James Scott's search for the origins of the state. By Samuel Moyn.

Cahokia was bigger than Paris—then it was completely abandoned. I went there to find out why. By Annalee Newitz. (Dec. 2016)

Cuneiform was used for over 3,000 years in the Ancient Near East, but was only decoded in the 19th century. The writing form is still revealing amazing stories, from literature to mathematics. By Louise Pryke.

The aestivation hypothesis for resolving Fermi’s paradox. By Anders Sandberg, Stuart Armstrong and Milan Ćirković. (May 10, 2017) [PDF]

The brilliant object sits on display in a Viennese museum—and Mexico's been wanting it back for decades. By Jacob Mikanowski.

Akhenaten upended the religion, art, and politics of ancient Egypt, and then his legacy was buried. Now he endures as a symbol of change. By Peter Hessler.

Then again, they may just have an awful lot of both. By Natasha Frost.

Was it even a good idea? By John Lanchester.

British and Iraqi archaeologists identify the first known settlement built under the enigmatic Sealand kings. By Mary Shepperson.

New tool helps archaeologists “hear” history. By Giorgia Guglielmi.

As the US press and social media came alive in condemnation as a result of the Hobby Lobby smuggling case, I couldn’t help but notice that while the hashtag #HobbyLobbyisISIS is noticeably attention-grabbing the more important facet of the “is-that-object-looted” puzzle was still being overlooked. By Lynda Albertson. (July 9, 2017)

Pop culture has always found something sexy about female fighters, who feature in everything from Sumerian hymns and Greek mythology to the new Wonder Woman film. By Christian-Georges Schwentzel. (May 25, 2017)

Ancient monuments, clay tablets, paintings, and photographs reveal the power that solar eclipses have had on the imaginations of prehistoric and modern civilizations. By Jen Viegas.

Cleaning up the Uffington Horse is the neigh-borly thing to do. By Emily Cleaver.

The sinister discovery of a tower of human skulls in Mexico City has cast doubt on traditional readings of Aztec history. More than 675 skulls of men, women and children have been unearthed by archaeologists following an investigation of one and a half years. By Will Worley.

But then it didn't happen. By Sam Kriss.

Predating Stonehenge by 6,000 years, Turkey’s stunning Gobekli Tepe upends the conventional view of the rise of civilization. By Andrew Curry. (Nov. 2008)

The powerful civilization was hammered into oblivion by drought and floods, underscoring the connections between climate and people. By Stefan Lovgren

A new study of the relationship between climate change and clashes among the Classic Maya explicitly links temperature increases with growing conflicts. By Rossella Lorenzi.

Ordinary people had a voice in some early Mesoamerican societies, though these democracies apparently lasted only 200 to 300 years. By Lizzie Wade.