Images

A photograph showing two Italian detainees being used in a demolition gang to remove rubble from damaged buildings and streets during the London Blitz. During the war, some 27,000 foreign nationals were detained in camps by the authorities...

Ötzi, the Iceman, lived during the Copper Age in the late Neolithic (c. 3300 BCE) and was murdered in the Schnalstal/Val Senales Valley, in South Tyrol. His body was preserved naturally in the ice and found by hikers some 5300 years later...

"Beauty of Xiaohe", one of the Tarim mummies, buried c. 1800-1500 BCE, excavated from Xiaohe (Little River) Cemetery 5, Charqilik (Ruoqiang) County, Xinjiang, in 2003. Secrets of the Silk Road Exhibit, Houston Museum of Natural Science...

The body of Xin Zhui (c. 217 BCE to 168/169 BCE), aka Lady Dai, was extremely well preserved in her tomb. She was buried in four coffins in an underground burial chamber, where the conditions were ideal to prevent decomposition. The tomb...

North American Rattlesnake – crotalus cerastes – photographed by Victor Rocha at Mesquite Springs campground, Death Valley National Park, California.

A Chinchorro child, mummified using the black technique. The Chinchorro culture flourished in modern-day Chile from approximately 9,000 to 3,500 years ago and produced the world's oldest intentionally preserved mummies from c. 5500 BCE. The...

The Tollund Man was c. 30-40 years old when he died by hanging c. 405-380 BCE. He was found in 1950 in a bog c. 10 km west of Silkeborg. The Tollund Man's head was preserved but his body dried out; now a recreation of the body is on display...

The Yde Girl died sometime between the 1st century BCE and the 2nd century CE. She was about 16 years old when she died; most likely she was executed or sacrificed. Her body was discovered in 1897 in a bog near Yde, Drenthe, the Netherlands...

A cafe owner sells tea in the street during the London Blitz (1940-1). (Imperial War Museums)

A photograph showing bomb damage in Balham during the London Blitz (1940-1). October 1940. A bomb hit the Balham Underground Station, killing 68 people. The bus then drove into the crater, a frequent consequence of blackout conditions. (Imperial...