Around the World March 1, 2011
VIRGINIA: An encrypted message in a bottle dating to the Civil War has been removed and deciphered by codebreakers. "You can expect no help from this side of the river," began the unsigned message, which is in a museum collection. It was meant for Confederate Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton, in response to his request for aid during the Siege of Vicksburg in Mississippi. But the note never reached his hands—it was dated July 4, 1863, the date he surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant.
Digs & Discoveries September/October 2018
Letter from Virginia July/August 2015
Excavations are providing a new look at some of the Civil War’s earliest fugitive slaves—considered war goods or contraband—and their first taste of liberty
Digs & Discoveries November/December 2025
Letter from Williamsburg July/August 2025
Archaeologists are reconstructing the complicated 400-year history of Virginia’s colonial capital
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Discovering the surprising inspirations behind Homer’s great tales of the Trojan War
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Why Neolithic and Bronze Age farmers in the Alps built their villages on stilts
Features May/June 2026
On the shores of a lake in Guatemala, the Itzá people defied the Spanish for nearly 200 years
Features May/June 2026
A surreal style of painting endured for 4,000 years in the canyonlands of West Texas
Features May/June 2026
The Yellow River brought both prosperity and calamity to China’s dazzling medieval capital By Ling Xin
