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.
Homo sapiens , Neanderthals and other recent human relatives may have begun hunting large mammal species down to size -- by way of extinction -- at least 90,000 years earlier than previously thought...
Medical usage? Ritual practice? Or perhaps the drugs served both purposes? Researchers are asking what the recently recovered psychoactive drug residues from ancient Mesopotamia mean. But not...
Egyptological scholars are divided over whether a right-hand turn to the burial chamber in an Eighteenth Dynasty tomb signifies that it belonged to a female pharaoh. With this feature present in the...
One of the greatest enigmas in all of Egyptology is the location of the final resting place of Queen Nefertiti, a powerful royal personage of the late Eighteenth Dynasty. Barring pieces of a votive...
There is something unique about the Bronze Age tombs in the Novosibirsk region of Siberia. The Andronovo burials, as they have been called, include dozens of skeletal remains of couples clutching...
Taking political control is often a violent affair, but tactics, knowledge of local customs and beliefs, and trickery can also be used to get an ambitious leader’s foot in the door. New research on...
A 16th century Scottish castle survived decades of battles, attacks, civil war and treason but has been forced to close due to one very angry badger, which has taken up residence in Cellar Tunnel...
Over one thousand years ago, Danish King Harald Bluetooth had to flee his homeland. He would have taken whatever treasured possessions he could as he sought safety in distant lands. Fast forward to...
The Dalai Lama has spoken out about the discriminating caste system in India, which can be traced back around 2,000 years and is still practiced in some regions today. The New Indian Express reports...
Archaeologists in Peru have unearthed a rather perplexing burial site dating back 1,900 years, in which the ancient inhabitants of a fishing village were buried with bonus body parts, including one...
In the American post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead , redneck hunter Merle Dixon fashions a knife attachment onto the stump where his hand used to be. While the storyline is...
More than 11,000 years ago, an Ice Age artist carefully carved the images of deer into the floor of a cave on Crete. Others would follow this person’s lead and soon the engravings became a jumble of...
Back in 1200 BC, a man named Paneb was accused of corruption and sexual assault and those charges likely cost him his job. His crimes were recorded on an ancient Egyptian papyrus and have been known...
Is it true cheaters never prosper? Archaeologists believe that a 600-year-old wooden dice found in Norway was used in Medieval gambling. It was apparently a prized possession of a shifty player, who...
The ability to excavate at the world-famous Stonehenge archaeological site is a privilege. Not everyone has gained special access to explore the megaliths with the closest detail. Thus, those who...
Huw Groucutt / The Conversation The Arabian Peninsula is a vast landmass at the crossroads of Africa and Eurasia. Yet until the last decade almost nothing was known about early humans in the area. In...
A golden hoard discovered in Andalusia in the 1950s set off a firestorm of speculation and debate: to whom did the lavish treasure belong? Where had it come from? And could it represent a piece in...
James Ohman & Asier Gomez-Olivencia / The Conversation When we think of Neanderthals, we often imagine these distant ancestors of ours to be rather brutish, dying at a young age and ultimately...
By Tom Ozimek , Epoch Times The biggest dinosaurs ever to have lived left footprints 170 million years ago, which were only recently discovered by scientists in Scotland. Early sauropods – the...
The Vikings have been reputed to be remarkable seafarers who could fearlessly navigate their way through unknown oceans to invade unsuspecting communities along the North Sea and Atlantic Sea coasts...
More than 50 new geoglyphs have been added to the mysterious Peruvian desert carvings. Some are made by the same culture as the Nazca lines and others show unique designs predating them...
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England states the return of looted treasure is not a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ choice. The artifacts in question are Ethiopian treasure such as a gold crown, a...
A historian has come forward with the assertion that sexism has tainted popular understanding of the lives of pre-Hispanic Peruvian women. Specifically, she has documented how high-ranking women have...
An exceptional silk shirt made by a skilled Sogdian craftsman is going up for auction at the end of April. The honey-golden color of the silk is decorated with ducks wearing flowing scarves while...
