Astrophysicist Claims 5,000-Year-Old Egyptian Coffins Depict Milky Way Galaxy
A new study suggests that ancient depictions of the Egyptian sky goddess Nut may represent one of the earliest visual interpretations of the Milky Way galaxy.
250 thousand years ago, the ancestors of modern humans painted on the walls of caves and buried their dead
Landmark discovery: Homo naledi buried their dead 250,000 years ago, according to newly updated research. The controversial claim that Homo naledi buried their dead has received new evidence in a 2025 study.
Fossils of new 444-million-year-old creature discovered in South Africa
Scientists have discovered two 444-million-year-old fossil specimens with their soft tissues well preserved, according to a new study. Unlike most fossils, the creature’s muscles and guts, but not its tougher shell, were preserved in ancient sediments that turned to stone.
In Ancient Mesopotamia, leadership was honored and adolescents were sacrificed
Previously, researchers believed that the main burials represented young royals with sacrificed attendants. But this interpretation was based on the idea that early Bronze Age societies had developed into large states with a king at the top of the social hierarchy.
New facts in the history of cleanliness: what was before the invention of modern soap
Soap has a fairly simple formula and a long history. But for centuries, water was the primary means of bathing. For example, in the Indus Valley Civilization—a culture that flourished in parts of what is now Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan from 2600 to 1900 BCE—the Great Bath at Mohenjo-Daro is thought to be one of the earliest public steam baths. But steam only lasts so long.
Archaeologists have figured out why ritual tooth extraction was practiced in ancient Taiwan and other parts of Asia
Although dental ablation has been documented among groups around the world, it is most often associated with early Austronesian communities, which included people in Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and Polynesia. The first evidence of the procedure dates back to around 4,800 BCE, during the Neolithic period, and the tradition continued into the early 20th century.
The world’s largest observatory, built before our era, is located in Egypt
In 2024, archaeologists discovered a huge observatory in Egypt, which they say is the largest ever found and dates back to the sixth century BC. Several stones with sundials and inscriptions related to astronomy were found at the site.
New facts and archaeological discoveries about the interaction of ancient people and animals
The cave lion may have been a symbolic animal for ancient people in Baikal-Yenisei Siberia. Fossilized bones of an extinct armored mammal give us the latest clue about when humans arrived in South America. The ancient Egyptians regularly mummified crocodiles in elaborate ceremonies to honor their crocodile god Sobek. Unusual wooden figurines depicting animals.
The oldest calendar and the oldest analog computer were discovered in the summer of 2024
Yet these historical monuments were practically before the eyes of scientists. For example, archaeologists recently reinterpreted the markings on a stone pillar at Göbekli Tepe in southern Turkey, the site of one of the oldest ancient farming communities in the world. The Mesopotamian monument is about 12,000 years old, dating back to the early Holocene, which marks the most recent era on Earth since the glaciers retreated. Divers also discovered the wreckage of an ancient ship off the island of Antikythera in 1900. Several masterpieces of ancient sculpture were brought to the surface. Unexpectedly, among the fragments that were initially mistaken for sculptural fragments, they saw gears. The bronze parts were corroded and covered in marine sediment.