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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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The bone, black henbane seeds and tar plug used to keep it sealed. Source: BIAC Consult

For Pain or Pleasure? Poisonous Plant Henbane Used by the Romans

While digging at the site of a rural, first-century AD Roman settlement in Houten-Castellum in the Netherlands, archaeologists uncovered a most unusual artifact. Inside a hollowed-out animal bone,...
Cannabis in China has a long history, the longest in the world, and its flowers and seeds were used for stimulation and nutrition, respectively.		Source: Aleksandr / Adobe Stock

Evidence Of Cannabis Consumption Found In Tang Warrior’s Tomb

Archaeologists in China have discovered a 1,300-year-old tomb containing big cannabis seeds that are unlike any of today’s strains. A new study has revealed that cannabis in China was not only grown...
The ancient New Mexico footprints found at White Sands National Park, which could be dated because the footprints were embedded with native plant seeds. 		Source: Bennett et al. / Science

23,000-Year-Old Human Footprints Found In New Mexico Are Revolutionary

Multiple patches of human footprints found alongside a long-vanished Ice Age lake in New Mexico have finally been dated, many years after they were first discovered. Scientists used radiocarbon...
The ancient Judean date palm tree has been resurrected

The Judean Date Palm: Extinct Tree Resurrected from Ancient Seeds

For thousands of years, the date palm was a staple crop. In the Kingdom of Judea it was a source of food, shelter, medicine, and shade. But the plant went extinct due to waves of conquest and...
Resurrected Judean date palm in Israel

Extinct Tree Resurrected from Ancient Seeds is now a Dad

Ten years since the Judean Date Palm was miraculously brought back to life following the chance discovery of seeds in the 2,000-year-old ruins of Masada, the male date palm tree named Methuselah, the...
Reborn ancient palm tree saplings    . Source: Guy Eisner / Sciencemag.

Fabled Palm Trees Reborn From Ancient Seeds In Israel

In Israel, researchers have managed to cultivate palm trees from seeds that date back to the ancient world. They were able to grow palm saplings that are similar to those once grown in ancient Judea...
Grape DNA sources around Europe had been connected with ancient Roman seeds.    Source: Grecaud Paul / Adobe Stock

French Wine With a Hint of Rome Revealed By Ancient Grape DNA

Seeds of grapes used in the production of wine, found in archaeological sites across Europe, have been genetically tested and tell a story of continuity from ancient Rome until this very day. It...
Ancient Seeds - Kabocha Squash Seeds

Quest to find Ancient Seeds and bring them to Life before they are lost to History

The drive to bring extinct animal species back from the dead, such as the wooly mammoth or saber-toothed tiger, is picking up speed as genetics and biotechnology science advances. But animals are not...
Could Frozen Seeds Save the Future? Scientists Bring a 32,000-year-old Seed Back to Life

Could Frozen Seeds Save the Future? Scientists Bring a 32,000-year-old Seed Back to Life

Far away on the remote island of Spitsbergen in the Artic Svalbard archipelago lies humanity’s fail-safe storage of seeds. With the threat of natural and man-made disasters looming in the future, the...
A rebel fighter in Aleppo’s Al-Ezaa neighborhood. Credit: Hosom Katan

Priceless Ancient Seed Bank Saved from Destruction in Syria

An amazing collection of ancient seeds, some up to 10,000 years old, was saved from harm and destruction in Syria after a group of scientists in Aleppo managed to smuggle their valuable stockpile out...
2,800-Year-Old Seeds Retrieved from Ancient Castle in Turkey to be Brought Back to Life

2,800-Year-Old Seeds Retrieved from Ancient Castle in Turkey to be Brought Back to Life

In 2014, archaeologists discovered ceramic containers used for cereal storage dating back 2,800 years in Cuvustepe Castle in Turkey. Incredibly, some preserved sesame and wheat seeds remained inside...
A fine wool textile dyed red and blue, found at Timna. The textile used the various colors of natural animal hair to create black and orange-brown colors for decorative bands.

Rare Artifacts in Timna Mine Provide New Insight on the Edomites

A team of archaeologists has discovered a collection of textiles of diverse dye colors and designs about 3,000 years old in an Edomite tin mine in Israel. Textiles this old are rare because they are...
The squash in this photo had not been grown for hundreds of years. Native Americans revived it after finding seeds in a pot 800 years old.

Native Americans Revived Squash From 800-Year-Old Seeds

Some Native Americans found squash seeds in a pot about 800 years old and revived the plant for the first time in centuries. The seeds from the large, bright orange squash have been distributed to...