Archeology

Horses were likely the first “vehicle” humans used to travel faster and farther, but when exactly did we start riding them? Scientists have now found archeological evidence that suggests horseback riding started some 5,000 years ago.

A new archeological discovery has confirmed that tempered steel was used by artisans in the Iberian Peninsula to carve intricate motifs into hard rock stelae during the Final Bronze Age, earlier than previously thought.

History is full of artifacts that later turn out to be fakes, but occasionally the opposite can happen. New analysis of ancient Roman coins long dismissed as forgeries has found they seem to be authentic, revealing a previously unknown Roman emperor.

Scientists have discovered the earliest evidence of cooking food through controlled use of fire, dating back 780,000 years. An archeological site in Israel contains fish remains that, on closer examination, show clear signs of having been cooked.

Scientists have sequenced the genomes of two ancient skeletons and found the oldest human DNA in the British isles. The data reveals the story of two separate migrations of early humans into what is now the UK, and how these different cultures lived.

Archeologists have discovered the oldest evidence of a surgical procedure in humans. A Stone Age hunter-gatherer, who lived more than 30,000 years ago, had a carefully amputated leg, making it the earliest known surgery by tens of thousands of years.

Boston Dynamics’ robot dog Spot has been tasked with a new job - patrolling the ancient ruins of Pompeii. The robot will be used to inspect the site for safety issues and record structural changes over time to better manage the historic ruins.

New research published in the journal Antiquity suggests an ancient South American civilization spiked a beer-like drink with psychoactive drugs as a way of maintaining social cohesion and forging new bonds with surrounding communities.

While archeologists can learn a lot from studying ancient Egyptian mummified bodies, unwrapping those bodies may damage their valuable coverings. With that problem in mind, scientists have now "digitally unwrapped" a mummy via CT scanning technology.

A landmark study is reporting the discovery of nearly 500 ancient monuments in Mexico using airborne laser mapping. The newly discovered sites are thought to date back at least 2,500 years, in between the Olmec and Maya civilizations.

Archeologists excavating a remote site in northwestern Utah have discovered the oldest evidence of tobacco use, dating back more than 12,000 years. The find is almost 9,000 years older than prior evidence of ancient tobacco use.

Exactly when humans first set foot in North America remains a mystery, but archeologists have now uncovered the oldest unambiguous evidence. Human footprints have been found at White Sands National Park in New Mexico, dated to about 22,000 years ago.