All  

Store Banner Mobile

Store Banner Mobile

Artifacts

There are undoubtedly millions of ancient artifacts from the past that have served to shed light on the lives of our ancestors from many millennia ago. But some ancient mystical artifacts stand out for their uniqueness, their intrigue, or their ability to expand our knowledge about previously unknown aspects of our history. Here we feature many such ancient history artifacts, from amazing examples of ancient technology, to artistic masterpieces, unexplained objects, ancient texts, and mysterious artifacts that shed light on the daily lives of our ancestors.

Representation of the Hydraulic Telegraph of Aeneas. Source: Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology
4 January, 2022 - 01:00 mrreese

The Hydraulic Telegraph of Aeneas – Long-Distance Communication of Antiquity

Advances in technology have drastically changed the way we live today compared to those of our ancient past. One type of technology that many of us may take for granted is the ability to communicate...
Birch bark letter no. 1144 from the 12th century excavation layer. Source: Institute of Archaeology RAS
29 December, 2021 - 01:00 aprilholloway

Birch Bark Letters Found in Russia are an Ancient Time Capsule

Researchers excavating an estate dating back to the 12th and 15th century, have discovered a complete birch bark letter in the historic city center of Veliky Novgorod in north-western Russia. The...
Understanding the Stonehenge calendar is easy if you follow Stephen Childs’ thinking in this article and in his book “Stone Circles Explained.” This image shows sunrise at this ancient site. Source: Gail Johnson / Adobe Stock
28 December, 2021 - 01:00 Stephen Childs

The Stonehenge Calendar: A Prehistoric Approach to Time’s Passing

Readers will probably know that Stonehenge’s design highlights the longest and shortest days of the year, but it is not always understood that its strange configuration was designed to enable every...
Lewis Chessmen king and queen, with rook and knight behind them.
25 December, 2021 - 01:00 Nancy Marie Brown

The Icelandic Theory: Experts Challenge Establishment Dogma to Reveal History of Ivory Vikings

In 1874, the Norwegian chess historian Antonius Van der Linde belittled Frederic Madden’s suggestion that Iceland could produce anything approaching the sophistication of the Lewis chessmen...
Depiction of the Sea People during naval battle with Egyptians as depicted on the temple of Ramses III in Medinet Abu, Egypt. Source: AlternatHistory
24 December, 2021 - 14:00 Doug Mears

Ramses III Verses the Sea People & the End of the Bronze Age

The end of the 3,000-year-long Bronze Age was one of the most violent periods in history. Hittites and Egypt are usually cited as the last remaining major powers until a recently translated stone...
The two Viksø horned helmets found in Denmark in 1942, which were used in a new study as evidence that an ancient Bronze Age trade route linked the Mediterranean to Scandinavia. Source: Nationalmuseet / CC BY-SA 3.0
23 December, 2021 - 21:55 ashley cowie

Do 3,000-year-old Bronze Age Horned Helmets Have Trans-Continental Links?

A team of researchers has sampled organic matter from residue found inside a rare and deeply ancient bronze horned-helmet in Denmark. But their claim that a long-distance prehistoric oceanic trade...
An octagonal gold ring set with a green gemstone and carved with the 'Good Shepherd' figure. Source: Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority
23 December, 2021 - 17:59 Sahir

Roman Era ‘Good Shepherd’ Ring Amongst Shipwreck Treasures Found in Israel

Called an ‘exceptional’ find by Robert Kool, head of the authority’s coin department, the Israel Antiques Authority (IAA) announced Wednesday the discovery of remnants of two shipwrecks off the...
Curious Tjipetir blocks have been turning up on beaches across Europe for decades. Source: Tom Quinn Williams / Tjipetir Mystery Facebook page
21 December, 2021 - 01:00 lizleafloor

Mysterious Tjipetir Blocks Are Appearing on European Beaches

A woman was walking along the beach in Cornwall , England in 2012, when she by chance spotted a dark tablet in the sand. On closer inspection she noticed it was inscribed with a strange word, but...
The steam-powered flying pigeon of Archytas. Source: YourForum
19 December, 2021 - 13:59 mrreese

The Steam-Powered Pigeon of Archytas – The Flying Machine of Antiquity

Archytas was an ancient Greek philosopher, who was born in 428 BC in Tarentum, Magna Graecia, now southern Italy. In addition to being a philosopher, Archytas was also a mathematician, astronomer,...
The unicorn ring found by a metal detectorist in 2018 near Thornton, Buckinghamshire, England Source: Hanson Auctioneers
18 December, 2021 - 14:00 ashley cowie

Detectorist’s 2018 Unicorn Ring Sold, But Provenance Questions Remain

A 400-year-old gold signet unicorn ring has just sold at auction for 26,470 dollars (23,550 euros). Everyone is talking about the ring’s value and its association with a noble family linked to...
Iron Age bog body known today as Old Croghan Man and housed in the National Museum of Ireland. Source: Mark Healey / CC BY-SA 2.0
17 December, 2021 - 22:00 dhwty

Unravelling the Story Behind the Old Croghan Man’s Bog Body

Old Croghan Man is the name given to a well-preserved Iron Age bog body that was discovered in County Offaly, Ireland. The bog body derives its name from Croghan Hill , which is situated not far from...
The runic inscription on one side of the gold medieval cross found by metal detectorists on the Tweed River near Berwick in the county of Northumbria, England spells a name that is entirely unique. Source: The History Blog
16 December, 2021 - 21:55 Nathan Falde

Small Gold Medieval Cross Found in England Linked to Mysterious Eadruf

An unusual item unearthed by metal detectorists in 2020 in northeast England is puzzling scholars. In this case it is not the archaeologists who are puzzled, but linguistic experts who study the...
According to the ancient text, Judas used a kiss to identify Jesus due to his abilities as a shapeshifter. Source: The Morgan Library & Museum
16 December, 2021 - 17:22 aprilholloway

The Ancient Text That Describes Jesus as a Shapeshifter

It was in March 2013 when reports flooded the headlines about a newly deciphered Egyptian text, dating back almost 1,200 years, which controversially described Jesus as having the ability to change...
It was here in the Arma Vierana cave in northern Italy where the Mesolithic infant and her shell beads were found by the research team. Source: Jamie Hodgkins / University of Colorado Denver
15 December, 2021 - 13:57 Nathan Falde

10,000-Year-Old Mesolithic Burial Showed Special Reverence For Infant Girl

Archaeologists and paleoanthropologists exploring a cave in Italy excavated parts of a skeleton that belonged to an infant girl who died approximately 10,000 years ago, in the early Mesolithic period...
Left to right; Germanic lyre - the best-preserved lyre from Dzhetyasar - A replica of the Sutton Hoo lyre. Source: Left to right: CC BY-SA 4.0 / G. Kolltveit / A Praefcke / Antiquities Publications Ltd
15 December, 2021 - 00:00 Sahir

Experts Surprised By Similarities Of Sutton Hoo Lyre and Eastern Specimen

A recent re-examination of artifacts from Soviet era digs in the Dzhetyasar territory in southwest Kazakhstan has identified a fourth-century AD lyre that shows remarkable similarity with the one...
This spectacular, large Navulá-type monochrome vessel, used in pre-Hispanic Maya rituals, was complete but for one of its two handles. Source: INAH
14 December, 2021 - 17:41 Sahir

Yucatán Cave Was Used For Pre-Hispanic Maya Rituals

A recent pottery find dating to the Late Postclassic Maya period by archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in Chemuyil town of Mexico’s Quintana Roo state shows...
The rare medieval falconry figurine found in an ancient land fill site uncovered in the Old Town of Norway, Oslo. Source: NIKU
13 December, 2021 - 21:57 Nathan Falde

Rare 13th-century Falconry Figurine Miraculously Found in Oslo

A Norwegian archaeologist digging in the frozen ground at a medieval excavation site in Oslo found something extremely rare and most unexpected. While sorting through a waste layer left behind by...
Ireland’s oldest known ink pen made from bone and copper alloy. This writing instrument is unique because of its construction and because it was used for secular writing not for religious manuscripts. Source: Dr Michelle Comber / Clare Herald
12 December, 2021 - 17:57 ashley cowie

1,000-Year-Old Ink Pen Found in Ringfort is Ireland’s Oldest

An archaeologist excavating at an 11th century ringfort in Ireland has unearthed the oldest ink pen ever discovered in Ireland. What’s unusual, is that this artifact was a secular work tool used for...
An X Ray of the Mayback Viking sword shows a decorative pattern. Source: Historic Environment Scotland
11 December, 2021 - 13:57 Sahir

“Rare, Exciting and Complex” Mayback Viking Sword Discovered On Orkney

Among several finds at a Viking burial site on Papa Westray, Orkney, is “a rare, exciting, and complex artifact” – a Mayback sword in the form of a Pedersen Type D, associated with the 9th century...
This handmade historical illustration shows Neo-Assyrian riders wearing their distinctive leather armor in ancient Mesopotamia. Source: Lunstream / Adobe Stock
10 December, 2021 - 13:58 Nathan Falde

2,600-Year-Old Leather Armor Found In China Was Made By Neo-Assyrians

An international team of archaeologists and historians has completed an extensive analysis of a rare leather armor waistcoat recovered from the grave of an ancient horse-riding soldier in Northwest...
The 1,000-year-old Middle Eastern gold earring was found in in Denmark. Source: Nationalmuseet
9 December, 2021 - 21:59 ashley cowie

1,000-Year-Old Middle Eastern Gold Earring Discovered in Scandinavia

The National Museum in Copenhagen announced on Sunday that 54-year-old Frants Fugl Vestergaard from Denmark unearthed a rare gold earring while metal detecting in a field in West Jutland. Believed to...
The complete large straw-tempered Egyptian beer jars from Hierakonpolis in the background. The recent research study suggests the contents of these big jars would have been decanted into smaller, finer beakers, like the three shown in this image. Source: Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
8 December, 2021 - 00:57 Sahir

Porridge-like Egyptian Beer Was Used 5,800 Years Ago in Rituals

New research published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology has revealed that Egyptian beer was produced and consumed as a staple as well as for ritual purposes as far back as 5,800 years...
The Pillar of Eliseg is just one monument that bears witness to the Romanitas of early medieval Wales. Source: Public domain
4 December, 2021 - 13:57 Meagan Dickerson

Romanitas in Early Medieval Wales: The Evidence of Latin Standing Stones

There are very few texts that survive from early medieval Wales, an era spanning the moment when the Romans left Wales until the Normans arrived. This is one of the reasons that historians have...
The 3-cm or 1.2-inch lead Seleucid sling stone recently unearthed at the Zif South Hebron Hills archaeological site in Israel. Source: COGAT
4 December, 2021 - 00:57 Sahir

Seleucid Sling Stone Sheds New Light on Jewish Hannukah Story

Hanukkah or the Jewish Festival of Lights is celebrated in memory of the recovery of the Second Temple in Jerusalem from the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BC. This was at the beginning of the...

Pages