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BM 34757, one of the Babylonian cuneiform tablets translated by Prof. Ossendrijver. Image credit: Mathieu Ossendrijver, Humboldt University / British Museum.

Babylonian Astronomers Used Geometry to Calculate Jupiter’s Position

Jan 29, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

According to Prof. Mathieu Ossendrijver of Humboldt University in Germany, Babylonian astronomers used geometry to calculate the position of Jupiter —...

Leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis). Tambako The Jaguar / CC BY-ND 2.0.

Ancient Chinese Domesticated Leopard Cats 5,500 Years Ago

Jan 27, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

The 5,500 year old cat remains found more than a decade ago in China have been identified as the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) by an international...

The marble ram unearthed in Caesarea, Israel. Image credit: Vered Sarig / Caesarea Development Corporation.

Magnificent Marble Ram Unearthed in Caesarea

Jan 21, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

In the ruins of the ancient port city of Caesarea, Israeli archaeologists have discovered a magnificent marble statue of ram. The marble ram unearthed...

Aerial view of the 2,700-year-old farmstead. Image credit: Griffin Aerial Photography.

2,700-Year-Old Farmstead, Byzantine Period Monastery Unearthed in Israel

Jan 18, 2016 by News Staff

In Rosh Ha-Ayin, a city in the Center District of Israel, archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) have unearthed the remains of a 2,700-year-old...

Finds from Talepu excavations: flakes (a-f, j-m), cores (g, h, i). All artifacts shown are silicified limestone. Scale bars -10 mm (a-i), 20 mm (j-m). Image credit: Gerrit D. van den Bergh et al.

Archaeologists Unearth 118,000-Year-Old Stone Tools on Indonesian Island of Sulawesi

Jan 14, 2016 by News Staff

New archaeological evidence published online in the journal Nature has pushed back the accepted earliest human occupation of Sulawesi to more than 110,000...

Cambridge Archaeological Unit scientists have unearthed the charred wooden roof structure of a 3,000-year-old round house. Image credit: Cambridge Archaeological Unit.

Archaeologists Uncover Best-Preserved Bronze Age Dwellings Ever Found in Britain

Jan 13, 2016 by Natali Anderson

A group of archaeologists from the University of Cambridge’s Archaeological Unit (CAU) has unearthed well-preserved Bronze Age dwellings during an excavation...

Knossos was the capital city of Minoan Crete and the center of Minoan civilization which flourished from 2000 BC until at least 1380 BC. Image credit: Bernard Gagnon / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Early Iron Age Knossos Was Much Larger Than Originally Thought

Jan 11, 2016 by News Staff

Recent excavations at the archaeological site of the ancient city of Knossos find that during the early Iron Age, the city was rich in imports and was...

Text of Cairo Calendar page rto VIII; inside the superimposed rectangle is the hieratic writing for the word Horus. A passage in this document dates it to the reign of Ramses II in the Nineteenth Dynasty. Image credit: Jetsu L. / Porceddu S., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144140.s001.

3,200-Year-Old Papyrus Contains Astrophysical Information about Variable Star Algol

Dec 23, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

Ancient Egyptians wrote Calendars of Lucky and Unlucky Days that assigned astronomically influenced prognoses for each day of the year. The best preserved...

Stonehenge Bluestones Came from Two Quarries in Wales, Scientists Say

Dec 8, 2015 by News Staff

Enormous standing stones at Stonehenge are of sarsen, a local sandstone, but the smaller ones, known as bluestones, came from two prehistoric quarries...

Photograph of the engraved schist slab from Moli del Salt. Image credit: Manuel Vaquero / Marcos Garcia-Diez.

13,800-Year-Old Engraving May Depict Campsite of Paleolithic Hunter-Gatherers

Dec 3, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

An engraved object recently found at the site of Moli del Salt in Spain and dated to the end of the Upper Paleolithic, about 13,800 years ago, may show...

A seal impression of King Hezekiah unearthed at the foot of the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount. Image credit: Ouria Tadmor / Eilat Mazar.

Archaeologists Uncover Clay Seal Impression with Name of Judean King Hezekiah

Dec 2, 2015 by News Staff

Israeli archaeologists digging in the Ophel Archaeological Park, near the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, have discovered...

IAA archaeologists have unearthed the ruins of the Hellenistic period fortress of Acra, solving one of Jerusalem’s greatest archaeological mysteries. Image credit: Assaf Peretz / Israel Antiquities Authority.

Israeli Archaeologists Unearth Hellenistic Period Fortress of Acra

Nov 27, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) have unearthed what they believe are the ruins of Acra – often called the Seleucid Acra...

Panoramic view of the elephant bones; the plaster-jacket in the background covers the skull of the straight-tusked elephant (Elephas antiquus). Scale – 50 cm. Image credit: Eleni Panagopoulou et al.

Marathousa 1: Archaeologists Find Paleolithic Elephant Butchering Site in Greece

Nov 25, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

A group of Greek and German archaeologists has discovered a 300,000 to 600,000 year old elephant butchering site near the modern-day city of Megalopolis,...

This wine press was found at the site, near Netivot. Image credit: Assaf Peretz / Israel Antiquities Authority.

1,500-Year-Old Settlement Unearthed in Southern Israel

Nov 23, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

Excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) at a site near the town of Netivot, southern Israel have revealed a Byzantine-era settlement dating...

Part of the 1,700-year-old mosaic floor unearthed in Israel. Image credit: Assaf Peretz / Israel Antiquities Authority.

1,700-Year-Old Magnificent Mosaic Unearthed in Israel

Nov 18, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

A beautiful Roman-era mosaic has been uncovered in the Neve Yerek neighborhood of Lod, southeast of Tel Aviv, by archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities...

Part of the name of pharaoh Thutmose II. Image credit: Przemyslaw ‘Blueshade’ Idzkiewicz.

Neolithic Farming Communities Exploited Bee Products at least 8,500 Years Ago

Nov 12, 2015 by News Staff

Bee products were exploited continuously at least from the seventh millennium BC, according to a multinational team of scientists led by University of...

Archaeologists survey the scatter of a Late Roman shipwreck. Image credit: V. Mentogianis.

Underwater Archaeologists Discover 22 Ancient Shipwrecks around Fourni Archipelago

Nov 10, 2015 by News Staff

A University of Southampton-led of team of archaeologists has discovered almost two dozen shipwrecks around the Fourni archipelago, Greece. Archaeologists...

German archaeologists found this mosaic while excavating the site of the ancient city of Doliche in Turkey. Image credit: Peter Jülich / University of Münster.

Stunning Late Antique Mosaic Uncovered in Turkey

Nov 3, 2015 by News Staff

Archaeologists digging at the site of the ancient city of Doliche in Turkey have uncovered a stunning mosaic that would’ve been used as the floor of...

This gold ring with a Cretan bull-jumping scene was one of four solid-gold rings found in the tomb. This number is more than found with any other single burial elsewhere in Greece. Image credit: University of Cincinnati.

Archaeologists Unearth Tomb of Wealthy Mycenaean Warrior in Greece

Oct 27, 2015 by News Staff

A multinational group of archaeologists has unearthed a 3,500-year-old tomb of Mycenaean warrior near the city of Pylos on the southwest coast of Greece...