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Africa

The ‘Elephant Slab’, (left) and sketched markings (right).

The Elephant Slabs of Flora Vista: Enigmatic Artifacts with Ancient African Origins

In Did West Africans live in the Four Corners Region of the United States from 12th Century ? , published in Ancient Origins, I discussed the Mande inscriptions found in the Four Corners region of...
Famous and Powerful Eunuchs of the Ancient World

Famous and Powerful Eunuchs of the Ancient World

A eunuch is a castrated man who was usually forced to undergo such a procedure without consent. This was done so that the person might perform a specific social role such as harem servant, guardian...
Representational image showing trepanation. A trepanated skull of a girl from the Neolithic period (3500 BC); the patient survived. Natural History Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland.

7,000-Year-Old Head Surgery: One of the Oldest Trepanned Skulls Discovered in Sudan

A remarkable discovery was made during excavations in a Neolithic settlement in Omdurman in Sudan – an ancient skeleton with signs of trepanation (drilling a hole in the skull), dating back around 7,...
An artist's impression of Neanderthal life.

Teeth vs. tools: Neanderthals and Homo sapiens had different dietary strategies

Over hundreds of thousands of years, the Neanderthal lineage developed successfully in western Eurasia and survived severe fluctuations between colder and warmer climactic cycles of the Ice Age. The...
Denisovan cave (CC BY-SA 4,0)

Where in the World are our Neanderthal and Denisovan Ancestors?

Most non-Africans possess at least a little bit Neanderthal DNA. But a new map of archaic ancestry--published March 28 in Current Biology--suggests that many bloodlines around the world, particularly...
A. afarensis reconstruction, an adult left ulna of Australopithecus afarensis. Several fossilized teeth have also been found in the Kantis site. Credit: Image courtesy of Kyoto University

Australopithecus Fossils Found East of the Great Rift Valley

New fossils from Kenya suggest that an early hominid species -- Australopithecus afarensis -- lived far eastward beyond the Great Rift Valley and much farther than previously thought. An...
A three-dimensional volume rendering of the Tuli mummy.

Scans and DNA tests reveal the secrets of a rare African mummy

Natasha Joseph / The Conversation He lay alone in a shallow grave at the base of a cliff for hundreds of years. Then, in 2008, patrol staff at a game lodge stumbled across the man’s remains - and he...
Musa depicted holding a gold coin from the 1375 Catalan Atlas.

The Legend of How Mansa Abu Bakr II of Mali Gave up the Throne to Explore the Atlantic Ocean

Mansa (meaning king , emperor or sultan ) Abu Bakr II was a 14th century ruler of the Mali Empire in West Africa. This period of time, i.e. the 14th century, was a time when the Mali Empire had...
A reconstructed Neanderthal skeleton, right, is displayed next to a modern human skeleton at the Museum of Natural History in New York.

Neanderthals Mated with Modern Humans Much Earlier than Previously Thought, Study Finds

Using several different methods of DNA analysis, an international research team has found what they consider to be strong evidence of an interbreeding event between Neanderthals and modern humans...
Goddess Council 4900-4750 BC Neolithic Culture of Cucuteni-Tripolye exposed in Cucuteni Museum of Piatra Neamt

Ancient Ink: How Tattoos Can Reveal Hidden Stories of Past Cultures

The English word tattoo is commonly said to be derived from the Polynesian word tatau or tatu . This Polynesian word means ‘to mark something’. Additionally, this word is an onomatopoeia, and is...
One of the smashed skulls from Lake Nataruk, Kenya.

Earliest War Grave Found with 27 Slain People Dates Back 10,000 Years

The world’s earliest known mass-homicide grave of 27 adults and children shot with arrows and bludgeoned to death about 10,000 years ago has been found west of Lake Nataruk in Kenya. The authors of a...
A family migrating to western US in 1886.

Here’s How Genetics Helped Crack the History of Human Migration

Over the past 25 years, scientists have supported the view that modern humans left Africa around 50,000 years ago, spreading to different parts of the world by replacing resident human species like...
The excavation site

First known colonial building in sub-Saharan Africa, with dark history, revealed to the public

The Cabo Verde islands, situated in the South Atlantic Ocean between Africa and South America, were an important hub in the slave trade. Archaeologists have now revealed to the public a church there...
Ten Stunning Yet Little Known Ancient Treasures Across Africa

Ten Stunning Yet Little Known Ancient Treasures Across Africa

The continent of Africa contains a plethora of ancient wonders, yet very few of them are well-known internationally or attract tourists from across the world. From over a thousand stone circles...
Snails appear to have holes drilled into them to make it easier to extract the meat, researchers say.

A delicacy now, snails in the human diet may have meant survival 150,000 years ago

Archaeologists digging in Libya have found evidence of human habitation going back at least 150,000 years and have had a glimpse into the people’s diet: snails whose shells were pierced to get at the...
Sack of Rome

Exploring the Origins of the Vandals, The Great Destroyers

The word vandal today may be defined as a person who deliberately destroys or damages property. Historically speaking, a Vandal was “a member of a Germanic people who lived in the area south of the...
Anthromorphic clay figurines from the Sao civilization, Chad.

Lost in the Mists of Time: The Ancient Sao Civilization in Central Africa

The Sao Civilization was an ancient culture located in Central Africa, in an area which is today partly owned by the countries of Cameroon and Chad. They settled along the Chari River, which is...
Deriv; Lake Turkana - Central Island - Flamingo Lake (CC BY-SA 3.0), aranthropus aethiopicus fossil hominid found at Lake Turkan

Online fossil hunters wanted: Citizen Science Project seeks help to discover prehistoric fossils

If you have ever wished to be a part of an adventurous archaeology team finding hidden treasures and long-lost fossils from our prehistoric past, now is your chance to get in on the action. A new “...
A series of photos of the monolith on the sea floor Note the precise hole in the monolith as photographed by a diver studying the now-submerged area off the coasts of Tunisia and Sicily.

Underwater Discovery: Stone Age Humans Precisely Carved a 15 ton Stone Pillar and Carried it 300 Meters

At least 9,300 years ago, Stone Age hunter-gatherers in a now-submerged area of the Mediterranean Sea accomplished a feat that even most modern humans could not do: They apparently cut a 15-ton...
The walls of Khami, Zimbabwe (Wikimedia Commons)

The Ancient Khami Ruins in Zimbabwe: the Capital of the Kingdom of Butua

Around the middle of the 15th century AD, the city of Great Zimbabwe was abandoned. The abandonment of its capital city marked the collapse of the African Kingdom of Zimbabwe. One of the results of...
Grain bins were ritually burned down during Africa's Iron Age. The resulting burnt patches have been used in the search for information regarding the South Atlantic Anomaly and the reversal of the Earth's magnetic poles.

Ancient Huts Provide New Information on Magnetic Pole Reversal and the South Atlantic Anomaly

Scientists have recently reported that ancient burned patches on the ground in southern Africa provide groundbreaking information about the "weak spot" in the Earth's magnetic field - the South...

3.3-million-year-old stone tools overturn archaeological record, predate early humans

Our human ancestors may not have been the first to spearhead new technologies millions of years ago. It would seem other hominins were crafting tools 700,000 years before previously thought. A paper...
‘The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopa’ exhibit at Houston Museum of Natural Science featuring a model of “Lucy”, Australopithecus Afarensis.

Oldest Tools in the World Found at Lake Turkana, Predate Early Humans

Half a million years before early humans arrived on the scene, the prehistoric hominins living in East Africa were shaping tools out of stone. These rare artifacts have been discovered by scientists...
Child from the Karo tribe with the Valley of the Omo River behind.

Cradle of Mankind in Danger of Losing Ancient Cultures and Lands to Foreign Corporations

The Omo Valley of Ethiopia is known as a beautiful, biologically and culturally diverse land, distinctive and vital for many reasons. The Omo River empties into the unique Lake Turkana in Kenya - the...

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