Peter Kinney articles

America's biggest malls weren't built to fail. From neon-lit atriums to mirrored ceilings, they dominated the ’60s–’80s. Then came demolition, decay, and bizarre second lives as movie sets and warehouses.

Some countries simply make backpacking easier, cheaper, and more rewarding. Using community insights from travelers, hostel-availability data, and affordability metrics, we’ve ranked 20 of the best backpacking countries in the world, ending with the country that backpackers overwhelmingly rank as the planet’s #1 destination.

Archaeologists keep uncovering structures and systems that disrupt long-held assumptions about early America. These achievements weren’t improvised or accidental; they were engineered with calculation and purpose in ways European settlers failed to grasp.

A forgotten hilltop in the highlands of Guerrero in Mexico revealed something significant: a whole city uncovered through detailed surveying and systematic mapping. Researchers documented terraces that extended down the slopes and identified plazas used for community gatherings. Archaeologists also recorded perimeter walls, ceremonial platforms, and a ballcourt linked to political activity within the settlement. The combined evidence shows a well-organized center with long-term occupation. And anyone interested in ancient cities will find this discovery especially informative and historically valuable. Read on.

Beneath the hills of northern Spain lies a site that continues to reshape our picture of early human life. At Atapuerca’s Gran Dolina cave, researchers of IPHES-CERCA recently uncovered a tiny cervical vertebra—just over an inch long—that had been buried for nearly 850,000 years. It belonged to a child no older than four, and the sharp cut marks etched across its surface revealed something unsettling: the child had been deliberately decapitated. This discovery adds powerful confirmation to a long-debated idea that early cannibalism in Western Europe may have been both systematic and tied to survival pressures.

Archaeologists never expect much from a basic utility trench, so the crew near Salerno figured it would be an ordinary job. The dirt looked the same as always until a patch of soft gray soil showed strange shapes pressed into it. Once the workers called in the experts, it became clear they had stumbled onto something incredibly rare: Bronze Age footprints left in volcanic ash from Vesuvius. If you want to know what was happening in that spot when those prints were made, and what they reveal about life long before Pompeii, keep going.

Something on Easter Island has sparked fresh debate among researchers, and the buzz isn’t fading. The newest findings hint at a deeper timeline and clues that don’t fit neatly into long-accepted theories.

Giza's greatest mysteries might still be underground. While millions snap photos of the pyramids, researchers probe beneath the surface, finding hidden passages and peculiar features that challenge everything we thought we understood about ancient Egypt.

It’s wild how a landmark can feel like a dream you’ve seen many times until reality shatters the beautiful image. The glow fades when you see the real version.