Archaeology

Overview

Items ranging from those left over at a modern-day campsite to the remains of an ancient tomb are at the heart of archaeology. This branch of science seeks to study humanity through material evidence, including artifacts and human remains. These resources will help you to better understand this ever-growing field and its implications for future generations.

1440 Findings

Hours of research by our editors, distilled into minutes of clarity.

  • Investigating the death of a 5,300-year-old mummy

    Authorities generally consider a case to have gone cold once they've run out of leads or the ability to collect and consider new evidence, usually within a few years of the instigating event. Now imagine being a detective charged with investigating a death that happened more than 5,000 years ago. This article details how Alexander Horn, a then-detective inspector, attempted to solve the mystery of Ötzi the Iceman's death.

  • What ancient goat teeth reveal about ancient human-animal relationships

    About 4,000 years ago, several goats with terrible teeth managed to outlive their better-teethed brethren. With such intense dental damage, the goats were likely fed higher-quality feed than the more dentally gifted herd members, a dietary shift that would've contributed to the difference in life span. These goat teeth underscore the hard truth that humans may inflict harm on the animals they care about most, regardless of intention.

  • Exchanged: the history of Rome through its coinage

    Ancient Rome's history is carved into its coins. As the Roman empire grew, so did its types of metallic cash. For example, the bronze coin-using culture added silver coins into the mix as it pushed deeper into the Italian peninsula, where silver coins were the norm, and its coins grew lighter as the empire fought wars to continue and defend its expansion. Other changes in coinage echorf political, religious, and power shifts throughout the Roman Empire.

  • A collection of ancient graffiti from Pompeii, Herculaneum

    From cavemen to marker-wielding children, humans have always wanted to leave their mark. Read some of the graffiti left by ancient Romans here. The cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum feature exquisite levels of preservation due to the nature of their demise. Viewers can see the surviving graffiti by clicking through the site's featured collections, which include topics such as poetry and love.

  • The history of ancient Rome: an extended deep dive

    Ancient Rome was founded by a pair of twins reportedly nursed by a wolf and adopted by a farmer—but then what? The legend actually starts with the fall of Troy and a refugee prince who fled to the shores of Italy, where he married into a local Latin tribe and ultimately welcomed the twins who would go on to found the city of Rome. This 11-minute podcast episode starts a nearly 200-episode series that details Ancient Rome.

  • 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.

  • 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.

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