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2,400-Year-Old Gold Coin Minted During Carthaginian Invasion Found at Ancient Akragas
A rare gold coin struck in Syracuse during the Carthaginian invasion of Sicily has been discovered at ancient Akragas, almost exactly where archaeology and history intersect at one of the city’s most turbulent moments. The coin was recovered during an emergency excavation at the Maddalusa necropolis near modern Agrigento, on Sicily’s southern coast. Archaeologists had…
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A Tiny Shrine to Minerva Was Carved Into a Roman Quarry in Spain 1,800 Years Ago
A Roman quarry in central Spain has yielded an unusually intimate trace of worship: a tiny rock-cut shrine to Minerva, carved directly into the same sandstone face where workers once extracted building material. The sanctuary, found near Campos del Paraíso in the province of Cuenca, dates to the late second century A.D. It stands about…
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Vitruvius’ Lost Basilica Found: Archaeologists Confirm Legendary Roman Building in Fano
For more than two millennia, it existed only on parchment. Now, it has emerged from the ground. Archaeologists in Italy have officially confirmed the discovery of the long-lost basilica designed by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, the Roman architect whose ideas shaped Western architecture itself. The monumental structure, uncovered beneath the historic center of Fano, marks the…
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Britain’s Rutland Mosaic Reveals a Lost Trojan War Story
When a farmer’s quiet walk across a Rutland field during lockdown revealed the glint of ancient tesserae, no one imagined the discovery would reopen a lost chapter of the Trojan War. Yet five years later, researchers say the celebrated Ketton mosaic preserves a forgotten retelling of the conflict—one that vanished from the historical record more…
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Lost for 43 Years, the Zeus Temple of Limyra Finally Reveals Itself
For more than four decades, archaeologists at Limyra in southern Turkey searched for a sanctuary they knew existed only through inscriptions. Season after season, the city surrendered new structures, new tombs, new fragments of memory — but the Zeus Temple remained elusive. A Breakthrough Beneath the Orange Trees The 2024 excavation season, carried out with…