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Archaeologists conducting surveys of retreating ice patches have found perishable artefacts associated with ancient mining activities. The study, published in the Journal of Field Archaeology, reports that the researchers have found over 50 perishable artefacts near Goat Mountain and the Kitsu Plateau, located in northern British Columbia, Canada. Among the artefacts are stitched containers made from birch bark, wooden walking staffs, intricately carved and beveled sticks, an atlatl dart foreshaft, and a boot crafted from stitched hide. According to the researchers: “Most of the perishable artefacts were manufactured from wood, including birch bark containers, projectile shafts, and walking staffs. Of...

A 2,800-year-old ivory ornament has been discovered by archaeologists in northern Türkiye at the excavation site of Hattusa, the capital of the Hittites, one of the most ancient Anatolian civilizations...In the 117th year of the excavations, a piece of art that can provide insight into Iron Age art was unearthed on the northwest-facing slope of the Great Fortress area of the ancient city.The piece, nearly 30 centimeters (1 foot) in length and 10 cm in width, features a sphinx, a lion, and two trees of life etched on an ivory surface.Speaking to Anadolu, excavation chief Schachner said the artifact was...

A team of archaeologists, geophysicists, geologists, and paleontologists affiliated with multiple institutions in Indonesia has found evidence showing that Gunung Padang is the oldest known pyramid in the world. In their paper published in the journal Archaeological Prospection, the group describes their multi-year study of the cultural heritage site. Gunung Padang has for many years been considered a megalithic structure—it sits on top of an extinct volcano in West Java, Indonesia, and is considered by locals to be a sacred site. In 1998, it was declared to be a cultural heritage site. For many years there has been disagreement regarding...

A series of declassified satellite images from the Cold War era have revealed hundreds of undiscovered Roman forts in Iraq and Syria. A total of 396 new sites have been identified from the images taken in the 1960s and 1970s, with the findings, published in the journal Antiquity, changing the perception of how the region functioned. A previous 1934 aerial survey, conducted by French explorer Antoine Poidebard, recorded 116 Roman forts across the region. They were previously thought to form a defensive line against incursions from Arabia and Persia along the Roman Empire’s eastern flank. The latest findings, however, suggest...

The Heritage Committee of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced on Sunday that one of the newest entries on the organization's list of global heritage sites is Tel a-Sultan in Jericho. The UNESCO member states decided that the tel will be considered a "Palestinian world heritage site." The decision was made in a vote that took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The UN clarified that there are Jewish and Christian sites near the site that are not included in the list - but there is a value to protect them. Tel a-Sultan, also known as Tel Jericho,...

Archaeologists are good at recovering things left behind by the past, such as buildings, incense altars, tools and relief carvings. What they are not so good at recovering are the ideas, feelings and emotions—the innerness—of sentient ancient beings. It’s one thing to examine a temple’s holy of holies; it’s another thing to understand what went on there and what people experienced. Sometimes, however, there’s an exception to the rule.

Death traps and mercury poisoning are just some of the concerns facing archaeologists contemplating excavating Qin Shi Huang's tomb, China's first emperor. In 1974, farmers stumbled upon one of the most meaningful archaeological finds in Shaanxi Province, China. While tilling the land, they unearthed a clay figure, only scratching the surface of what lay beneath. Qin Shi Huang's Tomb Subsequent excavations unveiled an array of pits housing thousands of life-sized terracotta army statues depicting soldiers and warhorses. This Terracotta Army seemingly served as protectors of the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, who reigned from 210...

A spate of cultural vandalism continued earlier this year when part of a buried Stone Age monument in Wales was crudely excavated and left to the elements. Julian Baker, a 52-year-old man from Abertridwr, Caerphilly, filmed himself unearthing the 4,500-year-old relic on Eglwysilan mountain and posted the video to Facebook, according to local heritage officials. In a first prosecution of its sort in Wales, Baker has been ordered to pay £4,400 (roughly $5,600) for its restoration. Additionally, he was given a four-month custodial sentence, suspended for two years, at the Magistrates Court in Wales, according to the BBC. Ancient Roman...

A relief exhibited at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Greece shows an ancient Greek youth practicing by balancing a football on his thigh in front of a small boy. This means that football, albeit in a primitive form, is at least 2,400 years old and very likely has its origins in ancient Greece. Looking at this lovely ancient artifact today, one can say that the man seems to be showing his son how to control the ball like an ancient Greek Lionel Messi. According to archaeologists, the depiction of the figure playing with the ball dates back to the...

The movie franchise speaks to ethical issues at the very heart of anthropological thinkingPop culture’s most famous archaeologist, Indiana “Indy” Jones, returns to the big screen this summer. In this fifth installment, The Dial of Destiny, Harrison Ford once again stars as the titular character who defined public perceptions of archaeology. Producers have confirmed this will be the final chapter in Indy’s story. It’s also the first and only film in the series not directed by Steven Spielberg, though he remains an executive producer. Now directed by James Mangold, the flick premiered at the Cannes Film Festival with lackluster initial...

Many people are familiar with the account in the biblical Book of Genesis about the two sin-filled cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their cataclysmic destruction. Yet many in this modern, scientific age struggle — or outright refuse — to accept that the cities ever really existed, much less that God wiped them out with fire from heaven. After all, to believe Genesis would be to accept that God is real, the Bible is true, and that God really does bring judgment against individuals, cities, and even whole nations if they stubbornly reject God and flagrantly disobey His commands. In...

A team of archaeologists has made a discovery in Mexico, where they have uncovered the remains of a long-lost Maya city hidden within the dense jungle of the Yucatán Peninsula. Upon further investigation, these experts have come across multiple structures that resemble pyramids, towering over 15 meters (50 feet) in height. The archaeologists have given the site a name: Ocomtún, which means “stone column” in the Mayan language. The Maya civilization is one of the most remarkable societies in the Western Hemisphere. They gained renown for their majestic pyramid temples and grand stone structures, which once adorned the regions we...

Cuneiform is the oldest known form of writing, but it is so difficult to read that only a few hundred experts around the world can decode the clay tablets filled with wedge-shaped symbols. Now, a team of archaeologists and computer scientists from Israel has created an AI-powered translation program for ancient Akkadian cuneiform, allowing tens of thousands of already digitized tablets to be translated into English instantaneously. Globally, libraries, museums, and universities have more than half a million clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform. But the sheer number of texts, and the tiny number of Akkadian readers — a language no...

Archeologists have uncovered what they believe are the final remains of Sodom and Gomorrah's beloved Target store. "You could still make out the display for tuck-friendly tunics," said Dr. Sally Mcneil. "It's clear these perverted rapists were massive Target fans." According to the Israeli excavators, researchers began searching for a possible Target store after unearthing hundreds of pairs of yoga pants. "We knew we had to be close," said Dr. McNeil. "As soon as we found the sign saying 'Satan Respects Pronouns', we knew we'd found it. Our survey indicates the Sodomites had installed curbside pick-up to the south, and...

New paper detects plague bacteria in three of 34 bodies they tested in Britain, all dating to about 4,000 years ago. Research has also found good news for rat loversThough it is rare today, we remain gripped by fear of plague. There is no vaccine against it, though it is treatable with antibiotics as it’s caused by bacteria. It wasn’t treatable at all before the era of modern medicine, and periodically sowed terror and death throughout Eurasia and the Middle East. But the burning questions of the day are: When did it emerge, and when did it first reach Britain?...

The discovery has revealed the Roman city of Neapolis, with its networks of submerged streets and monuments, was a crucial trading hub in ancient north Africa.The fourth century tsunami that partly destroyed Neapolis was well recorded at the time. It struck in Alexandria, one of the great seats of learning in the ancient world as well as the Greek Island of Crete...The further recovery of Roman food products, including roughly 100 tanks of fermented fish that was used as a condiment known as garum in the Roman empire, has told the archaeological team more about Neapolis's history...The Tunisian and Italian...

In the 1970s, two Roman inscriptions — dated from 245 to 253 AD — were discovered in Écija (known in ancient Roman times as Astigi), a city in Spain's southern province of Seville. The writings on the tablets suggest that the emperor at the time had exempted the Roman province of Baetica (roughly the equivalent of modern-day Andalusia, a region of southern Spain) from taxes...A gigantic tsunami that began in the Bay of Cadiz crashed into land, causing numerous coastal settlements to be abandoned and engulfing everything its path, including the city of Seville, located 45 miles inland from the...

Polish scientists discovered that Legion X Fretensis, known for its brutal suppression of Jewish uprisings, was stationed in the early 2nd century AD in the Roman fort of Apsaros in Colchis on the Black Sea coast.Until now, researchers were unaware of their presence in such a distant region.This legion of the Imperial Roman army known as the Legio X Fretensis, or "Tenth Legion of the Strait," was formed around 41/40 BC. The legion played a key role in the Great Jewish Revolt (AD 66-73), the first of three major Jewish rebellions against the Roman Empire.This finding was made possible through...

Archaeologists from the Universities of Manchester and Cardiff have discovered the origins of Arthur's Stone, one of the UK's most famous Stone Age monuments. Manchester's Professor Julian Thomas, who led the excavation, says the imposing Herefordshire tomb is linked to nearby 'halls of the dead', which were discovered in 2013. It is the first time the construction—which inspired the 'stone table' in C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe—has been properly excavated. Dating to the Neolithic period in 3700BC, Arthur's Stone is located on a lonely hilltop outside of the village of Dorstone, facing the Black Mountains in...

Archaeologists in Jordan and Saudi Arabia have found what they believe to be by far the world’s oldest to-scale architectural renditions. The stone engravings, which were made between 7,000 and 9,000 years ago, represent “desert kites,” landscape-scale traps built by early humans to hunt herd animals. The engravings show the Neolithic structures, which the authors say were probably crucially important to the societies that built them, with the kind of precision that would normally only be possible from the air. Both objects were found in 2015 and a study of them was published this month in the journal PLoS ONE....