Cool Finds

The clay pot contained 1,290 Roman coins.

Amateur Archaeologist Stumbles Onto Trove of Coins Dated to Constantine the Great's Reign

Found in Switzerland, some of the buried Roman coins were minted during a time of relative political stability, between 332 and 335 C.E.

Archaeologists now think this is a devotional pool to an ancient god, not a harbor or ship repair area. 

An Ancient 'Harbor' Was Actually a Sacred Pool Designed for Scanning the Stars

Archaeologists think the devotional zone was dedicated to the god Ba'al

Native American artists created the cave drawings sometime between 660 and 949 C.E.

3-D Scans Reveal Gigantic Native American Cave Art in Alabama

A new analysis identifies four life-size human figures and an 11-foot rattlesnake drawn on the ceiling of an unnamed cavern

Archeologists work in the ruins of the temple of Zeus Kasios, a deity that merges the Greek god and Mount Kasios. 

Archaeologists Discover Temple in Egypt Inspired by Greek God Zeus

The deity was honored throughout the ancient world

Nick Bergh handles a damaged wax cylinder, which the Endpoint Machine will be able to read without risk of further damage.

A Library's Mysterious Trove of Wax Cylinders Will Soon Break Its Century-Long Silence

The recordings may include mundane conversations—and some of opera’s most legendary singers

A Book of Ryhmes by Charlotte Bronte

Lost Charlotte Brontë Manuscript Sells for $1.25 Million

The tiny booklet contains the author's last unpublished poems

The leather sandal's owner likely wore it with wool wrappings or socks made out of fabric or animal skins.

Melting Ice in Norway Reveals 1,700-Year-Old Sandal

An ancient traveler likely discarded the worn-out leather shoe as rubbish around 300 C.E.

The restored still life was painted by a 17-year-old artist known for his careful renderings of everyday objects.

A Dutch Teenage Painter's Multi-Million-Dollar Masterpiece Was Hidden in Plain Sight

The still life went unnoticed at an Australian school for 150 years

Archaeologists found the calendar fragment among a total of 249 pieces of painted plaster and painted masonry block. 

Fragment of Oldest-Known Maya Calendar Discovered in Guatemalan Pyramid

A glyph representing "7 Deer" marks the earliest known use of the historical system—for now

Most of the possibly royal graves rest in the center of square or rectangular enclosures like the one pictured here, at Plas Gogerddan in Wales.

Possible Royal Graves Dated to the Time of King Arthur Found in Great Britain

New research brings the number of potential burial sites of early medieval Celtic rulers from 2 to more than 20

Coin experts thought a medal honoring Revolutionary War hero Daniel Morgan had been lost forever, but it recently sold to the tune of nearly $1 million.

Long-Lost Medal Honoring Revolutionary War Hero Sells for Record-Breaking $960,000

The artifact, which honors General Daniel Morgan, went missing for years—then mysteriously turned up at an auction house specializing in coins and medals

Francis Hines, Untitled, 1983, hardpoint pastel on Arches paper mounted on wood with synthetic fabric wraps

A Connecticut Mechanic Found Artwork Worth Millions in a Dumpster

Jared Whipple discovered the life's work of Francis Hines, a largely forgotten Abstract Expressionist artist

Pablo Picasso, The Blue Room, 1901, oil on canvas

What Secrets Lie Beneath the Surface of Picasso's Blue Period Paintings?

An exhibition at the Phillips Collection reveals hidden compositions beneath three of the Cubist's canvases

The jars vary in shape in size. Some are perfectly round, while others are tall and skinny.

Archaeologists in India Find Dozens of Mysterious Giant Jars

The vessels' purpose is unknown, but scholars say they may have been used in ancient funerary practices

The anchor of Industry, a whaling ship that sank in 1836 in the Gulf of Mexico 

A Shipwreck, a Robot and an Archival Treasure Hunt Reveal the Diverse History of the Whaling Industry

Free Black Americans and Native Americans once worked on the "Industry," a whaling ship whose wreck was recently identified in the Gulf of Mexico

A golden wattle plant in bloom in Australia's Western Desert

50,000-Year-Old Campfires Reveal the Deep Historical Roots of Australia's National Flower

Australian wattle or acacia plants were used as firewood by ancient people navigating the harsh climes of the Western Desert, new research finds

St. Wystan’s church in Repton. In 873-874, a Viking army is believed to have entrenched in the garden. Right, Viking burial mounds in Heath Wood.

Digging Up the Rich Viking History of Britain

A massive 1,100-year-old graveyard leads to a surprising new view of the Nordic legacy in Britain

The finds suggest that the islands off the coast of Abu Dhabi weren't "arid and inhospitable" thousands of years ago, but rather a "fertile coast" ripe for settlement.

The United Arab Emirates' Earliest Buildings Are 8,500 Years Old

Found off the coast of Abu Dhabi, the structures likely served as houses for Ghagha Island's Neolithic inhabitants

The offering consisted of 164 starfish, chunks of coral, seashells, pufferfish, a resin figurine, animal bones and the skeleton of a female jaguar holding a spear in its claw.

Trove of Starfish Deposited as Offering to Aztec War God Found in Mexico City

Researchers discovered 164 sea stars placed in the Templo Mayor around the turn of the 16th century

The anthropomorphic carvings represent one of the earliest examples of artistic expression in the Middle East.

Well-Preserved, 9,000-Year-Old Shrine Discovered in Jordan Desert

Researchers uncovered two standing stones featuring anthropomorphic carvings and a model of a "desert kite" used to trap wild gazelles

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