The Burial Awards

A newly discovered Han Dynasty jade burial suit — 2,498 pieces of jade sewn together with gold wire — was restored and displayed publicly for the first time in 2025.

A family scattered cremated remains mixed into an artificial reef ball, creating an underwater memorial that will become a living coral reef over the next century.

New analysis of a 2,000-year-old burial previously assumed to be male revealed the remains of a high-status woman buried with weapons and elaborate textiles.

Hundreds of bronze plaques looted from the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 were returned to Nigeria, many to be reinterred in their original ceremonial context.

Full excavation of a 1,200-year-old Viking ship burial revealed a high-status woman buried with extraordinary grave goods, including a peacock — an animal not native to Scandinavia.

A startup offered to grow a tree from cremated remains using a biodegradable urn, creating a living memorial forest across the American West.

Excavations revealed the burial of a slave with evidence of a complex life — suggesting social mobility and personal relationships that challenge assumptions about Roman slavery.