Hidden tunnels and buildings found below Alcatraz prison are remnants of U.S. Civil War fort
Archaeologists confirmed a long-time suspicion of historians and say that famed Alcatraz prison was built over a Civil War-era military fortification. Researchers found a series of buildings and tunnels under the prison yard of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, which once held Al Capone, SFGate reported Tuesday. A ...
Easter Islanders seek outside help for iconic statues' 'leprosy'
In just 100 years, the emblematic stone sculptures that guard the coastline of Easter Island could be little more than simple rectangular blocks, conservation experts are warning. Carved centuries ago, the heads represent the ancestors of Easter Island's Polynesian people, the Rapa Nui, and have ...
Neolithic humans loved their dogs to death, burial sites near Barcelona reveal
Neolithic communities clustered near present-day Barcelona some 6,000 years ago were really keen on dogs, in this life and the next. Archaeological evidence from at least four sites shows prehistoric humans and their four-legged friends living in close quarters, working together and sharing a common ...
Decline of Angkor, capital of Khmer empire, was gradual rather than catastrophic, study finds
Angkor, the ancient capital of the Khmer empire, appears to have suffered a gradual decline rather than a catastrophic collapse, according to a study published Monday. Archaeologists and historians have long sought to explain the 15th-century abandonment of Angkor, with many attributing it to the ...
'Harbinger of doom': Tiny T-rex sheds light on prime dinosaur predators
A tiny cousin of T-rex discovered in the United States could provide a key missing link in understanding how the apex predators evolved to top the food chain, scientists who unearthed the dinky dinosaur said Thursday. The Moros intrepidus, standing just 3 feet (1 meters) ...
Earth's earliest mobile organisms lived 2.1 billion years ago, Gabon shale fossils indicate
Scientists have discovered in 2.1-billion-year-old black shale from a quarry in Gabon the earliest evidence of a revolutionary development in the history of life on Earth, the ability of organisms to move from one place to another on their own. The researchers on Monday described ...
Egypt unveils more than 40 mummies found to be over 2,000 years old
Egypt on Saturday unveiled over 40 mummies dating back to the Ptolemaic era at a burial site in the center of the country, noting they are more than 2,000 years old but remain in "good condition." Journalists clambered down a ladder and through an underground ...
Remains of Flinders, explorer who put Australia on the map, found near London train station
The remains of the first British explorer to circumnavigate the Australian continent and popularize the country's name have been found near a busy London railway station. Archaeologists sifting through a vast burial ground near Euston Station said Friday that they had found a coffin plate ...
Gem traces in teeth hailed as proof that women were involved in creating medieval texts
The discovery of traces of semiprecious gems in the teeth of a 1,000-year-old female skeleton proved women were more widely involved in creating medieval manuscripts than previously thought, a group of international historians said on Wednesday. A study by German-based Max Planck Institute for the ...
Heads up! Israeli woman stumbles upon two 1,700-year-old Roman busts
An Israeli woman walking near ancient ruins noticed a head sticking out of the ground, leading to the uncovering of two Roman-era busts, archaeologists said Sunday. The life-size sculptures, carved in limestone, were found in the northern city of Beit Shean earlier this month, with ...
Egyptian archaeologists have discovered the tomb of a priest dating back more than 4,400 years in the pyramid complex of Saqqara south of Cairo, authorities said Saturday. "Today we are announcing the last discovery of the year 2018 — it's a new discovery, it's a ...
East Africa may lose its crown as 'cradle of mankind' following new stone tool discovery
Archaeologists in Algeria have discovered stone tools and cut animal bones that may be up to 2.4 million years old, bringing into question East Africa's title as the cradle of humanity, according to research published Thursday in the journal Science. The artifacts — more ancient ...
