Popular Archeology

Sterkfontein: A History of Evolution in the Cradle of Humanity
by Jesse Holth
Old and new finds come together to deepen the record of human evolution at the famous South African cave system.
Fortress on the Edge of Kingdoms
by No Author
The site of Ein Hatzeva stands out as a monumental reminder of where an ancient Judaean kingdom staked a strategic foothold.
Where Hominins Became Human
by No Author
Coastal cave systems in South Africa could hold keys to unraveling the mystery about when and where modern humans were born.
The Opulence Beneath: A Short Pictorial
by Dan McLerran
Archaeologists have revealed rich homes of ancient Jerusalem’s priestly upper crust, from a time when Caiaphas and Jesus walked the Old City’s streets.
King John’s Palace
by James Wright
What archaeology and research has revealed about a lost medieval royal palace in the heart of England's Sherwood Forest.
George Washington’s Forgotten Slaves
by Dan McLerran
A team of archaeologists and volunteers are now uncovering the traces of long-forgotten and nameless graves of many of George Washington’s enslaved servants.
Beings of Color: Following the Pigment Trail in Human Evolution
by Stephen J. Isaac
The prehistoric origins of pigment mining and the importance of mineral color-bearing properties in Africa.

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

New light on contested identity of medieval skeleton found at Prague Castle

Here’s how early humans evaded immunodeficiency viruses

CryoEM reveals structural effect of mutation that made humans, but not apes, immune to SIV.

20-million-year-old skull suggests complex brain evolution in monkeys, apes

New study reveals that brain enlargement and modern features evolved repeatedly in anthropoids.

Nordic Bronze Age attracted wide variety of migrants to Denmark

Results of largest Denmark multidisciplinary human mobility investigation to date.

A Stone Age boat building site has been discovered underwater

Biomolecular analyses of Roopkund skeletons show Mediterranean migrants in Indian Himalaya

The lake was thought to be the site of an ancient catastrophic event that left several hundred people dead, but the first ancient whole genome data from India shows that diverse groups of people...

Humans migrated to Mongolia much earlier than previously believed

Archaeologists unearth stone tools made 45,000 years ago.

Ancient feces reveal how ‘marsh diet’ left Bronze Age Fen folk infected with parasites

Neanderthals commonly suffered from ‘swimmer’s ear’

Uncovering Zedekiah’s Destroyed City

New archaeological finds uncovered from two separate excavations in 2019 likely support the biblical account of the destruction of Jerusalem and its First Temple in 587/586 BCE.

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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.