The remains of a temple (above) in southwestern Turkey may cast new light on the "dark age" that was thought to have engulfed the region from 1200 to 900 B.C., researchers announced in April 2009.

Ornate decorations and stone slabs carved with hieroglyphs suggest that, despite the written record, the time period might not have been marked only by cultural collapse, famine, and violence.

Photograph by James Osborne, courtesy Tim Harrison © 1996-2009 National Geographic Society.