Ancient Places

Ancient places can be found all over the world. Their fascinating histories and impressive artifacts open intriguing glimpses to times past, and visiting such ancient places in the world 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 the most interesting archaeological sites all over the world, as well as new discoveries of ancient places that are worth paying a visit.

This is the ceiling of the Pantheon in Rome, Italy Photograph by Anne Dirkse

18 September, 2017 - 01:59 dhwty

The Roman Pantheon: National Treasure and Legacy of a Powerful Empire

Anyone who has paid a visit to Rome will know that around just about every corner of the historic center lies a reminder of Rome’s glorious and inglorious history. Be it buildings, fountains, statues...

16 September, 2017 - 19:05 Hugh Newman

Was the Devil’s Dyke in England once Part of the Legendary City of Troy?

In a small village northeast of Cambridge, near the most northern route of the ancient Icknield Way, a great 'dyke' emerges smoothly from the ground and rises to over two stories high. This...

Detail of the Mycenaean-era tomb’s façade and the dry-stone masonry that sealed the entrance.

12 September, 2017 - 22:56 Alicia McDermott

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...

12 September, 2017 - 02:03 ancient-origins

The Forgotten History of Beijing’s First Forbidden City

Jonathan Dugdale / The Conversation An ancient site rooted in the heart of modern Beijing, the Forbidden City is one of China’s most famous attractions. Completed in 1420, the city served as the...

Detail of Painting of Hopi man returning home. By Homer Coayama, ‘Hopi Man Coming Home From the Field’ (From author’s collection)

9 September, 2017 - 18:52 Thomas O. Mills

Help Find the Missing Corner of the Hopi Tablet To Prove Their Creation Story: Seeking Answers in the Chapel of the Tablet, Africa

[Editorial by Thomas O Mills, Hopi Cultural Center in Second Mesa, Arizona, USA ] I am sometimes asked, “How can we help the Hopi People?” Having lived with the Hopi for a number of years, I can...

Sean's Bar is located on Main Street, Athlone, on the West Bank of the River Shannon, and was originally known as Luain's Inn.

9 September, 2017 - 01:54 dhwty

Quaffing Here For 11 Centuries: Sean’s Bar Claims Title of Oldest Pub in Ireland, Europe and Possibly the World

Sean’s Bar is a pub (abbreviated from ‘public house’) located in Athlone, in Ireland’s County Westmeath. This bar holds the Guinness World Record for being the oldest public house in Ireland. In...

Borobudur Temple is surrounded by mountains nearby

8 September, 2017 - 19:00 davidchildress

One of the Greatest Monuments in the World but Who Built it? The Strange Origins of Borobudur and the Lost World of Cham

Borobudur is one of the great monuments of Southeast Asia. It is a colossal Buddhist stupa that rises out of the rice paddies and palm trees with the nearby volcano Gunung Merapi in the distance...

7 September, 2017 - 01:58 dhwty

Meenakshi Amman Temple: Unique Towers, Migrants from a Lost Continent, and Sacred Marriage Celebrations

Legends say Meenakshi Amman Temple was created by migrants from a lost continent. Perhaps that is just a story, but the unique and monumental towers with their brightly-colored sculptures of...

Dragon's Blood Trees, Socotra Island, Yemen

3 September, 2017 - 19:03 aprilholloway

The Lost World of Socotra: The Most Alien-Looking Place on Earth

The landscape of the remote island of Socotra looks so foreign that it could almost pass as an alien planet. Its native flora is so rare and unique that the island looks like something out of a...

Statue of the God Chac-Mool, located inside a chamber in the pyramid of Kukulcán in Chichén Itzá, Mexico

2 September, 2017 - 19:02 Cliff Dunning

A Rogue Archaeologist, Atlantis, and the Chac-Mool

In the late 1890s, as America was developing into an industrial heavyweight, its scientists and explorers were rediscovering Earth’s ancient past and charting forgotten civilizations around our...

1 September, 2017 - 22:35 Caleb Strom

Taos Pueblo: Evoking the Story of Ancestral Puebloans for 1000 Years

North and South America had their own civilizations which flourished in pre-Columbian times. The western hemisphere’s population before the 15th century is estimated at about 100 million people...

The famous Roman theater at Aspendos, Turkey.

30 August, 2017 - 22:48 Alicia McDermott

Ancient Mall Found in Famous Theater City of Aspendos Shows Commerce and Entertainment Went Hand-in-Hand

The ancient city of Aspendos was a major commercial center in Roman times. The recent excavations of a large shop complex with offices and storage facilities dating back some 2,000 years provide more...

29 August, 2017 - 22:56 ancient-origins

Was Orion the Heavenly Overlord of Stonehenge?

In the 1960s, a portion of a ditch excavated into chalk bedrock west of the henge at Stonehenge was discovered during construction for the pedestrian underpass that provided access to Stonehenge...

Egypt: The pyramids at Giza and the Sphinx. Colour lithograph by G.W. Seitz, ca. 1878

29 August, 2017 - 18:58 Calumy

A Forgotten Sphinx and Faked Cartouche: Changing the Course of Ancient Egyptian History?

When Gerry Cannon invited me to co-author his forthcoming book, “The Giza Plateau Secrets and a Second Sphinx Revealed”, I’m sure that neither of us could have foreseen the most explosive revelation...

28 August, 2017 - 19:10 James O Kon

Remembering the Future: How Ancient Maya Agronomists Changed the Modern World

The Maya were the longest-lived civilization in history. Their history lasted for 3,500 years and traced parallel time lines with other ancient civilizations. They began their civilization in 2500 BC...

Artist’s interpretation of activity in and around Lake Titicaca

28 August, 2017 - 02:01 Riley Winters

For a Metal or Forgotten Parents: The Mysterious Origins of Lake Titicaca’s Name

Value, status, memory, family… These are ideals encompassed in names. Across cultures, the naming of persons and places hold varying levels of significance. The Norse named their swords; the Scottish...

Artist’s reconstruction of Göbekli Tepe.

27 August, 2017 - 16:48 Alistair

Decoding Göbekli Tepe: Secret Society AND Space Observatory?

Research by authors Martin B. Sweatman and Dimitrios Tsikritsis, titled 'Decoding Göbekli Tepe with archaeoastronomy: What does the fox say?' published in Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry...

27 August, 2017 - 02:03 aprilholloway

Shimao City Ruins: This Massive Prehistoric Site Rewrites Chinese History

It took almost two years of surveying, exploring, and excavating, but it was worth it for archaeologists in China – the long days and months helped them confirm the discovery of the largest...

Antarctica (Public Domain) and Figure 6 © William James Veall: a drawn pattern of rocks seemingly set in the form of an ancient legend embedded into the seashore; Deriv.

25 August, 2017 - 22:57 William James Veall

A Message on the Shore: Do Satellite Photographs Now Prove Existence of Humans on Antarctica…6000 Years Ago? – Part II

Reading the history of Antarctica, references clearly state that there was never any indigenous flora and fauna of any kind present on the continent because the land mass had been completely covered...

23 August, 2017 - 19:02 lennie

The Mystery of the Mayan Red Queen

An unexpected discovery of a royal burial inside a previously unknown substructure of Temple XIII in Palenque, Mexico, set off a decades-long archaeological mystery. In 1994, a young Mexican...

Lake Titicaca and Floating Island in Peru

23 August, 2017 - 14:22 Riley Winters

Lake Titicaca: The Cauldron of Incan Creationism

Lake Titicaca has long been the center of various socio-political cultures in South America. The lake has seen many cultures along its shores, such as the Pucará (400BC-100AD) and the Tiwanaku (200BC...

The Sphinx and Great Pyramids of Egypt. (BigStockPhoto)

21 August, 2017 - 23:03 Armando Mei

The Hidden Message in Khafre’s Pyramid: What Were the Builders Trying to Tell Us?

In Egypt, in the middle of 2013, I was on a very important job: the Giza Pyramids investigation through mathematical proportional applications. I focused all my attention on the three mysterious and...

Main: Temple of Aton in Amarna (CC by SA 3.0). Inset eclipse (public domain)

20 August, 2017 - 23:10 anand balaji

Eclipse over Amarna: Beginning of the End for Akhenaten in his City of Light?

The ancient Egyptian civilization was wedded to the Sun, and yet, extant records only ever mention the solar aspect as the giver and sustainer of life that shines brightly for all eternity. Sterling...

Roman Ruins of Timgad (Wilaya of Batna, Algeria). Street leading to the Arch of Trajan.

20 August, 2017 - 01:53 ancient-origins

Mythbusting Ancient Rome – Did All Roads Actually Lead There?

We all know the phrase “All roads lead to Rome”. Today, it is used proverbially and has come to mean something like “there is more than one way to reach the same goal”. But did all roads ever really...