Archaeologists in Bulgaria have unearthed the skeleton of a young man who climbed into a storage jar to hide from attackers roughly 1,600 years ago, and never climbed out. Professor Lyudmil Vagalinski of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences announced the discovery on August 10, after his team dug through layers of construction debris at the […] The post Skeleton in a jar: archaeologists piece together a young Roman's final moments in Bulgaria appeared first on American Almanac .
Archaeologists in Bulgaria have unearthed the skeleton of a young man who climbed into a storage jar to hide from attackers roughly 1,600 years ago, and never climbed out. Professor Lyudmil Vagalinski of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences announced the discovery on August 10, after his team dug through layers of construction debris at the ancient Roman city of Deultum. Inside a burned-out defensive tower at the city's western gate, they found the lower half of a massive clay storage jar, and, crouched within it, the remains of a young man who had been sealed beneath a replacement floor for sixteen centuries. The find offers a grim, human-scale window into the collapse of Roman order along the empire's eastern frontier. Deultum, one of…Open
Archaeologists working near Cairo have unearthed the remarkably preserved tomb of a Fifth Dynasty judge and his father, a find Egypt hopes will draw fresh attention and tourist dollars to its ancient heritage. A joint Egyptian-Spanish mission discovered the burial site during this summer's excavation season at Saqqara, the sprawling necropolis south of Egypt's capital. […] The post Egyptian-Spanish team uncovers 4,300-year-old tomb of ancient judge and his father at Saqqara appeared first on American Almanac .
Archaeologists working near Cairo have unearthed the remarkably preserved tomb of a Fifth Dynasty judge and his father, a find Egypt hopes will draw fresh attention and tourist dollars to its ancient heritage. A joint Egyptian-Spanish mission discovered the burial site during this summer's excavation season at Saqqara, the sprawling necropolis south of Egypt's capital. The tomb, a flat-roofed structure known as a mastaba, dates back roughly 4,300 years to the reign of Pharaoh Djedkare Isesi, one of the most influential rulers of Egypt's Fifth Dynasty. CBS News reported that the find came from the Mariette Cemetery area of northern Saqqara, part of a long-running collaboration between the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Egypt's…Open
A man in northern Denmark struck something strange with his garden fork while preparing ground for a new patio, and pulled up 41 pounds of Viking-age silver, the biggest such haul ever found in the country. The unnamed homeowner in Rebild, a small town in northern Jutland, had planned a routine afternoon of yard work. […] The post Danish homeowner digging a patio unearths the country's largest Viking silver hoard appeared first on American Almanac .
A man in northern Denmark struck something strange with his garden fork while preparing ground for a new patio, and pulled up 41 pounds of Viking-age silver, the biggest such haul ever found in the country. The unnamed homeowner in Rebild, a small town in northern Jutland, had planned a routine afternoon of yard work. He was clearing grass, stones, and gravel to lay a tiled terrace. Half an hour in, his fork hit something that made an unusual sound. He assumed it was old iron or fencing wire. It was not. When he dropped to his knees and started digging with his hands, he began pulling metal objects from the soil one after another. Within minutes he realized he was holding jewelry, coins, and silver bars, roughly 700 objects and fragments…Open
Ten pupils from King Charles’s former school have helped uncover what is believed to be a 1,000-year-old Viking church beneath a newer building on the abandoned Orkney island of Swona, working alongside professional archaeologists in a hands-on dig that could shed new light on Scotland’s early Christian past. During a six-day summer trip, ten students […] The post Students from Gordonstoun uncover medieval church remains on deserted Orkney island appeared first on American Almanac .
Ten pupils from King Charles’s former school have helped uncover what is believed to be a 1,000-year-old Viking church beneath a newer building on the abandoned Orkney island of Swona, working alongside professional archaeologists in a hands-on dig that could shed new light on Scotland’s early Christian past. During a six-day summer trip, ten students from Gordonstoun School worked closely with archaeologists from the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (Orca) to excavate part of Swona, an island left deserted since 1974. The group, joined by housemaster Dan McLean, dug a test pit, cleared weeds, and discovered a stone step just under the surface, leading to what would have been the altar of a medieval church. Radiocarbon samples…Open
A time capsule sealed inside an Illinois Masonic temple more than a century ago was pried open Saturday in downtown Aurora, revealing blueprints, lodge documents, and artifacts that narrowly escaped a three-alarm fire and demolition. Nearly 100 residents packed the plaza outside the Grand Army of the Republic Military Museum before 5 p.m., watching as […] The post Aurora's mayor found a century-old Masonic time capsule in a closet — and what was inside survived fire, demolition, and a hundred years of silence appeared first on American Almanac .
A time capsule sealed inside an Illinois Masonic temple more than a century ago was pried open Saturday in downtown Aurora, revealing blueprints, lodge documents, and artifacts that narrowly escaped a three-alarm fire and demolition. Nearly 100 residents packed the plaza outside the Grand Army of the Republic Military Museum before 5 p.m., watching as three people took turns with a hammer and chisel. It took at least ten minutes to crack the lid. What came out was a collection that Aurora Historical Society Executive Director John Jaros, a man with more than 40 years working in the city, called "exceptionally rare." The capsule's journey to that moment was almost as unlikely as its contents. Aurora Mayor John Laesch discovered it tucked…Open
A routine construction project at a pasta plant near Naples turned into one of Italy's most remarkable recent archaeological finds, a sprawling ancient burial ground filled with Egyptian, Greek, and Etruscan treasures. Workers breaking ground on an expansion at the Pasta Garofalo factory in Gragnano, a small town near Naples long famous for its pasta-making […] The post Pasta factory expansion in Italy unearths a 2,600-year-old necropolis packed with rare artifacts appeared first on American Almanac .
A routine construction project at a pasta plant near Naples turned into one of Italy's most remarkable recent archaeological finds, a sprawling ancient burial ground filled with Egyptian, Greek, and Etruscan treasures. Workers breaking ground on an expansion at the Pasta Garofalo factory in Gragnano, a small town near Naples long famous for its pasta-making tradition, did not expect to hit stone burial chambers. But between 2025 and 2026, archaeologists excavating the site ahead of construction uncovered a necropolis dating to the first half of the sixth century B.C., roughly 2,600 years old, predating the rise of the Roman Empire by centuries. The company announced the findings in July. Rows of tombs held human remains, pottery, and a…Open
Hundreds of ancient amphorae were found piled up about 150 feet underwater, suggesting the relics came from a Roman shipwreck from about 2,000 years ago.
Indonesian officials told reporters that the handover took place Wednesday at Subianto’s residence in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. The return was part of an ongoing effort to recover and return cultural artifacts.