Kids News - Social Studies for Kids

Researchers have always suspected that the Amazonian rainforests were once home to ancient cities. However, looking for remains of urban structures in the thick, remote forests was a difficult endeavor. But the use of Light Detection and Ranging, or Lidar, has been a game changer. The remote sensing technology uses laser light to help identify human-made features on the ground, such as walls, roads, or buildings. It has led to several exciting discoveries. The latest to be revealed is a network of 15 ancient settlements in the Upano Valley of eastern Ecuador in South America....

An international team of archeologists examining boulders in Larache, Morocco, in June 2022 stumbled upon an exciting find — 85 ancient human footprints pressed on the beach. The two trails of intact prints are estimated to be around 90,000 years old. They are the first such tracks found in North Africa. They are also among the oldest ones attributed to modern humans. The details of the fascinating discovery were published in the journal Nature in January 2024....

Dr. Ivan Šprajc has spent the past 30 years looking for Maya cities in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. In 2013, the archeologist and his team found one dating back to the 8th century in the Chactún rainforest. A year later, they unearthed two more cities abandoned over 1,200 years ago. But a massive ancient settlement found deep inside Mexico's Balamkú Ecological Conservation Zone, is the team's most exciting discovery yet....

Historians have long suspected that Queen Meret-Neith was the most powerful woman in Egypt around 3,000 BC. Now, archeologists have found evidence that indicates she may have been ancient Egypt's first female ruler. Before this, that honor belonged to Queen Hatshepsut (1507 BC - 1458 BC)....