In Brief
A Maya Codex Found in a Cave Is Authentic, Researchers Say
In the 1960s, looters searching a cave in Chiapas, Mexico, came across a rare, ancient codex rich with illustrations of weapon-wielding deities.
Archaeology
In Brief
Newly Discovered Ancient Mosaic of Chariot Race Is Most Complete of Its Kind
Archaeologists with Cyprus's Department of Antiquities recently came across a rare, sweeping mosaic floor that depicts the ancient sport of chariot racing held in a Roman hippodrome.
In Brief
Egypt's Oldest Written Papyri Reveal Routines of Great Pyramid Builders
The Egyptian Museum in Cairo has unveiled the country's oldest written papyri that archaeologists have found so far, placing the delicate fragments on display last month.
In Brief
1,400-Square-Foot Roman Mosaic of Hercules's Labors Found in Cyprus
Construction crews working on the sewage system beneath the southern coastal city of Larnaca in Cyprus recently found themselves face-to-face with Roman-era scenes of toil: a large-scale mosaic floor of the Labors of Hercules dating to the 2nd century CE.
News
Caribbean Cave Art Illustrates Indigenous People's Early Encounters With Europeans
In the subterranean network of caves on Mona Island, 41 miles west of Puerto Rico, archaeologists have discovered a series of engravings by both indigenous people and the early European colonizers.
In Brief
Ancient Obsidian Tools Were Used for Tattooing, Archaeologists Find
You may find stick-and-pokes an intense form of tattooing, but the use of needles, safety pins, or other common sharp objects doesn't look quite so rough when you consider that ancient Melanesians inked themselves with volcanic glass.
Art
Copper Tomb Sculptures Show Rare Forms of Mesopotamian Portraiture
The ten statues in Founding Figures: Copper Sculpture from Ancient Mesopotamia, ca. 3300–2000 BC at the Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan were never meant for our eyes.
In Brief
Ancient Roman Waxed Writing Tablets Unearthed in Central London
IOUs, a note to a brewer, and the earliest handwritten document known from Britain — these are among the 405, nearly 2,000-year-old Roman waxed writing tablets archaeologists have unearthed and deciphered over years of excavations at Bloomberg's forthcoming headquarters in London.
News
Ancient Oracle to Apollo Discovered Near the Acropolis
"Come to me, O Paean, and bring with you the true oracle," reads the inscriptions in an oracle well used to communicate with the Olympian god Apollo that was recently discovered in Athens.
Art
175,000-Year-Old Cave Structures Suggest Neanderthals Were Quite Advanced
Sure, the 14,000-year-old cave paintings recently found in Spain are impressive, with their romping bison and horses, but a far older ancient art mystery is being untangled in France.
In Brief
King Tut's Dagger Is Actually from Outer Space
King Tut lay underground in his tomb for a few thousand years, but a dagger he kept by his side has far-out origins in outer space.
In Brief
Trove of 14,000-Year-Old Animal Paintings Found in Spanish Cave
Archaeologists in Spain have come across an extraordinary series of Paleolithic-era paintings in Basque Country's Atxurra cave that they estimate date as far back as 14,000 years.