New fossils help explain why there are two very similar—but very distant—populations of crayfish on Earth, one in the Southern Hemisphere, the other in the north.

The ancient Maya painted one of their most ornate temples with mica to make it sparkle in the sun, a new study suggests.

A hundred years older than the first known European oil paintings, the newfound Afghan artworks were discovered where the Taliban destroyed giant Buddhas.

Buddhists were using sophisticated oil and resin paints at least a hundred years before Europeans, a new analysis of the Bamiyan caves reveals.

A rich deposit of 260-million-year-old fossils is being blasted apart by mining in the war-torn state of Kashmir, according to eyewitness accounts.

A U.S. academic sent Incan artifacts from Peru's "lost" city of Machu Picchu to Yale University in 1911. Was that a loan or a gift?

Mastodon teeth clacked anew in Greece, a Kenyan boy was among many wounded by arrows, China unveiled a bubbly Olympic swim center, and more.

An 80-million-year-old fossil found in Brazil could be a "missing link" between prehistoric and modern-day crocodiles, experts say.

An exceptionally well preserved fossil reptile found in Brazil is a likely "missing link" between dino-era crocs and their modern counterparts, experts say.

An ex-art smuggler and the former head of Scotland Yard's Art and Antiquities Squad have joined forces to expose illegal trade in ancient treasures.

The 80-million-year-old predator, now on public display for the first time, was long-limbed and extremely agile, researchers say.

The newfound species suggests that the marine creatures have existed for at least a hundred million years longer than previously believed, a new study says.

More than 20,000 artifacts and pieces of ancient gold jewelry were discovered in 1979 in Afghanistan. Mysterious "key holders" pledged their lives to protect the treasure from plunderers. Did they succeed?

An ancient Egyptian "city of the dead" has yielded a surprising series of richly appointed tombs dating to the days of Greek rule.

Well-preserved mummies and gilded caskets have been discovered in an ancient Egyptian "city of the dead" thought to have been looted clean.