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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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Americas

Ancient places can be found all over America. Their fascinating histories and impressive artifacts open intriguing glimpses to times past, and open up a window on America’s history. Visiting such historical places in America can be an unforgettable experience.

Science is constantly discovering new archaeological places and uncovering more evidence into what we once thought we knew about our history, therefore offering new pieces to the ever changing puzzle of humanity’s past and altering how we interpret it. This section will present American history articles, highlighting the most interesting archaeological sites all over America, as well as new discoveries of ancient places that are worth paying a visit.

Figurine head found at the Aztec altar site at Garibaldi Plaza, Mexico City, which is a representation of the Aztec goddess Cihuacóatl.		Source: Mauricio Marat / INAH

Post-Conquest Aztec Altar With A Burned Human Unearthed In Mexico City

Archaeologists in Mexico have excavated a 16th-century Aztec altar surrounded by sacred artifacts. While abstract trinkets and incense burners reflected the structure of the cosmos, a giant clay jar...
The 800-year-old Peruvian rope-bound mummy in the fetal position as it was found.		Source: UNMSM

Archaeologists Discover 800-year-old Rope-bound Mummy in Peru

A preserved rope-bound mummy, estimated to be at least 800 years old, has been discovered in an underground tomb by archaeologists on Peru’s central coast. The mummified remains, which are in...
A duck effigy vessel made by mobile farmers during the period just prior to the climate catastrophe anomaly of 536 AD. Water birds hold great significance for modern Pueblo peoples, who were the descendants of ancient innovators that survived serious climate change.		Source: R. J. Sinensky / Antiquity Publications Ltd

How Ancestral Puebloans Thrived After The 536-541-AD Climate Catastrophe

A massive volcanic eruption in 536 AD resulted in dramatic climate catastrophe and the volcanic ash significantly cut the sunshine reaching Earth. As a direct result, temperatures dropped leading to...
It was this skull, found on the uninhabited island of Petite Mustique in the Caribbean, that was used in the recent leprosy research study.					Source: International Journal of Paleopathology

Caribbean Island Skull Reveals Evidence of Old World Leprosy, Study

A ground-breaking recent leprosy research study published in the International Journal of Paleopathology used the fragments of a skull found on an uninhabited Caribbean island called Petite Musique...
Are the Yumbo lost forever? Source: Ammit / Adobe Stock.

Pre-Inca Tulipe and the Yumbo: Traders Ahead of their Time?

The Yumbo of Ecuador first came to their Sacred Valley of Tulipe in around 800 BC. They were at that time peace-loving farmers. But what they left behind showed that, with their skills as merchants...
Mayan sculpture. Deciphering the story of Maya warrior Siyah K’ak’ at Tikal. Source: Marco Govel / Adobe Stock

Siyah Kʼakʼ, Warlord of Teotihuacan and his Conquest of Tikal

The pre-Colombian cities, monuments, and pyramids, found deep within the jungles and valleys of Mesoamerica are still shrouded in mystery. While academics are still trying to piece together the...
Flotation survey at the Ek Way Nal Maya salt making site in Belize, with flags marking the locations of wooden posts below the sea surface. 		Source: Heather McKillop / Ancient Mesoamerica journal

Maya Salt Makers in Belize Worked From Home, Reveals Study

A fresh analysis of artifacts collected from a salt-making facility submerged beneath a lagoon in Belize has revealed enlightening details about the organization and functioning of the Maya salt...
The recently discovered elite Chan Chan mass grave burial ground near Trujillo, Peru.		Source: Peru News Agency - ANDINA

25 Elite Skeletons Unearthed From Chan Chan Mass Grave, Peru

Archaeologists exploring the ancient Peruvian city of Chan Chan have uncovered the skeletal remains of 25 people in one medium-sized burial site. The men, women, and children interred there would...
Team members entering the Chiquihuite cave, where the purported prehistoric manmade artifacts were found, which a recent study has claimed were naturally produced.		Source: Devlin A. Gandy

Debate Erupts Over Alleged 33,000-Year-Old Tools Found in Chiquihuite Cave

In 2020, a team of Mexican and British archaeologists announced in the journal Nature that they’d discovered a rich cache of stone artifacts that proved Chiquihuite cave in Zacatecas, Mexico had been...
A photo composition of the nearly 14 known megalithic stone slabs from the site of San Miguel Ixtapan. 	Source: Marco M. Vigato

Precision Stone Carvings of San Miguel Ixtapan – the Mexican Tiwanaku?

Over the past century, dozens of carved megalithic stone slabs of unknown origin and function have been uncovered in the southern part of the state of Mexico and the north of Guerrero, mostly around...
Al Brown of the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center talks about the stone ring that makes up one of the different sites in the Gungywamp property in the woods of Groton, Connecticut. Photo source: Tim Cook / The Day

Connecticut’s Gungywamp: Old Stone Chambers That Are Still A Mystery

Gungywamp is an archaeological site located in Groton, Connecticut, USA. The site is best known for its various stone structures. There is no consensus about the age and function of these structures...
Lake Erie is believed to be home to over 2,500 shipwrecks. A few have been found washed up on beaches after violent storms. 		Source: David Arment / Adobe Stock

Lake Erie a Graveyard For Ships, May Hold up to 2,500 Sunken Vessels

As one of the most heavily trafficked inland waterways in the world, Lake Erie has seen more than its share of catastrophe and tragedy. While it is the second smallest of the five Great Lakes, an...
The terraces at Moray. 	Source: Alisha / Adobe Stock.

Andean Agriculture: What Were The Inca Building At Moray?

In the South American nation of Peru can be found the ruins of the last Pre-Columbian civilization, the glorious Inca Empire. What was once a thriving, rich civilization is today’s tourist attraction...
Olmec and Maya architecture have more than a few things in common as has been recently revealed by a massive LiDAR survey project in southern Mexico. The Olmecs came first but the Mayas copied their approach to ritual architecture. This image shows a Maya building in the Lamanai archaeological reserve in Belize.		Source: vadim.nefedov / Adobe Stock

Aerial Survey Reveals Hundreds of Olmec and Maya Sites in Mexico

Researchers from the University of Arizona recently completed a groundbreaking and breathtaking aerial survey of large areas of southern Mexico that were once occupied by Olmec and Maya civilizations...
Mexico's Tabasco province Comalcalco Pyramid is located near the Panjale site, near a section of the Tren Maya high-speed rail project. 		Source: Eduardo / Adobe Stock

Mexico’s 'Tren Maya' Project Reveals Countless New Sites and Burials

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s ambitious, and highly controversial, Maya Train or Tren Maya project was announced in the winter of 2018. Envisaged as an intercity project that will...
The white rock at Vilcabamba. Source: Walter_Xim / Adobe Stock.

The White Rock at Vilcabamba: The Sacred Heart of the Inca?

In the Inca heartlands of Peru, hidden away in the mountains and overshadowed by the more famous Inca ruins at Machu Picchu and around Cusco lies a seldom visited and obscure carved rock at...
This is what a Tuzigoot National Monument Sinagua living space would have looked like. This room is on display in the site’s excellent museum. Source: National Parks Service

Arizona’s Tuzigoot National Monument: Ancient Legacy of the Sinagua People

The Tuzigoot National Monument is a small national monument located in the Verde Valley, in the southwestern US state of Arizona. The monument contains the ruins of an ancient pueblo village built by...
Stone altar at the Ñaupa Iglesia, Peru

Who Built the Ñaupa Iglesia? Mysterious Ruins in Peru’s Sacred Valley

Ñaupa Iglesia is a fascinating Peruvian ruin in the Sacred Valley of the high Andes. It is located between Ollantaytambo and Urubamba; Ollantaytambo being only 30 Km (18.64 miles) from Machu Picchu...
Petit Jean State Park.           Source: Mitch / Adobe Stock.

Petit Jean State Park, Where Natural Beauty Meets Legend

Petit Jean State Park is a state park in Arkansas, USA. In addition to its beautiful natural landscapes, the park is also known for its many archaeological sites, especially rock art sites. Moreover...
Is it possible the ancient Greeks knew of the New World thousands of years ago? Courtesy Christos A. Djonis

The Legendary Hyperborea and the Ancient Greeks: Who Really Discovered America?

In his story of Atlantis, written at around 360 BC, Plato mentioned a grand island or continent across the Atlantic, one larger than Libya and Asia combined. This continent was so enormous, he said...
Petroglyphs of Scotland, found in Lurgan by George Currie. Source: George Currie

Comparing the Prehistoric Stone Symbols of Scotland and the Judaculla Rock

Within the rolling green hills of Scotland, slumber thousands of ancient stones bejeweled with mysterious glyphs. Across the proverbial pond, hidden in the great Appalachians of America’s North...
The ruined pyramids at Tzintzuntzan. Source: Secretaría de Turismo de Michoacán

The Pyramids of Tzintzuntzan: Vestiges of the Purépecha Empire

On the banks of Lake Pátzcuaro in Mexico, the stone ruins of Tzintzuntzan pay homage to the great capital of the pre-Columbian Purépecha civilization which existed from the 14th to the 16th century...
Vicuna near the Colca Canyon, Peru. Source: alessandro / Adobe Stock

Centuries old Vicuna Shearing Tradition Lives on in the Peruvian Andes

The vicuna is a wild (and graceful) relative of the llama, populating the higher altitude regions of South America, particularly the Andes mountains, and is coveted for its fine, silky wool. They are...
Tierradentro Hypogea

Tierradentro Hypogea, Colombia’s Mysterious Underground Necropolis

Tierradentro is a national archaeological park in Colombia. Within the Tierradentro Park are structures known as hypogea as well as stone statues. This unique South American site gives visitors a...

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