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A 3,500-Year-Old Wooden Ladder Found at the Bottom of a Bronze Age Waterhole in England
A wooden ladder driven into the earth nearly 3,500 years ago has been discovered at the bottom of a Bronze Age waterhole in England. Found south of Gloucester, the remarkably preserved structure also contained a timber platform, woven walls and around 150 pieces of waterlogged…
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Satellite Images Reveal a 6,500-Year-Old Irrigation System Beside Ancient Eridu
For the first time, researchers have directly dated irrigation features surrounding Eridu, one of southern Mesopotamia’s earliest major settlements. The results show that people were managing water in this part of present-day Iraq as early as the fifth millennium BC. Published in the journal Iraq,…
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The Sword Is Gone, but Its 1,000-Year-Old “Shoe” Survived in Poland
A small metal fitting found almost on the surface of the ground in Poland may be the last surviving part of an 11th-century warrior’s sword equipment. The weapon and its sheath have disappeared, but the object that once protected the scabbard’s lower end survived for…
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A Faulty Headset Led Detectorists to a 700-Year-Old Gold Ring Linked to an English Countess
A frustrating morning in a Suffolk field took an extraordinary turn when two metal detectorists uncovered a medieval gold seal ring. Its inscription and proximity to two religious houses have raised an intriguing possibility: the ring may once have belonged to Matilda of Lancaster, Countess…
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Anglo-Saxon Girl Was Buried with Garnets from India and Sri Lanka 1,400 Years Ago
A teenage girl buried in eastern England around 1,400 years ago wore a necklace containing garnets that had travelled thousands of miles from India and Sri Lanka. Her grave, the richest in a previously unknown Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Lincolnshire, reveals how even a small rural…
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New Fragment of the Kadesh Peace Treaty Discovered at Hattusa
A newly identified cuneiform tablet fragment from Hattusa belongs to the Kadesh Peace Treaty, the agreement that established peace between the Hittite and Egyptian empires more than 3,200 years ago. The fragment preserves lines concerning people who fled from one kingdom to the other, including…
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A Woman Buried Face Down in Medieval China May Reveal Evidence of a Brutal Punishment
When archaeologists excavated a medieval cemetery in central China, one burial immediately stood apart. The woman had been placed face down, and the bones around her nose showed evidence of a severe injury unlike anything found among the cemetery’s other graves. A new study suggests…
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Workers Split Up a Byzantine Gold Hoard. Only 150 Coins Were Saved
A hoard discovered during construction work in northwestern Bulgaria may originally have contained as many as 600 Byzantine gold coins. Instead of being reported to archaeologists, however, the find was concealed and divided among the workers who uncovered it. Only 150 coins remained together. They…
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A 3,000-Year-Old Village Beneath an Italian Lake Is Revealing Its Bronze Treasures
Archaeologists working beneath the murky waters of Lake Mezzano have uncovered collapsed wooden structures surrounded by pottery and bronze objects, opening a new window onto a village occupied in Italy more than 3,000 years ago. The position of the finds at different depths may now…