australia

The site of secondary mining of Phosphate rock in Nauru, 2007. Source: CC BY 2.0

15 January, 2021 - 19:17 Ed Whelan

Nauru, The Tiny Nation with a Blackened Name

One of the many micro-nations in the Pacific is Nauru, once known as Pleasant Island. This small island has a rich and complex history. It is the third-smallest country in the world and, at one point...

The tin of Boer War chocolates recently found among the papers of Banjo Paterson, Australia's most famous poet. Source: National Library of Australia

31 December, 2020 - 22:03 Nathan Falde

Poet’s 120-Year-Old Chocolates Found In Australia’s National Library

While going through the personal papers of the famous Australian poet, author, and newspaper correspondent Andrew Barton “Banjo” Paterson, conservators at the National Library of Australia discovered...

A new paper introduces 570 examples of Maliwawa rock art in rock shelters in Western Arnhem Land in Australia’s Northern Territory. This image shows a rock art depiction of a Maliwawa macropod found in the Namunidjbuk clan estate of the Wellington Range. Source: (P. Taçon / Australian Archaeology)

2 October, 2020 - 18:00 ashley cowie

Ancient Lifeforms and Odd Humans Depicted in Maliwawa Rock Art

The timeworn relationship between humans and animals has been found depicted on 570 ancient paintings discovered within 87 rock shelters in Western Arnhem Land in Australia’s Northern Territory. In...

Reading the Rich Symbolism in Aboriginal Art

30 September, 2020 - 17:58 Liza Brooke

How to Read the Symbolism in Aboriginal Art

For thousands of years, an art form has existed that includes works in a wide range of media, including bark painting, ceremonial clothing, painting on leaves, rock carving, watercolor painting, and...

The Aboriginal rock shelters at Juukan Gorge sits about 60km north-west of the remote Pilbara mining town of Tom Price. Source: Puutu Kunti Kurrama And Pinikura Aboriginal Corporation

7 August, 2020 - 18:44 Ed Whelan

Aboriginal Rock Shelters Could Have Been Saved from Blasting

Two culturally and archaeologically significant rock shelters were destroyed by a mining company in Western Australia. The caves were ruined by blasting carried out by Rio Tinto, who remarkably did...

Assortment of the Aboriginal rock art found at the Yilbilinji site in Limmen National Park, Australia. Source: L.M. Brady / Antiquity Publications Ltd

26 May, 2020 - 00:15 Ed Whelan

Study Reveals Rare Aboriginal Rock Art’s Link With Sorcery and Magic

In Australia , a team of researchers have made some dramatic new findings regarding one of the world’s most important rock art assemblages. This Aboriginal rock art is among the very few examples of...

The Founding of Australia (public domain)

4 May, 2020 - 01:53 ancient-origins

Botany and The Colonization of Australia in 1770

James Cook and his companions aboard the Endeavour landed at a harbour on Australia’s southeast coast in April of 1770. Cook named the place Botany Bay for “the great quantity of plants Mr. Banks and...

The Milky Way is important in Australian Aboriginal astronomy

30 April, 2020 - 00:44 dhwty

Looking to the Stars of Australian Aboriginal Astronomy

Astronomy played an important role in many ancient societies. Through this natural science, the ancients were able to make calendars, navigate during the night, and even explore the nature of the...

An artist's rendering of the ancient wormlike creature called Ikaria wariootia. Source: Sohail Wasif/UCR

24 March, 2020 - 23:34 ancient-origins

Rice-Sized Ancient Worms are the Ancestors of All Animals

Geologists have discovered the first ancestor on the family tree that contains most animals today, including humans. The ancient worm-like creature , Ikaria wariootia , is the earliest bilaterian, or...

Geologists think Earth was once a water world. Source: Credit: peangdao / Adobe Stock

4 March, 2020 - 13:46 ancient-origins

Geologists Determine Early Earth Was a 'Water World'

The Earth of 3.2 billion years ago was a "water world" of submerged continents, geologists say after analyzing oxygen isotope data from ancient ocean crust that's now exposed on land in Australia...

The Aboriginal rock art of Uluru that has been damaged, with stains of a dark fluid that can clearly be seen. Source: Emma Haskin / ABC

1 March, 2020 - 19:33 ashley cowie

Greasy Scumbags Vandalize Sacred Uluru’s Ancient Aboriginal Rock Art

Uluru, or Ayers Rock , is the massive natural sandstone monolith standing at the sacred heart of Australia’s Northern Territory’s ‘Red Centre’ and after years of abuse, now, ancient Aboriginal rock...

Nura Rupert, Australia, c.1933. Pitjantjatjara people, South Australia, Mamu (Spooky spirits) 2006, Ernabella, South Australia, synthetic polymer paint on linen 92x122cm. Ed and Sue Tweddell Fund for South Australian Contemporary Art 2006. Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide. Source: © Nura Rupert, courtesy of Ernabella Arts.

29 February, 2020 - 02:00 ancient-origins

Aboriginal Monsters and their Hidden Meanings

Christine Judith Nicholls / The Conversation A rich inventory of monstrous figures exists throughout Aboriginal Australia. The specific form that their wickedness takes depends to a considerable...

Depiction of a volcano erupting to show what the eruption at Budj Bim could have looked like. Source: SiriusRzn / Adobe stock

12 February, 2020 - 22:49 Ed Whelan

Is the Aboriginal Budj Bim Volcano Tale the World’s Oldest Story?

Researchers investigating the date of human settlement in Australia have made an amazing discovery. They analyzed geological data in relation to the oral tradition of local Aboriginal people, and it...

Fire services fought to save the Budj Bim site.

23 January, 2020 - 02:11 Ed Whelan

Fires Reveal More of the 6,000-Year-Old Budj Bim Site

UNESCO has given a 6,000-year-old Aboriginal cultural landscape called the Budj Bim archaeological site in Victoria, Australia the status of a World Heritage Site. They have acknowledged the national...

Baloon Cave, before (left) and after (right) the 2018 explosion that destroyed ancient Aboriginal rock art. Source: Paul Tacon (after) / Selina Goodreid (Before)

8 January, 2020 - 22:41 ashley cowie

8000-Year-Old Aboriginal Rock Art Destroyed During Bushfire

Archaeologists confirm the ancient Aboriginal rock art in Australia’s Baloon Cave cannot be restored after fire damage, caused by a recycled plastic walkway, ignited into a fireball in 2018. Ancient...

5 January, 2020 - 14:38 joannagillan

History Saved! Jenolan Caves Defended as Australian Fires Rage On

Australia’s World Heritage Listed heritage site, the Jenolan Caves Reserve, which has the world’s oldest known and open cave systems, has been protected from the raging fires which are tearing across...

Pages

Myths & Legends

Were the Merovingians Descended from a Monster? Meet the Quinotaur

You’ve probably heard of a Minotaur (half-man, half-bull), but what about a Quinotaur? In early Frankish history, there was a “beast of Neptune,” which was said to look like a creature called a Quinotaur.

The ‘Dynastic Race’ and the Biblical ‘Japheth’ – Part I: After the Deluge

The Fearsome Wicker Man: An Eerie Way Druids Committed Human Sacrifice

The Legends and Archaeology of Devil’s Lake: A Place of Ancient Power in Wisconsin

The Last of the Siberian Unicorns: What Happened to the Mammoth-Sized One-Horned Beasts of Legend?

Craniums and Controversies of the Chachapoya Cloud Warriors

Human Origins

Noah's Sacrifice - watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot

The ‘Dynastic Race’ and the Biblical ‘Japheth’ – Part I: After the Deluge

The imperfect state of archaeological researches in the Near East impedes any definite identification of the original race or races that created the earliest civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. According to Gordon Childe, however, the predominant racial element in the earliest graves in the region from Elam to the Danube is the ‘Mediterranean’.

Ancient Anomalous Human Skeletons: Humanity Could be Much Older Than We Think

The Faravahar: The Ancient Zoroastrian Symbol of Iran

Legendary Locks: Can Hair Act as a Sixth Sense, Protecting us from Danger?

Edgar Cayce, Six-fingered Giants and the Supernatural Creation Gods of Atlantis: Part 1

The Importance of Questioning History: From Malta to the Dead Sea Scrolls

Ancient Technology

Secrets Behind the Creepy Plague Doctor Mask and Costume

The plague doctor mask is one of the most recognizable symbols of the Black Death. Though the image is iconic the relationship may be a little anachronistic. While plague doctors have been plying their trade since the Middle Ages, it was only after this period, during the 17th century, that they acquired their creepy trademark costume. But what does it mean?

Egyptian Blue – The Oldest Known Artificial Pigment

Han Purple: A 2,800-year-old artificial pigment that quantum physicists are trying to understand

Bombshell Study Calls Astronomical Theories of the Nebra Sky Disk “Obsolete”

Romans Mastered Nanotechnology and Used it for Eye Catching Decoration

Philip’s Fountain: The Oldest Still-In-Use Hydraulic Work in the World

Ancient Places

One of the mounted skulls found in Motala, Sweden. Credit: Anna Arnberg.

This is What a Man from the Tomb of Sunken Skulls Looked Like

When archaeologists were excavating a dry prehistoric lake bed in Motala, Sweden in 2009, they stumbled upon one of the most peculiar archaeological discoveries the nation had seen – the so-called ‘...

Built to Last: The Secret that Enabled Roman Roads to Withstand the Passage of Time

Sans-Souci: The Ruined Palace of King Henry I of Haiti

The Great Serpent Mound of Ohio, the Largest Earthen Effigy in the World

The Great City of Uruk Became Sumerian Powerhouse of Technology, Architecture and Culture

What Makes Spartan Women So Different From Other Ancients?

Opinion

Petroglyphic Features of Portable Rock Art

Paleo rock art from around the world ranges in style, method, and age, and includes cave paintings, petroglyphs, pictographs, polished and engraved stones such as effigies, stone sculptures, and portable ceremonial objects.

The Northern Mysteries Current: Futhark and Mystery Schools of the Viking Age

Was There Ever a Trojan War?

Floki and the Viking Discovery of Iceland

Messiah on Temple Mount: Are We Nearing the End of Time?

3 Problems to Remember When Trying to Find Atlantis

Our Mission

At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exists countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained.

The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe.

We’re the only Pop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives.

By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings.