Flipboard 2025 Archaeology And Discoveries

Archaeologists in Bulgaria unearthed a significant historical treasure hidden in the sewer system below an ancient city—but its discovery is not what’s making history.

History is full of unsolved mysteries, but sometimes, new technology leads historians to answers. Here are some historical mysteries that we’ve recently figured out.

There’s a place in Southeast Asia where locals have whispered the same story for generations—about small, strange, "Hobbit Humans" living deep in the forests. Most people outside the region have never heard of it. Even fewer have taken the claims seriously. But a handful of researchers say the locals might be describing something far more extraordinary than anyone imagined.

A thrift-store shopper buys a pair of $25 jars only to discover they are rare Qing Dynasty imperial artifacts worth over $74,000. Explore the extraordinary journey of these forgotten treasures, the history behind their craftsmanship, and how a chance find became one of the most captivating archaeological stories of the year.

Divers found a perfectly preserved Maya canoe resting deep inside a submerged cenote. It’s one of the most amazing Maya discoveries in years.

Archaeology has a way of dropping mythological surprises right into our laps, and this time it comes in the form of a stone urn decorated with one of antiquity’s most recognizable faces: Medusa. Unearthed inside an Etruscan burial chamber, this urn's discovery opens a window into how pre-Roman societies blended myth, ritual, and artistry in ways that still catch us off guard today.

Archaeologists in Switzerland have uncovered the remarkably well-preserved remnants of a 2,000-year-old Roman wooden bridge.The amazing discovery adds to our knowledge of Roman engineering in the Swiss Alps.

Neanderthals lived across Europe and western Asia from about 400,000 to 40,000 years ago. Their bodies handled cold weather, and their shelters relied on steady fires. Evidence from caves shows they used simple tools and cooked meals depending on the food available on nearby land.

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.

Researchers studying ancient DNA have revealed new information about disease-resistant genes and the migration patterns of peoples from thousands of years ago.