Archaeology

Dec 4th, 2025 - Follow Earth on Google Two thousand years ago, a pine coffin lowered into a Han dynasty tomb carried more than the remains of the dead. Its wooden planks quietly recorded the climate its tree once lived through – year by year, ring by ring. A new analysis of those rings, led by Chun Qin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Tree Ring Laboratory , reveals that northern China was roughly one-fifth wetter around 2,200 years ago. That was wet enough to support expanding farms and a growing ... [Read More]

Dec 3rd, 2025 - A forgotten Roman fort at the empire's northern frontier gave up its most beautiful secret yet. A volunteer, digging near the cold stone of Hadrian's Wall, made a startling discovery: an ancient silver ring featuring a delicately carved intaglio. The find pulls the curtain back on the lives of people who inhabited the wild frontier of Roman Britain. The ring was unearthed at the Magna Roman Fort in Northumberland. The fort sits near the western end of Hadrian's Wall. Magna and its nearby sister ... [Read More]

Dec 3rd, 2025 - Genetic evidence confirms early human migration to Sahul via two ancient sea routes When the first modern humans set their eyes on what is now Australia and New Guinea, they weren't looking at the islands we know today. They were staring at a massive, singular continent known as Sahul. To reach Sahul, you couldn't just wander in on drifting tides. It required crossing open seas at least 100 kilometers wide, one of humanity's earliest and most impressive feats of seafaring. Now, a new genomic ... [Read More]

Dec 2nd, 2025 - A vast network of prehistoric walled settlements reshapes the story of early China Archaeologists working in the mountains near Yulin, in China's Shaanxi Province, have found 573 ancient stone fortresses clustered along river valleys. The oldest date to about 2800 B.C.E., while others were built during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, which ended 3,000 and 2,200 years ago respectively. The discovery shows how people in northern China built fortified communities that grew more complex over ... [Read More]

Nov 29th, 2025 - Scientists uncover a human population that thrived in Argentina for 8,000 years At an archaeological site in central Argentina, scientists have uncovered traces of a human lineage that had gone unnoticed for thousands of years. A new study published in Nature reveals that a distinct group of early humans lived in this region for at least 8,000 years, maintaining their genetic identity despite cultural and environmental changes. This lineage, unique to central Argentina, endured largely in ... [Read More]

Nov 28th, 2025 - Pit diggers may have been trying to connect with the underworld, archaeologist Vincent Gaffney says Archaeologists have confirmed that a series of deep pits discovered near Stonehenge in Wiltshire, UK—some of which are five metres deep—were carved out by humans more than 4,000 years ago. The circle pits at Durrington Walls and Woodhenge, around 2 miles north-east of Stonehenge, are set at regular intervals, ten metres in diameter and more than five metres deep, making this the ... [Read More]

Nov 24th, 2025 - It's quick and easy to access Live Science Plus, simply enter your email below. We'll send you a confirmation and sign you up for our daily newsletter, keeping you up to date with the latest science news. Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered 225 shabtis — figurines meant to act as servants for the deceased in the afterlife — that belonged to the pharaoh Shoshenq III inside a tomb of a different pharaoh. The figurines were found at the site of Tanis, in northern Egypt, in the ... [Read More]

Nov 4th, 2025 - After two decades and an estimated cost of $1bn, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) opened its doors to the public on Tuesday, just a few days after the official opening ceremony on Saturday. Regarded as the world's largest archaeological facility for a single civilisation, the museum is located 2km (1.2 miles) from the pyramids of Giza and 8km (5 miles) from the capital, Cairo. The complex spans nearly 500,000sq metres (5,381,900sq ft) and will house more than 100,000 ancient artefacts from the ... [Read More]

Nov 4th, 2025 - It's quick and easy to access Live Science Plus, simply enter your email below. We'll send you a confirmation and sign you up for our daily newsletter, keeping you up to date with the latest science news. QUICK FACTS Milestone: Staircase to King Tut's tomb uncovered When: Nov. 4, 1922 Where: Valley of the Kings, Egypt Who: An archaeological team led by Howard Carter On a sunny morning, Egyptian workers were clearing the sands at the Valley of the Kings, when they uncovered the hint of stone ... [Read More]

Oct 30th, 2025 - For the first time since the boy king's tomb was discovered in 1922, all the items will stored in one place, a museum director told NBC News. GIZA, Egypt — They're the crown jewels of the Grand Egyptian Museum — two galleries devoted to the ancient pharaoh Tutankhamun . Showcasing more than 5,300 objects from the young king's tomb, including his iconic death mask and glittering royal regalia, the new section of the vast museum here on the outskirts of Cairo is expected to draw ... [Read More]

Oct 5th, 2025 - CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian antiquities officials on Sunday said a Pharaonic painting has disappeared from the famed Saqqara necropolis just outside of Cairo, becoming the latest artifact to disappear in a country known for its rich history. Mohamed Ismail, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the limestone painting was in the tomb of Khentika in the Saqqara necropolis. The mastaba tomb, which housed the painting, was found in the 1950s, and hasn't opened since 2019, he ... [Read More]

Oct 4th, 2025 - One of the largest tombs in Egypt 's Valley of the Kings reopened to visitors after more than 20 years of renovation. The huge tomb of Amenhotep III, who ruled ancient Egypt between 1390 B.C. and 1350 B.C., is carved into the hillside on the west bank of the Nile River near the southern Egyptian city of Luxor. It was discovered in 1799 by two people, and its contents were looted, including the sarcophagus, Egyptian antiquities authorities said. It has been under a Japanese-led, three-phased ... [Read More]

Sep 29th, 2025 - An "unparalleled" funerary statue of an ancient Egyptian man whose name may be Messi has been discovered at the Saqqara necropolis — and it shows him standing with what appears to be his tiny wife and even tinier daughter, who is holding a goose. Measuring just over 40 inches (103 centimeters) tall and carved out of limestone, "the most prominent figure depicted is that of a nobleman standing tall with an advancing left foot representing youth, vitality and strength," researchers wrote in ... [Read More]

Sep 26th, 2025 - You can now listen to Fox News articles! Egyptian archaeologists recently uncovered a hidden harbor at an ancient temple connected to Cleopatra VII – an unexpected find for historians.  The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the discovery of the harbor on Sept. 18. It was found at the Temple of Taposiris Magna, about 30 miles west of Alexandria. The temple, built in the Ptolemaic era, was dedicated to Osiris, the Egyptian god of the afterlife. Though the temple ... [Read More]

Sep 23rd, 2025 - It all used to be so simple. The story of how we – that is Homo sapiens , today's humans – emerged from Africa and spread across what's become Europe and Asia was a neat, straightforward narrative. It began around 50,000 years ago when our brains experienced a lightbulb moment of advancing cognition and creativity, stimulating our ancestors to journey beyond our cradle continent. When they reached Eurasia, around 40–30,000 years ago, they encountered another group of humans, a ... [Read More]

Sep 22nd, 2025 - Hundreds of coins depicting Cleopatra VII, an Egyptian pharaoh who was a lover of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, have been discovered at Taposiris Magna, a temple site from ancient Egypt . On top of that, the same team recently found a submerged port on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt and say that it's possible that her tomb could be located underwater near the port. Both finds are part of "Cleopatra's Final Secret," a new documentary that premieres on the National Geographic channel Sept. 25 ... [Read More]