1061 Items Tagged

Archaeology

Carving

Stuttgart, Germany

Cataphract Funerary Monument

A funerary monument for two brothers who served in the Roman cavalry.

The House of the Vettii, one of the most important historical sites in Pompeii, opened to the public in 2023 after 20 years of work to restore its frescos and the mansion itself.

Revealing the Risqué Art of Pompeii’s House of the Vettii

Inside the two-decade-long effort to restore the mansion’s colorful frescos.

Amy Crawford February 7, 2023

Built sometime around the sixth or seventh century, this ring fort is tucked between hills and farms in a remote corner of northwestern Ireland.

What Is a Fairy Fort?

In Ireland, fears about disturbing the fair folk have saved thousands of these mysterious ancient structures.

Sarah Durn February 2, 2023

Rimrock, Arizona

Montezuma Well

This sinkhole in the Arizona desert is filled with carbonated, arsenic-rich water

During the last ice age, people moved across Beringia, a massive landform connecting Asia and North America. Seasonal hunters left behind a trove of valuable evidence of their presence at the northern Canadian site known as the Bluefish Caves.

Investigating Ice Age America’s Ancient Abattoir

Scientists know people were in Yukon 24,000 years ago. But what were they doing there?

Devon Bidal January 30, 2023

Did Ancient Egypt Have a Pigeon Problem?

More than 3,000 years ago, the birds appeared in unexpected places.

Shoshi Parks January 25, 2023

Archaeologists believe that the Dholavira signboard hung above the northern entrance to the city thousands of years ago.

objects of intrigue

The Mystery of the World’s Oldest Billboard

No one knows what it says.

Harish Alagappa January 20, 2023

The round ditches.

Salisbury, England

Figsbury Ring

Several Iron Age artifacts were discovered during excavations of this ancient site.

Did Humans Arrive in Micronesia Much Earlier Than We Thought?

Ancient sites such as Nan Madol, the "Venice of the Pacific," may need to be reconsidered thanks to new evidence about sea level change.

Juliet Sefton, Andrew Kemp, and Mark D. McCoy January 3, 2023

Tucson, Arizona

Mission Garden

A living museum of curated gardens honors 4,000 years of agriculture in the Santa Cruz River basin.

Petroglyphs

Caguana, Puerto Rico

Caguana Ceremonial Ball Courts

Built some 700 years ago, this Taíno ceremonial site features ball courts, petroglyphs, and evidence of ancient astronomy practices.

Carn Goedog

Eglwyswrw, Wales

Carn Goedog

This rocky outcrop served as a quarry for some of the bluestones that sit at the center of Stonehenge.

Abo kiva in foreground, church in background

Mountainair, New Mexico

Salinas Pueblo Missions

The remains of Abó, Gran Quivera, and Qurai are monuments to the long, complicated history of the Indigenous people of the Southwest.

Plum Bayou mounds

Scott, Arkansas

Toltec Mounds

People of the Plum Bayou culture built these enormous mounds over 1000 years ago.

This 1833 painting by Alexandre Hesse in the Louvre in Paris depicts the funeral rites of the painter Titian after his death from plague.

Venice Is Almost One Big Plague Graveyard

A city built on water was always going to struggle with burials—especially when a deadly pandemic came to town.

Vittoria Traverso October 27, 2022

Horseman number 1

Albacete, Spain

Caballero No. 1

This sculpture of a rider on horseback once crowned the tomb of an Iberian aristocrat.

Strichen stone circle

Strichen, Scotland

Strichen Stone Circle

This ancient monument has been dissembled and put back together at least twice.

Kirkkonummi, Finland

Vitträsk Rock Paintings

These lakeside pictographs were some of the first pieces of prehistoric artwork found in Finland.