Archaeology: Facts, Trivia, Quizzes, Brain Teasers & More

The front (left) and back (right) of a 3000-year-old copper mask. Small holes near the edges suggest the mask could have been attached with threads. Someone tried to repair the fracture near the left eye—note the holes near it.

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

A strange calculation machine from an ancient Roman shipwreck is still unlocking its secrets.

Two views of an adult Homo naledi cranium found in the Lesedi Chamber of the Rising Star cave system in South Africa, where the remains of 15 individuals were discovered in a different cave in 2013.

Scientists date the intriguing hominin remains to 335,000–236,000 years ago—and find three more bodies.

With enough funding, they will analyze—and then reinter—the remains of people buried between 1707 and 1859 in a Baptist cemetery—and mental_floss will be in the lab with them.

We are only just beginning to find ways to explore the deepest trenches.

We take the idea of sturdy buildings and city infrastructure for granted in the modern era.

Gernot Keller via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.5

Archaeologists say the discovery of mutilated human remains could be evidence of “attempts to lay the revenant dead.”

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

The ship may have been helmed by soldiers fleeing the historic Siege of Acre.

Opening March 20, "Mummies" lets visitors peer inside remains thousands of years old—all without disturbing or unwrapping them.

Shantytowns threaten to swallow Pachacámac, an important pre-Columbian archaeological complex.

It's about 400,000 years old.

The ME 109 Messerschmitt. Image credit: Bundesarchiv, Bild via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0 de

The discovery started out as a school assignment.

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

Iraqi forces patrol the front of the Nabi Yunus shrine in Mosul. Image credit: DIMITAR DILKOFF/Getty

The ancient Assyrian site had been previously undiscovered.

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

Rediscover forgotten history—80 feet below the surface.

They're billing the site as their "first museum-restaurant."

Nine high-status people buried there during a 330-year period share identical mitochondrial DNA, which is passed from mother to child.

National Park Service via Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

The Honouliuli Internment and POW Camp will eventually open as a national monument.

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.

Unearthed in St. Augustine, Florida, the remains may date back to the Spanish settlement of the city in the mid 16th century.

Including some historic weaponry, and one really, really lost crocodile.

ARCHAEOLOGY

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

The Enduring Mystery of the Antikythera Mechanism

Puzzling Human Relative Homo Naledi May Have Lived at the Same Time as Our Ancestors

Archaeologists Need Your Help to Study 100+ Graves in Philadelphia

Archaeologists Need Your Help to Study 100+ Graves in Philadelphia

The Deepest Shipwreck Ever Found

7 Ingenious Ways Architecture Helped Humans Thrive

Did Medieval Brits Worry About a Zombie Uprising?

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

Crusader-Era Shipwreck Discovered on Israeli Coast

18 Mummies From Peru and Egypt Come to the American Museum of Natural History

How Archaeologists and Locals Are Protecting Ancient Ruins in Peru

Portugal’s Oldest Skull Adds to Puzzle of Human Evolution

Danish Teen Uncovers Remains of WWII Plane and Its Pilot in His Backyard

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

ISIS Destruction in Iraq Reveals 2700-Year-Old Palace

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

4 Spectacular Shipwrecks You Can Dive Near Chicago

McDonald's Unveils Excavated Roman Road Beneath Italian Location

Scientists Find Genetic Evidence of Matrilineal Dynasty at Chaco Canyon

Archaeologists Are Excavating a WWII Internment Camp in Hawaii

Surprising Viking Boat Burial Found in Scotland

Are These the Skeletons of the First European Colonists in the U.S.?

9 Unusual Items Found in Rivers Around the World