Features From the Issue
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Features
Ancient DNA Revolution
How the rapidly evolving field of archaeogenetics is unlocking secrets of the past
AdobeStock/lucaar -
Features
Hunting for the Lost Temple of Artemis
After a century of searching, a chance discovery led archaeologists to one of the most important sanctuaries in the ancient Greek world
Courtesy Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece -
Features
Trees of the Sky World
Why Australia’s Indigenous Wiradjuri people carved sacred symbols into trees to mark burials of their honored dead
Courtesy Caroline Spry -
Features
The People Before the Book
A trove of papyri unearthed on the Egyptian island of Elephantine gives voice to an early Jewish community
Bildarchiv Steffens/Bridgeman Images -
Features
Pompeii Style
Inside the Roman houses where archaeologists continue to discover evocative new masterpieces
Courtesy Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei
![](https://archaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/SO24-Cover.jpg)
Digs & Discoveries
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Digs & Discoveries
A Taíno Idol's Origin Story
Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography Turin -
Digs & Discoveries
Toothy Grin
© SHM/Lisa Hartzell SHM 2007-06-13 (CC BY 2.5 SE) -
Digs & Discoveries
Seahenge Sings
Homer Sykes/Alamy Stock Photo -
Digs & Discoveries
Gallic Steeds
François Goulin, Inrap -
Digs & Discoveries
Shackleton's Last Try
Tore Topp/Royal Canadian Geographical Society -
Digs & Discoveries
Location is Everything
The Anchor Church Field Project; -
Digs & Discoveries
Moving Day
Courtesy LNER/Archaeological Service, City of Antwerp -
Digs & Discoveries
Cosmic Ray Calendar
© Dispilio Excavations, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki -
Digs & Discoveries
A Nightcap for the Ages
Juan Manuel Román/University of Cordoba -
Digs & Discoveries
From Hunter to Marathoner
Universal History Archive/UIG/Bridgeman Images
Letter from Siberia
Letter from Siberia
Strongholds of the Taiga
Beginning 8,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers in the forests of northern Russia built some of the world’s earliest fortified settlements
![](https://archaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/SO24-Siberia-Indigenous-Settlement-Siege-Drawing-FEATURED.jpg)
Artifact
Artifacts
Paleolithic Eyed Needles
![](https://archaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/SO24-Artifact-Paleolithic-Eyed-Needles-Alt-Featured.jpg)
Off the Grid
Off the Grid September/October 2024
Barrancas River Valley, Argentina
![](https://archaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SO24-DD-OTG-Argentina-Alt-Feat-Hero.jpg)
![](https://archaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SO24-DD-OTG-Argentina-ALt-Feat-Hero-Mobile.jpg)
Around the World
![](https://archaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/SO24-ATW-Australia.png)
AUSTRALIA
Charred sticks found in Cloggs Cave are evidence that the GunaiKurnai people passed cultural traditions down for 500 generations. The sticks, which were made from the casuarina tree, are the oldest wooden artifacts ever discovered in Australia. They were smeared with fat and used by mulla-mullung, or medicine men and women, 12,000 years ago to cast spells and cure the sick. During such rituals, a stick was inserted into the ground at an angle and mulla-mullung sang incantations until it fell over, a practice that was still being carried out into the 19th century.
Related Content
![](https://archaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/SO24-ATW-Mexico.jpg)
MEXICO
Excavations in a temple known as the Great Basement in the neighborhood of Tlatelolco in Mexico City revealed a stone cist, or burial chamber, beneath the floor near the central altar. The cist contained votive offerings deposited during the structure’s expansion between 1375 and 1418. Among the offerings were 7 obsidian knives and 59 other blades likely used by priests for self-sacrifice. Archaeologists believe the temple, which was dedicated to Tezcatlipoca—Lord of the Smoking, or Obsidian, Mirror—was a popular place of worship for the military elite.
Related Content
![](https://archaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/SO24-ATW-Massachusetts.jpg)
MASSACHUSETTS
The homestead of a prominent formerly enslaved man known as King Pompey Mansfield has been located along the Saugus River, just north of Boston. Pompey was likely captured in West Africa and transported to New England, where he eventually gained his freedom and became one of the region’s first Black property owners in the 1760s. Historical sources record that Pompey served as king, an elected position that gave him a leadership role within his community, and that annually on “Negro Election Day,” he hosted festivities for enslaved and free Black people.
Related Content
Slideshow: Pompeian Novelties
Even after more than 200 years of excavations, archaeologists continue to unearth stunning frescoes covering the walls of Pompeii’s homes—both in properties that have previously been excavated and in newly discovered houses across the city.
![](https://archaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SO24-Pompeii-Slideshow-Newly-Unearthed-Room.jpg)
![](https://archaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SO24-Pompeii-Slideshow-Dionysus-Leopard-Companion-960x1024.jpg)
![](https://archaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SO24-Pompeii-Slideshow-Blue-Room-Shrine-1024x701.jpg)
![](https://archaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SO24-Pompeii-Slideshow-Priestess-Cassandra-Closeup-768x1024.jpg)