Scientists have been working for more than a century to decipher the Antikythera Mechanism, which is a 2,000-year-old device used by ancient Greek’s to calculate astronomical positions. Now researchers at University College London (UCL) believe they have solved the mystery of the ‘world’s oldest computer’ by building a digital replica with a working gear system … Read more
Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered what they believe to be the world’s oldest known pet cemetery. Nearly 600 cats, dogs and monkeys were found carefully laid in individual graves in Berenike, a remote seaport on the western coast of the Red Sea. Some of the animals were still wearing collars and other adornments, and others … Read more
A stunning fresco in the garden of Pompeii’s Casa dei Ceii (House of the Ceii) has been painstakingly laser-cleaned and touched up with new paint by expert restorers. The artwork — of hunting scenes — was painted in the so-called ‘Third’ or ‘Ornate’ Pompeii style, which was popular around 20–10 BC and featured vibrant colours. In … Read more
Scientists in Australia have uncovered the first archaeological evidence of insects being used as a food source by ancient Australian Aboriginal groups. Particles on a grindstone discovered in the foothills of the Australian Alps were determined to be from a Bogong moth, which migrates to the area every summer. The tool, small to be carried … Read more
Archaeologists digging at the ancient Egyptian site Taposiris Magna unearthed 16 burials in rock-cut tombs, with one containing a mummy bearing a tongue made of gold. The team speculates that after the person’s tongue was removed during embalming it was replaced with the object so the deceased could speak to Osiris in the afterlife. The … Read more
A birdwatcher has stumbled across a hoard of 2,000-year-old Celtic gold coins worth £800,000 that date back to the time Boudicca was at war with the Romans. The keen metal detectorist, who has not been named, spotted a glint of gold while looking at a buzzard in a recently ploughed field in eastern England. Having … Read more
The corn on your holiday table may have more in common with ancient wild varieties from South America than the domesticated version believed to have originated in southwestern Mexico. It’s long been assumed domesticated maize traveled south from Central America, but a new study suggests the trade actually went in both directions. DNA analysis of … Read more
What happened? Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae under ashes and rock fragments, and the city of Herculaneum under a mudflow. Mount Vesuvius, on the west coast of Italy, is the only active volcano in continental Europe and is thought to be one of the … Read more
Archaeologists digging in the grounds of Bamburgh Castle have discovered the remains of a roundhouse which dates back to the end of the Roman era. The remnants of the building indicate it could be up to 65 feet (20 metres) in diameter and likely belonged to a member of society of relative importance. Excavators working … Read more
When a massive wildfire swept through California´s oldest state park last week it was feared many trees in a grove of old-growth redwoods, some of them 2,000 years old and among the tallest living things on Earth, may finally have succumbed. But an Associated Press reporter and photographer hiked the renowned Redwood Trail at Big … Read more