Flipboard 2025 Archaeology And Discoveries

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.

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.

Egyptian tombs usually announce their owners loudly. This one stayed silent for 86 years. Then, excavators found an army of ceramic servants arranged in stars, each one carrying the name nobody could find anywhere else.

Some of the most important archaeological discoveries don’t make headlines right away. This story begins with bones uncovered nearly a century ago, quietly stored, studied, and debated. Only recently did new technology allow scientists to revisit them—and realize they may be telling a much bigger story about our ancient past.

Researchers finally established the identity of the remains found in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus.

Archaeologists in Malawi uncover the world’s oldest known cremation pyre, dating back 9,500 years, revealing complex funerary rituals, pre-cremation defleshing, and early symbolic behavior among ancient hunter-gatherers.

Archaeologists reveal a 2,500-year-old network of ancient garden cities hidden beneath Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest, reshaping what we know about early urban life in the Amazon.

Tanis, once a powerful Delta capital, has long fascinated archaeologists. Its royal necropolis yielded treasures nearly as famous as those from the Valley of the Kings, but a new discovery has flipped ancient burial customs on their head—and possibly revealed a royal cover-up.

Cleopatra VII remains one of history’s most powerful and misunderstood rulers. While her life has been endlessly debated, her death left behind a mystery that still endures. Somewhere beneath Egypt, her tomb remains hidden, defying centuries of explorers.

Abu Qir Bay is now known as one of the richest underwater archaeological zones in the world, hiding the remains of entire ancient cities. Recent underwater excavations have brought statues, coins, pottery, and ship timbers back into the light, reinforcing long-held theories that major Ptolemaic ports once thrived here before being swallowed by the sea.

Construction crews building a new section of Milan’s subway line have uncovered an unexpected window into the city’s ancient past. While lowering deep concrete tunnels beneath the modern streets, archaeologists uncovered the remains of a Roman horreum—a large warehouse used in antiquity for storing grain and other essential goods. Facilities like these served a key function in the economy of the Roman Empire, securing and distributing food supplies and commodities to urban centers. The discovery in Milan, ancient Mediolanum, offers new evidence of how this northern Italian hub was connected to broader trade networks, including routes across the fertile Po Valley that linked communities and markets throughout the empire.

You think pyramids are ancient? A stone wall hidden inside a Greek cave makes them look like yesterday's news. Ice Age humans stacked these rocks when survival meant innovation, creating something that would outlast empires.