Ancient Technology

Dating back thousands of years are numerous examples of ancient technology that leave us awe-struck at the knowledge and wisdom held by people of our past. They were the result of incredible advances in engineering and innovation as new, powerful civilizations emerged and came to dominate the ancient world. These advances stimulated societies to adopt new ways of living and governance, as well as new ways of understanding their world. However, many ancient technology mysteries were forgotten, lost to the pages of history, only to be re-invented millennia later. Here we feature ancient technology history and dozens of amazing artifacts that reflect the brilliance of ancient minds.

This Chinese knife coinage from the Eastern Zhou dynasty was used in the remarkable Chinese bronze alloy analysis study that finally revealed the hidden alloy formulas. Source: Lui et al / Antiquity Publications Ltd

10 August, 2022 - 00:00 Nathan Falde

Innovative Study Reveals the Genius of Ancient Chinese Bronze Makers

After decades of effort by scientists and historians around the world, a pair of researchers from the United Kingdom have finally identified the mystery ingredients used by Chinese metallurgists in...

Majestic sunrise at Castlerigg Stone Circle in the Lake District, one of many sites located on ley lines. Source: Danoz/Adobe Stock

9 August, 2022 - 14:50 Dr. John Hill

Ley Hunters: Were Bronze Age Britons Really Following Ley Lines?

Google Earth is an amazingly useful tool for investigators to explore the sacred landscapes of prehistoric Britain. For sure, its accuracy cannot be denied. Indeed, one can even survey and measure...

The Nimrud lens. Source: The British Museum / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

2 August, 2022 - 14:59 Joanna Gillan

Is the Assyrian Nimrud Lens the Oldest Telescope in the World?

The Nimrud lens is a 3,000-year-old piece of rock crystal unearthed by Sir John Layard in 1850 at the Assyrian palace of Nimrud, in modern-day Iraq. Since its discovery over a century ago, scientists...

Viking Longboat 'Hugin', Ramsgate. Source: Peter Lelliott / (CC BY-SA 2.0)

27 July, 2022 - 18:57 Mark Brophy

Viking Ships: More than Fearsome Weapons of the Open Seas

Few things struck fear into the hearts of medieval people more than the sight of a fleet of Viking ships sailing up the coast of their homelands. The Viking ship is iconic for its unique style,...

Therapist giving acupuncture to a woman. Source: juripozzi / Adobe Stock

23 July, 2022 - 22:59 Molly Dowdeswell

The Evolution of Acupuncture: From Ancient China to Worldwide Recognition

It is commonly believed that acupuncture played a key role in China’s medical history and is often seen as an integral part of China’s traditional health care, at least in the west. However, was this...

The waterway wonders of China’s Grand Canal are both picturesque and ancient in some sections but also super modern and unattractive in others. This part of the canal is in the ancient, preserved section of Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China. Source: gui yong nian / Adobe Stock

22 July, 2022 - 22:57 Lex Leigh

The 2500-year-old Genius of China’s Grand Canal System

Ancient China is known for its famous dynasties, rich culture, and some of the first “advanced” technological innovations in the world. One of the best-known works created in ancient China is China’s...

Alatri acropolis cyclopean wall by the Porta Maggiorre. Source: Laura Tabone

21 July, 2022 - 23:00 Laura Tabone

The Cyclopean Problem: Who Built Italy’s Astounding Ancient Walls?

Megalithic cyclopean masonry is found in many parts of Italy, including Lazio , Abruzzo, Campania, Umbria, Tuscany and Molise. This type of masonry involves fitting together huge differently shaped...

Demonstration of Buddhist Bronze Mirror reflecting its image at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Source: Rob Deslongchamps/Cincinnati Art Museum

16 July, 2022 - 18:56 Sahir

Magic Mirror With Hidden Image Discovered At Cincinnati Museum

Hiding in plain sight – in the storage of Cincinnati Art Museum’s East Asian art collection, a seemingly unremarkable bronze mirror from the 15th and 16th century China. Part of a vast collection of...

Wood burning, human fire use could date back a million years. Source: nikkytok/Adobe Stock

29 June, 2022 - 18:59 Sahir

Human Fire Use Over A Million Years Ago Seems More Likely

There is no smoke without a fire, or so they say, and a group of scientists are applying this thinking to develop new methods to seek out when and where the earliest fire use was. And they have come...

The history of Egypt is very much the history of ancient Egyptian weapons and how they evolved. Here Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II charges his war chariot into battle against the Nubians in south Egypt. Source: Ahmed88z / CC BY-SA 4.0

25 June, 2022 - 18:51 Robbie Mitchell

Ancient Egyptian Weapons: The Evolution of Warfare

Anyone interested in the history of warfare or weaponry should make sure to look at ancient Egyptian weapons and how the Egyptian armies utilized their technological superiority. Whilst most famous...

Britain’s Earliest Humans Found In the Suburbs of Canterbury

22 June, 2022 - 14:50 ashley cowie

Britain’s Earliest Humans Found In the Suburbs of Canterbury

Hunter's tools excavated in England over a century ago have been dated to, wait for it, between 560,000 and 620,000 years ago! These latest discoveries made on the outskirts of Canterbury confirm the...

Viking sword in a Norse landscape…or is it? Source: James Thew / Adobe Stock

17 June, 2022 - 18:51 Mark Brophy

What’s a Viking Sword? What’s not? The Distinctions of Norse Weaponry

A scourge of early medieval Europe, the Vikings were a fearsome group. The very thought of a Viking sword slashing before you conjures images of fearless warriors raiding and pillaging villages,...

Archaeologist Dr. Paloma de la Peña working at one of the lithic tool sites that revealed the ancient communication network across the region for making these tools to near exact specifications. Source: © Dr Paloma de la Peña

9 June, 2022 - 22:33 Nathan Falde

65,000-Year-Old ‘Swiss Army Knife’ Tool Reveals Ancient Communication

A team of international scientists has discovered an enlightening fact about early humans who lived in southern Africa between 60,000 and 65,000 years ago. Similarities in their toolmaking technology...

Recent research and experimentation has recreated the original "high-tech" way of Egyptian olive oil production. This stone panel at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met), entitled "Clutching an Olive Branch," is from circa 1353–1323 BC in the New Kingdom, Amarna Period. Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art

6 June, 2022 - 18:33 Sahir

Egyptian Olive Oil Production Method Recreated With Delicious Results!

Dr Emlyn Dodd, an archaeologist specializing in the study of ancient food and drink, has attempted to recreate the ancient and original method of Egyptian olive oil pressing called the torsion method...

Ancient amphorae, China. Source: lotusjeremy / Adobe stock

6 June, 2022 - 14:55 Nathan Falde

4,000 Years Ago, Chinese Advances Were Fueled By Mass Beer Production!

What were the important forces and factors that led to notable evolutionary leaps in Chinese culture more than 4,000 years ago? New research identifies one major cultural development that helped...

Maya teeth were turned into jeweled teeth by skilled ancient dentists, but a recent study suggests that this also benefited oral hygiene! Source: Gary Todd / CC0

22 May, 2022 - 22:58 ashley cowie

Ancient Maya Tooth Bling Was Also Good for Oral Hygiene!

The Maya loved their bling and often decorated their teeth with gemstones. But maybe these weren’t all just for show. A new study conducted by the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the...

Bronze Age spear found in Cirencester, England. Source: Thames Water

21 May, 2022 - 18:58 Sahir

Near-Pristine Bronze Age Spear Dated Over 3,000 Years Found in Britain

Spearheads are often seen as representing the ‘highest tradition of the Bronze Age’. This statement is exemplified by the discovery of a Bronze Age spear at a Thames Water sewage works in Cirencester...

Bronze Age daggers, like this one found near Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland, were always assumed to be ceremonial status weapons, but a recent study has shown that they were actually used a lot to butcher animals! Source: Rama / CC BY-SA 3.0 FR

10 May, 2022 - 18:46 Sahir

Bronze Age Daggers Were Tools to Butcher Animals, Not Markers of Status

Excavations of Bronze Age “warrior graves” throughout Europe have nearly always led to the recovery of copper alloy Bronze Age daggers. However, their function has been poorly understood. It has long...

Discover the fascinating history of eyeglasses. Source: Fxquadro / Adobe Stock

9 May, 2022 - 14:59 Lex Leigh

Crystal-Clear Vision – The Ancient History of Eyeglasses

Eyeglasses are an essential tool for thousands of people across the globe. Unfortunately, glasses didn’t always exist, which caused difficulties for those in the ancient past with poor vision...

The Nabateans built this reservoir at the Nabataean city of ancient Hawara, modern Humayma or “Humeima”. Source: Larry W. Mays

8 May, 2022 - 14:58 mrreese

The Sophisticated Water Technologies of the Ancient Nabataeans

The Nabataeans were an ancient Semitic people, dating back to 586 BC, who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant. The desert climate created agricultural difficulties for the Nabataeans,...

Thousands of years of oysters and oyster farming by the indigenous peoples of Chesapeake Bay lay hidden in this coastal oyster shell layer. A recent study on oyster farming by indigenous peoples in Australia and North America is supplying new insights for managing highly degraded modern oyster beds. Source: Torben Rick / Smithsonian

4 May, 2022 - 18:52 Sahir

Ancient Australians and Americans Ate Billions of Oysters Over Millennia

Precolonial indigenous communities in Australia and North America harvested and gorged on vast quantities of oysters. Yet, this copious consumption did not cause oyster populations to crash and...

A 3,000-year-old prosthetic big toe unearthed in Egypt. Source: Jacky Finch / University of Manchester

30 April, 2022 - 01:58 dhwty

3,000-Year-Old Artificial Toe Reveals Ancient Origins of Prosthetics

Believe it or not, but the use of prosthetics is actually not a modern phenomenon. In fact, the creation of man-made devices to replace missing body parts was already in use several thousand years...

The ancient Chinese made sticky rice mortar by using sticky rice for construction. Source: Atstock Productions / Adobe Stock

28 April, 2022 - 15:13 dhwty

Sticky Rice Mortar Used in Ancient Chinese Architecture

Ancient Chinese culture has made great contributions to humanity. The so-called Four Great Inventions of China – the compass , gunpowder , paper , and printing – are still being used extensively...

A fragment of the sphero-conical vessel that was identified as containing a possibly explosive material to make an ancient hand grenade. Source: Robert Mason, Royal Ontario Museum. Griffith University

27 April, 2022 - 14:40 ashley cowie

Crusaders Were Attacked With These Ancient Hand Grenades in Jerusalem

Archaeologists have for a long time unearthed clay pots in medieval Jerusalem. But now, a new study shows that some of them were likely ‘ancient hand grenades’. Residues sampled from inside a...

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