Astonishing artifacts: A glimpse into how people lived in the past

Artifacts offer a window into the past, giving us information about people and cultures that existed centuries to millennia ago. From hoards of gold coins found hidden beneath floorboards to handmade pottery buried in caves, these intriguing objects are often the only physical evidence that remains. In some cases, the purpose or meaning of an artifact is lost to time, but its presence still reveals hints of what cultures valued or ritualized.

Each week, we showcase a different astonishing artifact that gives us new insight into how our ancestors lived.

Explore more amazing artifacts

—30 incredible treasures discovered in King Tut's tomb

—32 haunting shipwrecks from the ancient world

—32 stunning centuries-old hoards unearthed by metal detectorists

Latest about astonishing artifacts

Two people look at an ancient wooden lyre on display at a museum

Queen Puabi's lyre: A bull-headed music maker played for Mesopotamian royalty 4,500 years ago

By Kristina Killgrove published

A lyre in a treasure-laden royal tomb discovered in Mesopotamia is the earliest stringed instrument ever found.

Archaeology
The metal Sutton Hoo helmet as reconstructed in the British Museum.

Sutton Hoo helmet: A gold- and jewel-encrusted relic with ties to Beowulf and a lost Anglo-Saxon king

By Kristina Killgrove published

Fragments of a helmet recovered from the Sutton Hoo ship burial show that early-medieval metalwork could be decorative and functional.

Archaeology
Roman scutum from Dura-Europos; it is long, semi-cylindrical and red with other colorful designs and a large hole in the middle.

Roman scutum: An 1,800-year-old shield dropped by a Roman soldier who likely died in battle

By Kristina Killgrove published

A wood and leather shield dating to around A.D. 250 is one of only a few complete Roman scuta ever found.

Archaeology
Small round cuneiform tablet with writing and a triangle

Babylonian tablet preserves student's 4,000-year-old geometry mistake

By Kristina Killgrove published

A small clay tablet from the site of Kish in Iraq reveals a student calculated the area of a triangle incorrectly 4,000 years ago.

Archaeology
A 16th-century mask made out of wood and tiled with turquoise may represent Xiuhtecuhtli, the Aztec god of fire.

Mask of Xiuhtecuhtli: A 600-year-old mask of the Aztec fire god taken as treasure by conquistadors

By Kristina Killgrove published

This stunning blue mask may represent the Aztec cycle of death and renewal.

Archaeology
A close-up of a colorful medieval manuscript

Book of Kells: A 1,200-year-old manuscript made by monks escaping the Vikings

By Tom Metcalfe published

The Book of Kells is considered one of the finest surviving medieval manuscripts.

Archaeology
A photo of a mitten-shaped tortoise shell with Chinese writing on it against a gray background.

Oracle bones: 3,250-year-old engraved bones and tortoise shells from ancient China were used to foretell the future

By Tom Metcalfe published

Archaeologists say the "oracle bones" from ancient China were used in magical attempts to predict the future.

Archaeology
A large Egyptian bust of a pharaoh in a museum

The 3,300-year-old ancient Egyptian statue of Ramesses II said to have inspired Percy Shelley's 'Ozymandias'

By Tom Metcalfe published

This statue of an Egyptian pharaoh is said to have inspired the English poet Shelley to write his famous poem "Ozymandias."

Ancient Egyptians
A swan made out of pink and brown felt against a green background

Pazyryk Swan: A 2,400-year-old plush swan from Siberia tied to the 'creation of the universe'

By Tom Metcalfe published

Archaeologists think the felt figurine was used as a symbol of life by the Iron Age people of the region.

Archaeology
A gold mask of a man's face against a black background

Mask of Agamemnon: A gold death mask once thought to be evidence of the Trojan War

By Tom Metcalfe published

The archaeologist who discovered the mask believed it showed the Trojan War was real.

Archaeology
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