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Ancient-Origins Ancient-Origins

This is the Ancient Origins team, and here is our mission: “To inspire open-minded learning about our past for the betterment of our future through the sharing of research, education, and knowledge”.

At Ancient Origins we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exists countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained .

Our goal is to highlight the very latest archaeological findings, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe.

We’re the only Pop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives.

By bringing together top experts and authors, we explore lost civilizations, examine sacred writings, tour ancient places, and question mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings.

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Example of a small farm on a river island in the Amazon in Brazil. 10,000 years ago people made forest islands by domesticating plants in the Amazon. Source: Silvio /Adobe Stock

Earliest Amazon Inhabitants Created Thousands of 'Forest Islands'

The earliest human inhabitants of the Amazon created thousands of artificial forest islands as they tamed wild plants to grow food, a new study shows. The discovery of the mounds is the latest...
Ectocranial view of the brain surgery of paleopathological specimen: a) red arrow points to orifice on the mastoid process, and b) surgical preparation dimensions peripheral to trephination.         Source: Anagnostis P. Agelarakis / Adelphi University

Researchers Reveal Early Complex Brain Surgery in Ancient Greece

New research from Adelphi University has revealed the first forensically-assessed archaeological discovery of remains of a group of domineering mounted archer-lancers and their kin of the Eastern...
Reconstruction of the West Antarctic Turonian–Santonian temperate rainforest. The painting is based on palaeofloral and environmental information inferred from palynological, geochemical, sedimentological and organic biomarker data obtained from cores 9R and 10R at site PS104_20-2. T            Source: Alfred-Wegener-Institut/J. McKay / CC BY 4.0

Traces of Rainforest in Antarctica Point to a Warmer Prehistoric World

Researchers have found evidence of rainforests near the South Pole 90 million years ago, suggesting the climate was exceptionally warm at the time. A team from the UK and Germany discovered forest...
Medieval Anchorites Were Experts at Self-Isolation, And They Give This Advice

Medieval Anchorites Were Experts at Self-Isolation, And They Give This Advice

The pandemic of COVID-19 is often called “unprecedented” – and for many people cooped up in their homes in different countries, the experience is both unparalleled and challenging. But in late-...
An artist's rendering of the ancient wormlike creature called Ikaria wariootia. Source: Sohail Wasif/UCR

Rice-Sized Ancient Worms are the Ancestors of All Animals

Geologists have discovered the first ancestor on the family tree that contains most animals today, including humans. The ancient worm-like creature , Ikaria wariootia , is the earliest bilaterian, or...
Study from international team of researchers shows introduced hippos in Colombia can restore a lost world. Left: Mugshot of Pablo Escobar. Right: A representation of hippo in a river.       Source: Left; Colombian National Police / Public domain, Right; Carl / Adobe stock

Could Pablo Escobar’s Hippos in Colombia Restore a Lost World?

University of Massachusetts A study from an international team of researchers including UMass Amherst biologist John Rowan shows introduced species (e.g. hippos in Colombia) can restore a lost world...
Representation of ancient Greece stoning the vulnerable. Source: Alonso de Mendoza / Public Domain.

Ancient Greeks Purged City-States of Disease and the Most Vulnerable

Meghan Henning & Candida Moss / The Conversation With the spread of the coronavirus , the world is becoming pointedly aware of the extent to which human beings are interconnected. The rapid...
Left: Modern man wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus.

What Can the Plague of Athens Teach Us About Today’s Coronavirus?

The coronavirus is concentrating our minds on the fragility of human existence in the face of a deadly disease. Words like ‘epidemic’ and ‘ pandemic ’ (and ‘panic’!) have become part of our daily...
Radiocarbon dating needs fine-tuning if scientists and archaeologists want a more accurate historical timeline. Source: Elnur /Adobe Stock

Fine-Tuning Radiocarbon Dating Will Rewrite History!

Radiocarbon dating, invented in the late 1940s and improved ever since to provide more precise measurements, is the standard method for determining the dates of artifacts in archaeology and other...
The study of trade with the Iroquoian in the Mohawk Valley has revealed a new timeline of the area. Source: daniel / Adobe Stock.

Maize, Not Metal, Key to New York Iroquoian Settlements' History

New Cornell University research is producing a more accurate historical timeline for the occupation of Native American sites in upstate New York, based on radiocarbon dating of organic materials and...
New Science Reveals Secrets to Pueblo Bonito’s Enigmatic Tree

New Science Reveals Secrets to Pueblo Bonito’s Enigmatic Tree

A majestic ponderosa pine, standing tall in what is widely thought to have been the "center of the world" for the Ancestral Puebloan people, may have more mundane origins than previously believed,...
The fins of this fish played a role in the origins of the human hand. Source: Katrina Kenny, Author provided

This Ancient Four-Limbed Fish Reveals the Origins of the Human Hand

By John Long & Richard Cloutier / The Conversation One of the most significant events in the history of life was when fish evolved into tetrapods , crawling out of the water and eventually...
Little Foot’s skull, with the arrow on the right-hand image indicating the specimen’s atlas.      Source: R.J. Clarke/Author supplied

Little Foot’s Skeleton Adds To Human Evolution Story

Amélie Beaudet / The Conversation In his book Wonderful Life , Professor Stephen Jay Gould – an evolutionary biologist, paleontologist and widely-read popular science author – described the evolution...
The pocket-sized Ice Age artwork with an eye-like sunburst resembles a simple drawing of a sun. Source: Andrew Thomson, Author provided

Tiny Ice Age Art from Indonesia Confirms Humanity’s Creative Drive

By Michelle Langley , Adam Brumm , Adhi Oktaviana & Basran Burhan / The Conversation Archaeologists have unearthed two miniature stone engravings in Indonesia. These depict an anoa (dwarf buffalo...
ap of the Maya Kingdom, Sak Tz'i, unearthed in Mexico.     Source: Charles Golden / Brandeis University

Long Lost Maya Kingdom Unearthed On Mexican Cattle Ranch

By Lawrence Goodman / Brandeis University Associate professor of anthropology Charles Golden and his colleagues have found the long-lost capital of an ancient Maya kingdom in the backyard of a...
Amber holds the secret to the tiny world of the age of dinosaurs.  Source: Xing Lida, CC BY-ND / The Conversation

This Tiny Predator Existed Alongside the Giant Dinosaurs

By Lars Schmitz & Jingmai Kathleen O'Connor / The Conversation In 2016, our colleague Xing Lida held up a small piece of polished, deeply yellow amber. As sunlight shone through the ancient resin...

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