Researchers across the globe put on their sleuthing hats this year to provide answers to questions that have lingered from decades to centuries. The thought-provoking findings offer new ways of understanding the past.Archaeological exploration of historic sites yielded fresh insights. An analysis of a quarry containing unfinished statues showed how wayfaring Polynesians created the massive stone heads found across Rapa Nui, or Easter Island.Meanwhile, a new project exploring Pompeii uncovered a stone staircase that could reconstruct what the ancient Roman city’s skyline once looked like before a volcanic eruption in AD 79 entombed it in a thick layer of ash.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA combination of microbotanical analysis and sweeping aerial drone footage has also enabled researchers to arrive at a new hypothesis about who created the mysterious “band of holes” formation, a series of about 5,200 holes dotting the Peruvian Andes.Some research leads to more questions than answers, such as the inventive ways scholars have tried to determine how celebrated author Jane Austen died by analyzing her own words in the absence of medical documents.Here are some of the most memorable findings in 2025 that provided answers to long-standing historical mysteries.A mysterious mummyThe mummy’s external appearance from the front (A) and back (B) showed no incisions on the body. – Courtesy Andreas NerlichA water leak in a crypt containing the “air-dried chaplain” helped reveal the identity of an unusually well-preserved body kept in a remote Austrian village church since the 1700s.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWith intact skin and tissue, the mummified body, thought to be an 18th century clergyman, had drawn speculation of healing properties and even rumors of being poisoned.Renovations to repair the water damage prompted the body’s removal, creating an opportunity to perform CT scans, analysis of bone and tissue samples, and radiocarbon dating. Researchers determined the remains belonged to Franz Xaver Sidler von Rosenegg, an aristocrat who was a monk before becoming the parish vicar at St. Thomas am Blasenstein.The team not only found that a previously undocumented embalming method was responsible for the cleric’s air-dried state, but also proposed a new hypothesis for his death and solved the mystery of a glass object found inside his remains.The boat from nowhereThe Hjortspring boat, on display at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, has long been a vessel of mysterious origin.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementArchaeologists first excavated the wooden ship from a bog on the Danish island of Als in the 1920s, more than 2,000 years after it sank. The boat was laden with weapons, suggesting it carried warriors with intent to attack the island.No clues as to where the boat originated or who it carried existed — until now.A partial human fingerprint was found on tar fragments. A high-resolution X-ray tomography scan of the fingerprint region is shown. – Sahel Ganji/Lund UniversityA new analysis of the ship’s materials suggest it traveled much farther than previously thought, meaning the attack likely was premeditated. And a partial human fingerprint found in tar residue could provide a direct link to one of the ship’s crew.“Fingerprints are very rare for this time period and area,” said lead s …
