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While exploring the area around the hotel that he had been evacuated to along the Dead Sea, Nati Toyikar came across an ancient coin dating back to the Hasmonean period.. An 11-year-old boy found a 2,000-year-old coin belonging to the Hasmonean king and high priest Alexander Yanai, Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Tuesday. Nati Toyikar was evacuated from his home, Kibbutz Magen, following Hamas's October 7 attacks. He is currently living in one of the hotels for evacuated residents along the Dead Sea, where, on one of his explorations, he unexpectedly found an ancient coin from the time of Hasmonean...

Marine archaeologists have identified 10 shipwrecks, including one from the Roman era, in the waters around a Greek island in the Mediterranean. The finds came to light during a multiyear project carried out by a team in collaboration with Greece's National Hellenic Research Foundation and the country's Ministry of Culture. The project has been surveying an area around the island of Kasos, which lies in the Aegean Sea, a portion of the Mediterranean between the Greek peninsula to the west and Turkey's Anatolia peninsula to the east. "This research was conducted to shed light on the maritime history of the...

A 200-year-old painting of George Washington was stolen from a Colorado storage unit in January.. The Englewood Police Department (EPD) received a call Jan. 22 about the theft of the “historical painting” from a storage facility, but they believe the theft occurred two weeks earlier on Jan 10 ... “The painting is of our first president, George Washington, and was created in the early 1800s... The approximate size of the piece is 24 inches by 30 inches, measured in a gold-colored frame. The value is undisclosed and hard to estimate due to its historical significance,” ... Police told the outlet...

A wooden tablet discovered on Easter Island may pre-date European colonization of the region, researchers revealed in early February. Less than 30 wooden tablets containing an undeciphered script called “Rongorongo” were found on the island of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), four of which were removed in 1869 by Catholic Missionaries, according to a study published in the journal Nature. Those wooden tablets were analyzed using radiocarbon dating, and one of them was found to pre-date European settlement on the island, the study said. Easter Island was “discovered” by Europeans in the 1720s, and absolutely decimated in the years following, the...

Image Credit : National Geographic (Social) - RUBÉN SALGADO ESCUDERO Archaeologists have discovered an intact jade mask in the tomb of a Maya King at Chochkitam, a little-known Maya polity in northeastern Peten, Guatemala. Contemporary inscriptions indicate that Chochkitam was a royal city with a lineage traced back to Preclassic times. The site was first reported in 1909, with ongoing studies recording three main monumental groups connected by a long central causeway. In a recent announcement on National Geographic, excavations at Chochkitam have led to the discovery of an interlocking jade mask in the burial of a Maya King. Jade...

This LIDAR image provided by researchers in January 2024 shows complexes of rectangular platforms arranged around low squares and distributed along wide dug streets at the Kunguints site, Upano Valley in Ecuador. Antoine Dorison, Stéphen Rostain via AP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A study based on over 20 years of research into an ancient site in the Amazon rainforest has revealed evidence it was once a large-scale hub of interconnected cities that date back more than 2,500 years. The findings were published Thursday in the journal Science and detail the researchers’ work in mapping the network of settlements, which may be the earliest...

An object uncovered by archaeologists in Norfolk, England, is “completely unlike” anything else ever discovered, experts said Monday. The tiny 19.4 mm (o.7 inch) object is a gilded silver relic, adorned with intricate designs appearing to show an animal looking over its shoulder, according to The Telegraph. The piece is believed to be at least 1,200 years old and archaeologists reportedly can’t determine the purpose of the mysterious object. Detectorists found the piece in a crumpled condition, but it appears to be a round object with shallow sides, making it somewhat dish-shaped. “It was made by someone with a real...

Archaeologists working in China recently revealed a series of extensive underground tunnels believed to be thousands of years old. Researchers working at the ancient stone city of Houchengzui, northern China (Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region), uncovered the extensive network of tunnels thought to be at least 4,300 years old, according to Heritage Daily. The oval-shaped Neolithic city is roughly 341 acres across and home to ancient transportation and defensive networks. Only six underground tunnel passages have been discovered so far, each between 1.5 and 6 meters depth... They’re also around 1 to 2 meters high, and 1.5 meters wide. Extensive tunnel...

Brick dates to the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (ca. 604 to 562 BCE) based on the interpretation of the inscription. This object was looted from its original context before being acquired by the Slemani Museum and stored in that museum with agreement from the central government. Image courtesy of the Slemani Museum. Credit: Slemani Museum ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a novel study, researchers utilized ancient Mesopotamian bricks to gain insights into Earth’s magnetic field changes 3,000 years ago. This archaeomagnetic approach provides a more precise method for dating ancient artifacts and understanding historical magnetic field fluctuations. Ancient bricks inscribed with the names...

Tim Wollack and his daughter, Henley, were on a fishing trip at Lake Michigan when they thought they saw an elusive Green Bay octopus hovering beneath their boat, the Wisconsin Historical Society said in a Facebook post. But what they actually uncovered was a shipwreck that had been missing for more than 152 years. Officials believe the boat is the George L. Newman. “Working with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Conservation Warden Mike Neal, the shipwreck was investigated with Video Ray ROV on December 4,” the society noted in the post. “The wreck is of a wooden three masted sailing...

A "very rare" ancient gold coin found recently in the mountains of central Norway could be lost cash that once belonged to an early monarch, according to Norwegian officials. The gold coin was discovered by a metal detectorist in Vestre Slidre, a rural city known for skiing, in Norway's south-central Innlandet County. Technically called "histamenon nomisma," the coin was first introduced around 960 C.E. and used as standard Byzantine currency, the Innlandet County Municipality said in a news release. That means the artifact would have traveled more than 1,600 miles from its origin site to the spot where it was...

Archaeologists Have Uncovered Over 100,000 Ancient Coins During Excavations In Maebashi City, Japan. The discovery was made during construction works of a new factory in Sojamachi district, where a cache of over 100,000 coins was found in 1,060 bundles. According to the researchers, an analysis of 334 coins in the cache shows a “remarkable diversity”, encompassing 44 distinct currency types. The coins have origins that mainly span from China’s Western Han Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty, with the most notable being Ban Liang coins. Ban Liang coins were introduced by the first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, as China’s first...

Police in Peru made a surprise discovery when they searched a delivery man who came to their attention for acting drunk at an archaeological site in Puno. Inside his cooler bag was an ancient mummy. The man said that he had been sharing his room with the bandaged mummy and considered it "a kind of spiritual girlfriend". He had put the remains in the bag to show them off to his friends, he said. He explained that he kept "Juanita", as he had nicknamed the mummy, in a box in his room, next to the TV. He added that it...

Researchers combined ancient climate data with modeling of modern habitats to identify fanged offenders ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In this 3000-year-old illustration, the “solar cat” slays the serpent of darkness in the Papyrus of Ani, also known as the Book of the Dead, demonstrating the key role snakes played in ancient Egypt.CHARLES WALKER COLLECTION/ALAMY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If a snakebitten patient stumbled into an Egyptian physician’s office some 2500 years ago, the doctor might have reached for a papyrus scroll describing 34 snakes and their bites in hieratic script used by ancient Egyptians, with advice on how to treat them. This ancient manual is considered...

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.

In January 2020, Jeff Pigati and Kathleen Springer, both research geologists at the U.S. Geological Survey, went to New Mexico’s Tularosa Basin at White Sands National Park to see about some footprints. These weren’t just any footprints; the fossilized tracks represent the oldest human footprints in North America. What’s more, Tularosa Basin, about 20,000 years ago, was in the midst of what’s known as the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). During this chilly, final part of the Pleistocene Era, the global sea level was about 400 feet lower and glaciers covered 25 percent of Earth’s land. Their mission was to find...

Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Chinese authorities have arrested two construction workers accused of using an excavator to dig a hole through the Great Wall in central Shanxi province, according to local reports. The Shanxi Cultural Relics Bureau said Monday that the two people used the excavator to dig a shortcut through the 32nd Great Wall, which dates back to the Ming Dynasty of 1368-1644, in Youyu county, Shanxi province, state-run China Daily reported. The suspects have been identified by local police as a 38-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman, according to Sina. Local police were notified of the damage at...

A nearly 200-year-old West Point time capsule that appeared to yield little more than dust when it was opened during a disappointing livestream contained hidden treasure after all, the U.S. Military Academy said Wednesday. It was just more hidden than expected. The lead box believed to have been placed by cadets in the base of a monument actually contained six silver American coins dating from 1795 to 1828 and a commemorative medal, West Point said in a news release. All were discovered in the sediment of the box, which at Monday’s ceremonial opening at the New York academy appeared to...

DENTS RUN, Pa.—Dennis Parada points to a weedy spot where he believes the Federal Bureau of Investigation dug up nine tons of Civil War-era gold, worth more than $500 million, and made off with it in the middle of the night. The patch of ground halfway up a mountain in western Pennsylvania lies at the heart of the treasure hunter’s quest to recover the trove and prove it was snatched from under his nose. The matter is now playing out in federal court. At 70, he has been chasing the Dents Run gold for more than 40 years. “It’s definitely...

Ruins,Of,The,Ancient,Mayan,City,Of,Kabah,In,The Shutterstock/Yucatan Peninsula A team of archaeologists discovered a long-lost Mayan city beneath the jungle in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula in June, filled with pyramids, palaces and even a sports complex. The ancient Mayan ruins, currently named Ocomtun, were identified in the Balamku ecological reserve, which is more than 50 hectares in size, big enough to hide pyramids that rise some 50 feet into the sky, according to a news release from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History. The site is believed to have been built and in use sometime around 250-1,000 A.D. and contained a number of large buildings,...