Archaeology
- Archaeology
Peruvian site yields a golden discovery
The discovery of a 4,000-year-old gold necklace in Peru suggests that social elites and economic growth appeared in a surprisingly simple society.
- Archaeology
Zeus’ altar drew early visitors
Archaeologists have discovered evidence that people used a ceremonial altar to the ancient Greek god Zeus around 5,000 years ago, a millennium before Zeus worship originated.
- Archaeology
The Black Death chose its victims selectively
An analysis of medieval skeletons in England and Denmark finds that the devastating epidemic known as the Black Death killed excess numbers of people who were physically frail to begin with.
- Archaeology
Dawn of the City
A research team has excavated huge public structures from more than 6,000 years ago in northeastern Syria, challenging the notion that the world's first cities arose in the so-called fertile crescent of what's now southern Iraq.
- Archaeology
La Brea del Sur
Excavations at tar pits in Venezuela suggest that the fossils found there may rival those of the famed Rancho La Brea tar pits in Southern California.
- Archaeology
Muons Meet the Maya
Physicists are exploring the use of muons generated by cosmic rays to explore Mayan archaeological sites and to probe the interiors of volcanoes and shipping containers.
- Archaeology
Rolling Back the Years
Scientists are refining carbon dating techniques to make the archaeological timeline more precise.
- Archaeology
Lake-Bottom Bounty: Some Arctic sediments didn’t erode during recent ice ages
Sediments in a few lakes in northeastern Canada were not scoured away during recent ice ages, a surprising find that could prove a boon to climate researchers.
- Archaeology
Ancient city grew from outside in
A 6,000-year-old city in what's now northeastern Syria developed when initially independent settlements expanded and merged, unlike other nearby cities that grew from a core outward.
- Archaeology
Map yields new view of ancient city
A new map shows that Angkor, the world's largest preindustrial city, covered more than 1,000 square kilometers of what is now Cambodia and possessed an elaborate canal system.
- Archaeology
Ancient beads found in northern Africa
Perforated shells found in a Moroccan cave indicate that northern Africans made symbolic body ornaments 82,000 years ago, long before Europeans did.
- Archaeology
Peru’s Sunny View
Researchers have found the oldest solar observatory in the Americas, a group of 13 towers first used around 300 B.C. to mark the positions of sunrises and sunsets from summer to winter solstice.
