The kingdom of Kush venerated both Egyptian and Nubian gods. Few were more powerful than Apedemak, a lion-headed god of danger and protection. Archaeologists first discovered Apedemak at the so-called Lion Temple.
archaeology.org/issues/september-october-2023/collection/gods/when-lions-were-king/
It’s tricky for seafarers to navigate the High Arctic even today. Yet 4,500 years ago, Paleo-Inuit people crossed open water near Greenland in wood-frame crafts. New archaeological finds reveal they journeyed to hunt and collect eggs!
archaeology.org/issues/may-june-2026/world/?location=greenland-2
Where did Romans and Hellenistic Greeks head for a family vacation? Archaeology reveals they loved visiting Troy. Trojans, in turn, minted souvenir coins, rebuilt the tumuli of heroes, and more!
archaeology.org/issues/may-june-2026/collection/trojan-tourist-trap/the-unexpected-world-of-the-odyssey/
The wooden idol is eight feet tall and 1,600 years old, and until recently, it lay in a bog. It may represent a pagan deity; in ancient Irish culture, such places were commonly associated with the supernatural.
archaeology.org/issues/november-december-2021/digs-discoveries/digs-ireland-bog-idol/
A cache of stylish jewelry is the latest exciting find from the Bronze Age in Germany. Archaeologists discovered 3,000-year-old neck collars, arm spirals, disc pins, and a necklace made with more than 150 amber beads!
archaeology.org/news/2026/04/20/bronze-age-jewelry-unearthed-in-northern-germany/
It’s one of the year's most marvelous archaeological discoveries—a Zapotec tomb in Mexico, built around A.D. 600, carved with vivid reliefs. Most striking is a lord with a headdress shaped like a massive owl!
archaeology.org/issues/may-june-2026/digs-discoveries/tomb-of-the-owl-lord/
Little is known about the early years of Berlin, including when the city was founded and by whom. But archaeology in the Molkenmarkt area is revealing thirteenth-century oak, twelfth-century human remains, and more.
archaeology.org/issues/september-october-2022/letters-from/berlin-medieval-origins/
Archaeologists studying a Wari Empire site in Peru examined more than 300 dog bones. Analysis revealed the dogs had similar diets to Wari children, and for three dogs, the researchers could identify the breed!
archaeology.org/news/2026/04/17/hairless-dogs-identified-at-wari-site-in-peru/
The god Hephaestus appears in the Iliad in his workshop. Rather unexpectedly for the Bronze Age, he is surrounded by, essentially, robots. What was Homer getting at with this striking scene?
archaeology.org/issues/may-june-2026/collection/the-science-of-homer/the-unexpected-world-of-the-odyssey/
On a recently discovered stele at the Karnak temple complex, we have Amun, Mut, Khonsu, and … Tiberius. The Roman emperor appears alongside the Egyptian gods in his role as ruler, performing rituals as a pharaoh would have.
archaeology.org/news/2026/04/14/roman-emperor-identified-on-karnak-stele/
How can archaeology help us uncover the traces of plantation slavery? Justin Dunnavant studies coral buildings, and he’s joining the Archaeological Institute of America for a discussion!
us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/5317762...
📅 Weds., April 22 ⏰ 8 p.m. ET
The world’s oldest known rock art has been discovered in a cave in Indonesia. It’s an extremely faint image of a hand stencil, but it may be able to help archaeologists understand the migrations of humans in Southeast Asia.
archaeology.org/issues/may-june-2026/digs-discoveries/mark-of-the-human/
The Spanish conquered some of the most powerful empires of the Americas relatively quickly, but the Itzá people defied them for 200 years. Now, archaeology is revealing the full story of the last Maya kingdom.
archaeology.org/issues/may-june-2026/features/the-last-maya-kingdom/
Archaeologists have found the site of a Nazi army ammunition depot in Slovakia. The depot was built in 1944, and researchers determined the ammunition there includes anti-personnel mines manufactured with concrete casing.
archaeology.org/news/2026/04/16/nazi-ammunition-depot-identified-in-slovakia/
Archaeologists are studying 5,000-year-old tombs in Scotland to learn more about Neolithic society. Genetic research determined that the individuals buried together who were related were fathers and sons, or brothers.
archaeology.org/news/2026/04/15/tombs-yield-clues-to-neolithic-family-structure/
William Shakespeare rented apartments in London, but he only bought one home there, in 1613. Now, a scholar has pinpointed the exact location of the house; it would have been a quick commute to Blackfriars theater!
archaeology.org/news/2026/04/17/exact-location-of-shakespeares-london-house-found/
Off the coast of Greece, archaeologists have begun exploring a sunken ancient harbor. They’ve determined its primary structure was a Roman-era stone platform, later raised with wooden caissons.
archaeology.org/news/2026/04/06/submerged-harbor-structures-examined-off-greeces-southern-coastline/
Archaeologists in Manhattan wondered why an 1832 house had a trapdoor leading to a secret passageway, and new research sheds light: This was a stop on the Underground Railway in New York, sheltering formerly enslaved Black refugees.
archaeology.org/issues/may-june-2026/world/?location=new-york-3
Archaeologists looking afresh at Norway’s 1,500-year-old Raknehaugen mound now think the monument doesn’t contain a burial—but may instead be related to a historic disaster that wreaked havoc across the Northern Hemisphere …
archaeology.org/news/2026/03/31/new-thoughts-on-norwegian-iron-age-mound/
SG̱ang Gwaay, a Pacific island off the coast of Canada, hosted thriving matrilineal communities of the Haida people and their ancestors for 10,000 years. The art and architecture there still inspires!
archaeology.org/issues/may-june-2026/off-the-grid/sgang-gwaay-british-columbia-canada/
The Roman polybolos, essentially an automatic bolt-firing catapult, was only known from one historical source. But archaeologists think they’ve found one place where the polybolos left its mark—in the walls of Pompeii.
archaeology.org/news/2026/04/13/lost-ancient-automatic-weapon-fired-at-pompeii/
The characters are the same, but Achilles and Hector square off—while riding chariots, unlike in the Iliad. Does a mosaic discovered in England depict a different version of the Trojan War?
archaeology.org/issues/may-june-2026/collection/another-trojan-war/the-unexpected-world-of-the-odyssey/
One island in Fiji is not like the others, archaeologists discovered. It’s a human construction—a midden created from shells and pottery 1,200 years ago! Now researchers want to know who, exactly, made it.
archaeology.org/news/2026/04/07/midden-island-identified-in-fiji-archipelago/
Archaeology Magazine’s nonprofit parent organization, the Archaeological Institute of America, supports site preservation, student fieldwork, and much more. This year, any donation you make by April 21 will be matched dollar for dollar by generous donors!
www.archaeological.org/aia-giving-day/
How fashion-forward were the Vikings? Analysis of rare surviving furs from tenth-century A.D. burials in Denmark indicates that some were beaver pelts, a prized luxury good that would have been imported.
archaeology.org/issues/november-december-2022/digs-discoveries/digs-denmark-vikings-furs/
The site of El Monastil in Spain has revealed plates from a suit of armor and a container for holding wafers for Christian sacraments. This was a Byzantine fortified monastery, and the monks needed the muscle ...
archaeology.org/news/2026/04/09/byzantine-fortified-monastery-identified-in-spain/
In the Iliad, Homer checks off the ports from which an armada set sail. But archaeologists had found little evidence of Bronze Age harbors on the Greek mainland—until they surveyed Cape Madness.
archaeology.org/issues/may-june-2026/collection/maritime-mycenaeans/the-unexpected-world-of-the-odyssey/
Near the tip of Chile, a fleet of Spaniards attempted to found a colony. It became known as Port Famine. Archaeologists had had difficulty confirming its location, but a silver coin has helped.
archaeology.org/news/2026/04/10/coin-found-in-chile-accords-with-account-of-spanish-colonys-foundation/
Greeks and Romans had their own favorites among Homeric heroes, but Odysseus was always beloved. Archaeologists at sites on Ithaca have found centuries of offerings incised with dedications to him.
archaeology.org/issues/may-june-2026/collection/hometown-hero/the-unexpected-world-of-the-odyssey/
Most Neolithic people were lactose intolerant. So members of the Funnelbeaker culture at a site in Poland found a way to process milk into a reduced-lactose drink, according to archaeologists.
archaeology.org/news/2026/04/09/milk-beverages-detected-on-neolithic-pottery-in-poland/