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History & Archaeology

We bring you all the latest historical news and archaeological discoveries relating to ancient human history. Read more history news from around the world here at Ancient Origins.

Representation of Hannibal and the Carthaginians before battle.       Source: Iuliia KOVALOVA / Adobe stock

New Site Identified For Battlefield Of Hannibal’s First Great Victory

Archaeologists in Spain have discovered the lost battlefield where the legendary Hannibal won his first great victory before his march on Rome. Hannibal was the famous Carthaginian statesman and...
Treasure Trove of Discoveries Unearthed in Egypt’s Saqqara Necropolis

Treasure Trove of Discoveries Unearthed in Egypt’s Saqqara Necropolis

The vast archaeological site of Saqqara is located about 30 km (19 mi) south of modern-day Cairo in Egypt and it’s home to the earliest and first documented pyramid, the Unas, the famous Step Pyramid...
A 13-foot anchor found by the Ottoman shipwreck.   Source: ©Enigma Recoveries

A Dozen Mediterranean Shipwrecks Reveal Global Trade

Marine archaeologists have found a large number of shipwrecks in a deep body of water known as the Levantine Basin in the Eastern Mediterranean. Experts have been looking for these wrecks for many...
Main: View over the excavations in Schöningen in Germany. Inset: The ‘killing stick’ that was unearthed at the excavation site.           Source: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen

300,000-Year-Old ‘Killing Stick’ Sheds Light on Evolution of Hunting

In Germany, a team of experts have made a very important discovery. They have established that an ancient wooden artifact is a throwing stick (or ‘killing stick’). This is allowing them to understand...
Human sacrifice remains found in South Moravia, Czech Republic.      Source: Archaia Brno

Suspected Human Sacrifices Unearthed Beneath Medieval Castle

Three skeletons believed to have been murdered as part of human sacrifice rites have been discovered within the foundations of a 1,000-year-old castle in South Moravia. Břeclav is a town in the South...
Top view of the Dolmen of Oberbipp in Switzerland, one of the largest burial sites in the study, where Neolithic remains were studied, revealing clues to the Yamnaya Culture’s migration to Europe.       Source: Urs Dardel / Archäologischer Dienst des Kanton Bern

Neolithic DNA Reveals Surprising Truth of the Yamnaya Culture in Europe

Genetic research has revolutionized our understanding of Switzerland’s prehistoric past. A group of researchers have carried out a study of genomes from individuals who lived in the Late Neolithic...
Medieval manuscript. Credit: Andrzej Solnica / Adobe Stock

Experts Solve 1000-Year-Old Mystery of Rare Medieval Blue Ink

Portuguese researchers believe that they have identified the long-lost process and plant that provided a unique purple-blue pigment in the Middle Ages . This was used to color many things including...
Scientists are using AI to distinguish between ancient poo left by prehistoric humans and dogs. Source: Wallpaper Flare

The Origin of Poop: AI to Predict Source of Ancient Feces

Archaeologists have applied the principals of AI to distinguish between ancient human and dog poo, cleaning up a storm of scientific confusion over the matter. Looking deep into the future, in...
Sword fight. Credit: Oleksandr / Adobe Stock

Experiment Reveals Secrets to Brutal Bronze Age Warfare

Experimental archaeology is a relatively new field and it is allowing experts to test their hypotheses about the past in a new hands-on way. A fascinating recent experiment has solved the mystery as...
Bone remains at an archaeological site in Henan province suggest the decapitated skeleton was an ancient Chinese sacrifice. Source: Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology/ Xinhua

Kneeling Decapitated Skeleton was Ancient Chinese Sacrifice Victim

Archaeologists in China have discovered a kneeling, decapitated skeleton. They believe that the individual was an ancient Chinese sacrifice victim . Xinhua , China’s largest state-run news agency,...
Assyrian Palace Discovered in Terrorists’ Treasure Tunnels

Assyrian Palace Discovered in Terrorists’ Treasure Tunnels

On June 4, 2014, the Northern Iraq offensive began when the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL; sometimes referred to as the Islamic State (IS)) launched a major offensive against government...
Aerial view of the ruins of the Cherven medieval fortress near Rousse, Bulgaria Source: Atanas / Adobe Stock

Forgotten Warrior-Saints Exposed in Murals of Medieval City

In Bulgaria, a previously unknown medieval church has been unearthed in an abandoned medieval city. It dates from the Second Bulgarian Empire and archaeologists have found some important murals in...
The death mask found in Shestakovsky burial mound No 6.	Source: Vyacheslav Porosev, Instutute of Nuclear Physics, SB RAS

Mystery of 2,100-year-old Death Mask Found to Contain Ram’s Skull

By Anna Prokhozheva / The Siberia Times The discovery of the magnificent clay likeness of a young man in the Shestakovsky burial mound No 6 has long intrigued Russian archaeologists. Discovered among...
Left, vervet monkey depicted in Minoan art at Akrotiri, Thera; Right, Baboon shown in a fresco at Knossos      Source: Antiquity Publications Ltd

Monkeys In Minoan Art Reveal New Bronze Age Links

Experts investigating frescoes and artworks have made some important discoveries with regard to Minoan civilization . They have found that Minoan artists realistically depicted a species of monkey...
These horse-related finds from Lendbreen indicate the route of a Nordic mountain trail: top left) mandible; top right) horseshoe; bottom left) horse skull; bottom right) horse dung. Source: J.H. Barrett & Glacier Archaeology

Tracking Artifacts Reveals Lost Nordic Mountain Trade Route

In pre-history, many of the world's mountain ranges blocked long distance travel and trade, but mountain passes provided routes through ranges and over ridges, facilitating human and animal migration...
The rare photo showing the ingenious Stonehenge engineering.

Rare Photo Reveals Ingenious Stonehenge Engineering Secrets

England’s famous stone circle, Stonehenge , in Wiltshire, was built in four major phases with the first being completed around 5,000 years ago and what we see today, the final stage, was completed...
Japanese megalith in a garden as representation of the Ashikaga Shogunate stones found.     Source: Samuel Ponce / Adobe stock

Massive Megaliths Found in Japan Shed New Light on Ashikaga Shogunate

Archaeologists excavating at the residence of the Ashikaga Shogunate family in Japan have unearthed a collection of eight enormous garden stones. The shogunate , was the hereditary military...
Stone balls, aka petrospheres were found at Qesem cave, Israel.        Source: Assaf et al 2020

Mystery of Stone Balls at ‘Magic’ Qesem Cave Finally Solved

Petrospheres, or spheroids, are two archaeological names for any man-made spherical object made from stone. These mostly prehistoric artifacts have been found intricately carved and painted,...
Macquarie student Hannah Newman discovered the bronze calf figurine during the last week of the excavation at the Ziklag site. Source: Macquarie University

Students Unearth Rare Treasures at Lost Biblical City of Ziklag

A team of students working on what may be the long-lost biblical city of Ziklag have uncovered a hoard of rare objects at a site in Israel . Their finds are adding to the body of evidence that the...
Nazareth Inscription.

New Evidence Throws Doubt On Nazareth Inscription’s Ties To Jesus

During the 1930s, a stone tablet was sent from Nazareth to the Louvre Museum in Paris, which became the focus of religious scholars and biblical archaeologists after its inscription was translated...
Sacrificed Bulls of Ramses II Excavated in Abydos Temple

Sacrificed Bulls of Ramses II Excavated in Abydos Temple

Ramses II, or the Great (c. 1303– 1213 BC), was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt and is often regarded as the greatest and most powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom. During recent...
Wood from an ancient bald cypress forest buried off the coast of Alabama was uncovered by storms. Newly exposed wood offers a unique habitat for marine organisms and creates a novel ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico. Source: Francis Choi

60,000-Year-Old Underwater Forest May Hold Next Medical Breakthrough!

About 60,000 years ago, pre-historic humans began emerging out of Africa and shared hunting places and cave residences with Neanderthal populations in what is today Europe. Meanwhile, on the other...
Detail of “A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg.’ Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495. Source: Public Domain

Brain Surgeons Performed Complex Procedures on Byzantine Warriors

Human remains found on a Greek island are changing how experts view the development of surgical interventions in the proto-Byzantine period. A skull shows the traces of complex brain surgery . The...
Main: depiction of the crucifixion/death of Jesus Christ and the thieves, Gestas and Dismas. (Andrea Mantegna / Public domain).        Inset: The calcaneus of Yehohanon ben Hagkol, with transfixed nail. (Israel Museum / Ilan Shtulman)

New Crucifixion Evidence Sheds Light on the Death of Jesus Christ

An investigation into crucifixions reveals evidence using the latest medical technology on how the horrific form of execution was slow and excruciating, providing new insights into the death of Jesus...

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