A Swiss archaeologist and mathematician have identified on a 2,500-year-old Greek bas-relief a mathematics lesson given by a teacher to his student. They also determined the content of the lesson... On this fragment of the funerary altar of Phanaios, he who brings light, we see the teacher pointi
In the archaeological tradition, daggers from the Chalcolithic period (period of prehistory characterized by the beginning of the use of copper) are considered symbols of male power. A recent study counterbalances this idea by showing that these blades were used in a wide variety of ways, particular
Symbols of eternal life, mummies fascinate the public and science. An exhibition not to be missed is currently dedicated to them in Draguignan (Var), where many unpublished pieces are presented for the first time. An exciting journey on the paths of eternity for this exhibition previewed by Sciences
Unprecedented in its scale, this set intended for the worship of two unidentified deities was unearthed during development work in a village near Rennes. Entered into activity after the Roman invasion of Gaul, it gives an overview of the practices of the Celtic populations of the time, who had integ
In the heart of present-day Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, engraved teeth and tombstones tell the story of the emergence of the bacterium Yersinia pestis , eight years before it decimated half of Europe. Tian-Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan, nowadays. It is a mystery dating back more than six centuries th
Archaeological excavations carried out since 2015 on the site of the Battle of Waterloo (1815) have yielded only very rare human remains... However, these modest discoveries raise a major question:where did the bodies of tens of thousands of men and horses of this Napoleonic battle? One explanation,
The oldest genome of the bacterium Escherichia coli could be reconstructed from 400-year-old fragments. An opportunity to better understand the history of this pathogen responsible for food poisoning. E.coli bacteria seen in electron microscopy. Unlike well-documented pandemics like the Black De
Saving ancient heritage is no mean feat in the Middle East. Geopolitical context, traffic, destruction of heritage and climate change pose major challenges to archaeologists. When the opportunity arises to carry out an excavation, it is therefore necessary to know how to seize it. As did a German-Ku
Recent DNA analyzes confirm that this mysterious people who preceded the Romans did not originate from the Near East but from the Italian peninsula. And the latest archaeological discoveries refine the portrait of a brilliant civilization. For several centuries, from the Iron Age to the Roman co
A braid from the scalp of Native American chief Sitting Bull, in a photo provided by the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington Thanks to a new technique that allows genetic information to be obtained from a tiny or even fragmented sample of ancient DNA, a relationshi
This is a new harvest of the most auspicious for the archaeologists of Mesoamerica:no less than 478 new ceremonial sites have been detected thanks to LiDAR technology in the state of Tabasco, in southern Mexico. Their standardized blueprints indicate that this type of architecture was formalized ear
A thousand years before the pyramids, the great necropolises of Hierakonpolis and Abydos welcome the first pharaohs for their journey to the afterlife. We can already detect the beginnings of rites and beliefs that will last more than 4,000 years. Funeral wake of an official treasurer. Limestone
To ensure the eternity of Pharaoh, whose death jeopardizes the balance of the world, the Egyptians invented gigantic staircases intended to lead him to the gods. But if the pyramids, five millennia later, still testify to the power of Egypt, their construction remains a mystery. Necropolis of Giza
Facing Luxor, on the west bank of the Nile, the pharaohs have prepared dazzling tombs for their last journey. Carved into the mountain, hidden from intruders, they are covered with bas-reliefs and splendid frescoes intended to ensure them the best of lives in the afterlife... Funeral scene painted
This period of stability and economic success, also marked by the religious revolution of Akhenaten, gave Egypt, at its height, its most famous sovereigns. Hatshepsout, Tutankhamun, Ramses II… are buried in sumptuous underground tombs. Bust of Nefertiti, wife of the heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten. Thi
Of the Picts, warlike tribes of northern Scotland who never bent their knees to the Romans, there are only a few remains to this day. But Burghead Fort, the largest Pictish complex known to date, has just been the subject of a 3D reconstruction that sheds new light on the story of these so-called ba
After the extraordinary discovery of the Red Sea papyri and the revelation of the Journal of Merer which for the first time provided unprecedented information on the daily life of the builders of the Great Pyramid of Cheops, in Egypt, two books have just been published in quick succession by the Fre
Assyrians, Persians then Greeks… The invaders swept over a weakened Egypt whose culture remained vibrant. The successors of Alexander the Great would adopt some local traditions, forging a Hellenistic culture around Alexandria, the new capital. Cat mummy, Egyptian antiquity, Late period. Preserved
Archaeologists have revealed the discovery of a 2000-year-old slave room in a villa destroyed during the eruption of Vesuvius. The recently discovered chamber in Pompeii, in which a family of slaves probably lived. This very rare find, according to archaeologists, was made during excavations of a
Since June 2021, archaeologists in the city of Augsburg, Bavaria have had reason to rejoice:excavations carried out in an old river bed have yielded a quantity of objects and silver coins dating from the time. which are proof of the importance of the ancient capital of Rhaetia. Archaeologists from
The Henchir Hnich site It is located in the former imperial province of Proconsular Africa, in the middle valley of the Bagradas, about 110 km southwest of the current city of Tunis, and constitutes a rural settlement linked to imperial property. Although today it is a sparsely populated agrarian re
Last fall, an emergency excavation campaign carried out by the Superintendence brought to light a nucleus of ten Etruscan burials, dating from the Villanovian and Archaic periods (8th-5th centuries BC), in the heart of the Monterozzi necropolis. , a few dozen meters from the Tomb of the Bulls and th
Another interesting archaeological discovery was made there around from Omsk, Siberia. It is an armor made of bones. The artifact is, according to estimates, between 3,500 and 3,900 years old and was actually found in an excavation of a construction site for a future hotel on the banks of the Irtysh
The announcement of the discovery of a “Nazi train full of gold”, far from being confirmed, but taken seriously by the authorities – caused excitement among Polish treasure hunters. One of the shafts of an underground gallery dug by the Nazis in Poland during the Second World War PRECIOUS. In the