An incredible archaeological discovery in Alaska provided evidence that trade was occurring between Asia and the New World centuries before Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492...
The 15 th century voyages of Chinese maritime admiral and diplomat Zheng He have been well documented by historical accounts. Zheng He, highly influential in Ming emperor Yongle’s court, was...
A silver ring from a Viking-era grave in Birka, Sweden, has a distinctive history: it is the first ring with Arabic inscription from that era found in Scandinavia. The ring, which has an inscription...
Stone Age Iberian miners of both sexes 5,300 to 4,300 years ago are believed to have had important status in their community near what is now Barcelona, Spain, as some of their dead were entombed in...
Archaeologists have concluded that pre-agricultural Stone Age hunter-gatherers on the Isle of Wight 8,000 years ago obtained domesticated wheat from farmers on the continent of Europe. That is 2,000...
Archaeologists in China have just reported on the discovery of a 1,700-year-old cemetery along the old Silk Road consisting of magnificent tombs that contain carvings of the four mythological symbols...
The Uluburun is a 3,300-year-old shipwreck discovered off the coast of Uluburun (Grand Cape), near Kaş in south-western Turkey. It is among the oldest ships ever discovered and contained one of the...
Seventeenth century life in Port Royal, Jamaica, commonly referred to as "the wickedest city on earth", conjures up images of marauding pirates, treasure hunters, naval conquests, looting, and the...
Egypt has long been aware of its problem with looters trying to get their hands on a slice of the riches that lie buried beneath the Sahara sand. But just how severe the problem is, was not fully...
Researchers have uncovered the medieval tipping-point when local fishing could no longer support the demands of the burgeoning metropolis, and catches started to come in from as far away as Arctic...
For over 2,000 years, ancient Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States. Chaco Canyon, a major centre of ancestral Pueblo culture between 850 and 1250, was a focus for...
The tiny island of Yap in the western Pacific holds a strange attraction for economists, because it cuts to the heart of a very basic question “what is money?” For centuries the Yap islanders have...
Wilgie Mia, known by the Wajarri Traditional Owners as Thuwarri Thaa (the place of red ochre), lies in the Weld Ranges of Australia. It is the largest and deepest underground Aboriginal ochre mine in...
A team of underwater archaeologists are set to excavate a 2,000-year-old shipwreck off the coast of Sri Lanka, the oldest known shipwreck in the Indian Ocean. It is hoped that the month-long...
Mangareva is home to just 2,000 inhabitants. The island is a tiny 18 square kilometres and is located halfway between Easter Island and Tahiti. Yet on this small, remote island, the ancient...
It has long been said that Christopher Columbus was not the first foreigner to step foot in the Americas by the time he reached there in 1492. Among the theories put forward is that the Vikings,...