Smart News History & Archaeology

This Maliwawa Figure shows a kangaroo or similar animal.

New Research

Newly Documented Aboriginal Rock Art Is 'Unlike Anything Seen Before'

The ancient paintings depict close relationships between humans and animals

This 2016 image shows one of the instruments included in Amnon Weinstein's Violins of Hope collection, which features pre-World War II violins once owned by Jewish musicians and music lovers.

Pandemic Temporarily Silences Violins That Survived the Holocaust

Organizers found ways to make the instruments' voices heard after the cancellation of planned concerts in California

Woodrow Wilson, seen here at the start of the Paris Peace Conference in January 1919, never publicly acknowledged the pandemic's toll on his country.

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What Happened When Woodrow Wilson Came Down With the 1918 Flu?

The president contracted influenza while attending peace talks in Paris, but the nation was never told the full, true story

Parliament's halls are lined with art.

How the U.K. Parliament's Art Collection Is Linked to Slavery

An initial review identified 189 works depicting individuals associated with the slave trade

City officials removed the stone, which commemorates a site where enslavers sold African Americans into slavery, on June 5, 2020.

Fredericksburg's Slave Auction Block Will Be Moved to a Museum

Curators plan on preserving graffiti added by Black Lives Matter protesters

A page from Pierce's 1932 Book of Wood, designed as an aid for preaching the Bible, features scenes titled Entry into Jerusalem, Zacchaeus Watches, Sun and Sower, Behold I Am the Door, and Christ Teaches Humility.

Wood Carvings Document Faith, Injustice and Hope in 20th-Century America

A new exhibition centered on self-taught black artist Elijah Pierce is now on view in Philadelphia

Dionysus is the Greco-Roman god of wine, ecstasy and theater.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Turkey Unearth 2,400-Year-Old Dionysus Mask

The terracotta likeness was likely used in rituals associated with winemaking

Many of Philip Guston's later works, including Riding Around (1969), depict distorted, cartoon-like figures performing everyday activities while wearing Ku Klux Klan robes.

Understanding the Controversy Over Postponed Exhibition Featuring KKK Imagery

A major Philip Guston retrospective scheduled to travel to D.C., London, Houston and Boston will now take place in 2024

The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam will open its depot next year, making 151,000 artworks that would otherwise be in storage accessible to the public.

A Dutch Museum Will Display All 150,000 Objects in Its Collections

The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen's unique storage facility is slated to open in fall 2021

Jerzy Kalina's Poisoned Well is on view at the National Museum in Warsaw.

Why a New Sculpture of Pope John Paul II Is So Controversial

Artist Jerzy Kalina says his "strongman" is a call to resist "multiplying forms of red revolution"

This book, printed in 1634, contains what may be the first Shakespeare play to reach Spain.

Cool Finds

Rare Edition of Shakespeare's Last Play Found in Spanish Library

The dusty volume may be the first copy of the Bard's dramatic works to circulate on Spanish soil

A "mummy portrait" affixed to a 3- to 4-year-old Egyptian boy's mummy (left) and a 3-D facial reconstruction based on the child's bone structure (right)

New Research

3-D Reconstruction Reveals the Face of an Ancient Egyptian Toddler

The digital likeness bears a striking similarity to a portrait attached to the front of the boy's mummy

The R.M.S. Titanic, seen departing Belfast on April 2, 1912

New Research

Did the Northern Lights Play a Role in the Titanic's Demise?

New study suggests the solar storm that sparked the aurora borealis interfered with the ship's navigational and radio equipment

The mud-brick buildings of Djenné, Mali, are among six at-risk African heritage sites spotlighted by a new study.

Study Suggests At-Risk African Heritage Sites Are Often Overlooked

Researchers cite a "total lack of quantifiable data on the impacts of climate change on heritage in sub-Saharan Africa"

A diver off the coast of Sisal, Mexico, investigates the wreck of La Unión in 2017.

Researchers Identify Mexican Wreck as 19th-Century Maya Slave Ship

Spanish traders used the steamboat to transport enslaved Indigenous individuals to Cuba

The Delmenhorst sank in an October 1644 maritime battle.

Cool Finds

Wreck of 17th-Century Danish Warship Found in the Baltic Sea

The "Delmenhorst" sank during a 1644 naval battle between Denmark and a joint Swedish-Dutch fleet

Archaeologists unearthed shards of pottery, wine jugs, floor tiles and traces of crops, among other artifacts.

Cool Finds

Sourdough Bread Oven, 'Air Freshener' Found at Medieval Irish Monastery

During the 13th century, French monks created a Cistercian community at Beamore in County Meath

Researchers prepared meals made out of maize, wheat and venison every week for a year.

New Research

Millennia-Old Cookware May Be the Key to Recreating Ancient Cuisine

A year-long experiment's ingredients, tools and cleaning techniques imitated early culinary practices as closely as possible

One of the 14 sealed coffins found at the Saqqara necropolis

Cool Finds

Trove of 27 Sealed Sarcophagi Unearthed in Egypt

Authorities say the 2,500-year-old coffins, found during excavations at the Saqqara necropolis, have likely remained unopened for millennia

A man in California found the logbook in his closet and reached out to a student at Georgetown University to facilitate the donation.

A Newly Digitized Logbook Documents Life and Death on a Slave Trading Ship

The "Mary" departed Africa in mid-June 1796 with 142 enslaved men, women and children on board

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