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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.

Tiny bible (representational image). Source: Kevin Carden / Adobe Stock

Miniature Bible the Size of a Coin Found in UK Library Storage

A miniature Bible surfaced in the vast Leeds library during lockdown. The tiny holy book includes both old and new testaments and was printed on 876 stamp-sized pages. However, nobody knows where...
A controversial redevelopment plan could cause irreversible damage to the Old City of Jerusalem. Source: Horváth Botond / Adobe Stock

One-Kilometer Zip Line Over Historic Old City in Jerusalem Causes Outrage

In a surprising new move, a one kilometer zip line and cable car have been approved in Jerusalem to take tourists over the historical Old City, causing outrage in some circles. The ambitious urban...
Excavated walls of the Aztec house, and one of the funerary vessels.	Source: INAH

Aztec House and Floating Gardens Discovered Under Mexico City

Archaeologists performing excavations in Mexico City’s Centro neighborhood dug up more than they bargained for when they uncovered the hidden ruins of an ancient Aztec dwelling, which had apparently...
The 6th Dynasty clerk’s tomb was found near the dry moat of the Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, shown here. 	Source: JUAN CARLOS MUNOZ / Adobe Stock

3,500-Year-Old Keeper Of ‘Royal Secrets’ Tomb Discovered In Egypt

A magnificent tomb has been discovered in Egypt belonging to a ‘keeper of royal secrets.’ This highly-trusted man served two ancient pharaohs of the 6th Dynasty, and successfully navigated the...
: Left; This sturdy mudbrick tower house overlooking the Nile River, found along with the 85 new Egyptian tombs. Right; Funerary permits for the graves found at the site.		Source: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities

Discovered: 85 Egyptian Tombs, Spanning More Than 2,500 Years!

The latest excavations in Egypt’s southern province of Sohag have led to the discovery of 85 new Egyptian tombs that date back far into antiquity, Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities just...
Vintage goods store owner, Laura Young, with the Roman bust.	Source: Laura Young / MySanantonio

Looted Ancient Roman Bust Found In Texas Thrift Shop

A 52 pound, 1st-century Roman marble bust turned up in a Texas store. Having been sold to a local woman for $34.99, the ancient artifact will now be returned to Germany. In 2018, Laura Young, the...
A cat mummy on display at Aksaray Museum. 	Source: IHA/ Daily Sabah

1000-year-old Cat and Baby Mummies on Display in Turkey’s Aksaray Museum

The museum at Aksaray, the gateway of Turkey’s Cappadocia region to the West, holds a very special mummy section that displays as many as 13 local mummies to interested visitors. Astonishingly, apart...
In a first for ancient Anatolia, archaeologists found this stone sarcophagus belonging to the elite bodyguard Tziampo, which was inscribed in Latin with the title “Emperor’s Protector.”		Source: TRT

Emperor’s Protector Sarcophagus Is A First For Anatolia

Representing a national first, an ancient sarcophagus bearing the title “Emperor’s Protector” has been unearthed in western Turkey (ancient Anatolia). Furthermore, it's also the first time the...
Thousands of years of oysters and oyster farming by the indigenous peoples of Chesapeake Bay lay hidden in this coastal oyster shell layer. A recent study on oyster farming by indigenous peoples in Australia and North America is supplying new insights for managing highly degraded modern oyster beds.	Source: Torben Rick / Smithsonian

Ancient Australians and Americans Ate Billions of Oysters Over Millennia

Precolonial indigenous communities in Australia and North America harvested and gorged on vast quantities of oysters. Yet, this copious consumption did not cause oyster populations to crash and...
Anthropomorph in regalia (1.81 meters or 5.9 feet high) from 19th Unnamed Cave, which is now the largest Native American cave art site in southeastern North America.		Source: Photograph by S. Alvarez; illustration by J. Simek / Antiquity Publications Ltd.

The Largest Native American Cave Art Site in SE North America Emerges!

The 19th Unnamed Cave in Alabama, first discovered in 1998 in the southeastern US state, was anonymized to keep it safe from the prying eyes of the larger public. It has now turned out to be the...
A closeup of the Blackboy statue in Stroud, England that may or may not be removed because it relates to English colonialism and racism.	Source: Brian Robert Marshall / Blackboy, Blackboy's School building, Stroud

Controversial Blackboy Statue Set for Removal

After more than a year-and-a-half of study and contemplation, the District Council that governs Stroud, Gloucestershire, England has voted to seek the removal of a controversial statue from its perch...
Researcher Li Nan, from Peking University, pictured with her team, holding the foot amputation evidence that was subjected to biomedical analysis. Source: South China Morning Post

Punishment: 3000-year-old Chinese Foot Amputation May Be Oldest Ever!

Researchers in China believe a skeleton found in a tomb in the northwest of the country is the earliest known example of foot amputation as punishment for a crime, reports the South China Morning...
The Chiapas cave sacrifice scene, where about 150 toothless skulls were found, as it was discovered in 2012.		Source: INAH

150 Toothless Skulls in Mexico ‘Crime Scene’ Cave are Ancient Sacrifice Victims

In 2012, a citizen alert brought the Mexican police to a cave on the Guatemalan border where a horrific cave sacrifice scene met their eyes. Some 150 skulls and other human skeletal remains lay piled...
View of Stonehenge landscape at sunrise. Source: valeryegorov / Adobe Stock

Pre-Stonehenge Landscape Was Perfect for Hunter-Gatherers, Study Shows

A new study by a team of scientists from the Geography and Environmental Sciences Department at the University of Southampton has revealed the truth about what the land around Stonehenge was like...
In the heart of Mithaka Country, in Queensland's Channel Country, traditional owners and archaeologists have unearthed what researchers have dubbed "Australia's Silk Road," dating back at least 2,100 years. The area's industrial-sized sandstone quarry sites are, to the best of the researchers' knowledge, the largest in the southern hemisphere, putting the trade systems of Australia's Aboriginals on a world scale.

Mithaka: Heart of Australia’s 2,100-year-old Aboriginal Silk Road

More than 2,100 years ago, Australia’s Aboriginal Mithaka people were likely domesticating plants and quarrying stones on an industrial scale to make seed-grinding implements. The Mithaka stone...
Stone Age friendship rings found in Finland, made from slate in Russia, broken or refashioned into pendants.	Source: Marja Ahola / University of Helsinki

Slate Stone Age ‘Friendship Rings’ Found in Finland

According to the latest research, Stone Age hunter-gatherers in northeast Europe expertly crafted slate friendship rings some 6,000 years ago. These were produced in copious numbers by many makers in...
The Borgund Viking village museum basement has drawers upon drawers with remains of textiles from perhaps a thousand years ago. They can tell us more about what kind of clothes people in Norway wore during the Viking Age and the Middle Ages.	Source: Bård Amundsen / sciencenorway.no

‘Lost’ Viking Village Artifacts Emerge From Norwegian Basement Archive

It isn’t rare for a once prosperous medieval town to be abandoned and slowly get side-lined in the annals of history. Nothing exemplifies this statement better than the lost Viking village of Borgund...
A fragment of the sphero-conical vessel that was identified as containing a possibly explosive material to make an ancient hand grenade.	Source: Robert Mason, Royal Ontario Museum. Griffith University

Crusaders Were Attacked With These Ancient Hand Grenades in Jerusalem

Archaeologists have for a long time unearthed clay pots in medieval Jerusalem. But now, a new study shows that some of them were likely ‘ancient hand grenades’. Residues sampled from inside a...
The Goddess Anat head recently discovered by a farmer in the Gaza Strip.	Source: WAFA

4500-year-old Limestone Head of Canaanite Goddess Anat Found in Gaza

While cultivating his fields in the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip, a farmer discovered a rare 4500-year-old sculpture, according to the WAFA News Agency . The stone head was found...
Archaeologists excavating a large, engraved granite block at the Zeus Kasios temple at Tell el-Farma, Egypt.	Source: Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities

Ancient Zeus Kasios Temple Unearthed In Egypt

Archaeologists in Egypt have excavated a vast temple built by members of the mysterious cult of Zeus Kasios . The Egyptian Tourism and Antiquities Ministry announced on Monday that archaeologists...
The 1,800-Year-Old marble bathtub from Aphrodisias.	Source: Hurriyet Daily News

Rare 1,800-Year-Old Marble Bathtub from Aphrodisias Rescued from Thieves

A raid by Turkish police on March 31, 2022 led to the recovery of a rare and valuable ancient artifact that was about to be sold by smugglers. In Turkey’s western or Aegean province of Aydin , law...
Viking skin or Daneskin and a hinge taken from the door of St. Botolph’s church in Hadstock, near Cambridge, in the UK. A recent study has revealed that all the famous Viking skin doors in England did not use human skin at all, but the myths were too powerful and the science too primitive to prove otherwise.		Source: Saffron Walden Museum

The Truth Behind the Macabre Discovery of “Viking Skin” on Church Doors

For centuries, it has been believed that the large piece of skin nailed to the door of St Botolph’s church in Hadstock near Cambridge in England was human skin that belonged to a Viking raider who...
In the Middle Ages, medieval aphrodisiacs were a very important tool to ensure that husbands had enough lust to actually make love and male heirs.						Source: Giovannino de' Grassi / Public domain

Medieval Aphrodisiacs: Body Scented Bread Dough!

People in Europe in the Middle Ages boosted libidinal sexual intimacy through the use of medieval aphrodisiacs, some of which are truly bizarre. Dr. Eleanor Janega, a medieval historian based in...
Reconstruction of a Viking ship burial. YouTube Screenshot / Norwegian Sci-Tech News

Elite Viking Burial Boat Discovered 30ft Underground in Norway

Archaeologists in Norway have developed, tested, and deployed a new ground-penetrating radar technique. The results of their work include the discovery of a 30 foot (9 meters) long and 5 foot (1.5...

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