archaeology

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Lost Medieval Town Found in Polish Forest

Geophysical surveys and artifacts reveal town's layout and mysterious decline

(Newser) - Archaeologists scouring a Polish forest say they've finally tracked down a medieval town that vanished from the map centuries ago. Using old documents, maps, fieldwork, and a recent geophysical survey, researchers with the Relicta Foundation have identified massive earthworks and an 18-foot-deep moat as the long-lost town of Stolzenberg,...

Genghis Khan Probably Didn't Procreate as Much as Thought

New DNA analysis links Mongol elites to haplotype that is rare in modern people

(Newser) - That oft-cited claim that one in every 200 humans alive today descends from Genghis Khan just took a hit. A new DNA study of remains from Kazakh mausoleums tied to the Mongol Empire suggests the genetic footprint of the 13th-century conqueror's male line is much smaller than earlier research...

Student Finds Second Crusader Sword in 5 Years
Student Finds Second
Crusader Sword in 5 Years
in case you missed it
Feb 28, 2026 12:17 PM CST

Student Finds Second Crusader Sword in 5 Years

Shlomi Katzin's rare 12th-century discovery off Israeli coast scanned to reveal secrets

(Newser) - Finding one Crusader sword in the Mediterranean is unusual; finding a second in nearly the same spot is something else. Israel's University of Haifa says student Shlomi Katzin has again stumbled on a 12th-century weapon off the Carmel coast, this time near Dor Beach. Katzin, a student in the...

Panama Unveils Its Tomb of Gold
Panama Unveils
Its Tomb of Gold
Feb 24, 2026 8:07 AM CST

Panama Unveils Its Tomb of Gold

Grave of high-status figure contains gold ornaments, ornate pottery

(Newser) - A grave that hadn't seen daylight in more than a millennium has been uncovered in central Panama—and its primary occupant was no ordinary local. Archaeologists say Tomb 3 at the El Caño site in Coclé province, about 125 miles southwest of Panama City, dates to roughly 800AD–...

Ancient World Wonder Is Being Rebuilt—Digitally
Ancient Wonder
of the World
Will Rise Again
longform
Feb 9, 2026 8:42 AM CST

Ancient Wonder of the World Will Rise Again

Digital twin project uses underwater scans to reconstruct the Lighthouse of Alexandria

(Newser) - A long-vanished giant of the ancient world is being digitally reconstructed for modern eyes, block by painstaking block. The New York Times reports on the Pharos Project , a French- and Egyptian-led effort to virtually rebuild the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the 460-foot beacon that once rivaled the Great Pyramid in height...

Alaskan Site Revives Land Bridge Theory


Alaskan Site Revives
Land Bridge Theory
NEW STUDY
Feb 3, 2026 7:18 AM CST

Alaskan Site Revives Land Bridge Theory

Study argues descendants of Siberian hunters carried tool-making techniques south from Alaska

(Newser) - A quiet stretch of Alaska's interior may hold new clues to how people pushed into the Americas roughly 14,000 years ago. In a study in Quaternary International , researchers say stone and ivory tools uncovered at the Holzman archaeological site in the Tanana Valley appear to bridge an important...

It's the Oldest-Ever Evidence of a Fatal Bear Attack

Reanalysis of an Italian cave burial reveals teen's death was likely caused by a bear

(Newser) - A Stone Age teenager whose remains were discovered in 1942 did indeed meet the violent end that had long been suspected. Scientific American reports that a reexamination of the famed "Il Principe" skeleton, found in an Italian cave and dating back 27,000 years, produced strong evidence he was...

These Faint Handprints Change What We Know About Art

Indonesian handprints are the oldest cave art found yet

(Newser) - Handprints on cave walls in a largely unexplored area of Indonesia may be the oldest rock art studied so far, dating back to at least 67,800 years ago. The tan-colored prints analyzed by Indonesian and Australian researchers on the island of Sulawesi were made by blowing pigment over hands...

Scan Reveals Potential 'Pompeii' Beneath Wales

It's believed to be the largest Roman villa ever found in the area

(Newser) - Roman Britain may have left a far grander mark on south Wales than previously thought. Archaeologists using ground-penetrating radar in Margam Country Park near Port Talbot have identified what they say is the largest Roman villa ever found in Wales—about 572 square meters in size and likely once the...

This African Poison Has Been Used for 60K Years
This African Poison Has
Been Used for 60K Years
NEW STUDY
Jan 8, 2026 7:51 AM CST

This African Poison Has Been Used for 60K Years

Chemical analysis of arrow tips reveals plant-based toxins used by hunter-gatherers

(Newser) - The oldest known poisoned weapon was 7,000 years old—until a recent analysis on arrow tips in South Africa pushed the date back more than 50,000 years. The analysis of the stone tips previously excavated from the Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter in KwaZulu-Natal has turned up chemical traces of...

Pharaoh's Temple to the Sun Unearthed

Fifth Dynasty sun worship complex later became a settlement, archaeologists say

(Newser) - Archaeologists in Egypt say they've uncovered a massive 4,400-year-old sun temple tied to an ancient pharaoh—one of only two such structures ever found. An Italian team, working with Egypt's antiquities ministry, uncovered more than half of the long-buried temple of King Nyuserre, a lesser-known pharaoh of...

2K Years Before Superyachts, Ancient Egypt Had These

Archaeologists believe they've uncovered first example of a luxury thalamegos

(Newser) - Ancient Egyptian art and texts tell of wealthy elite traveling along the Nile on luxury pleasure boats known as the thalamegos, basically early versions of modern superyachts. Now, archaeologists believe they've uncovered one for the very first time. Marine archaeologist Franck Goddio and his team have documented a 35-meter-long...

Poland Detains Archaeologist Wanted by Ukraine

Extradition request centers on allegations of illegal Crimea excavations and damage

(Newser) - Polish authorities have ended a Russian archaeologist's European lecture tour with a stop in jail. Authorities in Warsaw say they detained a senior scholar from St. Petersburg's Hermitage Museum after Ukraine accused him of illegally digging at an ancient Greek site in Russian-occupied Crimea. Ukrainian prosecutors say the...

'Olive Oil Hypothesis' May Be Overstated
'Olive Oil Hypothesis'
May Be Overstated
study
Dec 10, 2025 3:30 AM CST

'Olive Oil Hypothesis' May Be Overstated

Study finds ancient residue can mimic olive oil in artifacts

(Newser) - The olive oil trade is likely not as old as archaeologists have long claimed, Discover magazine reports. While archaeologists have long cited the presence of olive oil residue in artifacts such as pottery, a new study in the Journal of Archaeological Science suggests that the chemical signatures archaeologists have used...

Canoe 'Parking Lot' in Wisconsin Dates Back 5K Years

16 ancient canoes emerge from Madison's Lake Mendota

(Newser) - Archaeologists have identified more than a dozen ancient canoes that Indigenous people apparently left behind in a sort of prehistoric parking lot along a Wisconsin lakeshore. The Wisconsin Historical Society announced Wednesday that archaeologists have mapped the location of 16 canoes submerged in the lake bed of Lake Mendota in...

New Theory Emerges on Peru's 'Serpent Mountain'
New Theory Emerges About
Peru's 'Serpent Mountain'
NEW STUDY
Nov 10, 2025 9:59 AM CST

New Theory Emerges About Peru's 'Serpent Mountain'

Drone analysis hints at ancient Peruvian marketplace and accounting hub

(Newser) - A mile-long stretch of mysterious holes carved into the Peruvian Andes may have finally given up some of its secrets. New research suggests the so-called Band of Holes—a monument comprised of around 5,200 indentations on Monte Sierpe, or "Serpent Mountain"—was likely used as a marketplace...

Hunt Is On for the Forgotten Black Soldiers of Simpsonville

Historians and archaeologists dig for Civil War-era answers in a Kentucky field

(Newser) - A long-buried episode from the Civil War is finally coming to light, as archaeologists and local historians search for the mass graves of Black soldiers killed in what is known as the Simpsonville Massacre. In January 1865, about 80 members of the Fifth US Colored Cavalry—all formerly enslaved men...

Researchers Pinpoint 60K Miles of Lost Roman Roads

Over 185K miles of ancient routes are now mapped

(Newser) - After a five-year effort, researchers have released the most detailed map yet of the Roman Empire's sprawling road network—all 185,000 miles of it. That's 60,000 miles more than had been previously documented, though co-lead author Tom Brughmans tells Scientific American there's an educated-guess element...

Some of the First Humans Used Tools Continuously
Some of the First Humans
Used Tools Continuously
NEW STUDY
Nov 4, 2025 10:45 AM CST

Some of the First Humans Used Tools Continuously

Findings in Kenya challenge idea that only later humans had the brains for the job

(Newser) - A newly uncovered trove of ancient stone tools in northwest Kenya suggests early humans didn't use them sporadically but routinely over hundreds of thousands of years, at the very emergence of humanity. Archaeologists at the Namorotukunan site in the Turkana Basin uncovered 1,300 stone flakes, hammerstones, and cores...

Duo Thinks They've Cracked Teotihuacan's Baffling Symbols

Answer may lie in Uto-Aztecan, a language contemporary with the writing system

(Newser) - Archaeologists are taking a fresh stab at deciphering the mysterious symbols of Teotihuacan, an ancient city in central Mexico that flourished centuries before the Aztecs. The city's writing system, found on murals and pottery, has confounded researchers for decades, but a new study is sparking fresh debate. Archaeologist Christophe...

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