An international team of researchers has recently completed the first comprehensive mapping of the seafloor of Bikini Atoll, the site of the infamous nuclear tests of Operation Crossroads in 1946. The results, published in the Journal of Maritime Archaeology, provide an unprecedented view of the only simulated underwater nuclear battlefield on Earth, revealing not only […]
Islands
Posted inClassical Archaeology
27 Silver Denarii Discovered on the Island of Pantelleria, Hidden in the Acropolis During a Pirate Attack in the Early 1st Century BC
On the Italian island of Pantelleria, located between southwestern Sicily and the coast of Tunisia, a team of archaeologists led by Thomas Schäfer from the University of Tübingen has discovered a “tesoretto” of 27 Roman silver coins during a campaign of cleaning, restoration, and excavation coverage in the Acropolis of Santa Teresa and San Marco. […]
Posted inGeography, Travel
The Highest Peak in the Netherlands is a Caribbean Volcano You Climb via 1,064 Steps
Similar to Australia, whose highest peak is located in a remote part of the Indian Ocean, between Madagascar and Antarctica, the highest point in the Netherlands is not found in Europe, but on a small Caribbean island. This peak is Mount Scenery, a volcano located on the island of Saba, which rises 887 meters above […]
Posted inGeography
Longyearbyen, the northernmost city in the world with a permanent population, where carrying a rifle is mandatory when leaving
In the Svalbard archipelago, at 78 degrees north latitude, lies Longyearbyen, the northernmost city in the world with a permanent population. This Norwegian settlement, founded in 1906 by American businessman John Munroe Longyear as a mining town, has evolved over more than a century to become a fascinating microcosm of human life in the Arctic. […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
Nan Madol, the ancient city built on 92 islets interconnected by canals in the Pacific Ocean
In the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, in the Caroline Islands archipelago, lies one of the most enigmatic and fascinating archaeological sites in the world: Nan Madol. This complex of ruins, located off the island of Temwen, in Pohnpei (Federated States of Micronesia), has captured the imagination of explorers and archaeologists for centuries due […]
Posted inMedieval Archaeology
Vikings in the Orkney Islands Discovered “The Plow Was Mightier Than the Sword”
In a study conducted by archaeologists from the University of Aberdeen, new evidence reveals that the Viking settlers in the Orkney Islands found “the plow was mightier than the sword”. Despite their notorious reputation as fierce raiders, these Norse colonists ultimately thrived through agriculture and settlement. Published in the Journal of the North Atlantic, the […]
Posted inClassical Archaeology
The Romans Arrived in the Canary Islands Before Their Colonization by the Berbers
A recent archaeological study has opened a new chapter in the history of the Canary Islands by suggesting that the Romans might have discovered the archipelago before the arrival of the Berber populations between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD. According to Jonathan Santana, historian at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), […]
Posted inGeography
Swains Island, the Paradise Atoll Owned by a Single Family Since 1856 and Disputed by the United States and Tokelau
In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, about 180 kilometers south of the Fakaofo Atoll, which belongs to Tokelau, and 300 kilometers north of Savai’i, the largest of the islands in American Samoa, is Swains (or Olohega in the Tokelauan language). It is a small atoll of 3.5 square kilometers with an inner lagoon about […]
Posted inGeography
Australia’s Highest Peak is in a Remote Place in the Indian Ocean, between Madagascar and the Antarctic
In the southernmost reaches of the Indian Ocean, nearly 2,500 nautical miles (4,700 kilometers) southwest of Perth and halfway between Madagascar and Antarctica (from which is separated by 1,550 kilometers), lies Australia’s tallest mountain. This is Mawson Peak, located not on the Australian mainland but in the Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, a […]
Posted inScience
Ancient Submerged Island the Size of Spain Found off the Coast of Brazil
A study led by scientists at the University of São Paulo (USP, Brazil) has shown that the Rio Grande Rise (RGR), a possible continental basaltic plateau and seamount chain now submerged in the South Atlantic Ocean about 1,200 km off the coast of Brazil, was once a giant tropical island, rich in minerals and covered […]
