Danielle Vander Horst

Image of Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey’s reconstruction of the Athenian Akropolis ca. 431-422 BCE. The famous Parthenon is visible, as well as the ancient Athenian landscape beyond it.
Reconstructing The Ancient World Through Video Games and 3D Technology

Envisioning the ancient world as it truly was has always been archaeologists…

Entrance to the Royal tombs within the Great Tumulus at Aigai (Vergina), Greece, 2008. License
Alexander The Great's Family Tombs: An Archaeological Debate

Upon opening the monumental tombs at the ancient city of Aegae, capital of the ancient Kingdom of Macedonia, archaeologists were quick to realize that they had found the final resting place…

Aerial view of Arena in Verona, Italy. 2022. Photograph by © Arne Müseler.
Beyond Pompeii: 10 Ancient Ruins to Visit in Italy

With a robust food culture and deep, rich…

The crumbling walls of Babylon.
The Impact of Climate Change on Our Cultural Heritage
The Dangers Posed to the World’s Historic Monuments Continues to Grow
One of the mummies within a sarcophagus recently excavated from the newly discovered cemetery at Tuna al-Gebel in central Egypt.
The Top Archaeological Finds of 2023
Here are the top archaeological finds of 2023.
Photo: Shadowgate. Via Wikimedia Commons
5 Modern Cities with Ancient Roman Origins
At its peak, the Roman empire controlled over 5 million square kilometers stretching from the British Isles down to Northern Africa, and across the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf, territories that…
The city of Bagan set against the rising dawn. Credit: Nicholas Kenrick, flickr.
10 Ancient Wonders to Visit This Year
Of the famous ‘Big Seven’ ancient wonders, the Pyramids of Giza are the only monuments that remain extant. The others, such as the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, now only exist as foundations and…
In June, German archeologists found a fully intact Bronze Age (14th century BCE) sword in Nördlingen, Germany.
Newly Unearthed Ancient Weapons and Armor Remarkably Preserved: Here's Why
With the recent discovery of a fully in-tact Bronze Age sword in Germany, and a complete suit of armor in Spain, we take a look at the miraculous nature of the preservation of such pre-modern objects.
Katheryn Winnick as Lagertha from the popular History Channel show Vikings. Characters such as Lagertha exemplify the modern fascination with Viking warrior women, also known as Shield Maidens. Though dramatized for TV by Winnick, Lagertha is thought to be a historical individual known mainly through Norwegian folktales and the Danish history written in the 12th century CE by Saxo Grammaticus.
Digging up Gender Identity in Viking Burials

The concept of gender has proven to be a tempestuous topic for decades now.

A Monet painting, Argenteuil Basin with a Single Sailboat, was purposefully punched by a visitor at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin. The man’s actions left three large rips in the paintings canvas. Credit: SWNS via Metro
How to be an Ethical Tourist in Archeological Sites and Museums
For many first-time visitors, there is a special kind of excitement that accompanies seeing a famous archaeological monument or work of art in person.
Exterior view of the Pantheon. Wikimedia Commons. Photo by Rabax63
Ancient Roman Concrete Secrets Unraveled by Modern Science

Ever since their construction, the monuments and structures of ancient Rome have amazed and astounded their viewers with their grandeur and the ingenuity of…

The Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens reconstructed between the late 19th century and today.
The Acropolis As We Know It Today Never Existed

The Acropolis of Athens is often seen as a symbol of the city’s ancient and wonderous past. The Parthenon, constructed in the 5…

Statue of the so-called “Old Market Woman.” Roman copy of a Greek Hellenistic original, ca. 14-68 CE.
Hellenistic Sculpture: Realist Art in Ancient Greece
The ancient Greek body is perhaps one of the most recognizable and influential forms in art history.
Two ceramic figurines from graves in western Mexico that show two heavily tattooed individuals. Photo: Detroit Institute of Arts.
The Art and Archeology of Tattoo

For over five thousand years, the art of …

 Divers work to recover and study remains from the Antikythera shipwreck in 2012.
Underwater Archaeology: 10 Shipwrecks & Lost Cities
Archaeology is a field that is constantly producing new and exciting finds, yet most people may not realize that many actually come from beneath the surface of the world’s many oceans, seas, rivers,…