Easter Island’s famous statues really did “walk,” and physics proves it
For centuries, the massive stone statues of Easter Island—known as moai—have inspired awe and mystery.
How did the ancient people of Rapa Nui, with no...
Ancient murals at Teotihuacan may reveal the language of a lost civilization
More than 2,000 years ago, Teotihuacan was one of the greatest cities in the world. Located in central Mexico, it was home to around...
Scientists discover Europe’s oldest blue pigment in Germany
Archaeologists in Germany have uncovered something that could change our understanding of early human creativity.
At a site in Mühlheim-Dietesheim, researchers found traces of a...
Ancient pottery unlocks secrets of prehistoric fishing nets
For the first time, archaeologists have digitally and physically reconstructed fishing nets from more than 6,000 years ago, thanks to traces left in ancient...
Ancient copper smelting site reveals clues to the birth of the iron age
A 3,000-year-old metal workshop in southern Georgia may hold the key to one of the most important turning points in human history: the invention...
Tally sticks from three ancient civilizations rewrite money’s history
When most of us think about the history of money, we imagine a simple timeline: people bartered goods, then invented coins, then paper money,...
Archaeologists find earliest evidence of horses in ancient Sicily
For decades, historians believed horses did not reach Sicily until around the first millennium B.C.
But new research has overturned that assumption, showing that horses...
Archaeologists uncover 138 ancient tools that rewrite Europe’s prehistory
A new study suggests that early humans may have once walked directly from Turkey into mainland Europe—thanks to land bridges that are now hidden...
Scientists solve 1,500-year-old mystery of the first pandemic
For centuries, historians have debated what caused the Plague of Justinian, the world’s first recorded pandemic.
Now, for the first time, scientists have found direct...
Ancient rubbish heaps reveal the secret social life of bronze age Britons
Huge prehistoric rubbish heaps, known as middens, are giving archaeologists fresh insight into the feasting habits of communities living in Britain more than 3,000...