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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.

Working shot of excavation in Building 77. (Çatalhöyük/CC BY NC SA 2.0) Insert: Collection of Neolithic Pottery.

Washing Up Wasn’t Enough: Evidence of 8.2 ka Climate Event Found in Çatalhöyük Cooking Pots

Neolithic cooking pots can tell you a lot about life in the culture that used them; if you have the right tools on hand. New research on such pottery by the University of Bristol has uncovered how...
One of six trophy heads found in the 27 funerary pits.

Recently Unearthed Head Collectors in Ancient Peru Might Not Be So Unique

Head-hunting, as a way of establishing power and veneration of the head as the throne of the soul and the body’s spiritual engine, began in Europe as far back as Mesolithic times, approximately 13,...
The octagon-shaped tomb is filled with murals and has a pyramid-shaped roof.

Octagonal Walled, Pyramidal Chinese Tomb Whispers Ancient Moral Messages

Mythologies, philosophies and religions around the world are bolted together with stories, poems and songs offering moral messages which we hope our children will to aspire to live by. So often,...
Gneiss stone axe found on the shores of Loch of Stenness.

Archeologists Unearth Axes and Human Hair at Two Ancient Sites in Orkney

Archaeologists high five in Orkney as a large number of 5,000-year-old stone axes were discovered among 30,000 artifacts, including “pottery, bones and tools” according to a recent report by The BBC...
An Egyptian sphinx with a human head

Surprise Discovery of 4,000-Year-Old Egyptian Sphinx with Human Head and Lion Body

Local authorities in Egypt have announced the discovery of an ancient sphinx statue between two of the best known ancient temples in the country – Karnak and Luxor. The discovery was made by chance,...
Some of the skulls found in the Cave of Ancestors in Puyil, Tacotalpa, Tabasco, Mexico.

Pre-Mayan Remains found in Mexican Cave of Ancestors, Some Showing Cranial Deformation

There is a cave in southern Mexico where the distant past, more recent past, and the present intertwine. It is referred to as the Cave of Ancestors, where locals continue to honor their distant...
The grave of the unusually tall Bronze Age man found in Bulgaria. (Primorsko Museum of History/Nova TV) Representative image of the entrance to a tumulus near the town of Strelcha, Bulgaria.

Bulgarian Looters Couldn’t Get Their Hands on the Grave of an Unusually Tall Bronze Age Man Buried with a Severed Arm

Archaeologists in Bulgaria are fighting a battle against looting in the Black Sea town of Primorsko. Unfortunately, it seems grave robbers are getting ahead of the experts in the number of graves...
‘Vitellius dragged through the streets of Rome by the populace’ Georges Rochegrosse (1883). (Deriv.) Is he one example of a Roman emperor assassinated due to bad weather?

Fair-Weather Friends: A Weird Explanation for 20% of Roman Emperor Assassinations

Long bouts of bad weather have been blamed as a cause for the downfall of ancient civilizations around the world. Now, researchers have proposed a hypothesis that seems to support the idea that the...
The skull of the  ‘golden man’ found in the Saka burial mound.

Archaeologists Unearth the ‘Golden Man’ of the Saka Burial Mound in Kazakhstan

Last week, Ancient Origins reported on the fascinating discovery of a golden treasure left by the ancient Saka people in a burial mound in Kazakhstan. It was called one of the most significant finds...
Aerial view of the excavations of the huge Bronze Age citadel found in Romania.

Huge Bronze Age Citadel, Three Times Larger than Troy, Found in Romania

Archaeologists had no idea of the immensity of the project they had begun when they started excavating an archaeological site in Sântana, Arad county, Romania almost a decade ago. They’ve now...
Eveliina Salo taking samples of the hearth structure.

Submerged Stone Age Settlement ‘Opens Up New Path’ for Finnish Archaeology

Pia Purra / University of Helsinki The prehistoric settlement submerged under Lake Kuolimojärvi provides us with a clearer picture of the human occupation in South Karelia during the Mesolithic and...
Left: Upper jaw bones of a walrus, with tusks removed. Right: an elaborately-carved ecclesiastical walrus ivory plaque.

Lost Norse of Greenland Fueled the Medieval Ivory Trade, Ancient Walrus DNA Suggests

The Icelandic Sagas tell of Erik the Red: exiled for murder in the late 10th century he fled to southwest Greenland, establishing its first Norse settlement. The colony took root, and by the mid-12th...
The Roman ruins of Volubilis, Morocco.

Once At the Far Reaches of the Roman Empire, Volubilis Rises Once More in Morocco

In northern Morocco the great ancient city of Volubilis is rising again and is becoming a major tourist attraction. The city that was once neglected and half-forgotten is now being opened to the...
The August 7, 2018 Ibn Sina Google Doodle.

Who Was Ibn Sina and Why is He a Google Doodle?

A surprising Google Doodle has greeted users of the search engine in the UK. The image celebrates the 1038th birthday of Persian polymath Ibn Sina. For many in the West, this may be the first...
Roman era coin found in England, provisionally dated to 3rd century AD.

An ‘Absolutely Stunning’ Roman Gold Ring Is Unearthed In England

An amateur treasure hunter has made a ‘stunning’ find from the Roman era in the south-west of England. With the help of a metal detector, the man discovered a golden ring at a site being investigated...
Excavations at the recently discovered ‘House of Jupiter’.

House of Visual Delights Discovered in Pompeii

The director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, Massimo Osanna has announced another momentous discovery at the ruined city. Archaeologists have unearthed a house that belonged to a member of the...
The damaged section of the Great Wall of China.

Repaired With Duct Tape And Bubble Gum? A Section Of The Great Wall Of China Collapses

As many parts of the world are fighting scorching heat waves and fire outbreaks, several weeks of extraordinarily heavy rainfall in the northern region of China have collapsed a newly renovated...
Maya ruins surrounded by lush green vegetation of the current climate.

New Scientific Proof Emerges for the Cause of the Downfall of the Maya Civilization

The severity of drought conditions during the demise of the Maya civilization about one thousand years ago has been quantified, representing another piece of evidence that could be used to solve the...
Stonehenge

Ground-breaking Science Reveals People Buried at Stonehenge Came from Way Out West

Despite over a century of intense study, we still know very little about the people buried at Stonehenge or how they came to be there. Now, a new University of Oxford research collaboration,...
The pyramids of Giza at night.

The Great Pyramid of Giza Used in Quantum Experimentation

The Great Pyramid of Giza is without question the most famous building of the ancient world. Completed around 2560 BC during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu, this enigmatic monument is a central feature...
Aerial view of the ruins of a Roman library found in Cologne, Germany.

The Truth is in its Walls: Excavated Ruins in Germany Have Been Identified as a Roman Library

Workers have made an extraordinary discovery in the German city of Cologne. It is believed that they have unearthed the walls of a large Roman library. The ruins are those of the oldest known public...
Portrait of Tipu Sultan once owned by Richard Colley Wellsley, now in the care of the British Library. (Public Domain) The rusty Mysorean rockets which were recently unearthed near a fort in the Shimoga district of Karnataka state in southern India. (Karnataka Archaeology Department)

Mysore Munitions: A Stockpile of Over 1,000 Antique Rockets Has Been Unearthed in India

Archaeologists excavating near a fort in the Shimoga district of Karnataka state in southern India have unearthed more evidence to demonstrate just how powerful an 18th-century warrior king was. They...
Some of the 3000 gold and metal objects found in the burial mound in Kazakhstan

Thousands of Gold and Precious Metal Items Found in Saka Burial Mound

The Kazakhstan government has announced a very exciting archaeological find in a remote mountainous area of the country. A team of archaeologists has unearthed a huge trove of golden objects and...
Hand prints, animals and human forms found in Yucatan cave. Source: Sergio Grosjean / Youtube Screenshot

Uncertain Origins of Ancient Cave Paintings Found in the Yucatan Peninsula

A major discovery has been reported by archaeologists in the Yucatan Peninsula, in south-eastern Mexico. A team of experts has discovered some astonishing cave paintings deep in a remote jungle. The...

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