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Ancient DNA Reveals Malaria in Medici Brothers, Weakening 400-Year-Old Poisoning Theory
Ancient DNA recovered from the remains of two Medici brothers has provided the strongest genetic evidence yet that both men were infected with malaria when they died—and further weakened a centuries-old claim that Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici was poisoned. Researchers from Yale University and the University of Pisa detected malaria parasite DNA in…
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Six Skeletons Beneath Hermann Göring’s House at Hitler’s Wolf’s Lair Prompt New Excavation
Archaeologists have begun a new excavation inside Hermann Göring’s former house at Hitler’s Wolf’s Lair in northeastern Poland, where six unidentified human skeletons—including those of children—were discovered beneath the building in 2024. The three-week excavation is intended to determine whether further remains or missing skeletal elements survive at the site and to clarify when the…
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Remains of First Council of Nicaea Church Found Beneath İznik Basilica
Archaeologists excavating the lakeside basilica in İznik, northwestern Türkiye, have uncovered walls, a paved floor, and a column base belonging to an earlier church beneath the later structure. Excavation director Professor Mustafa Şahin identified the remains as part of the Church of Saint Neophytos, where the First Council of Nicaea was held in AD 325.…
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3,800-Year-Old Ritual Offering With Shell Eyes Found Sealed Beneath Ancient City in Peru
Archaeologists in Peru have uncovered a 3,800-year-old ritual offering sealed beneath a public building at Peñico, an ancient city that rose after the decline of the Caral civilization. The discovery, announced by Peru’s Ministry of Culture, was made by researchers from the Caral Archaeological Zone, led by archaeologist Ruth Shady Solís. The offering was found…
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2,700-Year-Old Seal from Southern Israel Reveals Astral Symbols in Iron Age Judah
A small stone seal found at ancient Yavne in southern Israel is giving archaeologists a closer look at the religious and symbolic world of Iron Age Judah, where images of the moon, stars, and planets circulated alongside local traditions and the influence of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The seal was uncovered in Area U of the…
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Could the Lost Tomb of Georgian Queen Tamar Be in Posof? Medieval Caves in Kesikkayalar Reopen an Old Mystery
The burial place of Queen Tamar, one of the most powerful rulers in Georgian history, has never been identified with certainty. The latest claim points not to Georgia, but to a remote cave landscape in northeastern Türkiye: Kesikkayalar, near Yolağzı village in Posof, Ardahan. Local tradition has long linked the caves and rock-cut spaces of…
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Rare 2,200-Year-Old Ring Bearing Portrait of Egyptian Queen Arsinoe III Found in Russia
A rare 2,200-year-old bronze ring found near Anapa, in southern Russia, bears the engraved profile of a woman identified by researchers as Arsinoe III, queen of Ptolemaic Egypt between 220 and 204 BC. The ring was recovered at Voskresenskoye 6, a Hellenistic-period estate group near ancient Gorgippia, in the wider Bosporan world. It was not…
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2,200-Year-Old Greek Military Camp in Uzbekistan Reveals the Far Edge of Alexander’s World
When Alexander the Great’s armies entered Central Asia, they opened a frontier where Greek military power, local communities and new Hellenistic kingdoms remained entangled for generations. A hilltop in southern Uzbekistan may now preserve a rare trace of that world. Archaeologists working at Iskandar Tepa, a site once interpreted as a small rural settlement, say…
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Hundreds of Gold and Silver Coins from the 1583 Ann Francis Shipwreck Go on Display in Wales for the First Time
Hundreds of gold and silver coins lost in a violent winter storm more than 440 years ago have gone on public display in Wales for the first time, revealing the story of the Ann Francis, an Elizabethan merchant ship wrecked on Margam Beach in 1583. The ship was lost on 28 December 1583 while returning…