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The discovery of a ship, missing for five centuries, in a southwest African desert, filled with gold coins, is one of the most thrilling archaeological finds in recent times. The Bom Jesus (The Good Jesus) was a Portuguese vessel that set sail from Lisbon, Portugal on Friday, March 7, 1533. Its fate was unknown until 2008 when its remains were discovered in the desert of Namibia during diamond mining operations near the coast of the African nation. When it sank in a fierce storm, it was on its way to India laden with treasures like gold and copper ingots. Two...

During the presidential debate, Joe Biden mentioned or, shall we say, tried to mention a survey from early 2024 in which 154 historians rated all U.S. presidents. The ratings are so ridiculous as to be laughable. In the Official Results of the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey, listed as a “Joint Project of Professors Brandon Rottinghaus from the University of Houston, and Justin Vaughn from Coastal Carolina University” while only in office for 36 months at the time, Joe Biden was ranked 14th among 46 U.S. presidents, In the same survey, Donald Trump was ranked 46th—dead last. Like me,...

[Fosse Way] This is a theory that I have seen numerous times now, so why not delve deeper. I really try to avoid presenting theories that are my own, I am no academic and absolutely don't want to fly in the face of archaeology or scientific process in any way. What I try to do is question theories presented that seem long held and have no scientific or academic basis, in this case the website rural-roads (link below), wiki and Tacitus himself, that all suggested this was some kind of border, or ditch or wall. The Forgotten Roman Wall |...

A stone wall built by the Roman army as a defense against slave revolt leader and gladiator Spartacus and his men has been identified by archaeologists in an Italian forest. Local environmentalists who found the wall alerted archaeologists, who have now been able to provide greater insight using advanced radar and laser scanning methods, as well as soil sample analysis. The ditch and mound (or fossa and agger, respectively) was a common Roman defense system. This stone wall and earthwork, for instance, stretches nearly two miles through the Dossone della Melia forest in Italy’s Calabria region. A deep ditch once...

In this episode, we'll trace English back to its oldest known ancestor: an ancestor it shares with almost all of Europe's languages, as well as some Asian languages. That ancestor is called Proto-Indo-European.I also talk about the controversial Nostratic language family and ask whether there could really be a "Proto-Earth" language. What is Proto-Indo-European? | Tracing English as far back as possible20:45 | RobWords | 515K subscribers | 126,562 views | July 13, 2024

Discover the hidden marvel of Cyprus: the Terracotta Army of Agia Eirini. Rivaling China's famous warriors, this extraordinary collection of over 2,000 clay figures offers a unique window into ancient Mediterranean life. Uncover the accidental discovery by a local priest, the meticulous excavation by Swedish archaeologists, and the sanctuary's evolution over 700 years.From fertility rituals to warrior cults, witness the changing beliefs of ancient Cyprus through its remarkable terracotta figures. Learn how this incredible find reshaped our understanding of ancient Mediterranean culture and continues to captivate the world today. Join us on a journey through time as we explore one...

According to a Science Magazine report, Huan Xia of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Frido Welker of the University of Copenhagen identified a Denisovan rib bone found in Baishiya Karst Cave on the Tibetan Plateau among the remains of yaks, deer, hyenas, wolves, snow leopards, golden eagles, pheasants, and bharal, an animal also known as the blue sheep. The identification of the hominin rib was made through the analysis of proteins in its collagen with zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry, or ZooMS. The amino acid sequences in the rib were determined to be a close match to those found in...

In November 2023 we we visited Çatalhöyük as part of the Göbekli Tepe to Stonehenge project (https://buymeacoffee.com/prehistoryguys). We were not there for long, but as you can imagine, we were left with a lasting impression.Here we present an introduction to and an overview of the site - coupled with our own personal observations and reflections. We hope you find it valuable and enlightening. For too long, it has lived in the shadow of the other Turkish mega-site some 500 miles to the east! Çatalhöyük: "it's about the people" - 7,000 BC mega-site revealed. | 35:20The Prehistory Guys | 84K subscribers...

In 2011, archaeologists uncovered one of the most — if not the most — pristine dinosaur fossils yet: a near-whole ankylosaur, complete with its jagged spikes, most of its limbs, armor coating, and some of its guts and stomach contents. The most amazing detail, though? Its uncannily preserved face and skin.It took Mark Mitchell, a technician at Royal Tyrell Museum, an absurd 7,000 hours and nearly six years to meticulously exhume the fossil by delicately chipping away at the surrounding stone. For his efforts, he had the newly discovered specie of nodosaur — a type of ankylosaur — named after...

A press release published Monday detailed the discovery of a "mysterious" 4000-year-old monolith in Cyprus.The Erimi Archaeological Team at the University of Siena described the large monolith as having a "circular motif of cups in the center," which "tells the story of a distant era of an artisan community in Cyprus." It stands roughly 7.55 feet tall and is part of a sprawling Bronze Age community complex, according to Ancient Origins.The site has also revealed dyeing vats, warehouses and workshops, suggesting it was the site of a significant textile industry. The monolith was uncovered inside a room in the western...

While working at the Anglo-Saxon site of Sutton Hoo in England, archaeologists found the missing pieces of a 1,500-year-old copper bucket imported from Turkey. The bucket, which is at least a century older than the famed ship burial, may provide a window into how people lived in early medieval times.A team of archaeologists, conservators and volunteers from Time Team, the U.K.'s National Trust and FAS Heritage discovered the metal fragments in late June during excavation and metal-detecting work at Sutton Hoo.Sutton Hoo is best known for its magnificent seventh-century ship burial, whose 1939 discovery was featured in the 2021 movie...

The mysterious, sudden abandonment of the ancient lost city of Cahokia by its inhabitants has been puzzling historians for a long time now – and experts have cast fresh doubt on one of the most popular theories to date...Around the middle of the 14th century, the 50,000 or so people who called the bustling, vibrant city home departed for other places, suggesting that something pretty dramatic and life-changing had taken place.One explanation for this mass exodus has blamed a severe drought followed by widespread crop failure – but a new investigation from the US Bureau of Land Management and Washington...

PBS NewsHour Here is the transcript JUDY WOODRUFF: Scientists working in Greenland have identified the oldest samples of DNA ever found on Earth. By analyzing this two-million-year-old genetic material, they have revealed how Northern Greenland was once a wildly different environment than the cold polar region it is today, one teeming with ancient wildlife and plants, including some that scientists thought had never lived so far north. William Brangham is back now to explore this with one of the researchers who made this discovery. WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For more on this remarkable discovery, I’m joined by one of the lead scientists...

A scientific magic trick that pulled a lot more than a coin from behind the mammoth's ear. A preserved mammoth foot in a permafrost environment. Image credit: Love Dalen ============================================================================= Freeze-dried skin samples of a woolly mammoth found in Siberia have enabled scientists to create a 3D reconstruction of 52,000-year-old chromosomes. The achievement is a world-first for ancient DNA, and reveals which genes were active in the skin cells when the mammoth was alive. Shortly after the woolly mammoth died it spontaneously freeze-dried thanks to the weather, preserving its nuclear architecture in a dehydrated state that made it possible to...

CONCORD, Mass. — Five musket balls that were fired during the event known as "The Shot Heard Round the World" on April 19, 1775, were recently discovered at Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, Massachusetts. National Park Service archeologists discovered the musket balls while conducting compliance activities in preparation for the park’s Great American Outdoors Act project. According to the National Park Service, early analysis of the 18th-century musket balls indicates they were fired by colonial militia members at British forces during the North Bridge fight. The North Bridge battle site is a key location within the National Historical...

Archaeologists have unearthed the ruins of a 5,000-year-old ceremonial temple and human skeletal remains beneath a sand dune in Peru.The temple site, which is located in the Zaña (also spelled Saña) district of northwestern Peru, is part of the Los Paredones de la Otra Banda-Las Ánimas Archaeological Complex, according to a translated statement from the Peruvian Ministry of Culture.After excavations began on June 3, the researchers discovered what was left of the walls of a multistory temple. Wedged between the walls were the skeletons of three adults.The burials, which contain offerings wrapped in cloth, offer evidence that this could have...

Archaeologists working at a site in Turkey uncovered a rare, threatening seal from the ancient Hittite empire, according to a report published Sunday. The terracotta seal was found throughout excavations at the Büklükale (Kaman-Kalehöyük) site in Turkey and is believed to have belonged to the Hittite royal family, according to Anatolian Archaeology. Inscribed on the seal are the words (roughly translated): “Whoever breaks this will die.” Archaeologists led by Dr. Kimiyoshi Matsumura reportedly found the seal in 2023 and translated the cuneiform, finding the surprising threat. Researchers believe that Hittite laws were focused on fines rather than the death penalty...

Schmidt thought this demonstrated that complex social organization and the performance of rituals actually predated permanent settlement and agriculture, and that the people who banded together and built the monumental structures were nomadic hunter-gatherers. He suggested that, eventually, the demands of gathering these nomads together in one place to carve and move the huge T-pillars and build the circular enclosures pushed them to take the next step and begin domesticating plants and animals in order to create a more dependable food supply. These innovations, he argued, spread from the hilltop throughout the region and eventually the globe. Ritual and religion,...

Archaeologists are nearing the bottom of their current dig site at Sunrise, Wyoming, a former company mining town...Not only is Sunrise home to one of the largest red ochre mines in North America, but some of the oldest Paleoindian artifacts on the continent have also been found there.Some of those artifacts date back 14,000 years, predating Clovis man, who lived from 13,050 to 12,750 years ago...George Zeimans, the Wyoming archaeologist who has been heading up activities at the site, said he has already dug a few test sites that have found evidence of other artifacts."We know there's a main camp...

Archaeologists have carried out new excavations at the site of the ship that was carrying one of the world’s oldest scientific instruments among its valuable cargo of marble sculptures, ceramic vessels, and other items from the east to Greece, according to a statement released by the Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece (ESAG). The most extraordinary discovery the underwater team made was a portion of the ship’s hull preserved in excellent condition still in its original position from when the vessel sank in the first century B.C. “This allows us to better understand the ship’s construction characteristics that had remained...