archaeology

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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...

Women Likely Inherited the Wealth in Pre-Roman Britain
Ancient Celtic Society
Revolved Around Women
NEW STUDY
Jan 16, 2025 11:39 AM CST

Ancient Celtic Society Revolved Around Women

Men had to depend on their wives (and wives' families) in pre-Roman Britain

(Newser) - For millennia leading up to 800BC, communities in Britain were centered around male bloodlines, meaning that upon marriage, women left their homes to join the communities of their husbands. But that appears to have changed with the dawning of the Iron Age. New research, based in part on a Celtic...

To See Mummies' Tats, They Turned Skin 'Into a Light Bulb'

Scientists used lasers to view ink akin to 'good electric tattooing of today' on preserved Peruvians

(Newser) - For more than 5,000 years, humans have adorned themselves with tattoos. In a new study, researchers used lasers to uncover highly intricate designs of ancient tattoos on mummies from Peru. The preserved skin of the mummies and the black tattoo ink used show a stark contrast—revealing fine details...

Stonehenge Is a Monument to Unity
Stonehenge Might Not
Be a Calendar After All
NEW STUDY
Dec 24, 2024 8:44 AM CST

Stonehenge Might Not Be a Calendar After All

Archaeologist suggests it's a monument to unity, requiring 'significant coordination across Britain'

(Newser) - Researchers spoke of the connectivity of Neolithic society in announcing Stonehenge's six-ton altar stone was likely transported at least 460 miles from northeast Scotland to southern England 4,500 years ago. Now, a leading expert says the prehistoric megalithic structure could only have been created with the unity of...

Early Americans Essentially Ignored Small Game
Early Americans Essentially
Ignored Small Game
NEW STUDY
Dec 5, 2024 12:05 PM CST

Early Americans Essentially Ignored Small Game

For the Clovis people, it was all about megafauna, particularly mammoths

(Newser) - Prehistoric inhabitants of North America were expert mammoth hunters and based their diet on the massive beast, new research suggests, upending assumptions that they mainly hunted small game. The findings emerged from the bones of an 18-month-old boy who lived nearly 13,000 years ago in what is now Montana....

Statues Buried in Cambodia Are a 'Remarkable Discovery'

A dozen centuries-old sandstone statues found at Angkor World Heritage Site

(Newser) - Archaeologists in Cambodia have unearthed a dozen centuries-old sandstone statues in a "remarkable discovery" at the Angkor World Heritage Site near the city of Siem Reap, authorities said Wednesday. The statues—depicting so-called "door guardians"—were discovered last week near the north gate leading to the 11th-century...

Mayan Capital City Has Been Hiding 'in Plain Sight'

Valeriana in southern Mexico reportedly features 6,764 buildings over 6.5 square miles

(Newser) - A presumed capital city of the Maya has been discovered "hidden in plain sight" under vegetation in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. The hidden complex—showing evidence of pyramids, amphitheaters, sports fields, and causeways connecting districts—is made up of three sites in the southeastern state of Campeche, per...

In Mountains Along Silk Road, 'an Amazing Treasure Trove'

Lost high-altitude cities suggest medieval trade routes were more complicated than we knew

(Newser) - An archaeologist says "the history of Central Asia is now changing" with the discovery of two lost medieval cities, some three miles apart, in the mountains along the Silk Road, per the BBC . The Silk Road was a series of trade networks stretching from China to Venice, through which...

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