Megan Gannon

7 Entertaining Examples of Ancient Graffiti

"I visited and I did not like anything except the sarcophagus!"... READ ON

This May Be the Oldest Tattoo Kit in the World

It was unearthed more than 30 years ago, but archaeologists have only just realized what it is.... READ ON

11 Inventions That Came Before the Wheel

In the scope of human history, the wheel is actually a rather young creation.... READ ON

Archaeologists Are Recreating Recipes from 17th-Century Ships

They want to learn what happens to salted beef and beer at sea—and more about the grub's nutritional value.... READ ON

10 Fascinating Facts About the La Brea Tar Pits

There’s a gooey time capsule in the heart of Los Angeles, left over from an era when saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, camels, and giant sloths prowled southern California.... READ ON

Rainy Season in the Andes Reveals the Oldest Known Copper Death Mask

Its discovery complicates the long-standing idea that metalworking began on the continent in Peru.... READ ON

Archaeologists Find 30,000-Year-Old Jewelry in Indonesia

They were found in a cave on the island of Sulawesi.... READ ON

The Discovery of Portugal’s Oldest Skull Adds to Puzzle of Human Evolution

It's about 400,000 years old.... READ ON

Antibiotics, Pain Meds, and a Vegetarian Diet Found in Neanderthal Teeth

Dental plaque traps bits of food, bacteria, and pathogens. That might be bad news for you, but it’s good news for archaeologists.... READ ON

Unusual 100,000-Year-Old Human Skulls Found in China

The finds bolster the idea that the precursors to modern humans were a diverse bunch who routinely interbred with one another.... READ ON

Surprising Viking Boat Burial Found in Scotland

Such ships have previously been unearthed across Scandinavia, but recently, archaeologists report the first discovery of a rich Viking boat burial on the UK mainland.... READ ON

Is This America’s Oldest Condom?

“In terms of its dimensions, it’s clearly the right shape and everything,” Sara Rivers-Cofield told mental_floss.... READ ON

9 Archaeological Sites of Biblical Importance

Archaeology might raise more questions about the bible than it answers, but that doesn’t stop millions of religious tourists from flocking to the Holy Land every year to walk in the footsteps of figures like Jesus and Moses.... READ ON

Scientists Reveal the Secrets of the Capuchin Catacomb Mummies

The crypt has long been a religious site and morbid tourist attraction. But only recently has it also become a place for serious science.... READ ON

15 Hirsute Alternatives to Bigfoot

Get your yowies, agogwes, yetis, and mogollons right here.... READ ON

6 Downsides of Human Evolution

5. A lot of us have mental illness.... READ ON

Archaeologists Find 49,000-Year-Old Artifacts in Australia’s Interior

The cave where the artifacts were found might be the oldest archaeological site in Australia’s dry southern interior.... READ ON

Archaeologists Find Man Buried With Shroud of Cannabis Leaves

People have been decorating their bodies with pot leaves way before you bought that "I <3 420" T-shirt at the mall.... READ ON

Humans Feasted on Horses and Sloths in Argentina 14,000 Years Ago

The bones might help scientists reconstruct the bigger picture of how the first humans migrated through South America.... READ ON

Archaeologists Find Skeleton at Antikythera Mechanism Shipwreck

Human remains are a rare find for sunken ships. Discovering a skeleton in one of the most famous shipwrecks in the world is even rarer.... READ ON

The Blue in Your Blue Jeans Is at Least 6000 Years Old

Ancient Peruvians were the first in the world to dye fabric blue, beating the Egyptians to it by 1600 years.... READ ON

Has the HMS Terror Shipwreck Been Found in Arctic Canada?

Parks Canada is still confirming the discovery, but all signs point to the wreck being the HMS Terror.... READ ON

Study: The First Americans Didn't Arrive by the Bering Land Bridge

For much of the 20th century, scientists believed that the first settlers of the Americas could only have arrived one way.... READ ON

Have Scientists Found Evidence of the Great Flood of China?

It was one of the most cataclysmic floods on Earth in the past 10,000 years.... READ ON

Ancient DNA Sequenced from ‘Sky Cave’ Burials in Nepal

“The big question we had was, ‘Who were these people?’ We didn't really have any idea where they came from."... READ ON

15 Facts About the Maya Civilization

Across Mesoamerica today, you can find sprawling ancient cities with towering pyramids, ballcourts, saunas, monumental sculptures, and enigmatic hieroglyphs—all thanks to the Maya. Here are 15 things you might not know about this ancient civilization.... READ ON

Paleontologists Try to Diagnose a Dinosaur Skin Disease

Little craters on dinosaur bones aren’t necessarily battle scars from a death match.... READ ON

Lead Ink Found in Ancient Scrolls Charred by Vesuvius Eruption

To the frustration of historians, the only library to survive from antiquity is largely unreadable. This new study may help to change that.... READ ON

Scientists Recreate How Neanderthals May Have Butchered Birds for Jewelry

Neanderthals may have accessorized with raptor feathers and talons—and, according to new research, they went through great pains to do so.... READ ON

Archaeologists Discover 7-lb. Calcified Uterus in British Cemetery

"I've never seen anything quite like that before, nor have my colleagues, and we were very excited."... READ ON

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