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Artifacts

Visitors view the Star-Spangled Banner at the National Museum of American History

The National Museum of American History Is Displaying 250 Objects to Commemorate the Country’s Big Birthday. Here’s the Story Behind Ten of the Artifacts

Featuring iconic and everyday items, including a Revolutionary War gunboat and a first-generation iPod, “In Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness” is open now at the museum

Monroe in the 1952 film Don’t Bother to Knock

Marilyn Monroe Collections Assembled for Her 100th Birthday Cut Through Hollywood Glamour to Reveal the Star’s Human Side

A selection of the movie star’s clothing, jewelry and dark, personal letters will be auctioned for the big anniversary of her birth

Archaeologists and volunteers excavate the site in the Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve.  

Cool Finds

Researchers Discovered the Remnants of a Secret, Illegal Whisky Distillery in a Stunning Scottish Park

The copper still, likely used to make whisky, would have been hidden away from the oversight of tax collectors after Scotland outlawed unlicensed distilling centuries ago

A remotely operated vehicle captured this image of the ceramics from the Camarat 4.

Here’s What Underwater Robots Are Finding at France’s Deepest Shipwreck, a 16th-Century Merchant Vessel Resting at the Bottom of the Mediterranean

Known as the “Camarat 4,” the ship was loaded with cannons, cauldrons and hundreds of ceramics—which are still visible on the seafloor. Researchers are surveying the site and carefully recovering a small selection of artifacts

A virtual reconstruction of the Berlanga Cup

Cool Finds

This Souvenir Bowl May Have Commemorated an Ancient Roman Soldier’s Service at Hadrian’s Wall. It Was Discovered on a Spanish Farm 1,900 Years Later

The artifact is decorated with an illustration of the defensive fortification in northern England, but it was unearthed some 1,200 miles away. A new study suggests the design reflects a soldier’s achievements at the site

The man in his 30s was found just outside Pompeii's gates.

New Research

This Man Fled Pompeii as Mount Vesuvius Erupted. Archaeologists Found Him 2,000 Years Later, Holding a Bowl to Protect His Head and a Lamp to Light His Way

Recent excavations revealed two skeletons just outside the ancient city’s walls. Researchers also created an A.I.-generated reconstruction of one of the victim’s harrowing final moments

The papyrus fragment with a passage from Homer's Iliad

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth a Papyrus Fragment From the ‘Iliad’ Tucked Inside the Wrappings of a 1,600-Year-Old Egyptian Mummy

The excerpt from Homer’s epic poem features his catalog of ships, a famous passage listing the Greek forces that sailed to Troy. It may be the first Greek literary text found in the context of mummification

The typewritten lyrics were found on a torn piece of paper measuring roughly eight by seven inches.

Cool Finds

Bob Dylan’s Original Typewritten Draft Lyrics for ‘I’m Not There’ Have Been Rediscovered After More Than Half a Century

For decades, eager fans could only hear the obscure song on bootleg vinyl recordings. The draft lyrics, which were found inside a first-edition copy of Allen Ginsberg poetry, just sold at auction for $6,800

The life jacket worn by Titanic survivor Laura Mabel Francatelli

The Titanic Carried 3,500 Life Jackets, but Almost All of Them Have Been Lost to History. This One Just Sold at Auction for Nearly $1 Million

The artifact belonged to first-class passenger Laura Mabel Francatelli, a secretary heading to Chicago with her employer. It’s the only life vest connected to a survivor of the 1912 shipwreck to ever appear at auction

Researchers found this hand ax, which appears to have been shaped around a geological feature imprint.

Cool Finds

These Big-Brained Ancestors May Have Loved Crystals Just as Much as Modern Humans Do, According to New Research

Archaeologists in Israel unearthed prehistoric hand axes that Homo erectus crafted from stones including fossils and crystals, perhaps a sign that they wanted to connect with the cosmos

This coin was found near Chile’s Strait of Magellan.

Cool Finds

Hundreds of Spanish Settlers Died at the ‘Port of Famine.’ This Newly Discovered Silver Coin Reveals Where the Doomed Colony Was Founded 400 Years Ago

Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe was established on the north shore of Chile’s Strait of Magellan in 1584. When an English navigator came across it several years later, few survivors remained

A still from “Gugusse and the Automaton” showing the magician and his robot, Pierrot

A Rare 1897 Film Discovered in an Old Trunk in Michigan Features the First On-Screen Appearance of a Robot

Filmmaker Georges Méliès employed some of his signature special effects techniques to create comedy in “Gugusse and the Automaton”

The altar was found in Hidalgo, Mexico.

This Millennium-Old Sacrificial Altar in Mexico Belonged to a Civilization That Thrived Before the Aztecs

Surrounded by human skulls, the artifact was uncovered at the site of the Toltec people’s capital in central Mexico ahead of construction of a new railway project

The Parker Solar Probe model displayed in the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

The James Webb Space Telescope and the Parker Solar Probe Changed How We See the Universe. Now, Their Models Have Found a Home at the Smithsonian

The National Air and Space Museum’s Virginia location now displays the objects which represent critical leaps forward in technology and exploration by NASA

This fully assembled robot was found inside an unclaimed bag. Staffers aren't sure what its purpose is.

Cool Finds

What’s Inside America’s Lost Luggage? These Travelers Abandoned a Samurai Sword, a Meteorite and a Robot With a Mysterious Purpose

Unclaimed Baggage sells lost belongings at a 50,000-square-foot store in Alabama. An annual report explores how objects packed in 2025 reflect cultural trends

Archaeologists found these stoneware fragments in the wreckage of the Dannebroge.

This Danish Warship Exploded in Battle 225 Years Ago. Now, Archaeologists Are Racing to Recover Its Artifacts

The destruction of the “Dannebroge” was documented in art and history books. Now, thanks to a museum’s excavations, archaeologists can study the wreck up close for the first time

Now part of Dry Tortugas National Park, Fort Jefferson was built starting in 1846.

This Soldier Died of Yellow Fever During a Hurricane 153 Years Ago. Archaeologists Just Found His Grave

George Tupper, a 22-year-old from Massachusetts, was nearly a year into his military service when a yellow fever outbreak struck Fort Jefferson

John Jacob Astor IV's 18-karat gold pocket watch and 14-karat gold pencil case

The Titanic’s Wealthiest Victim Was Carrying a Gold Pocket Watch When He Died. Now, It Could Sell for $500,000 at Auction

John Jacob Astor IV was returning from his honeymoon with his wife, who survived the 1912 disaster. His pocket watch and gold pencil case are going up for sale this month

Early examples of Native American dice discovered in the United States

Are These the Earliest Known Dice in the World? Native Americans May Have Used Them to Play Games of Chance More Than 12,000 Years Ago

A new study suggests that humans were playing with probability during the Ice Age—and that dice were invented 6,000 years earlier than previously thought

The archaeologist Jean Charles Loriquet created a copy of the mosaic.

New Research

Is This 1,800-Year-Old Mosaic the First Known Image of a Woman Fighting Wild Beasts in an Ancient Roman Arena?

The artwork was destroyed during World War I. But an archaeologist’s sketch may reveal a female figure wielding a whip and facing off against a leopard, a new study suggests

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