history

Eruptions can be ‘stress multipliers’ of any existing civic unrest, researchers warn

Naomi Oreskes is an Earth scientist, historian of science and public speaker. She is currently the Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University and an affiliated professor of Earth and planetary sciences. She is author or co-author of numerous books, including the best-selling Merchants of Doubt. [This interview was edited for length and clarity.] How would you desc…

Vikings melted down Islamic coins to make their own pennies, new research has revealed. Some of the earliest Viking cash on record was crafted using silver from Middle Eastern coins known as dirhams. The findings, published in the journal Archaeometry, confirm a long-suspected connection between early Scandinavian coinage and Islamic silver. Scientists examined coins from the Damhus hoard, a coll…

He built modern Greece from the ground up, but Ioannis Kapodistrias remains a controversial figure. A new biopic throws light on this overlooked titan of European history On a hilltop in central Corfu, a marble bust carved in the classical style gazes skyward, lean, fine-featured and composed to the point of austerity. There is no uniform, no decorations, nor symbols of office, just a name cut in…

This article discusses the development of socialist ideas in the early Philippine labor movement through the work of Hermenegildo Cruz, a labor leader who propagated socialist ideas through the Balangay ng mga Tipografo, its newspaper Balagtas, and the workers’ school he cofounded with Lope K. Santos. I conclude that the development of Cruz’s socialism reflected the organized Filipino workers’ bu…

This article examines the politics of labor and space at the Port of Manila during early American colonial rule. During this period, Manila Bay and the riverfront wharves along the Pasig River bustled with commercial activity. The colonial archive reveals how the new regime sought to ensure the smooth flow of cargo by managing waterfront space and labor. Yet, the article simultaneously reads a dr…

In the first of two articles interrogating ancient medical papyri, Ira Rampil investigates the use of herbal remedies to help relieve pain.

Why did Appolonia trade so few enslaved people? Short answer: unique economy and sacred beliefs.

Like much of human history, the last throes of the Stone Age featured crises, conflicts,...

The silver in a Viking Age hoard found in Denmark was from melted-down coins from the faraway Islamic world, a new study finds.

A remarkable archaeological find in South Africa's Wonderwerk Cave has compelled scientists to fundamentally reconsider the timeline of human mastery of fire. Researchers working at the site, renowned for its exceptional prehistoric finds, have identified burned mammal bones dating to approximately 1.79 million years ago. This discovery extends the known record of controlled fire use by roughly 8…

In America, U.S.A., Princeton historian Eddie Glaude Jr. looks at the country through the lens of its previous anniversaries and centennials. "The divided soul of the nation is in full view," he says.

Stonehenge’s giant Altar Stone likely traveled about 700 kilometers from Scotland through a carefully planned human effort. New research from Curtin University is shedding new light on one of Stonehenge’s biggest mysteries: how a massive stone weighing around six tons made its way across Britain thousands of years ago. The focus of the study is [...]

Because the seal had never been broken, the Etruscan tomb’s grave goods had also gone completely untouched by looters.

The sting recovered 30 bronze coins minted during the Second Punic War, but the real story is the tens of thousands that are still unaccounted for.

In 1995, a runaway train triggered a deadly chain of events at the Val Reefs mine in South Africa.

A planned highway exposed a buried Celtic world filled with gold coins, amber and clues to a vanished trading center.

A new study has revealed that ancient human ancestors were far more skilled and organized than previously thought. Nearly 800,000 years ago, they were carefully selecting different types of stone for specific tools rather than simply picking up whatever rocks happened to be nearby. The findings suggest that these early humans possessed detailed knowledge of […] The post Ancient humans chose the p…

Please let me know if there are other SEs more appropriate for this question. At more or less the halfway point of de la Boétie's short essay 'Discourse on Voluntary Servitude' he mentions the ...

Archaeologists from the Museum of London Archaeology (Mola) have completed an excavation at Stanton Cross in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, revealing what has been described as a "remarkable window into life in the area during the Roman period". The dig covered nine hectares at a new housing development situated near Chester House Estate, where evidence of an ancient Roman settlement had previ…