Spring 2026
Recreating ancient Egyptian blues
WSU researchers found the right recipe for the world’s oldest synthetic pigment. » More ...
Archaeology
Winter 2023
Digging it together
Ancient Tribal earth ovens, predating the Egyptian pyramids, are being excavated in a collaborative project between the Kalispel Tribe of Indians and Washington State University archaeologists to gain insights into the historic food preparation and consumption practices of the Kalispel people in the Inland Northwest over the past 5,000 years. » More ...
Spring 2010
Gallery—photos of the North Cascades
Photography by Zach Mazur
Summer 2022
Preserving the “Land of Origins”
Preserving sites of our ancient origins in Ethiopia amid the pressures of modern living » More ...
Fall 2019
Ancient ink
A chance find in Washington State University's College Hall leads to a better understanding of tattooing in early North American peoples. » More ...
Summer 2019
A point of reference
The Washington State University environmental research station at Meyer's Point on Puget Sound lends insight into the local ecology, history, archaeology, and shellfish farming, while providing environmental education opportunities. » More ...
Winter 2018
Days of future past
Rapid global cooling 13,000 years ago challenged early occupants of Alaska to adapt. People used to hunting mammoths and other megafauna with big stone tools suddenly found their weapons shattering in the cold. Access to the stone they used to make them got buried under snow.
As with any climactic change, the cold resulted in a shift in fauna, requiring new tools. Early Alaskans turned to microblade technology, a technique they’d kept alive for hundreds of years along with their dominant hunting tools. Microblades made efficient use of now-scarce toolstone and met the needs of a changing climate.
“Throughout the Holocene, the importance of microblade … » More …
Winter 2018
From the horse’s mouth
When an international archaeology team needed to understand how an ancient civilization cared for its horses, they turned to Scott Bender ’95, a veterinarian with the Navajo Nation in Arizona.
Bender will be the first to admit that his career didn’t turn out like he expected—in fact, unforeseen twists are among his favorite parts. This particular turn got him involved in a research project that has changed our understanding of a pivotal point in human history: the emergence of horse domestication for war and transportation.
It started with a surprise phone call. Archaeologist William Taylor was examining horses exhumed from ancient … » More …
Fall 2018
The curation crisis
More than 8,500 years ago, a group of people used a rock shelter at the confluence of the Palouse and Snake Rivers as a base camp. When rediscovered in the early 1950s, the shelter amazed scientists, including Washington State University archeologist Richard Daugherty, with its wealth of artifacts—and the age of its human remains. Named after the property owner at the time, the Marmes Rockshelter was soon inundated by waters from the recently closed Lower Monumental Dam on the Snake. Although a levee had been built by the Army Corps of Engineers to keep the shelter dry, the Corps neglected to take into account the … » More …
Spring 2018
Video: Ancient warriors in glass forts
Watch the legend of Grimsa, daughter of a mighty Viking chieftain, and her death at Broborg hillfort.
The video also tells the history and construction techniques of the unique glass-fused rocks of Broborg. Read more about that glass in “Fires burned, cauldrons bubble.”