History & Archaeology

“Bone jars” with exciting contents

This bone vessel (left) with a stopper was filled with henbane seeds (right) around 2000 years ago. Groot et al., Antiquity, doi: 10.15184/aqy.2024.5...

Tracing the origin of the Easter Island writing

The wood of the Rongorongo tablet called “Échancrée” apparently dates from the 15th century. © Ferrara et al., Sci Rep, doi:1038/s41598-024-53063-7, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. It remains undeciphered...

Oldest megastructure in Europe discovered

The Stone Age megastructure consists of closely spaced boulders that form a wall or embankment at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. ©...

Love and hate in “magical” papyri

This excerpt from a papyrus shows the Archangel Michael, who is accompanied by two angelic forces. © Elke Fuchs / Institute of Papyrology,...

Ancient mobility as reflected in genetics

View of the remains of the necropolis of the city of Portus Ostiensis Augusti, which, as Rome's port, was symbolic of the empire's extensive...

The “Third Reich” in your own life story

Responsible for denazification in American-occupied Württemberg-Baden: Special Minister Gottlob Kamm (second from left), here on March 27, 1947 in the state parliament. AKG / picture...

On the trail of a Poseidon sanctuary

Representation of the previously discovered remains of the approximately 30 meter long temple from the 6th century BC. © ÖAW-ÖAI/Marie Kräker ...

Slavery in picture books

Slave train on the coast of Guinea, frontispiece from Joachim Heinrich Campe's “Little Children's Library” series. Digital copy of the Berlin State Library – PK ...

Historians find previously unknown Nazi deportation photos

Two of the photos discovered in the Dresden archive of Jewish people waiting in Breslau to be deported by the National Socialists. ©...

Oldest human fossils north of the Alps

The Ilsenhöhle is located under Ranis Castle in Thuringia; Right: Two stone blades found in the cave. © Tim Student, TLDA /...

Parts of Hadrian’s Aqueduct discovered

Newly uncovered section of Hadrian's Aqueduct, which supplied drinking water to the ancient city of Corinth. © Greek Ministry of Culture ...

Dental problems reflected in “Stone Age chewing gum”

A piece of chewed birch pitch (middle) from the Swedish site of Huseby Klev with casts depicting the upper and lower tooth profile. ...

Archaeologists uncover sex chromosome abnormalities

A look at an excavation in England where a medieval person with an XXY chromosome anomaly was found. © Oxford Archaeology ...

A Bronze Age desert fortress

This is what the fortified oasis of Khaybar might have looked like in the Bronze Age. © Khaybar Longue Durée Archaeological Project, M....

On trail of mammoth using isotope patterns in a tusk

Artist's impression of mammoths observed by early inhabitants of Alaska. © Julius Csostonyi The relationship between humans and mammoths in sight: Using isotope patterns in...

On the trail of the secret of the naked giant

Aerial view of the Cerne-Abbas giant. Wirestock/iStock He measures around 60 meters and “excitedly” swings a club: a study now sheds light on what the...

Urbanism on the Amazon as early as 2,500 years ago

Hidden beneath the canopy of the Amazon rainforest lie the remains of extensive settlement areas. © FG Trade/ iStock ...

The explosive start of the Battle of the Somme

Contemporary photograph of the explosion at Hawthorne Ridge on July 1, 1916. © Ernest Brooks On July 1, 1916, a spectacular series of explosions initiated...

Adventure in the land on the Nile

On October 15, 1842, the expedition members hoisted the Prussian flag on the Great Pyramid. bpk / Kupferstichkabinett, SMB / Jana Helmbold-Doyé ...

Deep insights into old family relationships

The new method has uncovered, among other things, two relatives whose remains were once buried 1,500 kilometers apart in Eurasia. © Ringbauer &...

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