Shockingly Well-Preserved Things from the Past

Sumerian Clay Nail of Entemena (c. 2400 BCE)

This clay nail displayed at the Louvre is one of a handful of examples of Sumerian art remaining remarkably intact.  The nail, a thick spike with cuneiform lettering inscribed in the head, isn’t a nail in the traditional sense.  Ancient Sumerians crafted the spike, baking an inscribed cuniform dedication to a god.  The nail would then be embedded into the mud brick walls or foundation of a temple building.  To Sumerians, this gave the building over to the intended god as their divine property.

This nail, found in Telloh (ancient Girsu), was dedicated by Lagash king Entemena to the god of Bad-Tibira.  Its wording includes one of the earliest known diplomatic writings, stating “Those were the days when Entemena, ruler of Lagash, and Lugal-kinishe-dudu, ruler of Umma, concluded a treaty of fraternity.”  This indicates Entemena used diplomatic relations with neighboring city states, building alliances rather than forcefully taking their territory.

Code of Hammurabi Stele (1792 – 1750 BCE)

This stele dates back to the rule of Hammurabi, roughly 1792 BCE to 1792 BCE.  Considering its age, the Akkadian writing on the stone remains remarkably intact.  The stele, standing 2.25 meters tall (7 feet, 4 inches) and 70 centimeters (27.6 inches wide), isn’t the oldest set of laws ever written, but it is the most comprehensive.  The stele contains 282 laws, regulations for commercial interactions, and guidelines for fines and punishments if someone decided to ignore those laws. 

Theft is dealt with severely, in the code’s “If-then” format.  Among the strict rules of the Code, if anyone steals the minor son of another, then they shall be put to death.  If a doctor kills a rich patient, then his hand is cut off.  If the they kill a patient that is a slave, the doctor pays a fine but gets to keep their hands.

Egyptian Rosettes (c. 1479 – 1425 BCE)

Archaeologists unearthing the tombs of Thutmose III uncovered a curious bundle.  Shockingly intact, small rosettes accompanied the funerary items of the Pharaoh’s three foreign-born wives, Menwi, Merti, Menhet.  But nobody really knew exactly what they were used for.  Were they used as ornamentation on clothing?  Or were they part of a headdress that would be draped over a wig?

Did they have meaning, or were they merely a fashion accessory?  The rosettes have been displayed in many different ways since the Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired them in 1926.  In 1937, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1932 – 1939) and Egyptologist Herbert E. Winlock suggested they might have been attached to a headpiece plate as part of a decorated wig, resulting in this design.  The design has been modified over time, as nobody can say for certain whether these rosettes were used as a hair ornament.

Egyptian prosthetic toe

A tomb in Luxor, Egypt yielded a surprising find in 1997.  On the remains of what archaeologists believe to be the daughter of a high-status priest was a detailed prosthetic toe.  Egyptian craftsmen created the toe out of leather and wood, carving a toenail for a realistic look.  Closer examination revealed the toe had been altered and adjusted multiple times to ensure a good, comfortable fit, indicated it was worn in life, not just to make the body whole in death.

This requires craftsmanship at a level only the elite could afford.  This prosthetic, known as the Cairo Toe or Greville Chester Great Toe, is housed in the Cairo Museum, one of the earliest examples of a practical prosthesis used for every day, functional wear.  It gave the woman a more common look to her feet and perhaps restored some of the balance lost during her original toe’s amputation.

Greek Athyrma (c. 950 – 900 BCE)

Children haven’t changed much over the thousands of years of human history.  The toys ancient Greek children played with aren’t really that different than toys found in bedrooms and play spaces today.  In this case, the athyrma (toy) is a horse figurine, painted with decorative detail, and attached to wheels so the Greek child could push and pull it around.

Archaeologists found this horse in a tomb dating back to 950 – 900 BCE, meaning the horse could, theoretically, represent the story of the Trojan Horse, a tale dating to 1184 BCE.  The story describes a large wooden horse left behind as a gift when the Greeks left the city of Troy.  After the Trojans wheeled the horse inside the city walls, Greek soldiers hiding inside waited for nightfall, climbed out of the horse, and slaughtered the city’s guards, allowing Greek soldiers to enter and conquer the city.

Hochdorf golden shoe ornaments (c. 530 BCE.)

While the original, probably leather, shoes have disappeared, these delicate golden ornaments that were affixed to the shoes remain shiny and bright.  They have remained this way since the day in 530 BCE when the Iron Age Celtic Hochdorf  Chieftain’s tomb closed for the last time, at least until archaeologists excavated the site in 1978-1979.  

Historians and archaeologists believe the shoes belonged to the Hallstatt Celtic-era prince buried within the tomb, a man of approximately 40 years old, who once stood about six feet, two inches tall (187 cm).  The contents of the grave reveal significant wealth, including jewelry (including a gold-plated torc around his neck) and beads, a birch bark hat, a comb, nail clippers, and bronze, bone, and antler tools like arrows, fishing hooks, and a dagger.  His afterlife was set for a party; nine drinking horns were found mounted on the wall, enough to serve nine people.

Etruscan rooster askos (4^th century BCE)

This pottery rooster would be at home in any modern country-themed kitchen.  But this askos (flasks or vases in the form of animals) is a rare find.   Etruscan askoi are common household flasks, typically used for small-quantity goods like perfume or scented oils.  Bird-shaped askoi are rather common among Etruscan pottery, but these are usually in the shape of ducks.

Duck askoi were particularly popular around the 4^th century BCE, and heavily produced at the northern Etruscan site of Clusium (modern day Chuusi).  This is only one of two known rooster-shaped askoi to date.  This particular rooster askoi is notable for its realistic detail, the individual feathers sculpted, rather than painted on, and its comb designed with individual, and irregular, ridges.  With such fine detailing in the artwork, especially the delicate edges of the feather and comb, the preservation on this askoi is astounding.

Roman skeleton mosaic (3^rd century BCE)

When workers in the city of Antakya, Turkey (known as Antioch in ancient times) tried to install a new cable car line in 2012, they got far more out of the project than a new transportation corridor.  As workers dug into the ground, they found delicately laid, colored tiles arranged into a startling image.  After further excavation, they discovered an exquisite mosaic, one unlike the familiar images of gods and battles.  Instead, this mosaic image depicts an incredibly relaxed skeleton, surrounded by food and drink.

The skeleton is accompanied by a motto declaring “Be cheerful, enjoy your life” (although there is debate in the classicist community about this translation).  Hatay Archaeology Museum archaeologist Demet Kara told CNN that this type of mosaic, celebrating life through one of the Roman’s favorite activities, dining and drinking, would likely have been found on the dining room floor of one of Antioch’s wealthy families.

China’s Terracotta Army (3^rd Century BCE)

Around the time the Roman skeleton began its eternal state of lounging, China’s newly crowned king of the Qin state, Qin Shi Huangdi directed his subjects start construction on his mausoleum.  For two thousand years, his tomb lay protected by an army of terracotta warriors.  Each of the seven thousand warriors is unique, with its own features, hairstyle, clothing, even their own facial expression. They stand in a military style formation, straight rows, some are standing, some kneeling, and others in positions according to their rank and role in the army. 

Historians don’t believe these forms are based on actual people, just generalized portraits made to appear unique, reflecting the differences in populations.  Archaeologists have found that the warriors aren’t the only figures in the tomb.  There are images of officials, waterfowl, six hundred horses, even acrobats.  It was a terracotta replica of Qin Shi Huangdi’s court and political system.

Domus Aurea Ceiling (c. 64 CE)

Roman Emperor Nero didn’t let a little thing like a fire that decimated Rome and the need to rebuild infrastructure and housing stop him from creating a grand palace to honor himself.  This image shows one of the mosaic ceilings uncovered in the house, still reflecting Nero’s glory back to him.  He wanted it to represent the grandeur of Rome, and his reign, rebuilding Rome to reflect Hellenic Greek cities like Alexandria. And it was grand indeed, taking up 50 hectares of an already densely built city.

When the Coliseum was built over the site of the Domus Aurea, it fit in the artificial lake and was able to use its aqueduct connections.  Domus Aurea had three hundred rooms, vineyards, even forests (but oddly, no latrines, bedrooms, or kitchens have been found.  This indicates the Domus Aurea may have been more of an ‘event space’ than a home.

Bread from Pompeii (79 CE)

Pompeii’s bakers were experts at creating the round, dense bread favored by Romans, called panis quadratus. The bakers created these loaves in large volumes, selling them to customers from bakeries and restaurants throughout the cities.  One early morning, the bakers prepared their bread for the day’s service, kneading and shaping them into the loaves, tossing them into the oven to keep up with demand.  But the loaves would never be eaten.

Later in the day, some say August 24, others say October 24, in 79 CE, Mount Vesuvius unleashed hell on the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.  As the ash, pumice, and heat bore down on these cities, all that grand food was carbonized and buried for over 1,500 years.  In 1862, archaeologists unearthed the Bakery of Modestus.  They found eighty-one of these circular loaves carbonized, amazingly well preserved despite having experienced volcanic heat and destruction of an entire community.

Roman Dog Footprint (1^st – 2^nd century CE)

Almost 2,000 years ago, a tile maker in the modern Leicester, England area manufactured clay tiles, but had one pesky canine friend to contend with.  While their clay tiles dried, a dog stepped on the tiles still in production.  After being shooed away, the footprints remained.  The tiles were still functional, and unlikely to be seen by most people anyway, so they were still installed on a building or structure. 

Such animal prints weren’t particularly rare; the Leicester Roman-era archaeological site revealed several similar prints from dogs, cats, sheep and other small livestock on tiles.  These prints have been preserved as a snapshot of a moment when animals acted just like modern pets, walking across a workspace.  As archaeologist Philip Biggs told LiveScience, “My initial though was that it must have been very difficult being a Roman tile manufacturer with these animal incursions going on all the time.”

Seljuk Islamic earrings (c. 9^th-10^th century CE)

These delicate earrings are in remarkably undamaged shape for being such a small object with delicate bangles that have remained intact nearly 2,000 years.  The delicate filigree and small chain holding the details together illustrate the Seljuk (or Seljuq) jewelry style.  The Seljuk were (possibly Sunni, historians debate this) Muslim Turkish people, descended from central Asian nomadic bands.  From the 11^th  to 14^th centuries, they ruled much of central Aslai and Anatolia.

The Seljuk crafted jewelry using influences of Persian, Central Asian, Turkish, and Islamic traditions. These earrings are thought to be from the 9^th or 10^th century CE.  At the time, both men and women wore these types of earrings, and the demand prompted heightened artistry in their design.  Creating these highly detailed works of wearable art was extremely challenging, but the Seljuk jewelry crafters were extremely skilled in the art form.

Egyptian Socks (c. 250 – 420 CE)

These socks, found during the excavation at the Oxyrhynchus burial grounds, may date to the Romano-Egyptian era, but look almost new.  Their bright red color still gleams, even after nearly two thousand years; an amazing state of preservation.  While Egypt’s climate was typically warm and dry, the evenings could be cool and winters damp, making socks a cozy luxury. They kept Roman and Egyptian feet warm, even with the prevailing footwear being open sandals (the original ‘socks and sandals’ look). 

These socks are split in the middle to accommodate the thong of an Egyptian sandal.   The artisan who crafted the socks used a single-needle knitting technique that predates the two-needle system, called nålbindning.  The nålbindning method crafts garments like the socks from a single thread.  The way the thread was knit together created an elasticity that was good for clothing, like socks, that needed to have a tighter fit. 

Baths of Diocletian (306 CE)

Roman Emperor Diocletian built his baths to impress, and that impression has shockingly lasted almost two thousand years.  His Baths are the largest known from the Roman Empire, outsizing even the luxurious Baths of Caracalla.  The bathing complex, with its traditional caldarium (hot baths), tepidarium (warm baths) and frigidarium (cool baths), recreational areas, an additional outdoor pool and gardens, served up to 10,000 people every day (3,000 at a time) for about 250 years.

In the 160^th century, as the Roman Catholic Church came to power, Pope Pius IV commissioned Michelangelo to restructure the frigidarium and tepidarium into a Basilica.  Michelangelo retained as much of the original baths as he could, including the Egyptian red marble columns and their Corinthian capitals.  But there were some necessary changes; since the ground level outside had risen, Michelangelo raised the Basilica floor 2 meters (6 feet) to match the terrain.

Burial mask of Pakal the Great (615-683 CE)

For over 1,300 years, this jade mask lay atop the head l of K’inich Janaab’ Pakal, 7^th century ruler of the Mayan Empire.  He rested undisturbed under the mask, encased in a sarcophagus, until 1952, when excavation at the Temple of Inscriptions in the ancient city of Palenque revealed this amazingly preserved item.  The tomb, hidden beneath the floor of the temple, had escaped the looters and deterioration so common for Mayan sites. 

Archaeologist Alberto Ruz  and his team, noticing perforations in one of the stone slabs on the floor, lifted the slab and descended down the staircase it revealed.  After years of removing compacted debris, he discovered the tomb, with the great king covered in this jade mask, a stone Mayans associated with spiritual eternity.  He was also coated in cinnabar, a toxic substance with a deep red color representing blood, life, and the afterlife.

Inca Quipu (1476 – 1534 CE)

Ancient Chinese culture used the abacus.  So did the Greeks and Persians.  Today we use a spreadsheet.  The Inca went with a different tradition, the quipu. Quipu were cords strung on a long string.  Each cord was color coded, and tied into intricate knots that contained a world of hidden information.  The cord colors, the knots, even the distance between the knots kept detailed records of Incan numeric data, such as population data and taxes.

While the Inca aren’t known for leaving a detailed written record, these knotted cords indicate complex record keeping system, overseen by Khipumayuq, an elite caste who knew how to tie the cords and read the quipu’s data.  Although quipu is known for recording numeric data, some quipus have a more elaborate knotting system.  Anthropologists are researching whether this means quipu could have recorded non-numeric data, like military history and battle details.

King Henry VIII’s Field Suit of Armor (c. 1544)

King Henry VIII, known for his disastrous marriages and his religious reforms, was also the leader of a powerful army.  He was known to accompany his soldiers on the battlefield in a display of might.  This suit of armor was crafted for him in 1544, three years before his death, during his military campaign in Boulogne.  The armor is suited for use both on horseback and for walking and has a detachable breastplate.

The postmortem inventory of Henry VIII’s personal items includes this suit, claiming it is “of italion makinge.”  The decoration on the suit confirms this, the artwork is typical of Italian forms.  The suit allowed Henry, suffering from numerous physical ailments, movement. The breastplate and backplate are made of smaller, horizontal, overlapping plates held together by leather straps and rivets on the inside.  Although Henry was in decline, the suit gave him the impression of a still-mighty King.

Queen Elizabeth I’s Chequers Ring (c. 1575)

Queen Elizabeth I’s Chequers Ring is made of mother-of-pearl with gold banding inlaid with table-cut rubies.  The face of the ring is a small locket.  The outside of the locket features an “E” crafted out of diamonds, and an “R” (for ‘Elizabeth Rex’).  The inside features a portrait of Elizabeth and a woman with dashing red hair and a French hood on the other. The woman in the French hood is widely believed to be Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Boleyn.

This wouldn’t be shocking; Boleyn was executed when the queen was just two years old, but remained a figure in her life.  Elizabeth brought Boleyn’s name back to the forefront during her reign.  Historic records included the queen’s reference to Boleyn.  Boleyn featured in Elizabeth’s coronation activities.  Elizabeth I received books dedicated to Anne Boleyn and galleries hung portraits of Boleyn.  Anne Boleyn was no longer a hidden footnote in history.

George Washington’s Teeth (c. 1790 – 1799)

The first President of the United States George Washington, for all his military prowess and governmental might, had been plagued with dental issues for most of this life.  His journal entries and letters would include details of his discomfort, tooth pain, gum inflammation, tooth loss, and other miseries, particularly ill-fitting dentures. Despite popular myth, he never wore wooden dentures.

Some might have stained enough to look like wood, but his dentures were sturdier, using human or animal teeth, ivory, alloys like lead-tin, copper, or brass.  He even used some of his own teeth, saving them as they came out to be used in dentures.  The set shown here, on display at Washington’s home Mount Vernon, use human incisors in the lower jaw (the source of the human teeth is unknown).  This set is the only complete set of dentures remaining, aside from what he may have been entombed wearing.

Napolean’s toothbrush (c. 1795)

This toothbrush, with its gilt handle, horsehair bristles, and the initial “N” topped by a crown  on its base, once cleaned the teeth of France’s notorious ruler, Napolean Bonaparte.  Like George Washington, Napolean Bonaparte was obsessed with oral care.  Unlike Washington, his teeth were healthy and strong.  Napolean’s concern with hygiene, especially his teeth, is well documented.  His valet Constant wrote, “…for his teeth, he used a toothpick made from boxwood and a brush dipped in opiate.”

This toothbrush isn’t the only relic of Napolean’s obsession with hygiene. Fondation Napoléon has a ‘nécessaire’ kit once belonging to Napolean.  The kit includes a rugine, used to scrape tartar off teeth, a plugger to pack fillings into cavities, scissors, lancets, vials with engraved golden caps, and tweezers.  Each necessaire kit Napolean owned contained at least one gold or silver toothbrush, but it isn’t confirmed that this toothbrush was in a kit.

Mary Todd Lincoln’s purple velvet dress (1861)

When Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of newly elected President Abraham Lincoln arrived in Washington D.C. in the winter of 1861, she immediately had to settle into her role as First Lady of the United States.  She needed a wardrobe to reflect her new status, and fast, as she would be at a reception the day after Lincoln’s inauguration.  A friend suggested seamstress Elizabeth Keckley, a former African American slave.

The first dress Keckley made for Mrs. Lincoln led to more, and soon Keckley was Lincoln’s trusted dressmaker, including this well-preserved purple velvet gown worn through the new First Lady’s initial winter season in the White House.  Keckley would make nearly all of Mary Todd Lincoln’s gowns, finding a balance between the grand wardrobe expected of a First Lady and the fact that the American Civil War had just started, and troops were suffering, so it couldn’t be too flashy.

Chicago Water Tower (1869)

In 1869, citizens of Chicago welcomed a modern water standpipe.  This castle-like 140-foot tower and its pumping station across the street were made of yellow Joliet limestone encasing a simple standpipe.  It only operated two years before facing its greatest challenge.  In 1871, the city of Chicago burned, destroying a sizable portion of the city.  When the fire ceased, the Chicago Water Tower wasn’t the only surviving building, but it became the most iconic.

According to the Chicago Architecture Center, the Chicago Water Tower survived the fire not because of the limestone exterior, but because a fireman, German immigrant Frank Trautman, covered the building with wet woolen blankets and damp canvas sails soaked with water from Lake Michigan.  Even so, the roof of the Tower burned and fell into the pumps, making the water tower useless against the fire.  But the building itself survived and still stands along Michigan Avenue.

Kuba Headdress (late 19^th/ early 20^th century)

This mask, on display at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, USA, is a hand-crafted African form made of cowrie shells and beads on a raffia-hide base.  While some of the shells have been torn off, there is a hole in the raffia on the left side, and only two of the original three tassels remain, it is in remarkably good condition.  The Kuba people lived in the area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The kingdom was made up of small, individual states that developed a federation in about 1600 under Shyaam aMbulaNgoong The Great.  The Kuba, under this combined kingdom, lived in an era of stability, and thanks to an abundance of natural resources, wealth.  This wealth and peace allowed the arts to thrive.  The wealthy commissioned fine textiles and headdresses like this, leaving an artistic legacy, blending Kuba traditions with artistic evolution.

Marie Curie’s radioactive notebooks (1900)

Two-time Nobel prizewinner in physics and chemistry Marie Curie and her husband Pierre kept detailed notebooks during their research into radium and polonium in the late 1800s.  The notebooks are an invaluable resource for chemists and physicists, and given their excellent condition, they are fascinating books offering insight into the methods used by one of the era’s most famous scientists. The problem, however, is that the notebooks are dangerously radioactive.

When Curie died of aplastic amenia brought on by exposure to the chemicals she studied, the radioactive properties of these chemicals contaminated everything belonging to Curie with radium 226.  The notebooks are stored in lead-lined boxes.  Researchers who want to view them must sign a waiver stating they understand and accept the risk of coming into contact with the contaminated notebooks.  They must also wear protective gear, since radium 226 has a half-life of roughly 1,600 years.

Scott’s Hut (1911)

In 1910, Captain Robert Falcon Scott led a British Antarctic expedition, his second, and fatal, effort to try to reach the geographic South Pole.  His team erected the hut around 1911 as a headquarters and laboratory along Cape Evans on Ross Island.   While the hut was only designed to last for the duration of the expedition, the team built it strong enough to endure the Antarctic weather.  This durability, and the Arctic cold, led to its remarkable preservation.

Artifacts from Scott’s team remain in the hut, including laboratory equipment, fuel, clothing, even still-edible food stores like butter and ketchup.  Scott and four of his team perished in their efforts.  Scott left a mournful note later found on his remains, stating, “Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman.”

Titanic Deck Chair (1912)

There are only ten intact deck chairs remaining from the RMS Titanic after it struck an iceberg and sank in April of 1912, including this one housed at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Nova Scotia.  On the night Titanic slipped beneath the ocean’s surface, Chief Baker Charles Joughin hastily began tossing deck chairs overboard in the hopes they could be used as flotation devices for himself and others left adrift in the freezing water.  He later estimated tossing fifty or so of the chairs into the water.

Additional loose chairs would have floated off the Titanic’s decks as the water consumed the ship.  Commercial Cable Company ship Mackay-Bennett, tasked with recovering bodies from the Titanic disaster site, logged fourteen deck chairs recovered from the floating debris field.  Most of the chairs are lost to history, but this precious artifact is a poignant reminder of the Titanic’s final night.

Dorothy’s ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz (1939)

These size five, red-sequined high heels may be the most famous shoes in the movie industry.  Sixteen-year-old Judy Garland wore these, and six duplicate pairs in her portrayal of Dorothy Gale in MGM’s 1939 movie version of The Wizard of Oz.  One of seven pairs made for the film, these shoes have been comfortably displayed at the Smithsonian Museum of American History since their donation in 1979.

Only three other verified pairs remain, and those pairs have had their own movie-worthy adventures.  One pair was given to the winner of a movie trivia contest in 1940.  These recently went on sale in 2018 for $6 million.   Another set was stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota in 2005, having only been recovered by the FBI in 2018.  In 2005, actor Leonardo DiCaprio and affiliates purchased a pair for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences museum.

Human shadow on Hiroshima bank steps (1945)

The August 6, 1945, atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan ushered the world into a strange era of nuclear arms and cold war.  But the bomb also left a strange phenomenon – shadows of the people caught outside during the blast.  These shadows captured the very last moment of life for those in the bomb’s reach, including this person, resting on the steps outside the Sumitomo Bank building, possibly waiting for it to open for the day.

The shadow is all that is left of whoever was sitting there, caught in the blinding light of the bomb.  Sumimoto Bank took care to preserve the only remains of this person, erecting a fence around the shadow in 1959.  In 1967, the shadow was covered with tempered glass to protect the shadow.  In 1971, when the bank underwent renovation and rebuilding, the stone and shadow were carefully moved to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

Where did we find this stuff? Select readings and references.

Ancient puppy paw prints found on Roman tiles. Megan Gannon, LiveScience, 17 April 2014.

August 24, 79: An hour-by-hour account of Vesuvius’ eruption on its 1,937^th Anniversary.  Sarah Bond, Forbes, 24 August 2016.

From slavery to the White House: The extraordinary life of Elizabeth Keckly.  Lina Mann, The White House Historical Association, 14 September 2020.

How the Smithsonian helped the FBI in the case of stolen ruby slippers.  PBS News Hour: Science.  Julia Griffin, 19 October 2018.

Laid back ancient skeleton mosaic has sage advice.  Euan McKirdy, CNN.com, 25 April 2016.

Marie Curie’s belongings will be radioactive for another 1,500 years.  Barbara Tasch, Science Alert, 27 August 2015.

Re-creating 2,000-year-old bread found in Pompeii, post-Vesuvius.   Annie Roth, National Geographic, 4 May 2021.

Scott’s Hut – Base camp for a doomed Antarctic expedition.  (n.a.) World Abandoned, (n.d.).

Rethinking Nero.  Robert Draper, National Geographic, September 2014.

Taking a closer look at an off pair of very, very old socks.  Emily Spivack, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 October 2012.

Terracotta Soldiers on the March.  Arthur Lubow, Smithsonian Magazine, July 2009

They’re just like us.  Jarrett Lobell, Archaeology.org, Sept/Oct 2014.

This 3,000 year old wooden toe shows early artistry of prosthetics.  Jason Daley, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 June 2017.

Vintage view: The emotional and political significance of the Chequers Ring.  Kya deLongchamps, Irish Examiner, 3 October 2015.