Popular Archeology

Unearthing the Secrets of Smith Creek
by Dan McLerran
Excavations are beginning to reveal the evolution of a pre-Columbian mound-builder site in Mississippi.
Spirit Cave: The World’s Oldest Natural Mummy
by Jesse Holth
The discovery and study of a mummy found in a Nevada cave, and other recent revelations, have shed remarkable new light on the pre-Columbian peopling of the Americas.
Crossing the Timor
by Bob Hobman
A group of modern seafarers are testing the hypothesis that prehistoric mariners were the ancestors of Oceania’s populations.
Thor Heyerdahl and the Theory of the Archaeological Raft
by No Author
Author P.J. CAPELOTTI summarizes how experimental archaeology has shed light on our understanding of the role of ancient maritime technology in the global human journey.
The Hohokam: Canal Masters of the American Southwest
by Paul Joseph De Mola
Before the arrival of the Spanish, a Native American culture of the American Southwest built a flourishing civilization with a sophisticated irrigation system that rivaled the ancient Roman aqueducts.
A Mummy in Providence
by Arianna Zakrzewski
Rhode Island's resident Egyptian mummy is restored to his coffin home.

Popular Archaeology is a quarterly online magazine exploring the human past, from prehistoric beginnings to the present day. See About Us for more details. Regular subscriptions are FREE. Access to all premium level content (our best articles, including all back-issue premium articles) is only $9.00 annually.

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Cover Stories

Understanding our early human ancestors: Australopithecus sediba

Newly released studies provide a fuller understanding of the famous hominin fossil finds.

Artificial intelligence applied to the genome identifies an unknown human ancestor

Scientists use deep learning for the first time ever to account for human evolution.

11,500-year-old animal bones in Jordan suggest early dogs helped humans hunt

An ancient relative of humans shows a surprisingly modern trait

Study finds an archaic hominin had modern dental growth.

DNA tool allows you to trace your ancient ancestry

The tool allows people to discover how similar they are to the Roman Britons, Vikings or ancient Israelites.

Rembrandt’s Secret Revealed

The secret to Rembrandt's impasto magic unveiled.

Solving the ancient mysteries of Easter Island

Rapa Nui islanders built monuments close to freshwater sources.

Illuminating women’s role in the creation of medieval manuscripts

Analysis of the fossilized dental plaque of a medieval woman reveals lapis lazuli, suggesting she was an accomplished painter of illuminated manuscripts.

Explorer to re-enact prehistoric voyage across the Timor Sea

Preparations being made to begin the voyage in February of 2020.

Archeological discovery yields clues to how our ancestors may have adapted to their environment

See the full Cover Articles archive →

A wooden toe: Swiss Egyptologists study 3,000-year-old prosthesis

Multispectral imaging reveals ancient Hebrew inscription undetected for over 50 years

Military correspondence from the First Temple period discovered on reverse side of well-studied artifact at The Israel Museum, Tel Aviv University researchers say.

New research reveals earliest directly dated rock paintings from southern Africa

Scientists have pioneered a technique to directly date prehistoric rock paintings in southern Africa, which revealed dates much older than previously thought.