All  

Store Banner Mobile

Store Banner Mobile

Ancient Traditions

Ancient Origins brings you articles related to Ancient Traditions from all over the world. Find related articles in the sections of history, archaeology, human origins, unexplained, artifacts, ancient places and myths and legends.

The Chavola of the Sorceress, Dolmen in Alava, Spain
6 October, 2017 - 01:52 ancient-origins

Neolithic Bones Reveal Socio-economic and Cultural Differences are Nothing New For Spain

The researcher Teresa Fernández-Crespo, lead author of this study, had in a previous piece of work found demographic differences between the people buried in dolmens and those buried in caves: while...
Sea Silk
3 October, 2017 - 18:54 dhwty

One Person Left on Earth Knows the Ancient Secret of Producing Sea Silk

Sea silk is a highly-precious fabric that is so rare only one woman left on earth knows the secret to its creation. Whilst silk is famously known to be obtained from the cocoons of the mulberry...
Georgia, Savannah River, near Savannah, circa 1862. (Public Domain) with couple (Public Domain);Deriv.
2 October, 2017 - 15:25 jim willis

Prehistoric Romeo and Juliet Lived Apart: But Why? The People of the Shoals and The People of the Hills

Just north of Augusta, Georgia, USA, near what is called the Fall Line of the Savannah River, lies Stallings Island. It has given its name to the culture that sparked the second great American...
Mesoamerican ballgame latterly known as ‘Ulama’, using ‘Hipball’ rules
25 September, 2017 - 23:00 Theodoros Karasavvas

Playing Ball in Ancient Belize: 1,300-year-old Stone Panels Depicting Mayan Ballplayers Revealed

Archaeologists have deciphered two 1,300-year-old stone panels that depict ancient Mayans playing with large balls while carrying impressive fans. The panels were found at the archaeological site of...
The sarcophagi of Carajia, emblematic of the lost Chachapoya culture. Source: BigStockPhoto
16 September, 2017 - 01:52 aprilholloway

The Cloud Warriors: Sarcophagi Sentries Perched on the Cliffs in Peru

Researchers would have never guessed what they would find inside a seven-foot-tall statue when it came crashing down the Peruvian cliffside in the Utcubamba valley in 1928. The sculpture was a...
Detail of ‘Shaman’, (1930) by Arman Manookian.
15 September, 2017 - 18:59 Kerry Sullivan

The Real Story of Shamanism: No Need to Don a Headdress or Take Hallucinogens

Over the centuries, many of the world’s natural mystics have succumbed to pogroms of elimination or the steady erosion of traditional practices – witches burnt at the stake, indigenous peoples forced...
The 800-year-old skeleton found in Bulgaria stabbed through the chest with iron rod.
6 September, 2017 - 02:00 aprilholloway

People Practiced Anti-Vampire Rituals in Bulgaria Until Three Decades Ago

Thanks to Bram Stoker’s Gothic horror novel Dracula, many people associate vampires with the region of Transylvania in Romania. However, it was only around 25 years ago that anti-vampire rituals...
A Dendera Zodiac with added blue and gold color, Neues Museum, Berlin
4 September, 2017 - 23:08 Tashi Javed

A Circular Egyptian Mythology: Does the Dendera Zodiac Represent the Most Ancient Astronomy?

In 1799, Napoleon and his armies were beginning to expand their presence throughout Egypt. Napoleon brought not only armies but artists to record sketches of his findings of a country that was...
The Marriage of St. Ursula and Prince Conan, 1522
4 September, 2017 - 19:04 Rita Louise

Marriage: Is the Sacred Bond a Result of Social Evolution or Deliberate Design?

Getting married is an age-old celebration, which commemorates the joining of two individuals together in matrimony. For many in today’s society it represents picking out invitations, dresses,...
Images from the manuscript ‘Seventy-Two Specimens of Castes in India.
5 August, 2017 - 19:00 aprilholloway

The Controversial Indian Caste System Has Been Dividing India for 2000 Years

A study of genetic populations in India suggests the Indian caste system, a traditional method of social organization into a hierarchy of hereditary groups, has been prevalent in the South Asian...
Sticker showing baby Krishna stealing milk from a cow.
30 July, 2017 - 02:02 ancient-origins

Modern Hindus Forbidden From Eating Beef But Ancient Hindus Ate the Sacred Cow

Wendy Doniger / The Conversation Just this past June, at a national meeting of various Hindu organizations in India, a popular preacher, Sadhvi Saraswati, suggested that those who consumed beef...
Detail of the famous Minoan bull leaping fresco.
29 July, 2017 - 13:51 Riley Winters

Taking the Bull by the Horns: The Perilous Minoan Practice of Bull-Leaping

If bull-leaping was a genuine practice in Bronze Age Minoan courts (estimated c.3200 BC-1100 BC), it was likely not nearly as fun as it appears in frescoes. Modern day professional matadors have...
Mosaic, shown Gargoyles in form of Theatrical masks of Tragedy and Comedy. Roman artwork, 2nd century AD.
22 July, 2017 - 01:54 Riley Winters

Masks, Sex, Laughter, and Tears: The Exciting Evolution of Ancient Greek Theater

The city of theater was Athens. Athens birthed drama, bred drama, and ultimately was responsible for cultivating it into the premiere art of the Classical world—at least according to Greek...
The eembuvi-plaits of Mbalantu women. Photo: CHL Hahn, Collection Antje Otto
14 July, 2017 - 19:00 aprilholloway

The Braided Rapunzels of Namibia: Every Stage of Life is Reflected in Their Hair

Not everyone desires floor-length hair, but if you do, you can take some lessons from the Mbalantu women of Namibia in Africa, who are renowned for their incredibly long, braided hair. Throughout the...
Wisconsin Community Pharmacy supply of natural remedies
12 July, 2017 - 13:58 aprilholloway

Modern Science Confirms Ancient Chinese Remedy Provides Effective Non-Addictive Pain Relief

With innovations appearing in our lives seemingly every day it seems that new breakthroughs in science are the only ones we trust. New is always considered better. With this prevalent thinking those...
Satyr Playing the Pipe (Jupiter's Childhood) (fragment) Jacob Jordaens 1639
10 July, 2017 - 18:58 Riley Winters

War, Death and the Wrath of Gods: How Satyr Plays Helped Ancient Greeks Cope With Life

Before Shakespeare, there were the Greeks. The infamous "all the world's a stage" quote attributed to the Elizabethan writer in the 16th century far more accurately describes the world of ancient...
Ruins of Pompeii seen from the above with a drone, with the Vesuvius in the background
10 July, 2017 - 01:57 aprilholloway

A Diet of Delicacies for the People of Pompeii Included Giraffe and Sea Urchin

Several years ago, surprising discoveries were made in a study , which drew on the findings of a sizable excavation of an area of Pompeii. The study, which was presented to the Archaeological...
Before Antibiotics: Ancient Medical Procedures That Still Baffle Scientists
8 July, 2017 - 22:59 ancient-origins

Before Antibiotics: Ancient Medical Procedures That Still Baffle Scientists

In the modern age, when we think of surgery, we think of doctors working in sterile environments using finely crafted tools on an anesthetised patient. That was not always the case. Early surgical...
This Too Shall Pass: Will Jinichi Kawakami Be the Last of the Ninjas?
8 July, 2017 - 14:01 Riley Winters

This Too Shall Pass: Will Jinichi Kawakami Be the Last of the Ninjas?

The ninja warriors seen in Hollywood are, sadly, born more of myth than reality. Truths were exaggerated and those exaggerations misconstrued as fact. One cannot wholly blame the screenwriters or...
Little Known Links Between Spirits You Drink and the Holy Spirit
7 July, 2017 - 19:01 Scott Rank

Little Known Links Between Spirits You Drink and the Holy Spirit

Beer may have been invented by the ancient Egyptians, but it was perfected in medieval monasteries, which gave us modern brewing as we know it. They also pioneered and improved several methods of...
Magu, Goddess of Longevity and immortal hemp maiden
7 July, 2017 - 01:47 Robert Brusco

Wearing it, Smoking it, or Selling it? The Hazy History of Cannabis in Ancient Korea

Cannabis. Even the word is enough to bring people closer or drive them further away. Although the topic of legalization is controversial in the USA, not all regions have felt this way. In fact, the...
Painting of Father General Saint Francis Borgia, SJ, performing an exorcism, by Goya.
6 July, 2017 - 01:57 aprilholloway

Modern Possessions: What Evil is Behind the Resurgence in Demand for Exorcisms?

Less than five years ago, a new army of exorcists was created by the Roman Catholic Church. They were trained to deal with the “unprecedented rise” in requests for help in battling evil spirits. The...
The Toda mund, from Richard Barron, 1837, View in India, chiefly among the Neelgherry Hills
4 July, 2017 - 18:57 Caleb Strom

Oval Huts, Dairy Temples and Holy Milkmen: How a Secluded Existence Produced the Idiosyncratic Toda Traditions

The Todas are an ethnic group that inhabit the Nilgiri Plains of south India. They were once one of the most isolated people in the world. Their customs and language are still considered strange to...
A Jewish prayer shawl adorned with ritual tassels that contain tekhelet-dyed threads.
2 July, 2017 - 22:50 aprilholloway

Piece of Ancient Fabric Revealed True Source of Biblical Blue Dye Lost for 1,300 Years

An ancient blue dye, known as tekhelet, once adorned the precious robes of kings, priests, and high-ranking Jews. But around two millennia ago, this highly-valued commodity became lost to the pages...

Pages