Scientists have revived a mysterious, 1,000-year-old seed discovered in the Judaean Desert — and the tree that has grown from it could belong to a lost lineage mentioned in the Bible, they say. It has taken researchers almost 14 years to grow a tree from the ancient seed, which archaeologists excavated from a cave in … Read more
Archaeologists in Norway have discovered a Viking Age treasure that had remained “untouched” for more than 1,000 years. The four silver bracelets had been buried nearly 8 inches (20 centimeters) in the ground on a mountainside in Årdal, a village in southwestern Norway, according to a translated statement from the University of Stavanger. “This is … Read more
Scholars have finally deciphered 4,000-year-old cuneiform tablets found more than 100 years ago in what is now Iraq. The tablets describe how some lunar eclipses are omens of death, destruction and pestilence. The four clay tablets “represent the oldest examples of compendia of lunar-eclipse omens yet discovered” Andrew George, an emeritus professor of Babylonian at … Read more
The Antikythera mechanism — an ancient shoebox-sized device that was used to track the motions of the sun, moon and planets — followed the Greek lunar calendar, not the solar one used by the Egyptians, as was previously thought, new research reveals. The Antikythera mechanism, found by sponge divers off the Greek island of Antikythera … Read more
Conservators at National Museums Scotland have reconstructed a 1,800-year-old segment of Roman armor that was broken into more than 100 pieces. The completed work will be part of an upcoming exhibition. For several weeks, museum conservators painstakingly pieced together what they’re calling an “ancient jigsaw puzzle.” The second-century brass armor was shattered into dozens of … Read more
An archaeologist in Ireland has discovered an ancient megalithic tomb — one that was seen and sketched in the 19th century but then lost for almost 200 years. Local scholar Billy Mag Fhloinn, an archaeologist and folklorist with Sacred Heart University in the Irish town of Dingle, found the tomb with the help of photogrammetry, … Read more
A roughly 3,000-year-old stone disk covered with enigmatic markings is actually an ancient celestial map marking the brightest stars in the night sky, researchers claim. The tire-size stone, which was discovered near an ancient hill fort in northeastern Italy a few years ago, features 29 carved markings on its front and back that may represent … Read more
A hidden “entrance to the underworld” built by the ancient Zapotec culture has been discovered beneath a Catholic church in southern Mexico, according to a team of researchers using cutting-edge ground-scanning technology. The complex system of underground chambers and tunnels was built more than a millennium ago by the Zapotec, whose state arose near modern-day … Read more
Archaeologists in England have discovered more than two dozen monumental pits dotting the countryside in Bedfordshire, north of London. Radiocarbon dating of materials retrieved from the prehistoric site revealed that the round, steep-sided holes were created around 7,700 to 8,500 years ago during the Mesolithic, also known as the Middle Stone Age, according to a … Read more
Ancient DNA reveals that the Picts, the “painted people” of Scotland who fought off the Romans, weren’t an enigmatic group that migrated from faraway lands. Instead, the Picts had local roots and were related to other Iron Age people in Britain, a new study finds. An analysis of eight skeletons from two Pictish cemeteries, published … Read more
