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Archaeology and palaeontology

Archaeology and palaeontology
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Archaeology and palaeontology. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
This image of CCTV footage shows men carrying bags outside a building which housed items from the Bristol Museum’s British Empire and Commonwealth collection. Photo: Avon and Somerset Police via AFP
Britain

UK police hunt suspects after 600 British Empire artefacts stolen from museum

Police release images of four men after many items with ‘significant cultural value’ were stolen in Bristol on September 25.

Science

Oldest evidence of humans making fire discovered in UK, dating back 400,000 years

France

Paris Louvre faces strike after major leak and robbery

France

Water leak at Paris Louvre damages books at Egyptian antiquities department

The leak underscores the deteriorating state of the world’s most visited museum just weeks after a jewel heist exposed security flaws.

The Louvre Museum in Paris, France. Photo: Reuters
Egypt

This man has gone viral for his resemblance to an ancient Egyptian king

Egyptian influencer Youssef Mohamed hopes his resemblance to Pharaoh Akhenaten fuels further interest in ancient Egyptian history.

Trending in China

China brothers shocked that rock stepping stones are 190-million-year-old dinosaur fossils

Scientists conduct study in ‘home of Chinese dinosaurs’, discover that flat rocks with ‘chicken claw’ prints are from Jurassic period.

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Hong Kong environmental issues

Hong Kong’s whale of a tale: famous skeleton at Shek O gets new lease of life

Damaged skeleton of infant mammal that wandered into Victoria Harbour in 1955 meticulously recreated and displayed at original resting spot in Cape D’Aguilar.

Marine researchers and staff of the Swire Institute of Marine Science with the new replica at Cape D’Aguilar. Photo: Sam Tsang
Louvre

France’s Louvre Museum closes gallery due to structural weakness

The Campana Gallery was shuttered as a precaution after an audit revealed beam issues in the floor above.

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Egypt

Grand Egyptian Museum introduces time slots to cope with crowds

The new museum, which has been averaging 19,000 daily visitors, will require online bookings starting December to regulate the rush.

Crime

UK seizes US$15 million in dinosaur bones from Chinese money-laundering suspect

The Chinese businessman was previously wanted for involvement in Singapore’s biggest money-laundering case but has since struck a deal.

Dinosaur fossils are displayed at auction house Christie’s in London, Britain. Photo: Christie’s via Reuters
Art

After delays, mammoth Grand Egyptian Museum by the Pyramids is finally opening

The US$1 billion ‘GEM’, poised to be the world’s largest museum dedicated to one civilisation, houses King Tut’s treasures and 50,000 artefacts.

Tourists pose at the main staircase at the Grand Egyptian Museum. Photo: AP
History

Where do witch hats come from? China’s Tarim mummies may hold the answer

The ‘witch hat’-wearing mummies have long caused debate among historians. Could they suggest Europeans reached Asia earlier than we thought?

United States

Rare duck-billed dinosaur ‘mummies’ reveal a surprise: hoofed feet

Edmontosaurus fossils had large areas of preserved external skin surface, providing the most fleshed-out view of a large dinosaur to date.

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Art

How ancient Egyptians depicted their gods shown in more than 200 objects

An exhibition at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art explores how the gods were portrayed by Egyptians both royal and common.

A relief of the Egyptian goddess Maat is displayed in the “Divine Egypt” exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, on October 14, 2025. Photo: AP
Egypt

Ancient Pharaonic painting vanishes from famed necropolis in Egypt

The priceless artwork disappeared from an ancient tomb notable for its written curse warning intruders.

Egyptian antiquities workers dig at the site of the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, near Cairo, Egypt. File photo: AP
Science

Was Venice’s winged lion made in China and delivered by Marco Polo’s family?

Italian researchers believe the famous statue may have originated in Tang dynasty China but Chinese scholars are not convinced.

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United Nations

UN heritage body opens virtual museum to spotlight artefact trafficking

Unesco’s online space will showcase hundreds of stolen cultural objects in the hopes of drawing attention to the vast illegal trade network.

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Science

Conflict at China’s ancient Sanxingdui led to exodus, destruction: scholar

New theory about famous ruins stems from recent archaeological research suggesting a war erupted for control of the capital.

A treasure trove of exquisite bronze, gold and jade wares were unearthed for the first time at the Sanxingdui site. Photo: Xinhua
Chinese culture

China’s Sanxingdui Museum eyes future tech to showcase national treasures abroad

As China steps up soft power push, curators seek ways to engage a broader audience without putting national treasures at risk.

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Indonesia

Netherlands to return ‘Java Man’ fossils to Indonesia in historic move

The move will see the skull cap and other remains of the first-ever Homo erectus found returned, after they were looted during Dutch colonial era.

Chinese culture

How China’s earliest 3 dynasties shaped its society and culture

From 2070BC to 256BC, the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties paved the way for Chinese society with Taoism, written language, music and more.

A Chinese oracle bone from the Shang dynasty (1600BC-1046BC) at Hong Kong’s Chinese Culture Festival 2025. Inscriptions on these bones are the most ancient form of written Chinese ever found. Photo: Nora Tam
Americas and the Caribbean

Scientists find new dinosaur from Argentina with crocodile bone in its mouth

Joaquinraptor hailed from a mysterious group of dinosaurs known for their huge and powerful claws.

An artist’s impression of the Cretaceous meat-eating dinosaur Joaquinraptor, whose fossilized remains were unearthed in Argentina’s Patagonia region, is shown in this image released on September 23, 2025. Andrew McAfee/Carnegie Museum of Natural History/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.
Egypt

Outrage after pharaoh’s gold bracelet stolen from Egypt museum and melted down

The bracelet belonged to Pharaoh Amenemope, who reigned about 3,000 years ago. Four suspects have been arrested, the Interior Ministry said.

Belt and Road Initiative

Central Asia beckons for China’s cultural tourists retracing ancient Silk Road

Beijing’s infrastructure programme and other partnership initiatives with the Central Asian republics have seen visitor numbers soar.

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History

Monumental tomb of Roman period discovered in Albania

The large tomb is the first discovery in Albania of what the experts believe to be a wealthy person’s resting place.

Erikson Nikolli, an archaeologist, gestures as he and his colleagues work on Albania’s first discovered monumental tomb in Strikcan, Albania, on Thursday. Photo: Reuters
Trending in China

Tomb-raiding fiction-fixated China thief breaches burial site, steals 20 relics

Storybook fanatic who poured over works of fiction turns real-life tomb raider; puts together team of criminals, masterminds heist.

A Chinese man obsessed with fictional tomb-raiding stories has broken into a burial site and stolen 20 cultural relics from 771 BC. Photo: SCMP composite/CCTV
Australia

Scientists discover ancient whale with Pokémon face and predator bite

The 25 million-year-old fossil shows a cartoonish creature with bulging eyes the size of tennis balls.

Indonesia

1.5 million-year-old stone tools found in Indonesia rewrite human history

The new discovery of ancient tools on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island is forcing scientists to rethink early human migration routes.

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