The ancient world has always been a source of fascination, but much of what we know about the Romans, Greeks, Maya, Inca and other civilisations lay hidden beneath the ground for centuries. Those secrets stayed buried until a wave of archaeological discoveries in the 19th and early 20th centuries began to fill gaps in the written records, and, with these rare archive photos, you can watch history in the making.

Click through this gallery to see incredible black-and-white photos of early archaeological digs...