Archaeology news, features and articles

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An illustration of Viking ships attacking a city
Were the Vikings really that violent? The Vikings' reputation for bloodlust compared to other medieval fighters may have been exaggerated over the years.
A man pours molten metal
When was steel invented? No one knows for sure when steel was invented, but some of the earliest examples crop up in the first millennium B.C. in Central and South Asia.
A photograph of a headless statue in a museum
Why are so many Roman statues headless? There are many reasons an ancient statue might accidentally lose its head — and some for its head to be severed on purpose.

Latest about Archaeology

Three men in cowboy hats in front of a grand building with columns use shovels to excavate a site

2,000-year-old tomb holding 12 skeletons found at Petra where 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' was filmed

By Owen Jarus published

Archaeologists have discovered a 2,000-year-old tomb containing the remains of 12 individuals at Petra in Jordan.

Archaeology
A recreation of an ancient human wearing furs and holding a torch walking into a cave

Ancient humans waited out last ice age in frigid Central Europe, surprising study finds

By John Stewart, Jeremy Searle published

Most animals retreated to small, warmer enclaves. But some, like humans, seemed to have stayed where they were.

Archaeology
Iceman Ötzi reconstruction

45 amazing facial reconstructions, from Stone Age shamans to King Tut

By Christina Hughes last updated

New scientific techniques are helping us reconstruct people from the past in uncanny detail.

Archaeology
An underwater submarine wreck

WWII British sub that sank with 64 on board finally found off Greek Island

By Tom Metcalfe published

The discovery of the WWII wreck solves an 81-year-old mystery about the submarine's fate.

Archaeology
a broken jade dragon artifact in the dirt

5,000-year-old jade 'dragon' unearthed in tomb in China

By Owen Jarus published

Archaeologists have found the largest ever jade "dragon" made by the Neolithic Hongshan culture on record.

Archaeology
A bird's eye view of a burial site with many human bones scattered inside

5,000-year-old cemetery in Spain has twice as many females as males, and nobody knows why

By Owen Jarus published

There are more than twice as many females as males buried in an ancient cemetery in Spain, a new study finds — but no one knows why.

Archaeology
A round clay disc with symbolic inscriptions

Phaistos Disk: 3,000-year-old inscriptions from Crete that have never been deciphered

By Tom Metcalfe published

None of the many interpretations of the Phaistos Disk's inscriptions are universally accepted.

Archaeology
The boot containing a sock bearing Irvine's name and the remains of a foot.

British explorer Sandy Irvine's foot discovered 100 years after he vanished on Everest

By Ben Turner published

The boot containing a sock bearing Irvine's name and the remains of a foot.

Archaeology
A large excavation site in the desert near a city

Evidence of Assyrians' conquest of Holy Land discovered in Jerusalem

By Owen Jarus published

The discovery of a building that the Assyrians likely tore down in the eighth century B.C. reveals the political dynamics of that age in Jerusalem.

Archaeology
An archaeologist uses a small tool to excavate the dirt around a skeleton

Basement renovation in home near Paris unearths cemetery spanning 700 years, with Roman-era graves

By Tom Metcalfe published

A homeowner doing a basement renovation project near Paris unexpectedly found a skeleton, which later led to the discovery of nearly 40 burials, some of them dating to Roman times.

Archaeology
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