Letters From
Letter from Greece September/October 2025
Searching for Washingtonia
How archaeologists located a forgotten nineteenth-century utopian community
RECENT Letters From
Letter from Williamsburg July/August 2025
A New Look at an Old City
Archaeologists are reconstructing the complicated 400-year history of Virginia’s colonial capital
Letter From Albania May/June 2025
The Many Fortresses of Ali Pasha
How a father and son are documenting the architectural legacy of a renegade nineteenth-century warlord
Letter from the Levant March/April 2025
On the Origin of the Pork Taboo
Exploring ancient people’s shifting beliefs about rearing and eating pigs
Letter from Uzbekistan January/February 2025
An Oasis City’s Origin Story
Searching for the earliest history of a fabled Silk Road metropolis
MORE Letters From
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Letter from Israel November/December 2020
The Price of Purple
Archaeologists have found new evidence of a robust dye industry that endured on the Mediterranean coast for millennia
(Courtesy Michael Eisenberg) -
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)