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.
About 5,000 years ago an artist in Egypt painted an apparent nativity scene onto the rocks of a small cave—a tableau similar to crèche scenes that depict Jesus being laid in a manager in a cave or...
You are what you eat! A team of researchers from Kiel University has delved into the nutritional aspects of Trypillia mega-sites in the forest steppe northwest of the Black Sea—today the territory of...
Astounding GeoPACHA software is advancing Andean archaeology. The new and innovative web application is allowing researchers to map archaeological features in the Andes mountains of South America...
In what is being described as “a groundbreaking discovery,” scholars from China’s Tsinghua University have successfully translated the mystical texts inscribed on 2,500-year-old bamboo slips. The...
In 2019, a spectacular Roman dagger was metal detected in a remote region of the Swiss Alps. Now, a team of scientists and students have mapped a 2,000-year-old Roman battlefield representing the...
Viking Age teeth from Varnhem bear witness to surprisingly advanced dentistry in the Norse population there. The findings of a study carried out at the University of Gothenburg reveal a complex...
In a significant archaeological development, a team from the Jagiellonian University (JU) has made groundbreaking discoveries regarding the ancient Pueblo culture along the Colorado-Utah border. This...
David Burney / The Conversation Unique, prehistoric rock art drawings have been discovered in the Andriamamelo Cave in western Madagascar. I was part of a team that discovered and described these...
A Roman ‘domus’ with several floors, constructed in multiple phases during Rome's Republican age, has been uncovered in the vicinity of Rome's Palatine Hill and the Forum. This finely decorated Roman...
Two thousand years ago, the ancient Roman settlement of Interamna Lirenas in central Italy’s Lazio region was a typical remote Empire town. It was believed to have suffered the same fate as so many...
The “oldest saddle of its kind” in the form of a wooden frame with iron stirrups has been found preserved in an ancient tomb in Mongolia. Archaeologists employed radiocarbon dating to analyze the...
The winter solstice marks the shortest day and longest night of the annual cycle centered around 21st December; a turning point of the year venerated by ancient cultures worldwide. Accurately built...
In the province of Cañete, Peru, archaeologists have unearthed Inca stone quarries and a previously unknown road network at Cerros de Quilmaná and Cerro Quinta Freno. These quarries played a crucial...
Despite the Roman Empire's extensive military and cultural influence on the nearby Balkan peninsula, a DNA analysis of individuals who lived in the region between 1 and 1000 AD found no genetic...
The world's oldest fortress has been discovered in Siberia, dating to 8,000 years ago. This defensive complex reveals an ancient class structure, and like Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, it challenges...
Archaeologists searching through excavated rubble at the site where Pompeii once stood in southern Italy recently discovered the remains of a small, cramped room with unique characteristics and a...
On December 5, 2023, a major archaeological discovery was made in the Wulong District of Chongqing Municipality, located in Southwest China. A tomb dating back to the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25...
A team of archaeologists has deciphered the hidden Neolithic building dynamics within Spain’s 5,700-years-old Menga dolmen . Not only were sophisticated engineering and building methodologies...
An amateur treasure hunter has made a remarkable find, unearthing five Bronze Age axe heads in near-perfect condition. The artifacts date from 1700 to 1300 BC, are believed to potentially link to a...
In 2016 the remains of a fascinating pyramid-shaped monument were discovered in the windswept and largely deserted Karaganda region of central Kazakhstan . This five-layered stepped structure was...
A recent study has investigated skeletal remains of 36 individual baboons spanning various age groups, dated from 800 to 500 BC, in ancient Egypt. The findings suggest that baboons were intentionally...
Over the past few weeks major news outlets have written about the recovery of a chunk of volcanic glass from a “Neolithic shipwreck,” of the coast of Italy. What you need to know, is that it was not...
During ongoing excavations in the ancient city of Prusias ad Hypium in Turkey, archaeologists have uncovered a beautiful mosaic featuring a duo of lions. The excavation team, operating above the...
A group of amateur historical sleuths have spent the best part of the last decade searching the English countryside for a long-lost Tudor palace, that was famously visited by Henry VIII. Now they...