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Karl Martin bought the jar at a car-boot sale with another pot for £4, was told of its antiquity by a colleague at the local auctioneers, Hansons.

Car-boot Sale Toothbrush Holder Revealed to be a 4000-year-old Artifact

In Britain there has been a discovery of a piece of pottery from one of the most important civilizations in the ancient world – and it has been serving as a toothbrush holder for a number of years...
A 300 years old scroll bearing a ninjas oath has been discovered in Japan.

300-Year-Old Ninja Master’s Oath Alludes To The Secrets Of The Masked Deadly Assassins

Historical researchers in Japan have uncovered a rare, three centuries-old, ‘Ninja Oath’ in which one of the famed ancient warriors pledged “never to divulge the secrets” of spying, sabotage and the...
Tiresias transformed into a woman by Pietro della Vecchia (1626 – 1678)

Tiresias, Blinded by the Gods and Blessed with Second Sight

According to Greek mythology, Tiresias, the blind prophet of Apollo, was well-known as much for his clairvoyance as for being transformed into a woman for seven years. He was present for seven...
Coronation of Louis the Pious as King of Aquitaine.

The Troubled Reign of Louis the Pious, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire

Louis I (byname the Pious, the Fair, or the Debonair) was a King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor belonging to the Carolingian Dynasty. He lived between the 8 th and 9 th centuries AD and reigned...
Kom Ombo Temple

Kom Ombo: An Egyptian Temple Dedicated to Two Rival Gods

Kom Ombo (meaning the ‘Mound of Ombo’) is an ancient Egyptian town located in what is today the Aswan Governorate of Upper Egypt, about 50 km (31 miles) to the north of Aswan. Kom Ombo is notable...
The natural beauty of Samoa. The Falemauga Caves offer insight into Samoan prehistory and archaeology.

Falemauga Caves Provide Unprecedented Insight into Ancient Samoan History

Samoa is located in the South Pacific and is famed for its beautiful beaches and its tropical forests. However there are also many natural wonders in Samoa, including many remarkable volcanic craters...
‘The Birth of the Milky Way’ (1636-1637) by Peter Paul Rubens.

Breastfeeding Beliefs: From Invincibility to Universal Creation

Breastfeeding is an infant feeding practice in which a child is fed breast milk directly from breast to mouth. Breastfeeding could be performed by the mother herself or by a wet nurse. Evidence of...
An Oldowan stone tool core freshly excavated at Ain Boucherit, Algeria.

Stone Tools Found in Algeria Provide Evidence Human Origins Were Spread Throughout Africa

A collection of prehistoric stone tools and butchered animal bones was discovered in 1992 at the Ain Boucherit archaeological site on the north-eastern high Algerian plateau have now been dated to 2...
Early hominids processing game with stone tools. Diorama at the Nairobi National Museum.

Resourceful and Intelligent, Unidentified Hominins Flourished in Arabia Using “Old School” Stone Tools

Beginning more than 1.5 million years ago, early humans made stone handaxes in a style known as the Acheulean - the longest lasting tool-making tradition in prehistory. New research led by the Max...
Illustration of a machi healing a patient, from ‘Atlas of Physical and Political History of Chile’ (‘Atlas de la historia física y política de Chile’), by Claudio Gay. A machi is a Chilean traditional healer. Since ancient times, tobacco has been a popular substance used in shamanic practices in Chile.

Lethal Effects of Ancient Tobacco Consumption Identified in the Miscarried Baby of a Shamaness

2,400 years ago a shamaness suffered a miscarriage. The remains of that baby were found in a rock shelter in Northern Chile and have the earliest known traces of ancient tobacco found in biological...
Sunset Ayers Rock Australian Outback Uluru

Ancient Australian Song-lines and the Method of Loci

Indigenous Australian cultures held animistic beliefs and their everyday reality was a living, pulsing matrix of mythological cycles, outdoor rituals and ceremonies. Extending across the ancient...
Stained glass image of Pontius Pilot condemning Jesus to death.

A Ring Unearthed 50 Years Ago Likely Belonged To Pontius Pilate Who Condemned Jesus To Death

A bronze ring discovered in an excavation in Israel 50 years ago has been identified as having belonged to the Roman governor of Jerusalem, Pontius Pilate, who according to the New Testament ordered...
This is the huge ‘Chinese Pyramid’ mound of the Maoling Mausoleum of Emperor Wu of Han.

Archeoastronomy Reveals Cosmic Dynastic Divide in Chinese Burial Pyramids

Politecnico di Milano The funerary complex of the first Chinese emperor of the Qin dynasty (3th century BC) is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. This is of course due to the...
One of eight brightly decorated sarcophagi discovered at the Dahshur necropolis, Egypt

Eight Remarkable But Glaringly Out of Place Mummies Found At Dahshur Necropolis

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities have announced a visually stunning find at a well-known archaeological site. Experts have discovered eight limestone sarcophagi with mummified remains in each...
Relief image on the Tablet of Shamash, British Library room 55. Found in Sippar (Tell Abu Habbah), in Ancient Babylonia; it dates from the 9th century BC and shows the sun god Shamash on the throne, in front of the Babylonian king Nabu-apla-iddina (888-855 BC) between two interceding deities. The Babylonian language text tells how the king made a new cultic statue for the god and gave privileges to his temple.

Ancient Babylonian Reborn After Having Been Silenced for 2000 Years

Almost 2,000 years after falling out of use, a Cambridge University linguistics specialist, Dr. Martin Worthington has learned how to speak ancient Babylonian and is not only campaigning to revive it...
9000 year-old mask that was recovered.

Stone Mask from the Dawning of Ancient Societies Found in Israel

The Israel Antiquities Authority has announced the recovery from looters of a very rare Neolithic mask made from stone. The item was originally discovered this year in Hebron, on the West Bank. This...
A Las Vegas culture skull excavated in Loma Atahualpa, Ecuador in 2018 is part of the oldest burials found in the country to date.

Newly Discovered 10,000 Year Old Las Vegas Culture Burials are the Oldest in Ecuador

Las Vegas doesn’t just refer to the ‘city of lights’; for archaeologists in Ecuador Las Vegas also denotes an ancient culture that once thrived on the Pacific coast. But just because a culture is...
Detail of ‘Brawl between soldiers and peasants’ (1565-1570) by the Circle of Marten van Cleve. A new ‘murder map’ shows that Medieval London streets were the backdrop to many murders.

Beaten to Death for Littering with Eel Skins: ‘Murder Map’ Reveals Medieval London’s Meanest Streets

The first digital map of the murders recorded by the city's Coroner in early 1300s shows Cheapside and Cornhill were homicide ‘hot spots’, and Sundays held the highest risk of violent death for...
The richly decorated wooden chair or ‘throne’ of Princess Sitamun that was found in KV46; design by Anand Balaji

Bedazzling Treasures of Yuya and Tjuyu: Stunning Burial on a Par with Royalty – Part II

With their daughter, Tiye, married into the powerful ruling family of Egypt, Yuya and Tjuyu led a charmed life. With strong ties to their hometown Akhmin, Yuya seems to have participated actively in...
Some of the world's oldest cave paintings have revealed people had an ancient, yet advanced, astronomy. Animal symbols represent star constellations in the night sky, and are used to mark dates and events such as comet strikes, analysis from the University of Edinburgh suggests.

Wild Animals in the Sky? Prehistoric Cave Art Suggests Ancient Advanced Astronomy

Some of the world's oldest cave paintings have revealed how ancient people had relatively advanced knowledge of astronomy. The artworks, at sites across Europe, are not simply depictions of wild...
Prison turned government building at KAVHA on Norfolk Island (1825-55).

Kingston and Arthurs Vale Historic Area on Norfolk Island was Hell in Paradise

Australia is famous for its convict settlements and penal colonies. One of the most important and infamous convict settlements was at Norfolk Island in the South Pacific Sea. Today the penal colony...
This is a female burial unearthed at Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Lincolnshire.

Metal Detectorist’s Hoard Leads to Twenty ‘Richly Adorned’ Anglo-Saxon Burials

Archaeologists from the University of Sheffield have uncovered a previously unknown Anglo-Saxon cemetery. Excavations have revealed more than 20 burials at the extraordinary cemetery in the...
A Silures wagon by Anne Leaver.

The Silures Tribe: Rome’s Biggest Headache Hailed from Wales?

The people of Wales are fiercely proud of who they are, where they come from, and above all, their ability to remain a distinct people in the face of conquest. One such tribe in the south of Wales...
The symbol of mythical God Thaumas is the reflective translucence of the sea.

Thaumas and Electra: Unity of the Wonder of the Sea and Sparkling Light Bears Jason’s Tormentors

In Greek mythology, Thaumas is believed to be an ancient sea god and further is regarded to be the personification of the wonders of the sea. Although little is known today about this mysterious sea...

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