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Andrew Curry

Andrew Curry

Andrew Curry is a Berlin-based journalist who writes about science and history for a variety of publications, including National Geographic, Nature, and Wired. He is a contributing editor at Archaeology and has visited archaeological excavations on five continents. (Photo Credit: Jennifer Porto)

This gold appliqué, more than six millennia old, appears to be a bull but has buffalo-like horns.

Mystery of the Varna Gold: What Caused These Ancient Societies to Disappear?

Treasure found in prehistoric graves in Bulgaria is the first evidence of social hierarchy, but no one knows what caused the civilization’s decline

A time capsule of life in the Eocene: Ailuravus, a three-foot-long, squirrel-like rodent

The Evolutionary Secrets Within the Messel Pit

An amazing abundance of fossils in a bygone lake in Germany hints at the debt humans owe to animals that died out 48 million years ago

At the height of the cold war, KGB agents spied on visitors to the Estonia Hotel in Viru. Today, the room in which they listened in on hotel guests has become a museum.

Pay No Attention to the Spies on the 23rd Floor

For years, the KGB secretly spied on visitors to the Hotel Viru in Estonia. A new museum reveals the fascinating time capsule and all the secrets within

Mikael Knip, a Finnish physician, speculates that developed nations are too clean for their own good.

The Unintended (and Deadly) Consequences of Living in the Industrialized World

Scientists believe dirt could explain why some of the wealthiest countries suffer from afflictions rarely seen in less-developed nations

Inside the volcano's round chamber, Jonas Lohmann and two other graduate students from the Brandenburg Technical University doused fires with lighter fluid and smoke powder to create the columns of smoke that streamed from the volcano all afternoon and evening.

That Time a German Prince Built an Artificial Volcano

A 18th century German prince visited Mt. Vesuvius and built a replica of it. 200 years later, a chemistry professor brings it back to life

The "Venus of Hohle Fels" is a 40,000-year-old figurine and is so small it could be hidden in your fist.

The Cave Art Debate

The discovery of a 40,000-year old figurine reignites debate among archaeologists about the origins—and true purpose—of art

Located in Sweden’s isolated far north, the tiny town of Kiruna, with its Esrange rocket range, hopes to become a major space tourism attraction.

Spaceport at the Top of the World

How an ore-mining town in Sweden sees a new identity over the horizon.

Cave bears loomed large in the Cro-Magnon mind as shown in this Chauvet cave painting.

Fate of the Cave Bear

The lumbering beasts coexisted with the first humans for tens of thousands of years and then died off. Why?

A focal point for visitors today, the gateway sign says "Work Will Set You Free," a monstrous lie told to the men, women and children imprisoned there.

Can Auschwitz Be Saved?

Liberated in 1945, the Nazi concentration camp is one of Eastern Europe’s most visited sites—and most fragile

Where fierce legionaries once marched, history buffs (students from Newcastle Church High School) nowadays hike.

Trekking Hadrian’s Wall

A hike through Britain’s second-century Roman past leads to spectacular views, idyllic villages and local brews

Despite receiving critical acclaim, the Curtis film was a box office failure.

Around the Mall: Old Documentary on Western Tribes Restored

How a Film Helped Preserve a Native Culture

Now seen as early evidence of prehistoric worship, the hilltop site was previously shunned by researchers as nothing more than a medieval cemetery.

Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?

Predating Stonehenge by 6,000 years, Turkey’s stunning Gobekli Tepe upends the conventional view of the rise of civilization

The Sea Stallion from Glendalough

Raiders or Traders?

A replica Viking vessel sailing the North Sea has helped archaeologists figure out what the stalwart Norsemen were really up to

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Return of the Beasts

Elephant seals descend on California beaches for breeding season

With their reputed healing powers, Japan's onsen, or volcanic hot springs, have attracted the weary since the days of the samurai

Springs Eternal

In rural Japan, stressed workers and tourists seek geothermal ease

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How to Make a Dodo

Biologist Beth Shapiro has figured out a recipe for success in the field of ancient DNA research

Archaeologists have modeled Rome in three dimensions, and users can "fly" through the ancient city's winding streets, broad plazas, forums—even the Coliseum.

Rome Reborn

Archaeologists unveil a 3-D model of the great city circa A.D. 400

The Sucevita Monastery was built in the last decades of the 16th century in the Moldavian style, a blend of Byzantine and Gothic art and architecture. The exterior walls' striking frescoes (above, "The Ladder of Virtues," contrasting the order of heaven with the chaos of hell) still retain their brilliant hues.

Scripture Alfresco

450-year-old paintings on the exterior of monasteries and churches-—now open again for worship-—tell vivid tales of saints and prophets, heaven and hell

Nicolaus Copernicus

Copernicus Unearthed

Archaeologists believe they have found the remains of the 16th century astronomer who revolutionized our view of the universe

The Frauenkirche of Dresden at Neumarkt in 2009

Dresden’s Crowning Glory

Sixty years after it was reduced to rubble by Allied bombing, the reconstructed Baroque Frauenkirche once again dominates the historic city’s skyline

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