Throughline is a time machine. Each episode, we travel beyond the headlines to answer the question, "How did we get here?" We use sound and stories to bring history to life and put you into the middle ...

HAN DYNASTY TOPOGRAPHIC MAP. DATE: Before 168 B.C. MATERIAL: Ink on silk. DIMENSIONS: 3 feet by 3 feet. FOUND: Hunan, China. In 168 B.C., a lacquer box containing three maps drawn on silk was placed ...

SCRIBE STATUE. FOUND: Lagash, Iraq. CULTURE: Sumerian. DATE: ca. 2400 B.C. LANGUAGE: Sumerian. In early 2016, hundreds of media outlets around the world reported that a set of recently deciphered ...