Ancient Civilizations

Long thought to be primarily women’s work, new analysis of ceramic fragments shows both sexes created pottery at Chaco Canyon. In the Pueblo communities of New Mexico and Arizona, pottery is a skill that is traditionally passed down from grandmothers … Continued

 Grape seeds dating back to medieval and Roman periods share many similarities with the wine grapes we enjoy today     Vin jaune, literally “yellow wine,” is not your typical French white. The rare wine is made in the Jura region … Continued

    The show features frescoes, preserved fruit, cooking utensils and vessels recovered from Pompeii         At the House of the Vestals in Pompeii, feasts were punctuated by an eerie reminder of one’s mortality: namely, a monochrome floor mosaic depicting a skeleton carrying two … Continued

   On Monday, August 21, people living in the continental United States will be able to see a total solar eclipse. Humans have been alternatively amused, puzzled, bewildered and sometimes even terrified at the sight of this celestial phenomenon. A range of social … Continued

    When current excavations at Pompeii unearthed the remains of a seemingly decapitated skeleton, an image was released by archaeologists working in Regio V. Thought to be of a man crushed by an enormous door jamb while attempting to flee the deadly Vesuvian … Continued

    In our sexual histories series, authors explore changing sexual mores from antiquity to today. It was a well-kept secret among historians during the late 19th and early 20th centuries that the practice of magic was widespread in the ancient … Continued

    Particle physicists have uncovered a large, hidden void in Khufu’s Pyramid, the largest pyramid in Giza, Egypt – built between 2600 and 2500 BC. The discovery, published in Nature, was made using cosmic-ray based imaging and may help scientists work … Continued

    In the shadow of the pyramids of Giza, lie the tombs of the courtiers and officials of the kings buried in the far greater structures. These men and women were the ones responsible for building the pyramids: the architects, … Continued

    Gol-e-Zard Cave lies in the shadow of Mount Damavand, which at more than 5,000 metres dominates the landscape of northern Iran. In this cave, stalagmites and stalactites are growing slowly over millennia and preserve in them clues about past … Continued