Archaeology, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 30, 2016

Mysterious Mass Graves Hold Prisoners of Bloody 17th-Century Battle

Three years ago, archaeologists at Durham University began excavating a site on campus for a proposed addition to the school's library, but work was unexpectedly halted when the researchers uncovered remnants of two mass graves. The discovery ignited a centuries-old mystery, but now, scientists say clues point back to one...

Nov 30, 2017

China’s First Emperor Ordered Official Search for Immortality Elixir

The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, wanted to live forever. Newly discovered documents reveal that 2,200 years ago, he even put out an executive order to search for a potion that would give him eternal life, China’s Xinhua news agency reported. Qin Shi Huang was born in 259...

Nov 30, 2017

6 Strange Sites Spotted on Google Earth in 2017

Introduction (Image credit: Google)Google Earth is the largest publicly searchable visual catalog of our planet ever assembled, both from the perspective of satellites and the view from the street. And every year, intrepid people digging through that catalog make discoveries (scientific, funny or simply strange) that would never have been...

Oct 31, 2017

Time to Celebrate: Ancient Sundial Made to Honor Roman Politician

About 2,000 years ago, a Roman politician celebrated his victory by commissioning a sundial and putting it on display for all to see, according to archaeologists who just discovered the ancient timekeeping device in Italy. It's incredible the sundial and the inscriptions on it survived intact for two millennia, especially...

Sep 30, 2017

Archaeologists Are Hot on the Trail of These 16 Spectacular Mysteries

(Image credit: MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty)Digging up the past can reveal spectacular artifacts and the tales that go with them. But some discoveries, though impressive on their own, hint at something bigger and more intriguing. Those are the mysteries that keep archaeologists up at night. From the cryptic Sea People who are...

Sep 30, 2017

The Story Behind That 2,000-Year-Old Thracian Chariot You Saw on Reddit

The photo of an ancient Thracian chariot alongside the bones of two horses and a dog has quickly risen to the top of Reddit today (Oct. 13), with more than 65,000 likes. But what is so exciting about the discovery, and who was buried within the chariot? A team of...

Aug 31, 2017

Mayday! 17 mysterious shipwrecks you can see on Google Earth

(Image credit: Google)The world's most famous shipwreck may be the RMS Titanic, but the remains of the luxury steamship are visible only to people in deep-sea submersibles and those watching feeds from remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). But countless other shipwrecks are much more accessible, so long as you have Google...

Jul 31, 2017

Roman Change: Ancient Coins Reveal Rise of an Empire

Rome wasn't born big. Back before it blossomed into an empire that sprawled across 2.2 million square miles (5.7 million square kilometers), twice the size of modern-day Argentina, Rome was an up-and-coming force threatened by a formidable city-state: Carthage. Historians have long thought that Rome's wealth blossomed after Carthage— best...

Jan 31, 2017

Ancient Roman House and Phallic Amulets Discovered in Israel

A house dating back around 1,900 years, which is decorated with frescoes showing scenes of nature, has been discovered at the archaeological site of Omrit in northern Israel. Phallic amulets were also found at the site. The house was constructed during the late first or early second century A.D., and...

Nov 30, 2018

Cannibalism? Nope, This 8,000-Year-Old Man Was Likely Burned in a Ritual

The shattered skull of a hunter who lived about 8,000 years ago isn’t evidence of cannibalism, as scientists previously thought. Rather, the hunter died in a grisly murder, new research suggests. Although the ancient skull, found in what is now Poland, is severely damaged, a new analysis revealed that the...

Sep 30, 2018

500-Year-Old Scroll Reveals King Henry VII's Extraordinary Support of Travelers to New World

In 1500, just a year after England sent its first British-led expedition to Terra Nova, the so-called New World, King Henry VII gave a hefty reward to one of the explorers, new research shows. The king gave an extravagant paycheck of 30 British pounds sterling to William Weston, a Bristol...

Sep 30, 2018

Social Inequality Left Its Mark on 5,000-Year-Old Alpine Village

Archaeologists think they've spotted traces of social inequality in a 5,000-year-old village that was buried on the shores of Lake Zurich in Switzerland. The prehistoric settlement was uncovered during the construction of an underground parking garage near the Parkhaus-Opéra in Zurich. When the construction started, we expected only minor archaeological...

Aug 31, 2018

Hidden Maya Civilization Revealed Beneath Guatemala's Jungle Canopy

More than 61,000 ancient Maya structures — from large pyramids to single houses — were lurking beneath the dense jungle canopy in Guatemala, revealing clues about the ancient culture's farming practices, infrastructure, politics and economy, a new aerial survey has revealed. The Guatemalan jungle is thick and challenging to explore,...

Jul 31, 2018

That Massive Black Sarcophagus Contained 3 Inscriptions. Here's What They Mean.

Editor's Note: This story was updated at 9:10 a.m. E.D.T. on Aug. 22, 2018 Three drawings, incised on three sheets of gold, have been discovered in a massive black granite sarcophagus in Alexandria, Egypt. One expert, not involved with the research, told Live Science that one of the drawings may...

Jun 30, 2018

Horses Have Had Dental Appointments in Mongolia for Over 3,000 Years

Imagine extracting a wayward tooth from a young horse more than two millennia before the discovery of laughing gas. It may sound like a Herculean task, but the ancient people of Mongolia figured it out, making them the oldest veterinary dentists on record. Researchers made the discovery by examining 85...