Archaeology, features and articles | Educational Science

Dec 31, 2019

5 Big Archaeology Discoveries to Watch for in 2020

New discoveries in the Valley of the Kings, looted art from Venezuela and evidence that humans were in Central America more than 20,000 years ago are just some of the stories Live Science will be watching out for in 2020. Tombs of pharaohs and queens in Valley of the Kings...

Dec 31, 2019

Ancient Potter's Secret 'Piggy Bank' Uncovered in 1,200-Year-Old Ceramics Kiln in Israel

As Hanukkah ended last week, archaeologists in central Israel discovered a hidden trove of 1,200-year-old coins near an ancient pottery studio in the city of Yavne, between Jerusalem and the Mediterranean Sea. In a news release, researchers from the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) likened the stash of seven gold pieces...

Dec 31, 2019

3 Skeletons Found in Connecticut Basement Might Be from Revolutionary War Soldiers

Archaeologists have discovered what may be the remains of soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War. But it's a mystery whose side they were on; they could have been Yankees, British or even colonists who sided with the king, known as Loyalists. Archaeologists are now planning to spend months, if...

Dec 31, 2019

Ancient Australian Crystals Unlock History of Earth's First Magnetic Field

Tiny crystals in Australia are helping scientists unlock the ancient history of our planet's first magnetic field, which disappeared hundreds of millions of years ago. And the crystals show that this field was a lot more powerful than anyone believed. That, in turn, could help answer a question about why...

Dec 31, 2019

Princely tomb of Iron Age mystery man discovered in Italy. And there's a chariot inside.

Archaeologists have found the remains of an entire iron-wheeled war chariot in a newly discovered Iron Age tomb in central Italy, a new study finds. The lavish tomb is also brimming with other riches, including a stash of weapons, a bronze helmet and vessels made of bronze and clay. The...

Nov 30, 2021

Scientists just reconstructed one of the oldest family trees ever charted

A nearly 6,000-year-old tomb unearthed in England holds the remains of 27 family members, representing a five-generation lineage descended from one man and four women, researchers have found using DNA analysis. The findings suggest there were polygamous marriages in the upper echelons of Neolithic society at that time, because the...

Oct 31, 2021

Metal detectorist finds 2,000-year-old dagger wielded by Roman soldier in battle with Rhaetians

An amateur archaeologist in Switzerland has discovered an ornate dagger wielded by a Roman soldier 2,000 years ago. That discovery, found using a metal detector, led a team of archaeologists to the site, who then uncovered hundreds of artifacts from a lost battlefield where Roman legionaries fought Rhaetian warriors as...

Oct 31, 2021

FBI searching one-time New Jersey waste dump for body of Jimmy Hoffa

The FBI is surveying a former New Jersey landfill — once condemned as an environmental disaster site — as part of the agency's long-running investigation into the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, the infamous Teamster labor union leader who mysteriously vanished in 1975. Federal agents visited the site on Oct. 25...

Sep 30, 2021

Remains of Nazi V2, the first supersonic rocket, unearthed in South East England

The remains of a V2 rocket fired by Nazi Germany at London during World War II have been unearthed in a field in South East England, where it crashed and exploded before reaching its target. This is the sixth major excavation of a V2 site carried out by conflict archaeologists...

Sep 30, 2021

8 powerful female figures of ancient Rome

Women in ancient Rome held very few rights and by law were not considered equal to men, according to a 2018 article on The Great Courses Daily. Roman women rarely held any public office or positions of power, and instead their role was expected to be caring for children and...

Aug 31, 2021

Why did the Maya civilization collapse?

The Maya have lived in Central America and the Yucatán Peninsula since at least 1800 B.C. and flourished in the region for thousands of years. According to countless studies, the Maya civilization collapsed between A.D. 800 and 1000. But though the term Maya collapse brings up images of ruins overgrown...

Jul 31, 2021

Machu Picchu was built decades earlier than thought

The mountaintop Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in southern Peru was built and inhabited decades earlier than previously believed, according to new radiocarbon dates of human remains found at the archaeological site. The discovery that Machu Picchu was inhabited by 1420 — and possibly much earlier — has implications for...

Jun 30, 2021

500-year-old skulls with facial modification unearthed in Gabon

Men and women living in West Central Africa 500 years ago dramatically changed their looks by removing their front teeth, ancient skulls reveal. Archaeologists found the centuries-old altered skulls deep underground in a cave that could be reached only by rope, through a hole in the cavern's roof. The harrowing...

Mar 31, 2021

3,000-year-old 'Lost Golden City' discovered in Egypt

Archaeologists have found a Lost Golden City that's been buried under the ancient Egyptian capital of Luxor for the past 3,000 years, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced Thursday (April 8). The city, historically known as The Rise of Aten, was founded by Amenhotep III (ruled 1391-1353 B.C.),...

Feb 28, 2021

Scientists unlock the 'Cosmos' on the Antikythera Mechanism, the world's first computer

Scientists may have finally made a complete digital model for the Cosmos panel of a 2,000-year-old mechanical device called the Antikythera mechanism that's believed to be the world's first computer. First discovered in a Roman-era shipwreck by Greek sponge divers in 1900, the fragments of a shoebox-size contraption, once filled...