Letters From
Letter from Nigeria July/August 2024
A West African Kingdom's Roots
Excavations in Benin City reveal a renowned realm’s deep history
RECENT Letters From
Letter from the Catskills May/June 2024
Ghost Towns of the Ashokan Reservoir
An archaeologist investigates how construction of New York City’s largest reservoir a century ago uprooted thousands of rural residents
Letter from Nicaragua March/April 2024
Who Were the People of Greater Nicoya?
Archaeologists are challenging long-held assumptions about Mesoamerica’s influence on Indigenous peoples to its south
Letter from Rome January/February 2024
Secrets of the Catacombs
A subterranean necropolis offers archaeologists a rare glimpse of the city’s early Jewish community
Letter from El Salvador November/December 2023
Uneasy Allies
Archaeologists discover a long-forgotten capital where Indigenous peoples and Spanish colonists arrived at a fraught coexistence
MORE Letters From
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Letter from Alcatraz September/October 2020
Inside the Rock's Surprising History
Before it was an infamous prison, Fort Alcatraz played a key role defending the West Coast
(Hans Blossey/Alamy Stock Photo) -
Letter from Normandy July/August 2020
The Legacy of the Longest Day
More than 75 years after D-Day, the Allied invasion’s impact on the French landscape is still not fully understood
(National Archives) -
Letter from Morocco May/June 2020
Splendor at the Edge of the Sahara
Excavations of a bustling medieval city tell the tale of a powerful Berber dynasty
(Photo Courtesy Chloé Capel) -
Letter from the Four Corners March/April 2020
In Search of Prehistoric Potatoes
Native peoples of the American Southwest dined on a little-known spud at least 10,000 years ago
(©2020/Jerry Redfern) -
Letter from Ireland January/February 2020
The Sorrows of Spike Island
Millions were forced to flee during the Great Famine—some of those left behind were condemned to Ireland’s most notorious prison
(Courtesy Barra O’Donnabhain) -
Letter from Jordan November/December 2019
Beyond Petra
After the famous city was deserted, a small village thrived in its shadow
(Ivan Vdovin/Alamy Stock Photo)