History

Drought marks can reveal buried walls, roads and foundations without excavation. Here is how archaeologists read these temporary traces from the air.

Ancient DNA is helping researchers reconstruct biological relationships and population movements that written records cannot capture. Here is how the evidence works.

Ancient graffiti in Pompeii preserves jokes, names, political messages and everyday opinions. Here is what wall writing can reveal about ordinary Roman life.

Medieval marginalia explained: strange animals, visual jokes, notes and miniature scenes in manuscript margins were often meaningful parts of book culture.