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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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A concentration of bone and rock at the Cerutti Mastodon site in California, USA.

Criticisms Mount Against Claim of Hominins in the Americas Over 100,000 Years Ago

A startling claim was made almost a year ago: researchers said that they had evidence of hominins in the Americas at least 100,000 years before most people believed. They called for open-minded...
A Frog underwater with a crown.

An Ambiguous Amphibian: The Everchanging Frog Symbol in World Myth

Frogs and toads played a wide variety of roles in ancient cultures. Although there are some differences, they generally represented female creation energy. Frogs appear in ancient stories, myths,...
A tsunami stone.

Japanese Tsunami Stones: These Centuries-Old Monuments Save Lives Today

Japan is often struck by earthquakes due to its position on the Pacific Ring of Fire. At times, these seismic activities result in tsunamis - a ‘seismic or tidal sea wave’. Although such a deadly...
Externsteine, north-eastern face, across Wiembecke pond.

Worship? Meditation? Sacrifice? What Ancient Ritual Activities Were Held at the Externsteine Sacred Stone Formation?

Externsteine is an unusual sandstone rock formation near Ostwestfalen-Lippe in the northwest of Germany. It is unique among other monolithic sites in Europe because it is a natural formation that has...
A large hand axe found in the Wadi Dadsa.

Ancient Stone Artifacts Could Tell the Story of When Early Humans Spread Out of Africa

A team of archaeologists has announced the discovery of over a thousand stone artifacts, with some of them being up to 1.76 million years old. The discovery took place at Wadi Dabsa, in southwest...
Painting ‘The Stone Age.’

Why are Humans Threatened by the Achievements of Our Hominid Ancestors?

The ancestors of modern humans (Homo sapiens) were not the grunting, drooling, primitive, brutes that you see depicted in cartoons or movies. Decades of research and countless studies have shown that...
The stones can fit in the palm of a hand or pocket. Pictured isone from a 2014 excavation

New Symbolism Noticed on Denmark’s “Sun Stones”

A total of 300 small stones believed to have been engraved with designs almost 5,000 years ago, have been discovered during an archaeological excavation on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic...
Left, A stone piece bearing the painting of a human face and found in Kikonai, Hokkaido (Yoshinori Toyomane) Right. A Sketch of the impression.

4,300-Year-Old First Face Offers a Glimpse of Ancient Japanese Culture

Archaeologists in Japan have discovered what appears to be the first piece of stone painted that depicts a human face dating from the mid-Jomon Pottery Culture (2500–1500 BC). Experts describe the...
Mór Than's painting The Feast of Attila, based on a fragment of Priscus.

Did the Roughly-Hewn Stone Throne at Torcello Really Belong to Attila the Hun?

On the island of Torcello there exists an ancient white chair that local legend names as the throne of Attila the Hun. The chair is large, of solid stone and certainly has the air of unyielding...
The Sayhuite Monolith

Sayhuite Monolith: Can You Solve the Mystery of the 200 Designs Carved by a Forgotten Creator?

Long ago, forgotten artists put their blood, sweat, and possibly even tears into creating more than 200 designs on a monolith in what is now Peru. They carefully engraved the forms of reptiles,...
The engraved whetstone found in Oslo, Norway. Credit: Karen Langsholt Holmqvist/NIKU

Puzzling Medieval Runes Found on Stone in Norway

A rare find of a stone bearing engravings of runes that date back to the Middle Ages has been unearthed recently at an excavation near Oslo. The relic is a whetstone which was a tool used for...
Taq-e Bostan, famous rock relief monument of Sassanid Persia

Histories of the Sassanian Kings Rivalry with the Romans Are Set in Stone at the Taq-e Bostan Monument

Taq-e Bostan (known also as Taq va san) is an archaeological site located in Kermanshah, a western province in Iran. This region is best-known for its numerous monuments dating to the Sassanian...
View from the Miami Circle at Brickell Point Site, from a balcony in a neighboring tower.

What is this Mysterious Ancient Structure Found in Downtown Miami?

Downtown Miami, Florida is the home to a giant circle with hundreds of holes cut into the limestone bedrock. It is uncertain what the mysterious Pre-Columbian circle was made for – was an ancient...
The tiny sealstone depicting warriors in battle measures just 1.4 inches across but contains incredible detail.

Stunning Minoan Gemstone Owned by a Bronze Age Warrior Rewrites the History of Ancient Greek Art

In the more than two years since University of Cincinnati researchers unearthed the 3,500-year-old tomb of a Bronze Age warrior in southwest Greece, an incredible trove of riches has emerged,...
The tombstone is engraved with a cross.

Intriguing Coptic Tombstone Belonging to a Little Girl Discovered in Luxor

A team of archaeologists in Egypt has recently uncovered an ancient Coptic tombstone during the excavation works taking place in the Avenue of Sphinxes. Now archaeologists suggest that the tomb...
‘An alchemist being tempted by Luxuria.’ Oil painting after Marten de Vos.

Spiritual Alchemy – Casting Light on a Secret Science

Spiritual alchemy is closely linked to secret knowledge and many who have attained this level of wisdom later decided to withdraw from it as they found they were not ready to receive it. The purpose...
Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji

Ostraca: Voices from the Place of Truth—An intimate glimpse into New Kingdom Egypt

Athenians meted out harsh punishments to those who fell afoul of prevalent laws or societal norms. If citizens had done something terrible, they ran the risk of being exiled from the city for up to...
Google Earth image of manmade stone structures in Saudi Arabia

Mysterious Manmade Stone Structures Detected in the Remote Landscape of Saudi Arabia

Deep in the heart of Saudi Arabia, 400 peculiar stone structures have been found, dating back thousands of years ago. These stone features were discovered by archaeologists with the use of satellite...
About 200 stone statues from the Middle Ages discovered in the Himalayas

200 Unique Medieval Horsemen Sculptures Found in the Himalayas

A combined Russian-Indian expedition that has been searching the Himalaya Mountain’s area bordering India and Pakistan for the past three years, has discovered 200 “Medieval Stone Horsemen” dating...
The 5,000-year-old toy chariot found in Turkey.

5,000-Year-Old Toy Chariot Unearthed in Child Tomb in Turkey

Archaeologists have unearthed a 5,000-year-old toy chariot and rattle while excavating an ancient city in Turkey. Experts suggest that the recent discovery could shed light on how children in the...
The Chavola of the Sorceress, Dolmen in Alava, Spain

Neolithic Bones Reveal Socio-economic and Cultural Differences are Nothing New For Spain

The researcher Teresa Fernández-Crespo, lead author of this study, had in a previous piece of work found demographic differences between the people buried in dolmens and those buried in caves: while...
The taking of Excalibur by John Duncan

Where did King Arthur Acquire Excalibur, the Stone or the Lake?

Excalibur is a legendary sword found in Arthurian legends, and is arguably one of the most renowned swords in history. This sword was wielded by the legendary King Arthur, and magical properties were...
Detail of the Mycenaean-era tomb’s façade and the dry-stone masonry that sealed the entrance.

Rare Tomb Shows Bronze Age Mycenaean-era Nobleman had a Fondness for Jewelry

After 3,350 years, a Mycenaean-era nobleman’s tomb has been re-entered and his favored possessions have been seen by modern eyes. Archaeologists consider his burial an odd one, with grave goods and...
Representation of a Bronze Age woman in Dartmoor.

New Study Questions Archaic Views on Gender Roles, Showing Women as Cultural Leaders

Saying that someone with archaic views on gender roles lives in the Stone Age may not work anymore. A new study suggests that men and women in Lechtal, Germany during the Stone and Bronze Ages...

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