The Archaeology Channel

10/19/2026

The Taraia Object expedition, a joint effort by the Archaeological Legacy Institute, Purdue Research Foundation and Purdue University, found no conclusive evidence to confirm a hypothesis that wreckage from Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10-E was in a lagoon on a remote atoll in the South Pacific.

The findings mark a new chapter in the ongoing effort to understand what happened to Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan on her round-the-world flight attempt in 1937.

While the findings rule out one of the latest hypotheses, they also provide valuable information that will help inform future efforts to solve one of aviation’s greatest mysteries.

“Amelia Earhart never gave up — she kept pushing boundaries and flying into the unknown,” said Steve Schultz, Purdue’s general counsel and member of the expedition. “That same fire fuels our search. She kept flying, and we will keep searching.”

Purdue’s connection to Earhart remains a powerful part of the university’s history, and the commitment to pursuing answers continues.

Get the latest update: https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/2026/Q4/search-for-amelia-earharts-plane-continues-after-taraia-object-expedition-on-nikumaroro-rules-out-latest-hypothesis

10/18/2026

We are back with another update from the Taraia Object Expedition team. In this episode of “Unveiling the Taraia Object,” hear from members of the team as they face severe weather conditions, forcing them to remain on the ship for three days. See how they utilized that time to refine their fieldwork plan and alter their schedule to make up for the lost time.

Here is a note from October 16th, from Dr. Richard Pettigrew (Executive Director, Archaeological Legacy Institute):

For three days now, the ocean has kept us off Nikumaroro.

On the fifteenth, the morning looked promising. We ate an early lunch and gathered on deck, ready to go. But the forecast showed a big storm hitting the island just when we’d be coming back. I couldn’t risk stranding our people, so I called it off.

Then, before dawn on the sixteenth, we had unexpected visitors: hundreds of seabirds, covering the ship and blocking doorways until daylight.

Each day, our ship’s crew took a boat to the Blasted Channel, our landing spot, to check conditions. Each time, the wind and waves were simply too dangerous to come ashore.

So we worked aboard the ship. The crew rigged more tarps to keep our sleeping areas dry. We moved our flight home back three days to allow more time to work on the island. And we examined maps to plan our hydraulic dredging and hydroprobing of the Taraia Object location and the magnetic anomaly.

Patience is part of fieldwork. The wind is easing. With luck, tomorrow we’ll be back on the island, probing the lagoon floor for answers.

Watch the full episode of “Unveiling the Taraia Object” on Heritage Broadcasting Service (HeritageTAC.org). Heritage is home to hundreds of films and series about archaeology, history, and cultural heritage.

10/18/2026

After several days of rough seas and strong winds, the weather has finally cleared, and the expedition team is heading back to the lagoon on Nikumaroro.

Once there, they will quickly get to work on the second of three planned phases in investigating the Taraia Object to determine if it is Amelia Earhart’s missing plane.

👉 Keep up with the latest news: amelia.prf.org

10/16/2026

The Taraia Object Expedition team has safely made landfall on Nikumaroro! In the latest video update in the “Unveiling the Taraia Object” series, follow the team as they prepare their gear on the boat, battle severe weather at sea, blaze a trail through the jungle, set up their site-monitoring equipment, and begin surveying the Taraia Peninsula.

The days of October 10th-12th consisted of a flurry of preparations, as the crew battled rain squalls to get their Starlink system and archaeology gear ready. Though shifting winds threatened to delay their trip home, the excitement peaked on the evening of the 12th when Nikumaroro finally appeared on the horizon.

The following day was a grueling exercise in logistics; the team split into two groups, one navigating the lagoon and the other hacking a trail through the jungle to move their gear to the Taraia sand spit. Once camp was established, the team hit the ground running. By October 14, the marine archaeologists were able to complete their transects with the magnetometer, the side-scan sonar, and the sub-bottom profiler. Other members of the team began scouting the beach along the western shore.

Weather continues to be a major factor in the crew’s fieldwork schedule. Their home base is the landing craft Marin Mainiku, and they must time their journeys to and from the site with the tides and weather to ensure safe passage.

Watch the full episode of “Unveiling the Taraia Object” on Heritage Broadcasting Service (HeritageTAC.org). Heritage is home to hundreds of films and series about archaeology, history, and cultural heritage.

10/15/2026

New on Heritage:
Could a simple book chest hold the key to one of history’s most ingenious escapes? In the fifth episode of “For Once and For All,” the authenticator team investigates three chests, all claiming to be the one that concealed Dutch polymath Hugo Grotius during his escape from Loevestein Castle. Known as the father of international law for his 1625 work “On the Law of War and Peace,” Grotius was imprisoned in 1618 amid religious and political turmoil in the Dutch Republic. After just three years of his life sentence, he escaped by hiding in a book chest. Discover which chest helped secure Grotius’ freedom and learn more about his writings from his subsequent exile in France.

“Baaxpée: This Ground” explores the life and spiritual legacy of Ben Cloud, a revered medicine chief of the Apsáalooke Nation, also known as the Crow, and a central figure in the sacred Sun Dance tradition. Through an intimate, lyrical approach, this documentary offers a rare glimpse into Apsáalooke spiritual life, connecting personal memory, ancestral knowledge, and the enduring relationship between culture and land. More than a portrait of Cloud, the film becomes a living archive of cultural transmission, exploring how sacred traditions continue into the twenty-first century.

This month, “Strata: Portraits of Humanity Season 13, Episode 1” presents two distinctive perspectives on the natural world and human history. “Aski, the Mother of All” offers a poetic, contemplative tribute to Mother Earth, drawing attention to the vibrant colors and intricate details of the forest that often go unnoticed. The second segment, “ArchaeologyX: Hunt for the First Americans at the Barton Site,” follows archaeologists as they excavate deeply buried cultural deposits along Maryland's Potomac River. Their investigation seeks evidence of human occupation dating to the end of the last ice age, shedding light on the early history of people in the Americas.

You can stream these titles and more on HeritageTAC.org

10/14/2026

10/13/2026

From a prisoner escaping a castle while hidden in a book chest, to the profound story of a revered Crow Nation medicine chief, to an archaeological excavation at an Ice Age site along the Potomac River in Maryland, these new titles will bring you on captivating journeys through time. Coming to Heritage on October 15.

🎬New titles:
“For Once and For All, Episode 5: Hugo Grotius's Book Chest”
“Baaxpée: This Ground”
“Strata: Portraits of Humanity Season 13, Episode 1,” featuring “Aski, the Mother of All,” and “ArchaeologyX: Hunt for the First Americans at the Barton Site.”

Browse trailers and explore our catalog of over 500 titles about archaeology and cultural heritage on heritagetac.org.

10/12/2026

Today, and every day, let’s join together in honoring Indigenous peoples, their knowledge, their resilience, and their sovereignty.

In recognition of , we’d like to share a few films about Native lands, cultures, history, and present-day activism.

You can watch these films on Heritage Broadcasting Service (HeritageTAC.org) and browse the “North America” and “Indigenous” tags in our catalog to find even more stories.

Titles:
We Are the Land
DIGADOHI: Lands, Cherokee, and the Trail of Tears
6 Generations
A Walk Through Time
Bearer of the Morning: The Life of Te Ata Thompson Fisher
Saving the Sacred

10/12/2026

The island is in sight! 🌴 After days at sea, the Taraia Object expedition team has reached Nikumaroro. The team is preparing to make landfall and begin the next phase of its search for answers about Amelia Earhart’s disappearance.

Get the latest update: https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/2026/Q4/earhart-expedition-update-crew-arrives-at-nikumaroro-launches-critical-phase-of-amelia-earhart-plane-search/

10/11/2026

The Expedition Team is officially at sea! Catch up on the first leg of their journey in the latest episode of Unveiling the Taraia Object, streaming on Heritage Broadcasting Service (heritagetac.org).

On October 2nd, most of our field team left home for Los Angeles, where we gathered as a group ahead of our October 3 flight to Nadi, Fiji. October 3rd was a busy day for most of our field team in Los Angeles, involving a public event in Beverly Hills before our departure from LAX for Nadi, Fiji, at 11:55 pm. The team skipped over October 4th when they flew over the International Date Line, so they arrived in Nadi, Fiji, the morning of October 5th. After arrival in Nadi, they checked into the Novotel Hotel. Part of the day then involved presentations and training workshops at the Novotel before a group dinner. The fully assembled team represents five countries: Kiribati, Belgium, Canada, Germany, and the USA. On October 7th, the team finally boarded the landing craft Marin Mainiku and set sail. Right off the bat, the team faced several challenges, but the field team and the ship’s crew sorted everything out together. They are now over halfway to Nikumaroro and on schedule to arrive at the coral atoll on October 12th.