Ancient World
Pazyryk Burials: Frozen Tombs of Scythian-Era Horsemen
Ice that formed inside the robbed tombs preserved bodies, textiles, wood and leather, giving an unrivalled picture of the nomadic horse cultures of the Eurasian steppe.
Era · c. 3000 BC – AD 500
Ancient World
The first cities, empires and written records, from the pyramids of Egypt to Greece and the Roman Empire.
Ancient World
Sangam Age: Tamil Kingdoms and Poetry of Ancient South India
Three Tamil dynasties and many chieftains ruled the far south, leaving a large body of classical Tamil poetry and evidence of busy trade with the Roman world.
Ancient World
Musawwarat es-Sufra: The Great Enclosure of Ancient Kush
A large Kushite religious centre was built in the semi-desert; its main buildings are now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ancient World
Arthashastra: Kautilya's Ancient Indian Treatise on Statecraft
A comprehensive Sanskrit treatise on statecraft survived, was lost from view for centuries and was rediscovered in 1905, reshaping the study of ancient Indian government.
Ancient World
Izapa: Carved Stelae of a Preclassic City on the Pacific Coast
Izapa's carvers created a distinctive narrative style that bridged Olmec traditions and later Maya art.
Ancient World
Great Pyramid of Cholula: The Largest Pyramid by Volume
Successive builders created the world's largest pyramid by volume, which remained a sacred place through the Spanish conquest to today.
Ancient World
Pyramids of Meroë: The Royal Cemetery of Kush in Sudan
Meroë became the royal burial ground of the Kingdom of Kush for some six centuries, leaving the largest group of pyramids in Africa outside Egypt.
Ancient World
Yoshinogari: Japan's Great Moated Village of the Yayoi Period
The largest known Yayoi moated settlement, it reshaped understanding of early Japanese society and is now a national Special Historic Site and park.
Ancient World
Battle of Sentinum (295 BC): Rome Defeats Samnites and Gauls
Decisive Roman victory that broke the anti-Roman coalition of Samnites, Gauls, Etruscans and Umbrians.
Ancient World
Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi: The Ancient Sacred Fig of Anuradhapura
A cutting of the Bodh Gaya fig became Sri Lanka's most sacred tree, often described as the oldest human-planted tree with a recorded planting date.
Ancient World
Archimedes of Syracuse (c. 287 BC): Mathematician and Engineer
Archimedes made lasting discoveries in geometry, mechanics and hydrostatics and was killed when Rome captured Syracuse in 212 BC.
Ancient World
Lex Hortensia (287 BC): End of the Conflict of the Orders
Resolutions of the plebeian assembly (plebiscites) gained the force of law for all Romans, patricians included.