Smart News History & Archaeology

One highlight of the find included a rare a leopard coin. Officials considered this coinage 'failed' because the costs for producing them were too high.

Metal Detectorist Discovers Black Death-Period Coins

The treasure dates back to the reign of Edward III and probably belonged to a wealthy person in England

The letter sheds light on Jenner's beliefs about the use of cowpox and horsepox in vaccination.

Letter From 'Father of Vaccination' Edward Jenner Sold at Auction

Jenner wrote that new research 'put a stop to the sneers' of 'little minded persons'

A proposed government plan will move the A303 highway, pictured here in the distance behind Stonehenge's iconic structures, underground. But Unesco warned in a report Monday that the efforts might endanger the site's OVU, or outstanding universal value.

Unesco Weighs Changes to Stonehenge's Cultural Heritage Status

A new report also cited Venice and the Great Barrier Reef as sites that might be placed on the World Heritage in Danger list

Enslavers pocketed the majority of the money earned by enslaved individuals hired out as part-time laborers. But in some cases, enslaved people managed to save a fraction of their earnings in hopes of purchasing freedom for themselves or their families.

This Rare Copper Badge Tells a Story of Slavery in 19th-Century Charleston

The South Carolina city used the metal tags to identify enslaved people hired out as part-time laborers by their enslavers

Authorities have returned the illegally transported artifacts to their home country of Italy.

Officials Seize 782 Ancient Artifacts Acquired Illicitly by Single Belgian Collector

The trove of treasures, including a funerary slab, amphorae and pottery dated to pre-Roman times, is worth an estimated $13 million

Archaeologists are working to decipher the slab's 15 lines of hieroglyphs.

Cool Finds

Farmer Stumbles Onto Egyptian Pharaoh's 2,600-Year-Old Stone Slab

The large sandstone marker may be connected to a military campaign led by the 26th dynasty ruler Apries

Richard Henry Pratt, founder of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, poses alongside students around 1900.

Remains of Ten Native American Children Who Died at Government Boarding School Return Home After 100 Years

The deceased were students at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, whose founder's motto was "kill the Indian, and save the man"

An eighth- or ninth-century B.C. Urartian castle similar to the one recently found in eastern Turkey

Cool Finds

2,800-Year-Old Castle Linked to Enigmatic Ancient Civilization Found in Turkey

The structures dates to the time of Urartu, a kingdom that clashed with the Assyrians in the first millennium B.C.

Bronzino, Eleonora di Toledo and Francesco de’ Medici, c. 1550

Florence's Medici Family Used Portraits as Propaganda

A new exhibition at the Met reveals how the Italian banking dynasty drew on art to cement its power and legacy

People who reopened graves might take items like swords and brooches but leave more valuable objects untouched.

Cool Finds

Why Did Early Medieval Europeans Reopen Graves?

Contrary to some assumptions, the removal of objects from burial sites was not typically motivated by greed

Scholars used a newly developed technique to test skeletons' teeth for the presence of Yersinia pestis, the pathogen responsible for the plague.

Cool Finds

Why Weren't These Black Death Victims Buried in Mass Graves?

New research suggests some Europeans who died of the bubonic plague were individually interred with care

In 1921, Ruth Middleton embroidered this cotton sack with a powerful family story.

History of Now

A Simple Cotton Sack Tells an Intergenerational Story of Separation Under Slavery

Historian Tiya Miles' new book traces the lives of three Black women through an embroidered family heirloom known as "Ashley's sack"

Officials posted a video showing the statue's excavation on Twitter.

Cool Finds

Headless Statue of Ancient Woman Discovered in Turkey's 'Mother Goddess City'

The 1,800-year-old sculpture dates to Metropolis' Roman era

Researchers found the charred remains of wooden furniture at the site of the former Astra cinema in Verona.

Cool Finds

'Miniature Pompeii' Found Beneath Abandoned Verona Cinema

In the second century A.D., "a calamitous event, in this case a fire, suddenly marked the end of the complex," notes a statement

Queer artist Gilbert Baker preserved this 10- by 28-foot section of an original 1978 pride flag.

LGBTQ+ Pride

Long-Lost Fragment of First Rainbow Pride Flag Resurfaces After Four Decades

The brilliantly colored banner—now on view in San Francisco—flew on "Gay Freedom Day" in 1978

An individual buried in an amphora on the Croatian island of Hvar

Cool Finds

Ancient Necropolis Discovered in 17th-Century Croatian Palace's Garden

The fourth- or fifth-century cemetery contained the remains of several individuals buried in jars

The mini museum is housed on the first floor of an Oakland, California, house whose exterior is decorated with a mural honoring the women of the Black Panther Party.

Mini Museum Honoring the Black Panther Party Will Debut on Juneteenth

A pop-up exhibition dedicated to the Black power organization is set to open in Oakland, California, on June 19

An early episode of the rebooted "Jeopardy!," which debuted in 1984 with the legendary late Alex Trebek as its host

History of Now

From 'Jeopardy' to 'Wheel of Fortune,' Archive Will Preserve Game Show History

A new collection at the Strong National Museum of Play in New York will celebrate America's beloved prime-time competitions

Researchers discovered a clay fragment bearing the impressions of at least two seals. One seal featured a long line intersected by shorter strokes.

Cool Finds

7,000-Year-Old Seal Impression Found in Israel Offers Clues to Prehistoric Trade

The clay object—the oldest of its kind found in the region—may have been used to mark a shipment or secure a grain silo door shut

Māori explorers may have reached Antarctica in the seventh century A.D.

Māori May Have Reached Antarctica 1,000 Years Before Europeans

New research draws on oral histories and other traditional records often ignored by Western scholars

Page 87 of 294