Archaeology, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2023

Temple linked to Hercules and Alexander the Great discovered in ancient megacity in Iraq

Archaeologists in Iraq have unearthed twin temples built on top of each other. The newer, Hellenistic temple dates to the fourth century B.C. and may have a link to Alexander the Great. The temple contained a fired brick with an Aramaic and Greek inscription that references the giver of two...

Nov 30, 2023

2,200-year-old tiles found in Jerusalem provide direct link to the history of Hanukkah

A pile of ancient ceramic roofing tiles found at a national park in Jerusalem may be linked to the history of Hanukkah. Archaeologists made the discovery during excavations at City of David National Park, located outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, according to a Facebook post by...

Nov 30, 2023

'Unique' cave art discovered in Madagascar hints at connections with ancient Egypt and Borneo

Unique, prehistoric rock art drawings have been discovered in the Andriamamelo Cave in western Madagascar. I was part of a team that discovered and described these ancient treasures. They’re the first truly pictorial art, depicting images of nature with human-like and animal-like figures, to be seen on the island. Until...

Nov 30, 2023

Discovery of 'calendar' rock carvings from Ancestral Pueblo in US Southwest surpasses 'wildest expectations'

While investigating a site in the US Southwest, archaeologists discovered a series of ancient rock carvings that early Native Americans may have used as a calendar. The site, known as the Castle Rock Pueblo, is on the Mesa Verde plateau straddling the Colorado-Utah border and is best known for the...

Nov 30, 2023

Skull with 'execution-style wounds' suggests woman died due to enslavement or suspected sorcery in colonial Indonesia

A possibly enslaved woman may have been executed with a sharp weapon in what is now the Papua province of Indonesia, a new study finds. Only the skull of the victim is available for analysis, but it revealed that the woman was between 26 and 42 years old when she...

Nov 30, 2023

2,000-year-old 'celestial calendar' discovered in ancient Chinese tomb

Archaeologists in China have unearthed a mysterious set of rectangular wooden pieces linked to an ancient astronomical calendar. The artifacts were discovered inside an exceptionally well-preserved 2,000-year-old tomb in the southwest of the country. Each of the 23 wooden slips is about an inch (2.5 centimeters) wide and 4 inches...

Oct 31, 2023

1,000-year-old skeleton of noblewoman with hollowed-out skull found buried next to 'husband' in Germany

The skeletal remains of a man and a woman buried in Germany caught archaeologists off guard when they discovered that the skull of one of the skeletons was completely hollowed out. Archaeologists made the unusual finding during ongoing excavations near a 1,000-year-old former royal palace built by Roman Emperor Otto...

Oct 31, 2023

Nearly 8,000 medieval coins and 7 Bronze Age swords unearthed in Germany

A bounty of centuries-old artifacts in Germany — including seven swords, thousands of silver coins, jewelry and pottery — were unearthed by a group of volunteer conservationists. The excavators discovered the items last year at three separate locations dotting the German countryside, according to a translated statement. Officials from Germany's...

Sep 30, 2023

1,400-year-old gold figures depicting Norse gods unearthed at former pagan temple

Archaeologists have discovered 35 miniature gold-foil depictions of Norse gods tucked inside the remnants of a pagan temple in Norway. The gold foils, which are flat and as thin as a piece of paper, contain etched motifs depicting the god Frøy and the goddess Gerd and date to the Merovingian...

Sep 30, 2023

Debate settled? Oldest human footprints in North America really are 23,000 years old, study finds

Paleo-human footprints dotting White Sands National Park in New Mexico are 23,000 to 21,000 years old, making them the oldest known fossilized trackways left by people in North America, a new study finds. However, not everyone agrees with the results. The study, which used two dating techniques to verify the...

Sep 30, 2023

9,500-year-old baskets and 6,200-year-old shoes discovered in Spanish bat cave

A collection of baskets and sandals found inside a bat cave in Granada, in southern Spain, were likely crafted by Mesolithic hunter-gatherer societies and are considered some of the oldest artifacts of their kind found in southern Europe, a new study finds. This summer, archaeologists radiocarbon-dated the artifacts, which are...

Sep 30, 2023

330-year-old coin hoard hidden in Scottish fireplace may have been buried moments before MacDonald clan massacre

A cache of coins secreted away in a Scottish stone fireplace may have belonged to a clan chief killed in a 17th-century massacre, according to archaeologists excavating the remains of a hunting lodge in Glencoe. The diverse collection of coins was likely hidden by someone unable to return and retrieve...

Sep 30, 2023

Catapult designed to launch World War II bomber planes unearthed in England

Archaeologists in England have excavated an experimental catapult designed to launch World War II bomber planes into the air. The catapult, called the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Mark III Catapult and located in Oxfordshire in southeastern England, was engineered to save warplane fuel and create shorter runways than typical airfields,...

Sep 30, 2023

Man digs up 1,000-year-old sword from Swedish Crusades in his yard in Finland

While conducting maintenance work on his land, a man in southern Finland discovered a piece of iron sticking out of a mound of dirt. What he pulled out, however, wasn't scrap metal but a centuries-old sword. The unnamed landowner immediately contacted local archaeologists about the partially bent weapon, which had...

Sep 30, 2023

'Christ' tattoo discovered on 1,300-year-old body in Sudan

Scientists in Sudan have discovered a tattoo with references to Jesus Christ on a 1,300-year-old body excavated in a cemetery near a medieval monastery. It is only the second time that a tattoo has been found from medieval Nubia, the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology (PCMA) at the University of...