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Mysteries of Archeology and History, New York, NY (2026)

10/20/2026

Bulgaria’s Ancient Rock-Cut City May Have Shared Its Name with a Famous City in Anatolia

Perperikon is one of the most extensively excavated ancient sites in Bulgaria, yet archaeologists still know surprisingly little about the name its inhabitants used nearly 2,000 years ago. The city flourished during the Roman period, leaving behind monumental buildings, elaborate tombs and evidence of a prosperous community, but its identity in the written records of antiquity has remained uncertain.Book Site Tours

The answer may lie in a name recorded by the second-century geographer Claudius Ptolemy. Archaeologist Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov first proposed the identification twenty years ago, when much of Perperikon’s Roman history was still emerging from the excavations. Now, drawing on the city’s archaeological remains and a closer examination of historical maps, he argues that the evidence for his interpretation has become considerably stronger.

The earliest name Ovcharov proposes for Perperikon is Pergamon, also known as Pergamos or Pergamum. It appears in Geography, the second-century work of Claudius Ptolemy, who recorded thousands of places throughout the ancient world and attempted to locate them using geographical coordinates.

Ptolemy placed a settlement called Pergamon in Inner Thrace, but finding its exact location has proved difficult. His geographical system differs from modern maps, and distortions in the surviving coordinates have complicated efforts to match ancient settlements with present-day archaeological sites.

10/20/2026

1,200-Year-Old Inscription Reveals the Name of a Maya Mathematician Who Tracked Venus and Mars

More than 1,200 years ago, in an ancient Maya city in what is now Guatemala, a man known as “White-chested Fox” signed his name at the end of a remarkable mathematical text painted on the wall of a small room. His identity faded into obscurity, but the writing survived. Now, more than twelve centuries later, researchers have finally uncovered who he was—and why his name appears there.Visit Dig Sites

The man was Sak Tahn Waax, a Maya mathematician who studied the movements of Venus and Mars. A new study published in Antiquity reveals that his calculations contain an unusual numerical pattern resembling the Fibonacci sequence, making him the first known Classic Maya mathematician to receive direct credit for his intellectual work.

The inscription, known as Text 19, covers a small section of an interior wall at the ancient Maya city of Xultun, located in the Petén region of northern Guatemala. Though it contains only 11 hieroglyphic blocks, the calculation it records stretches across 2,920 days and weaves together several different astronomical and calendar cycles.

For Maya astronomers, 2,920 days held special significance. It equals five full cycles of Venus (each lasting about 584 days) and also matches eight solar years of 365 days. This neat alignment allowed them to link the planet’s regular appearances in the sky with the passage of years on Earth.

10/19/2026

Ancient Zoroastrian Funerary Inscription Discovered Near Iran’s Sasanian Ceremonial Capital

Archaeologists have discovered a funerary inscription dating to the final centuries of the Sasanian Empire in southern Iran, offering new evidence of how ancient Zoroastrian communities treated their dead. Found in a carved rock frame north of the ancient city of Estakhr, the inscription sheds light on religious traditions that regarded the preservation of nature’s sacred elements as an essential part of the journey after death.Visit Dig Sites

The discovery comes from the Marvdasht Plain in Fars Province, a region known for its extraordinary concentration of pre-Islamic monuments and inscriptions. According to Tehran Times, archaeologist Abolhassan Atabaki identified the inscription as a Pahlavi text associated with a Zoroastrian burial from the late Sasanian period, before the empire’s collapse in the seventh century CE.

Although researchers have not yet released a complete transcription or translation, the inscription adds another piece to the archaeological record of a region where religious beliefs shaped funerary customs for centuries.

Zoroastrianism, one of the world’s oldest living religions, arose in ancient Iran and became the state religion of the Sasanian Empire (224–651 CE). Its teachings, attributed to the prophet Zarathustra, centre on the struggle between truth and falsehood, the weight of moral choice, and the eventual triumph of good.

Death posed a particular problem. Zoroastrians considered earth, water, and fire sacred elements that required protection from contamination. For this reason, Zoroastrians avoided burying their dead, believing that decomposing bodies would contaminate the sacred earthFind Crystals

The Vendidad, a collection of Zoroastrian religious laws within the Avesta, describes the pollution associated with death and prescribes measures to protect the living and the natural environment. Rather than burying or cremating bodies, many communities practiced exposure, placing the deceased in designated open-air locations where scavenging birds and animals could remove the flesh.

Atabaki explained that these beliefs led communities to relocate mortuary practices to elevated, rocky terrain and mountainous regions. These geographical settings facilitated the natural decomposition of the deceased while preventing direct contact with arable land or aqueous resources.

10/19/2026

First Turkic Khaganate-Era Settlement With Rare Bird Figurine Found in Kazakhstan

Archaeologists have discovered a fortified settlement dating back approximately 1,400 years in eastern Kazakhstan, offering new evidence of life during the rise of the First Turkic Khaganate. Archaeological finds and radiocarbon analysis date the settlement to the sixth and seventh centuries CE, while preliminary findings suggest that its construction began during the Khaganate’s early period.

Among the discoveries—which include the remains of ancient structures, pottery used as household items, and charred food remains—is an unusual ceramic bird figurine that stands out for containing a rattle inside its body.

The settlement, known as Kalzhyr, lies between the villages of Kalzhyr and Boran in the Zaysan Basin. A team from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University excavated the site with support from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Covering more than 25 hectares, the fortified settlement has already revealed substantial defensive walls and traces of buildings that lay buried for centuries.

The excavations focused on the southern part of Kalzhyr, where researchers uncovered the remains of the settlement’s main fortifications. A major fire had destroyed much of these defenses, although archaeologists have not yet determined what caused the destruction or whether it marked the end of the community.

Beyond the damaged walls, the team found earthen floors, fragments of reed-and-clay structures, and plaster that still carried traces of decorative patterns. The decorated plaster suggests that the inhabitants also paid attention to the appearance of their buildings, rather than focusing solely on practical construction needs. These details point to a solid, permanent settlement rather than a temporary camp.

The digs also produced charred wheat grains, legumes, and ceramic vessels. The finds show that food storage and preparation were part of daily life at Kalzhyr, though more work is needed to determine whether the inhabitants grew crops themselves or obtained them through trade.

Taken together, the finds show a substantial settlement with permanent buildings, defensive walls and access to agricultural products. They also open a window onto a less familiar side of early Turkic history — one often overshadowed by accounts of powerful rulers and mounted armies.

10/18/2026

Rare Early Medieval Boat Burial Discovered at Slavic Cemetery

Archaeologists in eastern Poland have uncovered an exceptionally rare early medieval boat burial containing cremated human remains, silver jewelry, and animal bones. The grave, measuring approximately 4.5 meters long, dates to a period when Slavic communities occupied the region between the eighth and tenth centuries. Its unusual shape raises intriguing questions about burial traditions and possible cultural influences from the Viking world.Visit Dig Sites

Researchers at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences discovered it at Chodlik, in the Chodel Forest of southeastern Poland, where they have been investigating an early medieval cremation cemetery. Led by archaeologist Dr. Łukasz Miechowicz, the team identified the remarkable grave between two other burial monuments—one resembling a house and the other a richly furnished burial mound.

The structure measures between 1 and 1.2 meters wide and closely resembles a dugout canoe, a simple type of boat carved from a single tree trunk. Its shape suggests that mourners may have placed the cremated remains inside a wooden vessel, although further analysis is needed to establish whether an actual boat formed part of the burial.

The first clue to the grave’s unusual character came from a beautifully preserved silver ornament near its upper surface. Archaeologists identified it as an early medieval temple ring, decorated with hollow beads and delicate granulation—a technique in which craftsmen attached tiny metal spheres to create intricate patterns.

As excavations continued, the team recovered more than a dozen small fragments of silver jewelry, some partially melted by fire. They also uncovered pieces of ceramic vessels, charcoal, and burned human and animal bones, suggesting that the funeral involved more than the simple deposition of cremated remains.Visit Dig Sites

Among the animal remains, one discovery particularly interested the researchers: a horse tooth. Its presence is unusual in the wider context of Slavic burial traditions, although Chodlik has already produced several cremation graves containing horse remains.

The site’s earlier discoveries provide an important comparison. In a study published in 2021, Miechowicz examined an eighth- or ninth-century burial mound where archaeologists found the cremated remains of a person and a horse, possibly burned together on the funeral pyre. The new find adds another example to this local pattern, although the meaning of the horse tooth remains uncertain.

Fragments of human teeth also survived the cremation process. Researchers hope these remains may preserve enough material for isotope analysis, potentially offering clues about the deceased person’s origins. The elaborate silver ornaments suggest a burial involving valuable possessions, but archaeologists cannot yet determine the individual’s identity, or social position.

10/18/2026

A 2,600-Year-Old Warrior Buried With a Helmet, Sword, Shield and Gold Face Covering Found in North Macedonia

Archaeologists in North Macedonia have uncovered a richly furnished 2,600-year-old burial containing a bronze helmet, shield, sword, spears and gold objects, providing some of the clearest evidence yet that a powerful elite used the area around Lake Ohrid during the Archaic period.Visit Dig Sites

The grave was discovered at the Rasnica necropolis near the village of Koroshishta, close to Struga. Archaeologists say the burial appears to be older than another spectacular tomb found at the same site in 2024. Together, the two discoveries are transforming Rasnica from what might once have seemed an isolated rich burial into a substantial cemetery with exceptional potential for understanding the people who controlled this part of the Balkans in the sixth century
BCE.

The newly excavated grave contained an unusually complete assemblage of military equipment. Archaeologists recovered a bronze helmet, a shield, a sword, and several spears alongside bronze vessels, a silver pin, amber and glass beads, a gold ring, and other objects made from valuable materials.

Project director Pero Ardžanliev of the National Archaeological Museum described the burial as an exceptionally rich Archaic grave in which the deceased had been laid to rest with a complete set of weapons. The combination of military equipment, jewelry, and prestige goods strongly suggests that the individual occupied a prominent position within the community.

10/17/2026

First-Ever Seal Ring Showing the Lighthouse of Alexandria Found in the Sunken Royal Quarter

Underwater archaeologists working in Alexandria’s ancient Eastern Harbour have discovered a bronze seal ring engraved with an image of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Egyptian authorities say it is the first known representation of the famous Pharos ever found on a seal ring.Visit Dig Sites

The discovery came from the submerged royal island of Antirhodos, once part of Alexandria’s monumental harbour district known as Portus Magnus. The unusual object may offer more than another image of the lost lighthouse: its location and function raise the possibility that the ring belonged to an administrative environment connected with Alexandria’s harbour and perhaps with the lighthouse itself.

According to Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the bronze ring carries an engraved representation of the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria. The image closely resembles depictions of the monument known from coins dating to the second century AD, although the ministry has not assigned the ring itself a definitive second-century date.

The find came from the site of the royal island of Antirhodos, where the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM), working with Egypt’s General Department of Underwater Antiquities, is conducting excavations. Much of this once-important part of ancient Alexandria now lies beneath the Mediterranean.

10/17/2026

4,000-Year-Old Tablets Reveal a Princess’s Estate, New Place Names and Possible War Captive Settlements

Fifteen cuneiform tablets kept in the Iraq Museum are opening an unusually detailed window onto the economy of southern Mesopotamia around 4,000 years ago. The records point to a royal princess’s estate operating outside normal provincial administration, preserve previously unknown or poorly attested place names, document workers from different regions and even raise the possibility that one rural settlement was populated by prisoners of war.Explore History

The tablets date to the Ur III period, roughly 2112–2004 BCE, when the rulers of the Third Dynasty of Ur controlled a highly organized state across much of southern Mesopotamia. Most of the newly published documents come from the Umma region and deal with the practical machinery of that economy: fields, grain, irrigation, wages, livestock and the movement of agricultural products.

Yet the study, published in Iraq, suggests that these records belonged to a world more complicated than the great state archives alone would imply.

Researchers Abather Rahi Saadoon, Noemi Borrelli and Maurizio Viano argue that several of the tablets came from a non-institutional setting, most likely a royal rural estate rather than the administration controlled directly by the governor of Umma.

10/16/2026

After Fire Destroyed Their Town 3,200 Years Ago, Mycenaeans Returned and Built Massive Defensive Walls

A devastating fire swept through the Mycenaean settlement of Aigeira around the middle of the 12th century BC, destroying buildings across both its hilltop center and the settlement below. But the disaster did not bring life at Aigeira to an end. Almost immediately, the community began rebuilding — and this time, protection became a priority.

The new settlement rose directly over the ruins and gained a massive fortification wall, while archaeologists believe parts of the lower town may also have been enclosed. The scale of the project suggests that Aigeira still had the organization, labor, and resources needed to undertake a major defensive building program even after a destructive catastrophe.

Aigeira stands high above the Gulf of Corinth in Achaia, on the northern Peloponnese. Archaeologists have investigated the site for decades, and excavations on the acropolis during the 1970s and 1980s revealed several phases of Late Mycenaean occupation.

One of the most striking discoveries was a thick layer of fire debris marking the destruction of an early settlement phase. Later excavations between 2011 and 2016 showed that the disaster had been much larger than first understood.

10/16/2026

People Reached Badanj Cave in Bosnia 20,000 Years Ago, 5,000 Years Earlier Than Previously Thought

People were using Badanj Cave in Bosnia and Herzegovina around 20,000 years ago, roughly 5,000 years earlier than previous evidence had shown, according to a new study that reshapes the timeline of one of the eastern Adriatic’s most important Paleolithic sites.

The new dates suggest that generations of hunter-gatherers returned to Badanj over a period stretching from about 20,000 to 12,000 years ago. That span covers major environmental changes at the end of the last Ice Age and turns the site into an unusually long record of how people lived through a changing landscape.

Badanj lies near the town of Stolac in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is not a deep cave but a large, south-facing rock shelter set into a slope about 30 meters above the Bregava River valley.

Its position was well suited to people moving through the region. The river valley forms a natural route between the Neretva Valley, which leads toward the Adriatic coast, and the mountainous interior of Bosnia. From the shelter, prehistoric groups could reach different landscapes while remaining close to water and other resources.

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