Smart News History & Archaeology

McDonnell's "Sinai Sour" (not pictured) is similar to a gose, a German beer style with a tart, slightly salty taste.

This Man Brewed Beer Using 3,000-Year-Old Yeast and a Recipe From an Ancient Egyptian Papyrus

Utah homebrewer Dylan McDonnell created his 'Sinai Sour' in his backyard

The badges identify the wearer's occupation, such as servant or porter. 

These Badges Shed New Light on the Enslaved Workers Who Built Charleston

The Smithsonian has acquired a collection of 146 slave badges from between 1800 and 1865

During a major lunar standstill, the northernmost and southernmost moonrise and moonset are at their farthest apart.

A 'Major Lunar Standstill' Is Happening This Year—and Friday's Full Moon Offers 'Dramatic' View

From now through much of next year, the moon will periodically rise and set at its most extreme points, thanks to a rare celestial phenomenon that only occurs every 18.6 years

The wine, made of crushed white grapes 2,000 years ago, turned red-brown with age.

Cool Finds

Oldest Wine Ever Found in Liquid Form Unearthed in 2,000-Year-Old Tomb

Researchers have concluded that the fluid preserved inside an ancient funerary urn is a white sherry-like wine

Archaeologists used manned and unmanned submersibles to recover artifacts from the wrecks.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Recover 900 Artifacts From Ming Dynasty Shipwrecks in South China Sea

The trove of objects—including pottery, porcelain, shells and coins—was found roughly a mile below the surface

Located in Noblesville, Indiana, on the outskirts of Indianapolis, Nickel Plate Express offers both train rides and railbike tours.

Railbiking Is Catching On Across the Nation—Here's Where to Try It Yourself

Sit back, relax and pedal your way along historic railroad tracks

False mermaid-weed is small and only emerges for a short window every spring.

Cool Finds

Rare 'Absolutely Tiny' Plant, Not Seen for More Than a Century, Found in Vermont

The last time a botanist recorded a sighting of false mermaid-weed in the state was in 1916

A female Anopheles mosquito, the type that transmits malaria.

Ancient DNA Illuminates the History of Malaria, One of the World's Deadliest Diseases

Researchers extracted parasitic DNA from preserved teeth and bones, revealing how malaria spread across the globe in a new study

Pottery fragments found onsite are lined in purple pigment, suggesting they were once containers for dye.

Cool Finds

In This Ancient Workshop, Greeks Crushed Snail Glands to Make the Purple Dye Worn by Royalty

Archaeologists discovered remnants of the small factory on an island in Greece

After Shackleton's death, the ship was used for seal hunting, Arctic research and rescue missions.

Ernest Shackleton's Last Ship, Quest, Discovered Off the Coast of Canada

The famed explorer died of a heart attack aboard the ship near South Georgia Island in 1922, and it sank in the north Atlantic Ocean in 1962

These rare early copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights will go under the hammer on June 26.

You Could Own Rare Copies of the Nation's Founding Documents, Just in Time for the Fourth of July

Sotheby's is auctioning early printings of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as well as a 1790 Rhode Island broadside

The smaller of the two grave slabs weighs around 154 pounds.

With the Recovery of Massive Grave Slabs, England's Oldest Shipwreck Continues to Reveal Its Secrets

Maritime archaeologists hoisted the heavy artifacts, made of a special type of limestone, from 23 feet below the surface of the English Channel

The skull rack at Chichén Itzá was created to honor the Maya's dead.

A Mass Grave of Maya Boys May Shed Light on Human Sacrifice in Chichén Itzá

Researchers have genetically tested the bones and made determinations of gender and family relations

Animal bones found at the site suggest it may have been used for ritual ceremonies.

Cool Finds

Discovery of 4,000-Year-Old Structure in Greece Stumps Archaeologists and Threatens Major Airport Construction

The mystifying Minoan structure, unearthed on a hilltop in Crete, is one of 35 newly announced archaeological finds in the area

 The coins were found in the courtyard of a farmhouse in the small town of Wettin, Germany.

Cool Finds

This Stash of Silver Coins Found in Germany Belonged to a Wealthy 17th-Century Mayor

The collection includes pieces from surrounding regions, as well as Italy and the Spanish Netherlands

The stones were shot from catapults during one of the longest sieges in British history.

Cool Finds

Catapult Shots Fired During 13th-Century Siege Unearthed at British Castle

Found on the grounds of Kenilworth Castle, the eight stones were used during a clash between rebels and royal forces in 1266

The 10-foot-deep well is located in Ostia Antica.

Cool Finds

Trove of Rare Artifacts Unearthed Beneath an Ancient Roman Well

Dozens of items, including burnt bones and ceramics, provide new insights into ritual activity in the city of Ostia

Some of the newspaper articles describe the buying and selling of enslaved people, while others offer rewards for the return of runaways.

Ancestry Releases Records of 183,000 Enslaved Individuals in America

The genealogy company has digitized and published 38,000 newspaper articles from between 1788 and 1867—before Black Americans were counted as citizens in the U.S. census

Researchers are particularly excited about the newly discovered chess piece, which is about an inch and a half tall.

Cool Finds

Medieval Game Pieces Unearthed Beneath a Castle in Germany

The "excellently preserved" chess knight, six-sided die and several other pieces are all about 1,000 years old

A horse herder in Inner Mongolia, China, in July 2019.

When Did Humans Domesticate Horses? Scientists Find Modern Lineage Has Origins 4,200 Years Ago

A new study suggests people in the Eurasian steppe bred horses around 2200 B.C.E., challenging earlier ideas about the beginnings of horse husbandry

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