Category: archaeology

In a First, Coin Bearing Zodiac Found Off Israel’s Coast

JERUSALEM—Israel’s Antiquities Authority said Monday it has discovered a rare 1,850-year-old bronze zodiac coin during an underwater survey off the coastal city of Haifa. The coin bears the image of the zodiac sign Cancer behind a depiction of the moon goddess Luna. Experts say the coin was minted in Alexandria, Egypt, under the rule of…


South African Human Fossils More Than a Million Years Older Than Previously Thought

Fossils of early human ancestors that were found in a cave in South Africa are now thought to be a million years older than originally estimated, thereby shaking the current scientific understanding of human evolution and its origins. Fossils from the Sterkfontein Cave, belonging to the genus Australopithecus, were initially thought to have been from…


Stunning Roman Mosaics Return Home to New Israeli Museum

JERUSALEM—A series of exceptional 1,700-year-old Roman mosaics have returned home to Israel, where the collection went on public display for the first time Monday after more than a decade touring the world’s top museums. The mosaics were first discovered in the central city of Lod in 1996 but the Israel Antiquities Authority only fully unearthed…


Volunteer Archaeologists Discover Ancient Roman Temple in Netherlands

AMSTERDAM—Archaeologists have discovered an ancient Roman sanctuary with a relatively intact Roman temple in the Dutch central-east Gelderland province, the country’s cultural heritage agency said, describing the find as “exceptional”. Volunteers made the first discovery in 2021 in a city near UNESCO World Heritage Roman Limes— which represents the border line of the Roman empire…


Exhibit of Famed Prehistoric Cave Opens in Marseille

MARSEILLE, France—A permanent virtual exhibit of one of France’s most famous prehistoric sites, the undersea Cosquer Cave, opened its doors on June 4. Visitors to the port city of Marseille can see the Cosquer Mediterranee, a replica of the over 30,000-year old site. The visual and audio “experience” features copies of the prehistoric paintings that…


Largest Plant in the World Has Been on the Planet for Over 4000 Years

Researchers from two Australian universities have discovered what they believe to be the largest plant in the world, an ancient and resilient seagrass that stretches 180km across. This single giant plant of the seagrass Posidonia australis is estimated to be 4,500 years old. It was found in the shallow waters of Shark Bay in Western Australia…


Archaeologists Discover Passageways in 3,000-Year-Old Peruvian Temple

LIMA—A team of archaeologists has discovered a network of passageways under a more than 3,000-year-old temple in the Peruvian Andes. Chavin de Huantar temple, located in the north-central Andes, was once a religious and administrative center for people across the region. The passageways were found earlier in May and have features believed to have been…


Archaeologists Discover Ancient Mayan City on Construction Site

KANASIN, Mexico—Archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of an ancient Mayan city filled with palaces, pyramids, and plazas on a construction site of what will become an industrial park near Merida, on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The site, called Xiol, has features of the Mayan Puuc style of architecture, archaeologists said, which is common in the southern…


Fossil of Pregnant Ichthyosaur Discovered in Chile

The University of Magallanes announced on May 10 the discovery of the complete fossil of a pregnant ichthyosaur in Chile’s Patagonian glacier. The paleontologist who led the team said it was the only known fossil of a pregnant ichthyosaur from the Early Cretaceous period, between 129 and 139 million years ago The four-meter-long fossil was…


Meteorite Hunters Journey to Mississippi to Gather Artifacts From the Sky

Since he began collecting meteorites five years ago, Roberto Vargas has made several pilgrimages to hunt for cosmic stones that—for him—hold the secrets of life itself. “They can help understand our origins,” Vargas told The Epoch Times. “They can help us understand the origins of our planet, and whether there is life on other planets.”…