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.

An Aztec skull of a sacrificed captive used as a mask, encrusted in the nose and mouth with obsidian blades. (Dante / Adobe Stock)

29 September, 2022 - 14:54 Cecilia Bogaard

16 Absolutely Terrifying Aztec Artifacts

The Aztecs emerged in central Mexico around 1300 AD, coming to dominate the surrounding area from their capital city Tenochtitlan , now Mexico City. Stretching across highlands, coastal plains,...

Moche pottery depicting copulation. Museo Larco – Lima, Perú

24 September, 2022 - 18:57 Joanna Gillan

The Moche Uncensored! 15 Surprising Erotic Ceramics of Peru

The Moche were a mysterious civilization who ruled the northern coast of Peru beginning 2,000 years ago. Little was known about the Moche civilization until the 1980s when archaeologists began...

Top image: Iron age ceramic jar discovered in UAE. Source: Sharjah Museums Authority

22 September, 2022 - 14:56 Sahir

Archaeologists Puzzle Over Huge Iron Age Ceramic Jar Found in UAE

The largest Iron Age ceramic jar ever discovered in the UAE dated to 3,000 years ago hints at a bustling trade scene from the 1st millennium BC. But the dimensions of this vessel really have...

The Pesse canoe, shown here, believed to be the world's oldest known boat, was made roughly 10,000 years ago in the Mesolithic period, from a Scots pine trunk, in the Netherlands region.

21 September, 2022 - 18:58 Lex Leigh

Europe’s Famous Mesolithic Pesse Canoe: Earth’s Oldest Known Boat

One of the most interesting artifact discoveries was the finding of the Pesse canoe in 1955. This unique boat is considered to be the oldest boat in existence and is estimated to be around 10,000...

Sarcophagus of Ramses II’s royal secretary discovered in Saqqara, Egypt. Source: MOTA

21 September, 2022 - 14:55 Sahir

Red-Pink Granite Sarcophagus of Ramses II’s Secretary Found at Saqqara

The pink-red granite sarcophagus of Ptahmweia, a royal secretary during the reign of Ramses II (1279-1213 BC) of the Nineteenth Dynasty, has been discovered at the Saqqara necropolis. This is the...

The rare, gold Shang dynasty (1600-1046 BC ) funeral mask recently recovered from a noble’s tomb at Zhengzhou, China. Source: Xinhua

20 September, 2022 - 18:55 Sahir

3,000-year-old Gold Funeral Mask Illuminates Yellow River Civilization

A 3000-year-old gold funeral mask dated to the Shang dynasty (1600-1046 BC) has been unearthed by archaeologists on the Yellow River about 600 kilometers (373 miles) northwest of Shanghai. Found in...

Leonardo da Vinci’s weapons included a tank and a scythed chariot, drawings shown here. Source: janaka Dharmasena / Adobe Stock

17 September, 2022 - 19:00 Robbie Mitchell

Da Vinci’s Deadly Designs: The Wildest Weapons of the Renaissance Man

Although Leonardo da Vinci is predominantly remembered as a great artist, he was also a remarkable scientist and inventor. Many of his inventions were weird, some were wonderful, and more than a few...

Painting of Freja by John Bauer. Source: Public domain

17 September, 2022 - 02:00 Molly Dowdeswell

The Story, Symbols and Powers of Freya, the Norse Goddess of Love

Freya is old Norse for “lady” and was the name given to the Norse goddess of love. Whilst she certainly sought out passion and pleasure, she was a complex character. In fact, to the Vikings she was a...

Model reproduction of the Dispilio tablet at the prehistoric lakeside settlement of Dispilio in northern Greece. Source: Мико / CC BY-SA 4.0

16 September, 2022 - 22:55 johnblack

The Dispilio Tablet and the Real Origins of Writing

Conventional archaeology claims that writing was not invented until some time between 3000 and 4000 BC in Sumeria . However, the discovery of a far older artifact in northern Greece appears to...

Oedipus the King of Sophoces theatrical costume Athens Greece. Source: Susan Vineyard / Adobe Stock

15 September, 2022 - 18:54 Molly Dowdeswell

The Mother of All Myths: Oedipus, The Story of the King of Thebes

The myth of Oedipus contains moral lessons about the dangers of tempting fate. It warns that fate cannot be neither challenged nor escaped. In doing so, the story is full of intrigue and revelation...

Britain’s Imperial State Crown, made in 1937 with alterations in 1953. (Waterloo barracks, Tower of London). Source: Left; Right; CC BY-SA 4.0

15 September, 2022 - 14:57 Sahir

The Imperial State Crown’s Coffin Ride: History Completes a Chapter

The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom are symbols of the British monarchy’s regalia and vestments, accumulated over 800 years of English and British history. Part of this collection is the Imperial...

Scroll of Asclepius with an inscription. Source: Background; Alexey Pavluts / Adobe Stock, Insets; Left;CC BY-SA 3.0; Right; CC BY-SA 4.0

9 September, 2022 - 14:54 Nathan Falde

Second Century Asclepius Inscription Found at Anatolian Site

Archaeologists performing excavations in the ancient city of Hadrianopolis in Paphlagonia, in the Black Sea region of northern Turkey unearthed a piece of rock that contained a most revealing...

A couple living in a historical home in a village in North Yorkshire, England found a rare coin hoard, more than 260 coins, under the kitchen floor they were renovating, and soon they will receive a small fortune from the auctioneer. Source: Spink & Son

9 September, 2022 - 02:01 Sahir

UK Couple’s Home Renovation Leads to Rare Coin Hoard Worth $280,000

When a couple living in an 18th-century North Yorkshire village home embarked on a renovation project, they were ready to spend money, and redoing the old kitchen floor was on the list. But before...

A grotesque image of an ogre shooting an arrow into another creature’s rear from the Rutland Psalter, c. 1260. (British Library Royal MS 62925, f. 87v.)

8 September, 2022 - 22:53 Joanna Gillan

20 Bizarre, Crude and Downright Weird Sketches in Medieval Manuscripts

Many medieval manuscripts are works of art with devotional passages written in careful calligraphy, accompanied by vivid illustrations and ornate, decorative borders. But equally captivating is the...

These reconstructed ivory panels from Jerusalem’s prosperous First Temple period, recently unearthed in the City of David, were once part of an elite couch throne. Source: Yaniv Berman / Israel Antiquities Authority

6 September, 2022 - 14:55 Nathan Falde

First Temple Period Ivory Plaques, From Bible, Found in Jerusalem

During joint excavations in the City of David (ancient Jerusalem), archaeologists from Tel Aviv University and the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) unearthed the remains of rare and valuable...

A terrifying Golden samurai helmet with a tiger mask (warmtail / Adobe Stock)

3 September, 2022 - 18:45 Joanna Gillan

12 Jaw-Dropping Helmets from the Ancient World

Helmets of the ancient world could be dazzling, terrifying, intimidating or sometimes simply practical. Here we look at 12 incredible helmets from across the ancient world. A Japanese Samurai helmet...

Odysseus and Polyphemus by Arnold Böcklin. Polyphemus is one of the only Cyclopes recognized by name. Source: Public domain

3 September, 2022 - 02:00 Natalia Klimczak

Is There Any Truth to Legends of Mighty Cyclopes from Greek Mythology?

The mysterious, one-eyed creatures revered in Greek and Roman mythologies remain one of the most riveting of the oldest Mediterranean legends. The mighty Cyclopes were members of a race of giants and...

Bronze mythical beast extracted from pit No. 8 at Sanxingdui, China. Source: Weibo

2 September, 2022 - 23:00 Sahir

Bronze Mythical Beast Weighing Over 300 Pounds Found in Sanxingdui Ruins

A fantastic creature has finally been released from the pit of extraordinary metal objects at Sanxingdui, China, once again proving the advanced metalworking skills, artistic talent and imagination...

Statuettes recovered from the Chapultepec Forest site, Mexico City. Source: Mauricio Marat / INAH

2 September, 2022 - 18:39 ashley cowie

Oldest Artifacts In Mexican Basin Were Walked Over Daily at Chapultepec

Archaeologists in Mexico have discovered a layer of tools, utensils, and otherworldly figures in an ancient ceramic layer. For more than three thousand years, the artifacts remained undisturbed under...

Puriel is an angel who appears in the apocryphal work of the Testament of Abraham, the 2nd century AD apocalyptic tale of Abraham's journey to heaven. Puriel is described as “fiery and pitiless”, and is one of the two angels (along with Dokiel) charged with the task of examining the soul of each person brought to heaven after death. Source: chiaralily / CC BY NC 2.0

2 September, 2022 - 14:51 Robbie Mitchell

Apocalyptic Apocrypha: What was Removed from the Bible - and Why?

‘Biblical Apocrypha’ sounds like something out of a conspiracy theorist's darkest dreams. Books that have been hidden away from us. Books that contain secret information on the origins of...

This clay tablet, part of the Louvre Museum collection, covered in an ancient language is actually one of the few known Linear Elamite texts, which a research team has claimed to have deciphered almost completely. Source: Zunkir / CC BY-SA 4.0

2 September, 2022 - 01:58 Nathan Falde

Iranian 4,000-Year-Old Ancient Language Decoded But Questions Remain

Linguistics experts have been trying to decipher and translate an enigmatic type of ancient language known as Linear Elamite for more than 100 years. This writing system was used by people who lived...

The Pacopampa priest’s tomb in its cleaned-up state, which was found by Peruvian and Japanese archaeologists in the Cajamarca of Peru. Source: Peruvian Ministry of Culture

1 September, 2022 - 18:58 Sahir

Newly Discovered 1000 BC Pacopampa Priest’s Tomb in Peru Is Turning Heads

A team of archaeologists have discovered what they believe to be the tomb of a religious leader from ancient Peru at the Pacopampa site, a priestly figure, who was baptized as the “priest of the...

Folding chair from circa 600 AD grave unearthed in Central Franconia, Germany. Source: Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege

31 August, 2022 - 22:57 Sahir

Ancient Folding Chair Found in Bavarian Grave Only Second Such Find Ever

Comfort in the afterlife was apparently a medieval concern. Gravesites can reveal aspects of past cultures and values, and are therefore a rich source for archaeologists and historians. An iron...

An artist's illustration showing how a now-defunct arm of the Nile River known as the Khufu branch once reached the pyramids, which the Giza pyramid builders used to great advantage to move heavy construction materials according the recent PNAS pollen core study. Source: Alex Boersma / PNAS

31 August, 2022 - 14:50 Nathan Falde

How Egyptian Pyramid Builders Moved Construction Materials by Water

Regardless of how they were constructed, the Egyptian pyramids of the Giza Plateau represent one of mankind’s most astonishing engineering achievements. The logistical challenges of moving millions...

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