Ancient Civilizations

Angkor Wat in Cambodia

Angkor Wat May Owe Its Existence to an Engineering Catastrophe

The collapse of a reservoir in a remote and mysterious city could have helped Angkor gain supremacy

A 3-D model of Athens' classical acropolis

These 3-D Models Offer a Digital Glimpse Into 3,000 Years of Athens' History

Photographer-animator Dimitris Tsalkanis built the city from scratch and posted it online for free

A new analysis of 12,000- to 16,000-year-old pottery fragments suggests ancient Siberians navigated the harsh ice age climate with the help of "hot pots."

Siberian Hunters Cooked in 'Hot Pots' at the End of the Last Ice Age

Chemical analysis of the cookware reveals the diets of two ancient Siberian cultures

So-called Gwion figures feature prominently in some Aboriginal artworks. New research shows some of these paintings may have been completed as recently as 12,000 years ago.

Bookended by Wasp Nests, These Aboriginal Artworks May Finally Have Definitive Dates

New estimates place paintings in Australia's Kimberley rock shelters at about 12,000 years old

This 7,200-year-old well may have once helped early farmers get the most out of their land.

This Czech Well May Be the World's Oldest Wooden Structure

Researchers suspect the 7,200-year-old well stayed intact because it spent several centuries underwater

A Ludus Latrunculorum board found in Roman Britain

The Best Board Games of the Ancient World

Thousands of years before Monopoly, people were playing games like Senet, Patolli and Chaturanga

A satellite view of a region of Buckingham, England where 42 skeletons were recently unearthed on a former farm situated near a cemetery (center)

U.K. Developers Unearth 42 Bizarrely Buried Skeletons

The individuals, buried with their hands tied behind their backs, may be executed Anglo-Saxon prisoners or casualties of the English Civil War

The remains of Takabuti, a young woman who was murdered in the 7th century B.C. in Egypt

This 2,600-Year-Old Mummy Died in a Violent Backstabbing

Researchers concluded she was murdered by someone who forced a blade into her chest from behind

A statue of Pliny the Elder at the Cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore in Como, Italy

This 2,000-Year-Old Skull May Belong to Pliny the Elder

The Roman statesman launched a rescue mission when Vesuvius erupted but lost his life in the process

The remains of a pre-Hispanic temazcal recently found in Mexico City

14th-Century Steam Bath Found in Mexico City

The discovery has helped archaeologists pinpoint the location of the ancient neighborhood of Temazcaltitlan

Nesyamun was a priest and scribe whose duties included ritualistic chanting and singing.

Listen to the Recreated Voice of a 3,000-Year-Old Egyptian Mummy

Media outlets have likened the sound to a "brief groan," a "long, exasperated 'meh' without the 'm,'" and "rather like 'eeuuughhh'"

Blazes at Budj Bim National Park in southeastern Australia unearthed a previously unknown channel.

Australian Bushfires Reveal Hidden Sections of Ancient Aquaculture System

The eel-farming system of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape is older than both Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids

Ninety-six sculptures from the Torlonia Collection will go on view in Rome later this year.

A Long-Hidden Collection of Ancient Sculpture Is Making Its Grand Debut

The statues are "surprising, rewarding and promising beyond belief," says one expert of the private Torlonia Collection

The front of one of the barb-spring padlocks recovered from the Pictish settlement at Lair in Glenshee, Scotland

Medieval Padlock Hints at Prosperity of Scotland's Pictish Farmers

Archaeologists uncovered a thriving farming community whose members wanted to keep their valuables safe

Hernán Cortés had Aztec treasures melted into gold bars for easier transport back to Europe.

Spanish Conquistadors Stole This Gold Bar From Aztec Emperor Moctezuma's Trove

Forces led by Hernán Cortés dropped the looted treasure during a hasty retreat from the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in June 1520

Sweden's 1,200-year-old Rök stone is inscribed with more than 700 runes, some of which may discuss climate change.

Viking Runestone May Trace Its Roots to Fear of Extreme Weather

Sweden’s Rök stone, raised by a father commemorating his recently deceased son, may contain allusions to an impending period of catastrophic cold

Most of the graves were lined with stone curbs and closed with slabs.

High-Status Roman Burials Found in Britain

The discovery provides insight on how Iron Age Britons adopted the Roman lifestyle

The inspector of measurements and weights, called the agoranomos, was a common job throughout the Roman Empire.

2,000-Year-Old Measuring Table Points to Location of Ancient Jerusalem Market

The table ensured standard measurements for buying and selling in the first century A.D.

A scholar spotted the long-overlooked image (its horns and face are at left, its legs on the right) while conducting research at a Berlin museum.

This Demon, Immortalized in 2,700-Year-Old Assyrian Tablet, Was Thought to Cause Epilepsy

The damaged drawing was hidden on the back of a clay cuneiform tablet

Most of the newly discovered warriors were sculpted into one of two positions: either clutching pole weapons, with their right arms bent and fists partially clenched, or carrying bows, with their right arms hanging at ease.

Archaeologists Excavate 200 More Chinese Terracotta Warriors

The clay figures are part of the vast subterranean army built to protect the formidable emperor Qin Shi Huang in the afterlife

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