Shipwrecks, Treasure, Hoards, and Finds From Around the World

Fresh documents from a Justice Department lawsuit—and compelling witness accounts—revive doubts about what really happened when the FBI swooped into a site thought to hide $500 million in treasure. By David Howard Late afternoon light

Image: Gold from a Colombian drug cartel mine. Federico Rios for The New York Times By Sam Sifton Gold standards Investors buy gold when the world seems unstable — when people worry about stocks and

Image: A gold lion ornament created by an Akan artist Metropolitan Museum of Art Europeans spread rumors about degraded gold from their Akan trade partners. A new analysis of artifacts from the “Whydah Gally” shipwreck

Image: The Strait of Gibraltar Ymblanter via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0 The “harbor” of the Strait of Gibraltar is the final resting place for shipwrecks from ancient Rome, the medieval era and World

Image: Skull of a woman with a frontal fracture found in the Bay of Cádiz. MILAGROS ALZAGA GARCÍA The ship, covered by eight meters of sediment, is preserved in ‘excellent condition,’ as is its cargo

Image: A rare Titanic artifact, a survivor’s life jacket, sold for more than $900,000 to a private bidder, auctioneers said. (BNPS) A lifeboat seat cushion also fetched about $527K at the same auction in Devizes,

Image: miljko//Getty Images Oceanic researchers hunting for a sunken warship stumbled across the pristine lower hull of an incredibly armed Barbary corsair. By Emma Frederickson Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: •

A groundbreaking scientific study analyzing gold recovered from an infamous pirate shipwreck is reshaping long-held assumptions about African trade, challenging centuries-old European claims that West African gold was routinely adulterated. The research, published in npj Heritage Science, focuses on

The Nossa Senhora do Cabo, a Portuguese treasure ship filled with gold and silver bullion, exotic diamonds and pearls, and other precious cargo, set sail from India in 1721 but was seized by pirates in