Ancient Origins presents how human origins are explained through three different perspectives: a) science and scientific evidence, b) religions and creation stories and c) folklore and mythology.
Homo sapiens represents the last of a long line of hominins that once consisted of five different species spanning four continents. Today, we are the last humans, that is, the last of the genus Homo...
The myth of the underworld, much like the myth of the lost paradise and the worldwide deluge, is a universal one. Cultures from all across the world, past and present, widely separated and with...
Since 2015 a visionary geneticist in Boston, Professor George Church of Harvard Medical School, has been at the forefront of a scientific endeavor that challenges the boundaries of possibility. He...
Ancient humans inter-breeding with extinct Denisovans have created a genetic make-up and subsequent adaptations that have left many of us predisposed to certain mental health issues like depression,...
Throughout the long ages of our collective history, gods and goddesses have been revered, worshiped, and feared . Ancient mythologies from around the world are rife with deities who instilled awe and...
Believe it or not, the Christmas holiday season is fast approaching, when homes will be adorned with twinkling lights and the spirit of giving fills the air. A timeless narrative unfolds—one that has...
Neanderthals have been recognized as a species distinct from modern humans for quite some time. But if a trio of researchers from universities in Portugal, Italy and Spain get their way, this...
While Neanderthals went extinct approximately 40,000 years ago, they left a legacy hidden inside the genetic codes of humans, in the form of traces of their Neanderthal DNA. Even though Neanderthals...
A groundbreaking study has shattered the conventional timeline of human-Neanderthal interactions. The prevailing belief was that Homo sapiens ancestors first mingled with Neanderthals in Eurasia...
The world's first known flood myth can be traced back to the Sumerians around 2000 BC. Sumerian tablets recount captivating tales of human beginnings, the creation of mankind, and the profound...
In 1914, a Swiss amateur archaeologist, Ernest Roulin, approached the Museum of Science and Art in Ireland with an incredibly rare discovery – two ancient amulets made from fragments of human cranium...
Unearth the mysterious Denisovans, a human-like species coexisting with Neanderthals in Asia during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic eras. Only recently discovered in Siberia's Denisova Cave in 2008...
Around 300,000 years ago, before humans roamed the Earth, another species known as Neanderthals inhabited much of Eurasia. Their name comes from the Neander Valley in Germany, where the first remains...
In the world of groundbreaking discoveries, the revelation that Homo naledi practiced burial rituals and employed symbols for communication stands as a potent reminder that our understanding of our...
In the dense wilderness of Brazil's Piauí state, archaeologists are unraveling a profound narrative about human history in the Americas. The prevailing belief that humans arrived about 13,000 years...
Who hasn’t heard of the legendary Renaissance era polymath, astronomer, physicist and engineer, who was declared a heretic by the Catholic Church - Galileo Galilei? The Italian’s defiance towards...
Utilizing advanced techniques, scientists have delved into the genetic code of our Neanderthal ancestors. Extracting DNA from 400,000-year-old Neanderthal bones in Spain, they've achieved a high-...
Modern humans first left Africa and migrated to Eurasia between 60,000 and 100,000 years ago . But a fossilized skeleton with surprisingly human-like characteristics found in central Turkey suggests...
The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in southern India is an exceptional record of history, offering a window into the past that extends across 700 years. The temple's striking exterior is a melange of...
Approximately one million years ago, the Earth was populated by a few hundred thousand or so ancient human ancestors. But about 900,000 years ago there was a sudden and dramatic crash in this...
At Shanidar Cave in the Zagros Mountains of the Kurdish region of Iraq, excavations in the 1950s unearthed the remains of a Neanderthal who had apparently been placed on a bed of flowers after his...
On July 10, 1834, William Beswick excavated a barrow on his land in Gristhorpe, North Yorkshire, England. What he found gave him quite the surprise. Beswick discovered a coffin in the shape of a...
In the distant past, the world around us looked completely different in many ways. One notable aspect that changed is forestation. Once covered in lush forests, much of the world around us is now...
It has been 5 years since the unearthing of Denny , a 90,000-year-old fossil specimen that had a Denisovan father and a Neanderthal mother. This find served as proof that interbreeding was quite...
