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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.

Main: Blenheim Palace (Snowshill / Adobe Stock). Inset: The Gold Toilet (CC by SA 2.0)

Solid Gold Toilet Stolen from Blenheim Palace

A remarkable and slightly bizarre theft has been announced in Britain. An 18-carat gold toilet valued at £1 million has been stolen from the world-famous Blenheim Palace. The lavatory was part of a...
The skeletons buried in Italy have been holding hands for around 1500 years. Source: ArcheoModena

Hand-Holding Skeletons Were Both Men… And No, They Were Not Gay Lovers

Two skeletons intentionally buried hand-in-hand – the so-called ‘Lovers of Modena’ – were always assumed to be male and female. But a new study finds they were both men, raising questions as to their...
Metal casting with high temperature fire. Credit: Валерий Моисеев / Adobe Stock

Siberian Nomads Practiced High Tech Iron Smelting Much Earlier Than Thought

Tomsk State University archaeologists have obtained radiocarbon dating of the Kosh-Agach type iron-smelting furnaces found in the Altai Mountains, pre-dating them 300 to 400 years earlier, to the...
The south facing entrance of Khonsu Temple, located in the Karnak Temple Complex on Luxor's East Bank. Source: ARCE / Fair Use.

Restored Ancient Tombs in Khonsu Temple Opening in Luxor

Four ancient Egyptian chapels and two temple tombs are to be opened up to visitors in the Khonsu Temple at Karnak , in Luxor . Sometime between 1189 BC and 1077 BC in the Dra Abul-Naga necropolis at...
They newly discovered distillery in China. Source: Ecns.cn

Massive 500-Year-Old Distillery Found in China is on Industrial Scale

Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of a massive distillery in China that dates to the Ming and Qing dynasties. The discovery is believed to be the largest of its kind ever made in China,...
Ancient Chinese seismoscope

Ancient Chinese Earthquake Detector Invented 2,000 Years Ago Really Worked!

Although we still cannot accurately predict earthquakes, we have come a long way in detecting, recording, and measuring seismic shocks. Many don’t realise that this process began nearly 2000 years...
The Dead Sea Scrolls

Ancient Tech Preserved Dead Sea Temple Scroll

Among the thousands of pieces of parchment found in caves near the Dead Sea, one scroll was unique among the rest. The Temple Scroll was the best preserved and with the clearest writing. Now...
'This site is a scientific sensation', said Dr Marina Kilunovskaya from the St Petersburg Institute of Material History Culture, who leads the Tuva Archeological Expedition. Picture: HMC RAS/Pavel Leus

2,100-Year-Old Skeleton Found With iPhone-Like Belt Buckle in Siberia

By The Siberian Times reporter An ancient Xiongnu-era woman took a stylish accessory to the afterlife. To archeologist Pavel Leus the striking new find resembled a modern smartphone. The black...
A giant eel. Credit: Konstantin Gerasimov / Adobe Stock

Loch Ness Monster is Most Likely a Giant Eel!

Scientists claim to have finally found a “ plausible theory ” for sightings of the Loch Ness Monster. She’s not an aquatic reptile left over from the Jurassic era or a circus elephant that got in the...
The grave holding one of the skeletons and the four skulls. (FAS Heritage / Fair UseThe reconstructed face of the clansman who was killed in the 15th century.

Scientists Unravel Mystery of 15th Century Six-Headed Burial

Scientists have begun unravelling the mystery of an ancient Scotsman found in a mysterious “six-headed” burial and now believe his death was connected to a violent period of Highland clan warfare...
Pictures posted on online of the vandals who damaged the Council Overhang cavern in Starved Rock Park in Illinois over the Labor Day holiday. Source: Daily Mail / Fair Use.

Hunt for Vandals Who Defaced Ancient Rock Formation

Authorities in the US state of Illinois are searching for two vandals who defaced a 450-million-year-old rock formation at Starved Rock State Park , which was a sacred Native American gathering place...
Early hominin works with tools. (procy_ab/AdobeStock)

Finger Bone Points the Way to Revealing Denisovan DNA Secrets

A Denisovan finger fossil is revealing secrets about this extinct Stone Age race. A decade ago, scientists excavating Denisova Cave , an ancient archaeological site in southern Siberia, discovered...
Arowak Indian. Credit: Pixeltheater / Adobe Stock

Amazon Fires Unite Enemy Tribes Against Bolsonaro

The Amazon fires are uniting rival indigenous cultures against Jair Bolsonaro’s administration in Brazil. When I was young, my brother and I battled tooth and nail with the neighbor’s boys in what...
Skulls from mass grave in Yaroslavl, Russia, showing traces of violence. Source: Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences

800-Year-Old Russian Mass Grave Illustrates Extreme Mongol Violence

DNA testing has proven that three people who were found in a mass-grave in Russia dating back 800 years ago belonged to an elite family. Reading the words ‘Russia’ and ‘mass-grave’ in the same...
On Left – William Shakespeare. On Right – Representation of posy ring. Source: Left, Steschum / Adobe Stock; Right, Medieval Posy Ring / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Grandmother May Have Found a Ring Owned by Shakespeare

In recent years, metal detectorists have made many exciting discoveries in the United Kingdom . Most recently a retired postal worker in England who is a detectorist believes that she has made a...
Peruvian hairless dog. Source: CC BY SA 3.0

Hairless Dogs Hang Out at Peru’s Ancient Pyramids

Ancient hairless dogs parade around Peru’s pyramids, looking for new love. A Peruvian hairless dog known as “perro peruano sin pelo” is defined by its shiny black leathery wrinkled skin, broken by...
Bone hunters inside a man-made permafrost cave of the Yunyugen mammoth graveyard site. Source: Sergey Leshchinsky / Siberian Times

Ivory Hunters Decimate 50,000 Year Old Mammoth Graveyard

By Svetlana Skarbo / The Siberian Times A 50,000 year old mammoth graveyard in Yunyugen, north of Yakutia, Siberia is a paleontological world treasure site with multiple remains of mammoths, woolly...
Two disciples saw Jesus after his resurrection on the road to Emmaus. Source: icksanglee / Adobe Stock.

Experts Think They Have Uncovered the Biblical Town of Emmaus

Archaeologists have made what is an important discovery for Christendom in Israel. They claim that they have found a Hellenistic era fortress and this could be the location of one of the most...
The Cerne Giant is being re-chalked to return him to his former glory. Source: Dorset Council/CC BY NC SA 2.0

Like New: Locals and Experts Re-Chalk a ‘Rude’ Giant on a Hill

A gigantic chalk figure that dominates the countryside in England is being restored. The Cerne Abbas Giant is an enigmatic figure in the rolling hills of Dorset. Moreover, it is infamous because of...
Part of the Roman mosaic at Boxford, potentially depicting Hercules fighting a centaur, and Cupid.

One of the Best Roman Mosaics Found in the UK will be Reburied

A rare and unexpected find that could be one of the UK’s most spectacular Roman mosaics, containing designs based on Greek legend, has been revealed during a community archaeology project dig in...
Viking House in Iceland        Source: @elvisliivamagi / Adobe Stock

With Portals to the Dead, Viking Homes Were Stranger Than Fiction

The Vikings are more popular than ever. TV shows such as Last Kingdom and Vikings have added dramatic license to particular historical accounts , while new archaeological finds are guaranteed to make...
Siberian puppy frozen in permafrost for 14,300 years gives scientists major RNA breakthrough. Source: Siberian Times

Siberian Puppy Frozen for 14,300 Years is a Major RNA Breakthrough

By Svetlana Skarbo/Siberian Times Never before has RNA - Ribonucleic acid - sequencing been carried out from so far back in time. Finding RNA on the puppy found preserved in permafrost in Tumat in...
Left: The excavation site at Zincirli, southern Turkey. (Lucas Stephens)Top Right: Baking and cooking pots and trays found at Zincirli, including a ceramic pot with soot still left on the bottom from when it was last used (left). Bottom Right: Items found at Zincirli include bronze needles stored in a bone case (top left), a bronze figurine of a goddess (left), and animal knucklebones often used as dice (bottom). (Roberto Ceccacci)

3,500 Years Ago, Hittites Sacked and Razed an Unwary City

Archaeologists in Turkey have unearthed a city that was sacked by the Hittites over 3,500 years ago. One afternoon more than 3,500 years ago, hundreds of families were getting about their everyday...
Left: The Qianlong Emperor (public domain). Right: The vase which was bought from a charity shop for £1 could sell for £80,000 (Picture: Sworders /BNPS)

Man Buys Vase for £1, Finds Out it is £80,000 Treasure Belonging to Chinese Emperor

A rare and beautiful Chinese vase was bought from a charity shop for £1 but is about to go up for auction with a reserve price of £80,000 after the lucky buyer found out it belonged to a Chinese...

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