Rediscovered ancient cities, Pompeii, Troy, Machu Picchu, and excavation history.
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
Which U.S. university sponsored Hiram Bingham's 1911 expedition to Machu Picchu?
Bingham shipped thousands of Inca artifacts to New Haven for study, and Yale returned the collection to Peru a century later.
Which Inca emperor is thought to have commissioned Machu Picchu?
Pachacuti transformed the Inca state into an empire and rebuilt Cusco as its capital.
Machu Picchu stands high in which mountain range?
The Andes run along western South America and form the world's longest continental mountain range.
Which civilization built Machu Picchu?
The Inca empire linked communities across the Andes with a vast road network, despite having no wheeled transport.
Which explorer brought the Inca citadel Machu Picchu to world attention in 1911?
Machu Picchu was never truly lost; local farmers knew the site before Bingham's 1911 expedition brought it global fame.
Which archaeologist excavated the ancient city of Troy in the 1870s?
Schliemann's dig at Hisarlik in Turkey uncovered multiple city layers; scholars now link layer VIIa with Homeric Troy.
Which ancient Roman town, buried with Pompeii in 79 CE, housed the Villa dei Papiri?
Herculaneum's deep volcanic burial preserved wood and papyrus that usually decays. One villa there yielded a library of carbonized scrolls.
Which volcano's eruption buried the ancient Roman city of Pompeii?
Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, burying Pompeii under ash and pumice and preserving buildings and victim casts for centuries.