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‘Bradford Tooth Fairy’ Solves Mystery of Medieval Priest Teeth

‘Bradford Tooth Fairy’ Solves Mystery of Medieval Priest Teeth

The ‘Bradford Tooth Fairy,’ a dentist turned forensic archaeologist, created a new method to discover details of ancient diets, just by looking at people’s teeth. She’s now applied her innovative...
Images of the MS. 632 birthing girdle. a) The dripping side-wound. b) The rubbed away green cross or crucifix. c) Tau cross with red heart and shield.  Source: Courtesy of the Wellcome Collection

New Birthing Girdle Study Answers Questions About Medieval Childbirth

In the Middle Ages, pregnant women allegedly wore a type of specially prepared wrap known as a birthing girdle. Birthing girdles were long, thin, rolls made from animal skin parchment. They were...
Mammoth DNA Breaks Record for World’s Oldest Sequence

Mammoth DNA Breaks Record for World’s Oldest Sequence

Researchers have sequenced the oldest known DNA in the world. Using material from the Early and Middle Pleistocene sub-epochs, the ancient DNA analysis shatters the record for the world’s oldest...
Top image: The Pyramid of Khufu, or the Great Pyramid, Giza, Egypt.        Source: Cobalt / Adobe Stock

Has the Function of the Great Pyramid of Giza Finally Come to Light?

About 150 years after the establishment of Egyptology as an academic field, there still appears to be no agreement between scholars on the function of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Yet several different...
A collection of the medieval bones at the chapel in Montella, Italy. Source: University of Southern Denmark

Bone Analysis Reveals Disturbing Habits of Medieval Danes and Italians

A fascinating, and exceptionally niche, new scientific study has looked at the mineral content of medieval bones of Danish and Italian people. The results paint a fresh picture of the lifestyle...
Artist's impression of prehistoric hunters.

Dark Skin and Blue Eyes: European Hunter-Gatherers Did Not Fit with Common Representations

The popular image of the light-skinned European hunter-gatherer is not correct. DNA taken from a 7,000-year-old wisdom tooth found in Spain in 2006 shows a different story. A study of the tooth shows...
2nd century AD copy of a 4th cent. BC sculpture of Aristotle, which Alexander the Great commissioned from the sculptor Lysippus.

Aristotle: The Man Who Needs No Introduction

Before embarking on our journey to character and (self) leadership, we should briefly discuss the life and work of Aristotle, the man and the philosopher - he who needs no introduction. Aristotle’s...
A satellite image shows a 17th century caravanserai (outpost) which served people traveling the Silk Road.

Going Where Archaeologists Cannot, Spy Satellites Reveal Thousands of Forgotten Ancient Sites in Afghanistan

Ancient sites may come into in the line of fire when war breaks or a building project begins. Destruction and looting could be prevalent at such times, but archaeologists often believe there is...
Portrait of Saint Nicholas. (BigStockPhoto) Relic of St Nicholas (pelvis fragment) at St. Martha of Bethany Church/Shrine of All Saints, Morton Grove Ill., USA.

Bone Analysis Takes Us One Step Further to Confirming the Santa Claus Legend

The legendary nature of Santa Claus is mostly understood. However, the existence of Saint Nicholas, often said to be the inspiration for the jolly Christmas character, has been less agreed upon. With...
Bigfoot in the Patterson-Gimlin Film.

Why the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot Film Should Concern Scholars of Human Origins

The anthropological sciences occasionally have to deal with something which has a profound but unexpected impact on our understanding of human origins. Two events are noteworthy, in part because both...
A Tarim mummy

Where the West Actually Meets the East—The Tarim Mummies

Ancient Rome and China were on opposite sides of the world as far as both civilizations were concerned. Although both cultures were aware of each other’s existence because of the Silk Road, each...
A re-analysis of the Dali skull is helping rewrite the story of human origins.

Rewriting Our Origins: Skull Found in China Promotes a Wider Perspective on Human Evolution

Most people discussing the origins of our species suggest that Homo sapiens can be traced back to Africa about 200,000 years ago. However, an increasing amount of evidence suggests that there may be...
Papyrus (P. BM EA 10591 recto column IX, beginning of lines 13-17).

Ancient Advanced Technology Reveals Itself in Egyptian Papyrus Ink

A new study shows ink on 2,000-year-old Egyptian papyri fragments contains copper. This means the assumption that carbon was the only basis for ink to write on ancient papyri is now a thing of the...
Detail of the 1650-year-old Speyer wine bottle.

To Open or Not to Open The 1,650-Year-Old Speyer Wine Bottle?

Contemporary historians have been debating for a few years now if they should open the Speyer wine bottle, which is believed to be the world’s oldest bottle of wine. The Pfalz Historical Museum in...
GR1014 showing upper layer of burials with the partially removed skeleton of B26 (one of the possible eunuchs) in the middle.

Were These Eunuchs in Ptolemaic-Roman Egypt? The Truth May Be in Their Bones

Archaeologists have recently discovered two intriguing skeletons at the Ptolemaic-Roman cemetery site in Quesna, Monufiya city in Egypt. By analyzing the skeletal remains and graves for key features...
‘Woman With Brown Hair Near White Painted Wall’ and division of the face according to Mian Xiang

Can Traditional Chinese Face Reading Provide Insight on Your Future, Health, and Character?

面相 (‘miàn xiàng’, or less accurately as ‘mien shiang’) is a type of Chinese divination that relies on the observation of a person’s facial features. Apart from divining an individual’s future,...
Naturalistic reconstruction of Ötzi - South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology.

Did Ötzi the Iceman Actually Freeze to Death?

A new study suggests that Ötzi the Tyrolean Iceman died of exposure to freezing temperatures in the Italian Alps. Researchers claim that his body and head injuries were most likely made during some...
A representation of Leonardo da Vinci. (Deriv.) Background: Structure of DNA.

Can Researchers Crack da Vinci’s DNA Code? Recently Discovered Relics Attributed to the Legendary Renaissance Man May Help

A team of Italian researchers claim that they have discovered two relics belonging to Leonardo da Vinci, which could them help in tracing the DNA of the legendary polymath whose work epitomized the...
Reconstruction of a ringfort at Curraheen, Co Cork, Ireland - the kind of enclosure that would have been built first at the ringfort in Ranelagh, Co Roscommon.

Why was a Newly Discovered Irish Ringfort Surrounded by Bizarre Burials and Unfinished Jewelry?

A medieval ringfort that contained a jewelry workshop and substantial farming has been unearthed in an eye-opener archaeological discovery during a road project about a mile north of Roscommon town...
Set of 70 Metal Tablets May Have the Earliest Written Account and Depiction of Jesus

Set of 70 Metal Tablets May Have the Earliest Written Account and Depiction of Jesus

When a set of 70 bound metal tablets was unearthed in Jordan in 2008, questions about the artifacts validity arose. However, researchers have now analyzed the codices and say they are genuine and may...
Oldest Human Burial and Polished Axe Unearthed in Ireland

Oldest Human Burial and Polished Axe Unearthed in Ireland

Archaeologists have shed new light on the belief systems of early Mesolithic hunter-gatherers after analyzing cremated remains and artifacts given as grave offerings from the earliest recorded human...
New research indicates they are at least twice as old, living between 25,000 and 55,000 years ago, with one of them 'perfectly' preserved.

Extinct Lion Cubs Found in Siberia are up to 55,000 Years Old - Latest Test Results Reveal

By The Siberian Times Reporter Tantalizing studies are now underway to establish if one of two lion cub carcasses preserved by permafrost has traces of the world's oldest mother's milk. The lion cubs...
Age of First Chief's Ancient Tomb Reveals Pacific Islanders Invented New Kind of Society

Age of First Chief's Ancient Tomb Reveals Pacific Islanders Invented New Kind of Society

New dating on the stone buildings of Nan Madol suggests the ancient coral reef capital in the Pacific Ocean was the earliest among the islands to be ruled by a single chief. The discovery makes Nan...
Papyrus referring to wife of Jesus

Scientists say papyrus referring to wife of Jesus is no fake

In September, 2012, a faded fragment of papyrus, which has controversially come to be known as 'The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife', made international headlines when it was unveilled by Harvard Divinity...

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