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Cover Stories
When a Stone Leaves More Questions Than Answers: Field Notes on Identifying Lithic Materials
How Mobile Technology Is Changing Archaeological Documentation
The History of Coins: From the First Coins to the Last Penny
The history of coins began in Lydia in the late 7th century BC. Follow coinage from electrum lions to Roman silver, steam presses and the last US penny.
Beyond Pompeii: Exploring the Ancient World of Campania
Invisible eland identified from 60,000-year-old ochre-rich sediment
Ancient proteins reveal hidden aspects of technical and symbolic behaviors of early humans.
The 2026 Battlefield Archaeology of the Battle of Cerignola (1503)
On April 28, 1503, a shallow trench cut through vineyards outside Cerignola rendered mounted chivalry obsolete. For five centuries, its exact location has been guessed at, its archaeology ignored, and its most important sources...
Rewriting History: Before Mesopotamia and Egypt
Stories of discovery: Anatolia's Neolithic wonders and why we need to take a new look at the birth of civilization.
Herculaneum: The Final Hours
A journalist's personal journey into the last cataclysmic day of an ancient Roman city.
Pericles, the Parthenon and the Golden Age of Athens
An Interview with Dr. Paul Cartlege
See the full Cover Articles archive →
Other Stories
Research reveals ancient Maya lessons on surviving drought
Huge variety of plant foods made their starvation unlikely.
Nits on ancient mummies shed light on South American ancestry
New technique means head lice can provide clues about ancient people and migration.
Scientists digitally ‘unwrap’ mummy of pharaoh Amenhotep I for the first time in 3,000 years
Study shows that 21st dynasty restorers ‘lovingly restored’ mummy, dispelling theory that they were bent on reusing old royal burial equipment.
New dates for Viking trade
Solar flare throws light on ancient trade between the Islamic Middle East and the Viking Age.
Humans Reached Remote North Atlantic Islands Centuries Earlier Than Thought
Faroes Settled Well Before Vikings Arrived, Lake Sediments Show.
Mystery solved: Footprints from site A at Laetoli, Tanzania, are from early humans, not bears
Findings provide conclusive evidence that multiple species of hominins co-existed on the landscape.
Volcanic eruptions contributed to collapse of China dynasties
Eruptions create sulfuric acid clouds in the upper atmosphere and can cool the climate.
A Child of darkness
The first partial skull of a child of Homo naledi begins to give us insight into all stages of life of this remarkable species.
More than ceremonial, ancient Chaco Canyon was home, new study says
Early puebloans impacted the ecosystem around Chaco Canyon earlier than previously believed.









































