentified. The tomb was found at a necropolis in Abydos, one...

It's the 'First Material Evidence' of World's First Empire

4K-year-old cuneiform tablets reveal the bureaucratic 'spreadsheets' of Mesopotamia

(Newser) - Archaeologists say they've found "the very first material evidence of the very first empire in the world" in 4,000-year-old cuneiform tablets unearthed in Iraq. More than 200 administrative tablets have been discovered in the ancient megacity of Girsu, now Tello, along with some 50 administrative seals, per...

Archaeologists Found the Head in 1927. Now, the Body

Buddha torso found in Cambodia's ancient Angkor temple complex

(Newser) - Archaeologists in February unearthed a torso of a Buddha statue at Cambodia's ancient Angkor temple complex—essentially completing a puzzle that's been nearly a century in the making. The AP reports the nearly 4-foot-tall torso, which is thought to date to the 12th or 13th century, was uncovered...

Archaeologists: This Is 'Holy Grail Stuff'
Archaeologists: Canoe
Find Is 'Holy Grail Stuff'
in case you missed it
Mar 8, 2025 11:30 AM CST

Archaeologists: Canoe Find Is 'Holy Grail Stuff'

Traditional 'waka' on Chatham Island could be 'one of the most important finds of all time in Polynesia'

(Newser) - A father-son duo on Chatham Island, 500 miles east of New Zealand, stumbled upon a find so rare, archaeologists describe it as "holy grail stuff." Vincent Dix and his son Nikau initially planned to build a coffee table from planks of wood found flowing out of a washed-out...

Bone Tools Came 1.2M Years Before Homo Sapiens
Bone Tools Came
1.2M Years Before
Homo Sapiens
NEW STUDY
Mar 6, 2025 8:15 AM CST

Bone Tools Came 1.2M Years Before Homo Sapiens

Early humans carved hand axes from hippo, elephant leg bones 1.5M years ago

(Newser) - Early humans were regularly using animal bones to make cutting tools 1.5 million years ago, reports the AP . A newly discovered cache of 27 carved and sharpened bones from elephants and hippos found in Tanzania's Olduvai Gorge site pushes back the date for ancient bone tool use by...

In Vesuvius, a Human Brain Turned Into Stunning Glass

Vesuvius victim's brain liquified at up to 1,100 degrees, then quickly cooled: study

(Newser) - They are tiny pieces of black glass. They are also, technically, fossilized brains. The pea-sized pieces of shiny glass, actually quite beautiful close up, were discovered around 2018 inside the skull of a man who died when Italy's Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD, destroying Roman cities including Herculaneum and...

Egypt Uncovers First Royal Tomb in a Century

But tomb of King Thutmose II was flooded, raided in antiquity

(Newser) - Archaeologists have made a stunning discovery: the first royal tomb to be found in Egypt since King Tutankhamun's in 1922—though unlike Tut's tomb, this one is in rough shape. The entrance and main passage of the poorly-preserved tomb in the Wadi Gabbanat el-Qurud, southwest of the Valley...

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