A history of China's ancient hidden tombs

The massive sinkholes of China

Parts of China's limestone-rich terrain is fertile ground for massive caves, where some of the world's largest sinkholes are located. Hidden away in dense, lush forests, geologists are frequently discovering new sinkholes to explore. This piece...

Western China's millennia-old mummies

The extremely dry climate of China's western province of Xinjiang has preserved mummy-like dessicated corpses from as long as 4,000 years ago. The so-called Tarim Basin mummies were discovered in Central Asia at the start of the 20th century and have since been studied by archaeologists, genome experts, and more. Take a look at their extremely well-preserved blonde braids and other features while reading about them in this essay.

The history of China: a timeline

How long has China existed, and how and when did it evolve into its form? Explore the journey of China from empire to republic (to a republic, again) in this timeline. Archaeological evidence suggests the earliest Chinese dynasty formed at about...

The tradition of the graveyard picnic

This article from Eater shares a fresh perspective on eating amongst the dead. Writer Tiffany Leigh shares the cultural significance of picnicking in cemeteries during the Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, which is celebrated in Chinese culture. Her article explains how Qingming can be a tender and lighthearted event to remember the deceased and how that can differ from modern American attitudes toward death and cemeteries.

Five of the strangest cemeteries in the world

Since forever ago, people have been burying the dead in odd ways that are still practiced today. Here's a roundup of some of the strangest burial spots in the world.

When is it OK to dig up the dead?

Human bones tell stories that would otherwise be lost to history. But archaeologists are increasingly confronted with demands to let past generations rest in peace, according to this article.

Go inside Queen Meresankh III's tomb

Examine art, explore the structure, and let yourself be transported back 3,000 years to when the granddaughter of the Pharaoh Khufu was buried. The site, first discovered in 1927, is known as a unique underground chapel with preserved depictions of the daily life of ancient Egyptian royals, and features one of the earliest known canopic jars, vessels used to store the organs of mummified individuals.

To reach the afterlife, Egyptians lived in accordance with ma'at, or harmony

The ancient Egyptians held many beliefs about eternal life, fueling entire industries tasked with building tombs for the dead. Their leader, the pharaoh, was believed to be divine, and the lives of ordinary people were punctuated with ritual and myth. Learn more about their religion here.

In 1963, a basement renovation in Turkey revealed a passageway to a hidden, multilevel underground city that once housed as many as 20,000 people

In China, deepfaking a dead loved one has become a growing industry

Digital replicas of the deceased provide individuals with another way to process grief in a culture with long-standing traditions of communicating with ancestors. The emotional and ethical implications of "digital immortality" are complicated further by cases of actors impersonating deceased relatives during deepfake video calls to hide their deaths.

The Ancient Chinese harnessed solar power for heating and cooling 6,000 years ago

Neolithic Chinese homes faced south for winter sun warmth, while overhangs shielded them from high summer sun. These efforts also influenced urban planning, with cities aligning streets east-west for optimal solar exposure.

Why did the Spanish steal the Inca's mummies?

From inside stone palaces and atop sacred mountaintops, the Inca dead continued to wield incredible power over the living. So much so that the Spanish confiscated them. Read more about the afterlife of these mummies here.

Pompeii's buried secrets are still being revealed

Despite digging for decades, archaeologists are still uncovering new insights into life before the blast that buried Pompeii. Follow a journalist's footsteps as they explore the ruins of Pompeii in this article. The ruins were discovered in the 1700s, and formal excavations throughout the 19th and 20th centuries revealed temples, mansions, and entire streets, while a third of the city remains to be excavated.

The underground cities of the Byzantine Empire

This TED-Ed video explores the mysterious cave cities of Cappadocia. Although their oldest sections may go back to the Bronze Age, most of these subterranean complexes were excavated during the Byzantine period, when the locals went underground to take shelter from Arab raiders. Monasteries were also cut into pinnacles of the local tufa, and decorated with frescoes that have often survived to the present.

Ancient Chinese marriages began with an elaborate marriage proposal and acceptance between families

The chief objectives of early Chinese marriages involved joining and enhancing the two families and ensuring succession with numerous descendants. Chinese couples still compare astrological signs, although some of the more elaborate rituals of betrothal gifts and sleeping in the “cock loft” are far less common.

The dragon has been central to Chinese culture since ancient times

One of the most recognizable symbols in Chinese culture, the dragon is known as a mighty yet often benevolent creature. The dragon is capable of interacting with gods in the heavens; it can turn invisible, shape-shift, and control the weather. These features made the mythological creature hugely significant to the Chinese people because if they could summon dragons, other aspects of their life could improve.

Is China using archaeological findings to boost its territorial claims?

This 28-minute podcast dives into the political ramifications of two Ming dynasty-era ships found in the South China Sea in October 2022. The ships, filled with well-preserved porcelain and timber, were found 1,500 meters—about 4,900...

Why did this prehistoric culture regularly burn their homes?

This article explores why the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture may have regularly burned their homes. The Cucuteni-Trypillia culture is the oldest known in Europe, dating back to about 5,500 BCE in present-day Romania, Russia, and Ukraine. The...

Ancient ghost stories appeared in texts like 'The Odyssey'

Sharing ghost tales has been around for centuries. Ancient Mesopotamia, Rome, and Greece each had their own chilling stories about encountering spirits. Find mentions of specters in some of history’s most famous writings like the "Epic of Gilgamesh" and "The Odyssey."

Teotihuacán was already ancient when the Aztecs encountered it

By the time the Mexica reached Teotihuacán, the vast city had been abandoned for centuries. First settled around 400 BCE, the inhabitants developed monumental temples, canals, and a carefully planned urban grid centered on the Avenue of the Dead.

Take a 360-degree look inside Hong Kong's coffin homes

Hong Kong's lack of affordable housing is forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to live in "coffin homes" — a tiny partitioned apartment that is about the size of a coffin. Experience life inside a coffin home through this 360 VR video.

Evidence of cancer has been found in a 1.7-million-year-old fossil

Cancer has existed as long as humans have, with some of the earliest evidence found among fossilized bone tumors, human mummies in ancient Egypt, and ancient manuscripts. The oldest example was uncovered in a toe—millions of years old—from an ancestor of modern-day humans.

Was the stone that sealed Jesus's tomb round or square?

Archaeologist Amos Kloner's survey of more than 900 Second Temple-era burial caves found only four with round, disk-shaped stones—all belonging to the very wealthy. The other 98-plus percent used square, cork-shaped stones, suggesting the popular image of a wheel rolled away from Jesus's tomb is probably a later artistic invention. The Greek verb translated as "rolled" can also mean "moved."

Stonehenge was part of a much larger prehistoric landscape

Long before Stonehenge was built, the Salisbury Plain was already dotted with ceremonial sites, burial mounds, and large-scale earthworks. These landscape maps reveal a densely inhabited region shaped by sophisticated prehistoric communities with ambitious public projects.

22 fascinating discoveries of massive gold coin hoards

The gallery highlights major gold coin treasures from ancient to modern times, from the Saddle Ridge hoard in California in the 1800s (now worth $10M) to finds in Baltimore, Kentucky, and more. Each discovery reveals something about the period, with some buried and others left in vaults.

Death taxes have helped fund wars since the 1860s

Death taxes date back to 700 BCE and were used in Ancient Rome and Ancient Egypt. In the US, they've been used to finance wars since the Civil War, and have been levied on both the estate and beneficiary. The estate tax created during WWI to help finance war efforts is still in effect today.

Explore the archaeological treasures of Pompeii, the city buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

Cultural norms about how to handle the bodies of loved ones in communities in West Africa have hampered Ebola responses.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

The identity of the Tank Man in the iconic photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests remains unknown and was possibly killed.

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

In its famous catalog, Sears sold $600 DIY house kits from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in an estimated 100,000 'Sears and Roebuck homes.'

Artificial coral reefs have been 3D printed from nontoxic, biodegradable terracotta clay, which coral polyps have used as a foundation for rebuilding marine ecosystems.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.