archaeology

A Salvadoran father carries his son tries as he tries to board a train with another immigrant and head to the Mexican-U.S. border, in Huehuetoca, near Mexico City.

MacArthur grant winner studies the things left behind at the US-Mexico border

The objects left behind in the desert — bloody socks, diaper bags and water bottles — give Americans a deeper understanding of who immigrants are.

MacArthur grant winner studies the things left behind at the US-Mexico border
Triquet Island

From oral history, a 14,000-year-old archaeological discovery

From oral history, a 14,000-year-old archaeological discovery
Jews digging a trench in Ponar forest, in which they were later buried, after being shot

Science confirms the incredible story of Lithuania's Holocaust escape tunnel

Science confirms the incredible story of Lithuania's Holocaust escape tunnel
An archbishop's mitre rests on its owner's ancient lead coffin in a forgotten tomb in London

Secret crypt in London: Beware of exploding bishops

Secret crypt in London: Beware of exploding bishops
Ötzi the Iceman at the finding place.

Researchers may have cracked the case of how Ötzi the Iceman died

Researchers may have cracked the case of how Ötzi the Iceman died
Proto-Sinaitic script

There's an intriguing theory that illiterate miners invented the alphabet

Who invented the alphabet? Here’s a maverick theory.

There's an intriguing theory that illiterate miners invented the alphabet
Dino brain

That's not a pebble. It's a fossilized dinosaur brain.

Back in 2004 Jamie Hiscocks was taking a walk on the beach in the south of England when he spotted a small brown pebble — just a few inches across. About 130 million years before, it had been a brain. A dinosaur brain.

That's not a pebble. It's a fossilized dinosaur brain.
Archaeologists have discovered ancient spells buried in the graves of the city of Viminacium.

Behold the forgotten spells from the tombs of ancient Serbia!

More than 1,500 years ago, at the height of the Roman Empire, a young woman died. Someone close to her thought she might need some help in the next life. Help from a demon.

Behold the forgotten spells from the tombs of ancient Serbia!
The bodies of thousands of Londoners, including plague victims, lie in the Bedlam Burial Ground.

Uncovering the plague pit beneath London's streets

For centuries, the bones of London's Great Plague victims have lain undisturbed at the Bedlam Burial Ground. Now a new construction project is letting archaeologists uncover their world for a few precious months.

Uncovering the plague pit beneath London's streets
Did the Nazis prepare this Argentine hideout during the 1940s as a place to flee?

A remote, forgotten Nazi hideout? Archaeologists shine light on Argentine history.

In a remote park in northeastern Argentina, a group of archaeologists has uncovered three mysterious stone houses in the middle of the wilderness. If they're right, they've found the remnants of a World War II-era Nazi hideout that was never used.

A remote, forgotten Nazi hideout? Archaeologists shine light on Argentine history.
A man looks at a Neanderthal fossil at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

A new fossil may date humanity's ancestor further back than we thought

No one quite knows when humanity's direct ancestors — the Homo genus — first evolved, but a fossil discovered in Ethiopia in 2013 may provide clues. And according to new studies, those clues point back further into time than was previously thought.

A new fossil may date humanity's ancestor further back than we thought
One of the artifacts found at the base of a pyramid at the archealogical site. It’s suggested it could be the effigy of a "were-jaguar," part of a still-buried ceremonial seat, or "metate."

Have archaeologists discovered the 'Lost City of the Monkey God?'

An expedition has returned from the jungles of Honduras with news of the discovery of a lost city from a mysterious culture. Could it be the "Lost City of the Monkey God," a centuries-old Honduran legend?

Have archaeologists discovered the 'Lost City of the Monkey God?'

In Ukraine, telling the sides apart isn't always easy

Ukraine continues to try and find a way out of its political confrontation, but on Friday, police blundered into more trouble. They attacked a bus full of pro-government activists, mistaking them for the anti-government kind. Plus, an historic fireplace was discovered in Israel and, in the Pacific, a man comes ashore after spending, he says, 16 months at sea, in today's Global Scan.

In Ukraine, telling the sides apart isn't always easy
A replica of a "middle-sized treasure ship" from the era of Admiral Zheng He, at the Treasure Boat Shipyard site in Nanjing.

China goes undersea to justify its claims to disputed waters and islands

China believes it has a historic right to control the seas it shares with its neighbors. Now it's digging up the sea to try to bolster its claims.

China goes undersea to justify its claims to disputed waters and islands

Above Picardy

Above Picardy