Artifacts

There are undoubtedly millions of ancient artifacts from the past that have served to shed light on the lives of our ancestors from many millennia ago. But some ancient mystical artifacts stand out for their uniqueness, their intrigue, or their ability to expand our knowledge about previously unknown aspects of our history. Here we feature many such ancient history artifacts, from amazing examples of ancient technology, to artistic masterpieces, unexplained objects, ancient texts, and mysterious artifacts that shed light on the daily lives of our ancestors.

The pyramid texts of ancient Egypt’s pyramids are a rich source of information on their beliefs and religion. Source: EvrenKalinbacak/ Adobe Stock

24 February, 2023 - 13:59 Aleksa Vučković

The Pyramid Texts: Incantations Carved in Stone

The ancient Egyptians were known for their elaborate funerary traditions and beliefs in life after death, with the pharaohs being the most powerful and religious rulers of their time. The Pyramid...

Replicas of the stone points made by the researchers using local flint, and incorporated them into spears and arrows. Source: Ludovic Slimak/Nature

23 February, 2023 - 21:56 Nathan Falde

New Evidence Shows Humans Were Using Bows and Arrows in 52,000 BC

Did the very first humans that reached Europe hunt with bows and arrows? A new study appearing in the journal Science Advances claims that they did, and that this happened 54,000 years ago in...

A crown from the Khmer Crown jewel collection that has been returned to Cambodia. Source: Cambodian Minister of Culture and Fine Arts

23 February, 2023 - 13:52 Nathan Falde

Centuries-Old Stolen Khmer Jewel Collection Returned to Cambodia

A huge cache of stolen crown jewels dating back to Cambodia’s legendary Khmer (Angkorian) Empire resurfaced in London last summer, and have now been returned to Cambodia, the BBC has announced . Some...

Part of the 16-meter-long document from Saqqara that includes illustrations and text from the Book of the Dead of Ahmose. Source: Supreme Council of Antiquities

23 February, 2023 - 00:52 Joanna Gillan

First Public Display of 16-meter-long Papyrus Found in Saqqara Casket

The exciting discovery of a 16-meter-long (52.5 ft) ancient papyrus found in a sarcophagus in Egypt's Saqqara region has now been unveiled. A papyrus of this size and quality had not been discovered...

The mussel shell arrowheads have been found together with shafts and lashings. The scale in the lower edge of the image is millimeters. Source: Cultural History Museum

21 February, 2023 - 21:53 ashley cowie

Curious Mussel Shell Arrowheads in Norway’s Mountains Confound Archaeologists

It’s not the first time archaeologists in Norway have discovered ancient arrows melting out of mountainsides. But it is the first time arrows made from mussel shells have been found. Another Treasure...

The wooden phallus discovered at Vindolanda exhibited smooth surfaces on both ends, suggesting that it had been subject to repeated handling over an extended period. Source: Newcastle University.

21 February, 2023 - 13:48 Sahir

2,000-Year-Old Roman Phallus Could Be Oldest Known Sex Toy

In what is perhaps the oldest sex toy ever found in Britain, a 2,000-year-old Roman phallus is the subject of a new study. Found in 1992 near the Roman fort of Vindolanda near Hadrian’s Wall , the...

The artifacts are believed to have been used as deer antler instruments. Source: F. Z. Campos / Antiquity

21 February, 2023 - 00:01 ashley cowie

Ancient Deer Antler Instruments Discovered in Vietnam After 3,000 Years

Our prehistoric ancestors were very busy people, but they must have known how to chill in between chores, to relax and recharge. It’s well known to science that our cave dwelling forebears gorged on...

A photograph of a similar Roman-era lead coffin discovered in Spain in 2019. This is not the sarcophagus reported in this article, but is representational, based on its similar appearance. Source: Granada Hoy

20 February, 2023 - 21:54 Sahir

Roman-Era Sarcophagus Made of Lead Discovered in Gaza

Deep in the heart of the hotly contested Palestinian strip of Gaza, a 2,000-year-old lead sarcophagus has been unearthed, believed to hail from the illustrious Roman era. Located just 500 meters (0.3...

Broken parts of the flush toilet unearthed from the Yueyang archaeological site in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. Source: China Daily.

18 February, 2023 - 17:57 Sahir

The Royal Flush: 2,400-Year-Old Toilet Used by Emperors Unearthed in China

Archaeologists have unearthed the bottom half of a manual flush toilet that dates back 2,400 years in the Yueyang archaeological site in China’s Shaanxi province. Yueyang served as a capital city...

Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III. Source: Asta/Public Domain

17 February, 2023 - 18:00 Aleksa Vučković

The Majestic Medinet Habu and the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III

Usermaatre Meryamun Ramesses III was one of the last great Ancient Egyptian pharaohs of the New Kingdom period. The second ruler of the Twentieth Dynasty, Ramesses III was a notable warrior pharaoh,...

Representational image of a Viking-era boat. Source: Noel Cook / Adobe Stock

17 February, 2023 - 13:53 Sahir

Viking-Era Boat Has Been Discovered Under an English Pub

Archaeologists from the University of Nottingham are currently studying what locals believe to be a Viking-era boat that was discovered buried beneath a pub car park in Wirral, England. The boat was...

Image depicting the Inka tunic or Unku found in northern Chile from the wearer’s point of view. Source: Correa-Lau, J., et. al. / CC BY 4.0

15 February, 2023 - 17:56 Sahir

Chilean Inka Tunic Provides Insight into Inka Power & Cultural Fusion

A brilliant new study on unkus , a type of standardized Inka tunic, has shed light on a rather important matter of socio-political organization – that of centralization of power. Based on the unku...

Human remains of the burials found of the Huastec people of Mexico. Source: INAH

15 February, 2023 - 00:57 Nathan Falde

Archaeologists Unearth Trinket Filled Tombs from Mexico’s Huastec Culture

Archaeologists working on a site in southern Tamaulipas, Mexico, known as El Naranjo, have discovered tombs and ruins from Mesoamerica's Classic period (250 AD to 900 AD). The remains include...

'Song of Songs' illustrated by Florence Kingsford/Southern Methodist University. Source: Public Domain

14 February, 2023 - 01:00 ancient origins

Why is a Love Poem Full of Sex in the Bible?

By Jonathan Kaplan /The Conversation Many Americans have heard the expression “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine” – in fact, a quick Google search turns up myriad websites offering wedding...

The Book of Revelation. Source: Brian Jackson / Adobe Stock

13 February, 2023 - 14:00 Nathan Falde

The Book of Revelation is Filled with Ancient Curses, New Research Reveals

The Book of Revelation is filled with prophetic visions of apocalyptic events. But if the astonishing conclusions of a Biblical researcher from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) are correct,...

Examples of an Oldowan percussive tool, core and flakes dating from roughly 2.9 million years ago and found at the Nyayanga site in Kenya are seen in this undated handout image. Source: T.W. Plummer, J.S. Oliver, and E. M. Finestone/Homa Peninsula Paleoanthropology Project

10 February, 2023 - 21:56 Nathan Falde

Results of Kenyan Dig Suggest Africa’s First Toolmakers Were Not Human

A multi-year series of excavations at a site near Lake Victoria in Kenya unearthed a collection of Oldowan stone tools that are likely the oldest ever found on Earth, dating back to the Pliocene...

This rare gold bead, dating back at least 1,600 years, was uncovered in dirt taken from a Roman structure in Jerusalem's Emek Tzurim National Park. Source: Ari Levy/Israel Antiquities Authority.

10 February, 2023 - 13:59 Nathan Falde

Volunteer Finds Intricate 5th-Century Gold Bead in Archaeological Debris

While sifting through dirt and rubble removed from a huge Roman structure discovered during excavations at Pilgrimage Road in the City of David in Jerusalem, a National Service volunteer found a...

Stone of Destiny, also known as Lia Fail. Hill of Tara. County Meath. Source: jamegaw/Adobe Stock

9 February, 2023 - 21:59 ashley cowie

Vandal Strikes at Lia Fáil, Ireland’s Ancient Spiritual Heart

Ireland’s “Stone of Destiny” - the Lia Fáil - or Stone that Roared, has been defaced by a mindless vandal. Although mindless isn’t quite right, at they actually seem to have thought about what they...

Workers excavating the Hun warrior tomb which was discovered at one of several archaeological sites unearthed during the construction of a highway in Romania. Source: CNAIR / Vasile Pârvan Institute of Archaeology

7 February, 2023 - 13:54 Nathan Falde

Gold Laden Hun Warrior Tomb Uncovered by Romanian Highway Project

Amidst the buzz of a highway construction project in Romania, a team of workers accidentally stumbled upon a historic trove of buried treasure and a Hun warrior tomb. The archaeological site revealed...

Stone Age jade axehead, Scotland, c. 4000 BC. Most of them were brought to Scotland around 4,000 years BC. Credit: Project Jade

6 February, 2023 - 13:55 Joanna Gillan

Jade Beauty: 15 Must-See Artifacts in Pictures

Jade has been used by ancient civilizations for thousands of years, dating back to the Neolithic period. The precious stone was highly valued by the Chinese and was often referred to as "the royal...

Representational image depicting ancient text being brought to life by artificial intelligence, such as the newly announced Fragmentarium AI. Source: Надежда Семироз / Adobe Stock

5 February, 2023 - 17:58 ashley cowie

The Fragmentarium: New AI Tool Pieces Together Ancient Babylonian Texts

Artificial intelligence has now officially seeped into ancient history. Linguists at the Institute for Assyriology at Ludwig Maximilian University in Germany have created an artificial intelligence (...

The Bjørnstad Ship carving, Norway. Source: Sarpsborg Turist as/Visit Norway

3 February, 2023 - 13:57 Aleksa Vučković

The Bjørnstad Ship: A Rare Window into the Nordic Bronze Age

Situated near Sarpsborg, Norway, the enigmatic Bjørnstad ship is a fantastic glimpse into the prehistoric, pre-Viking age of Scandinavia. Such ancient carvings are few, and often hard to discover -...

Opole-Ostrówek, wooden "mask" from the mid-12th century. (Karol Szott/Kamil Kajkowski, "Masks from Opole in the context of Medieval Slavic rites", Archaeologia Polski 66, 2021, fig.3). Source: Archaeologia Polski/ CC BY 4.0

2 February, 2023 - 13:58 ashley cowie

Mask or Masquerade? Skeptic Totally ‘Trashes’ Magical Pagan Masks

For over six decades, it was believed that two wooden objects discovered in Opole, Poland were pagan Slavic masks used in mystical ceremonies held in cemetery woods. However, recent research by a...

The Skull of Anne d’Alegre, countess of Laval (1565-1619) equipped with hippo bone dental prostheses and gold wire. Source: Rozenn Collator / Inrap

1 February, 2023 - 01:07 ashley cowie

Anne d’Alegre and Her Dirty Dental Secret

Like many LA celebrities today, serious dental work was carried out in 17th century France to protect the smiles of perceived social elites. This statement is based on new research into the well-...

Pages