← Back to the front page
American History

Shockingly Well-Preserved Things from the Past

Aimee Heidelberg April 15, 2024 28 min
Baked clay spike with cuneiform inscription.
Sumerian Clay Nail Of Entemena, With Cuniform, C. 2400. Louvre Museum. Public Domain.

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 1,937th 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.

Written by
Aimee Heidelberg

Keep reading

Stanislav Petrov Saw 5 Nuclear Missiles Incoming in 1983 — and Did Nothing
Cold War

Stanislav Petrov Saw 5 Nuclear Missiles Incoming in 1983 — and Did Nothing

Matthew Weber · 10 min
Homer Hid a Real Solar Eclipse in the Odyssey — Dated to 1178 BCE
Ancient History

Homer Hid a Real Solar Eclipse in the Odyssey — Dated to 1178 BCE

Gregory Gann · 10 min
Ancient Egyptian Princesses Were Elite Archers — Their Bones Prove It
Ancient History

Ancient Egyptian Princesses Were Elite Archers — Their Bones Prove It

Jacob Miller · 11 min
Advertisement