All  

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ Mobile

Latest News

All the latest news on finds, advancements, and research in archaeology and ancient history, from the No 1 Ancient History website in the world

News

Napoleon Bonaparte before the Sphinx, (circa 1868) by Jean-Léon Gérôme, Hearst Castle.

Napoleon’s Amazing Foresight: Savants, Soldiers and Science

In 1798 the French general, Napoleon Bonaparte, led an expedition to Egypt vowing to annex the country and halt the military and commercial march of the British. But a little over three years later,...
A diprotodon (Peter Trusler) in the Australian outback.

Diprotodon: The Massive Marsupial that Roamed Australia 5.3 Million Years Ago

Today, Australia contains many wild and wondrous animals, and not much has changed over the past millions of years. The diprotodon is an animal that roamed Australia 5.3 million years ago. It was the...
General Tom Thumb

'The Wee-est Little Man That Ever There Was': Who Was the Real Tom Thumb?

General Tom Thumb (or simply Tom Thumb) was the stage name of Charles Sherwood Stratton, a circus performer who lived during the 19th century. The name adopted by Stratton is an obvious reference to...
John Michael Baillie-Hamilton Buchanan, the new Chief of Clan Buchanan.

After Life-Long Search, Detective Finds Lost Chief of Scottish Clan: ‘The Buchanan’ is its First Chief in 337 Years

After over three centuries without ancestral leadership, the Clan Buchanan welcomes John Michael Baillie-Hamilton Buchanan, 60, who owns Cambusmore Estate near Callander, as the official head of the...
‘Crossing the River Styx’ (circa 1520-1524) by Joachim Patinir. Many ancient people imagined the edges of the earth as strange and magical places.

What Did Ancient Civilizations Believe Lay at The Edges of the Earth?

The first civilizations didn’t have satellites in the sky, mapping every inch of the world in real time. They only knew the parts of the world they’d seen. Everything beyond that, they had to imagine...
Tiddis, Constantine Algeria

Ruined City of Tiddis Attests to The Power of Rome In North Africa

There are many important Roman ruins in Algeria. One of the least well-known is Tiddis, which is located in the northwest of the country, in the province of Constantine. It is situated on a mountain...

Thousands of Artifacts Emerge from Lost Ancient Viking City of Sea-Masters

As the world awaits the second half of season five of History Channel’s epic show Vikings , which will premiere on November 28, 2018, archaeologists in Ribe, Denmark have been excavating a real life...
Giant elephant birds, once the largest birds in the world, may have coexisted with people for millennia.

Humans were Hunting the Largest Bird in the World on Madagascar 10,500 Years Ago

Analysis of elephant bird bones, once the largest bird in the world, has revealed that humans arrived on the tropical island of Madagascar more than 6,000 years earlier than previously thought. They...
Life-size Dorset masks. (500-1000 AD) The masks were carved from driftwood and painted. They also once had fur moustaches and eyebrows attached with pegs. Scholars believe that the masks were probably used by shamans in rituals to cure illness, control the weather, or to aid in hunts.

Preserved in Legends and Ice: What Led to the Extinction of the Dorset Culture?

Before the Inuit’s ancestors conquered the Arctic region of what we now call Canada and Greenland, there is evidence of another remarkable Paleo-Eskimo culture– the Dorset. Soon after the arrival of...
Joseph Erb’s painting “Petition” recalls the role of creation figures as observers in the transcription of Cherokee Indian history.

Strength, Unity, and Pride: Cherokee Indians Triumphed Over Adversity

The story of the Native American Cherokee tribes is a sad one. But in the end the Cherokee found a way to survive after being decimated by war and disease and being forced to live far from their...
Arcus Argentariorum, Rome.

Arch Enemies: Family Feuds and Damnatio Memoriae on Rome’s Arcus Argentariorum

In the Eternal City every monument tells a story. The Colosseum, funded from the sack of Jerusalem, stands as a potent symbol of Rome’s imperial might and, to many, its savagery. The architecturally...
One of the access shafts which dive into the subterranean network under the Giza Plateau.

Hidden Underworld of the Giza Plateau is Finally Brought to Light

By Kathy J. Forti A vast network of underground chambers and water tunnels have been discovered beneath several of the world’s most well-known pyramids, including the Great Pyramid on Egypt’s Giza...
List of Musical Instruments in Sumerian Cuneiform

Translating Archaic Sumerian Cuneiform: Pinpointing Eden, or Kharsag, Garden of the Gods

Translating cuneiform as a historical source is still nowhere near an exact science, and what we find amongst so many specialists is a reliance on interpretations of the latest Akkadian versions of...
Oldest brewery with traces of oldest beer found in Israel.

Nomads Set Up the World’s Oldest Brewery in Israel 13,000-years-ago

A new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports suggests beer brewing practices existed in the Eastern Mediterranean over five millennia before the earliest known evidence,...
‘The Unicorn is Found’ in one of the Unicorn Tapestries in Stirling Castle. Medieval science fiction had a convergence of science, technology and the imagination

Medieval Science Fiction Existed – Here’s What it Looked Like

Carl Kears & James Paz / The Conversation Science fiction may seem resolutely modern, but the genre could actually be considered hundreds of years old. There are the alien green “ children of...
This puma skull was amongst the many animal bones at the Motmot burial of a young Maya woman who sat cross-legged in her tomb.

Crocodilian Teeth, Stingray Spines and Puma Skulls All Discovered in One Ancient Maya Royal Tomb

A monumental Maya royal tomb has been explored in the ancient Maya city of Copán, in the Copán Valley of modern-day Honduras, containing the reminds of elusive jungle predators including crocodile...
Shore Temple. Mahabalipuram, India.

The Quest for the Mythical Submerged Temples of Mahabalipuram

Mahabalipuram is an ancient city located in the Kancheepuram district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Historically speaking, Mahabalipuram was once part of the Pallava Dynasty, a Tamil...
The mummified head of Jeremy Bentham

The Quest For The Golden Rings Of An Eccentric Mummified Philosopher

Scientists are calling out for help as they try to solve the mystery of 20 missing gold rings issued upon the death of an eccentric 19th century English philosopher, just before he was mummified and...
pache Indian tribes were known as good fighters and strategists. Some fought the encroachment of Europeans onto their lands, and others tried to get along with them. They did not have horses until shortly after the Spanish arrived in Mexico in the 1500s, but once they adopted them they became great horsemen.

At Peace or in War, the Apache Indian Tribes Have Been a Proud People

The Apache Indian tribes believed in a time when there were many birds, beasts and monsters but no sun. The night showed no stars nor moon. The world existed in darkness. It was too dangerous for all...
Ancient Maya obsidian arrowhead

Human Blood Found on Ancient Maya Arrowheads, Bloodletting Rituals to Feed Life Force to the Gods

Five hundred years ago at a remote temple in Guatemala, sacrificial blood was spilled during cutting ceremonies using razor-sharp obsidian arrowheads. Archaeologists say this ritual was done to feed...
A Blombos Cave with ochre pencil on silcrete stone thought to be the earliest drawing.

Discovery of the Earliest Drawing – By at Least 30,000 years

What is a symbol? This is a tough question to answer when tasked with analyzing the earliest graphic productions. What we might today interpret as figurative representations might just be an ancient...
Lisht Middle Kingdom necropolis area.

800 Ancient Egyptian Tombs Discovered at Middle Kingdom Necropolis

The Ministry of Antiquities and the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt have announced the discovery of over 800 ancient tombs, including some completely new finds. The newly found tombs are in a...
Forgotten Kings and Queens: The Lost Gypsy Dynasty of Scotland

Forgotten Kings and Queens: The Lost Gypsy Dynasty of Scotland

We have all heard of Scotland’s legendary 14th century King Robert the Bruce and the powerful Stewart dynasty of the 16th and 17th centuries; these two families dominate Scottish history. But did you...
Otzi reconstructed

Evidence From Ötzi Tells Us He Came From a Caring Bunch Who Dabbled in Medicine

There has long been speculation about the purpose of the tattoos on the body of Ötzi the Iceman, a 5,300-year-old mummy, who was discovered by some German tourists in the Oetz Valley, Austria, in...

Pages