The ultimate aim of the original Indo-European sacrifices, modelled after the cosmic sacrifice of the Purusha [a cosmic man whose sacrifice by the gods created all life] … must have been the...
A peculiar medieval grave full of porpoise bones has been discovered on a tiny island off the coast of Guernsey in the British Isles. Experts have failed so far to answer with certainty all the...
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...
Elasmotherium , also known as the Giant Rhinoceros or the Giant Siberian Unicorn, is an extinct species of rhino that lived in the Eurasian area in the Late Pliocene and Pleistocene eras. They have...
An enormous, elongated polar bear skull emerged in 2014 from an eroding archaeological site southwest of Utqiaġvik in Alaska. Experts claim that it is quite different from most modern polar bear...
There is little doubt that humans and dogs are naturally inclined to be best friends. But when and how did this dynamic duo first emerge? Conventional wisdom holds that agrarian man domesticated...
The ancient Egyptians were renowned for their worship of animals, and one of these was the baboon. In ancient Egyptian mythology, baboons are best known for their association with Thoth, the god of...
A group of archaeologists carrying out a routine excavation at a Greek Orthodox church in Shropshire, England, made an extraordinary discovery on the final day of their dig – bizarre animal burials,...
Japanese and Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed a 3,000-year-old tomb of a Royal scribe in Thebes in Egypt. The tomb belongs to a man named Khonsu, described as “true renowned scribe” and its...
Saint Guinefort is perhaps one of the most unusual saints in Christianity. This unique 13th century saint was not even a human being, but a greyhound. Following his brave protection of a baby, which...
A new study proposes that baboon grunts and barks might have more in common with human speech than most people believe. Researchers have noted that these monkeys routinely produce five of the...
A mummified three-fingered hand with eight inch fingers has been found in a Peruvian tunnel in the desert. While first inspection may lead one to conclude that it is nothing more than an imaginative...
The grand palace of Assurnasirpal (Ashurnasirpal) II was one of the most incredible sites of ancient Assyria. Located in Nimrud, Iraq, the immense palace was richly decorated with sophisticated...
While the burial mounds and earthworks of the Adena and Hopewell Cultures are usually associated with the Ohio River Valley, there are lesser-known—but equally as fantastic—manifestations of these...
You can find numerous images of fearsome shark-like creatures in many major Maya cities throughout the regions of modern Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. This betrays the fascination the ancient Maya...
A large area for animal sacrifices by Chinese emperors dating from the 3 rd century BC to the 1 st century AD in western China has been excavated and found to contain many cultural artifacts. Called...
Eighty-six pet cats from the Roman Era were found on the outskirts of the ancient port town of Berenike (Berenice) near the Red Sea in Egypt. The method of burial implies they were not part of a...
The ancient Egyptians mummified not only people, but also their animals. Even huge crocodiles became a part of this process. One of them was examined recently in the Dutch National Museum of...
In the myths of the horse we see the ancient and sacred history of humanity. Throughout this history is etched the passage of man as warrior, priest, healer, builder of dreams, wrecker of worlds...
There is said to be a shark that is scarier than the one from the movie Jaws which is as large as the biggest whale. But this isn’t a monster from a sci-fi movie, it’s real. This kind of shark lived...
Otzi the Iceman, a mummy found in 1991 on a glacier in the Tyrolean Alps, was clothed in a bearskin cap, goatskin leggings, sheepskin coat, cow skin shoes and a deerskin quiver when he was killed in...
There is an urban legend fueled by the movie Beverly Hills Cop that people have around 5 pounds of undigested meat in their stomach by the time they are middle-aged. Not so. But bezoars, which are...
There are many hypotheses regarding history of the domestication of the horse. Horses first appeared in Paleolithic cave art around 30,000 BC. These were wild horses that were hunted for their meat...
Dogs have been accorded that final, most honorable memorial of burial ever since humans have kept the loyal animal, even more than other domesticated animals like cats and horses, a researcher says...