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The perfectly preserved bronze mirror found in a shallow grave alongside the Hellenistic escort. Source: Yoli Schwartz / Israel Antiquities Authority

High-Class Hellenistic Escort Remains Found At Roadside

The body of a Greek Hellenistic woman has been discovered in a shallow grave beside the highway to Jerusalem. Laid to rest with a rare box mirror, this was no ordinary female, as she was a highly-...
The ancient stone burial chamber was found under this shrubbery, found within a parking lot located in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture. Source: Ikaruga Municipal Board of Education

Kofun Burial Chamber and Two Iron Swords Uncovered in Parking Lot Shrubbery

A fairly ordinary parking lot in Japan’s Nara prefecture has revealed the Kofun tomb of an elite person from the ancient era, accidentally uncovered as the area was being cleared to prepare it for...
The natural cliff overhang provided protection from the elements, contributing to the remarkable preservation of the horn chamber.  Source: Royal Commission for AlUla

7,000-year-old Evidence of ‘World’s Earliest Pilgrimage’ Unearthed in Arabia

Recent excavations and ensuing studies conducted at the ancient stone monuments ‘mustatil’ (literally meaning rectangle) in northwest Arabia have revealed the presence of a cultic ritual that was...
The vampire child burial included the horrific addition of a “anti-vampiric” padlock attached to the foot of the child, aged between five and seven years old. Source: Institute of Archaeology - Nicholaus Copernicus University, Torun

Grim Vampire Child Burial in Poland Featured “Anti-Vampire” Padlock

Vampire tales are normally associated with Transylvania, a mysterious Romanian locale remembered as the mythical home of Count Dracula. It was also the actual home of the merciless 15th century...
The resulting reconstruction of the Neolithic necklace discovered in southern Jordan. Source: PLoS ONE / CC BY 4.0

Elaborate 8,000-year-old Necklace from Child Burial Reveals Ancient Culture

A team of researchers from various European countries painstakingly reconstructed a decayed Neolithic necklace. The beads had been unearthed from an 8,000-year-old child's grave found at the renowned...
Capstones at the Bryher burial site in the Isles of Scilly, where the tomb of the female warrior was discovered. Source: Isles of Scilly Museum Association

Curious 2,000-Year-Old Isles of Scilly Burial Mystery Solved

On one of the small and lightly populated Isles of Scilly off the coast of Cornwall in southwestern England, archaeologists uncovered a unique stone-lined burial chamber in 1999. The grave goods...
Abusir necropolis: Sahura Funerary Temple. Pyramids of Neferirkara-Kakai and Niuserra-Ini in the background.  Source: Public Domain

Who Is Buried at Abusir Necropolis, the Funerary Jewel of Ancient Egypt?

A lot of what we know about the Ancient Egyptian civilization was discovered through their burials. These ancient people paid special attention to the afterlife, and thus their funerary rituals were...
The two burial chambers found near Kibbutz Tlalim in Israel. Source: Emil Aladjem / Israel Antiquities Authority

Negev Desert Tombs Linked to Ancient Trafficking of Sacred Prostitutes

While exploring in the remote Negev Desert in southern Israel in 2021, archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) stumbled upon something quite unexpected. Right along the route of a...
Anglo-Saxon ivory rings were sourced from African elephants. Source: kyslynskyy / Adobe Stock

Anglo-Saxon Ivory Rings Found in Britain Came from African Elephants

Unusual rings made from ivory have been unearthed in dozens of early Anglo-Saxon burials in England. The origin of the Anglo-Saxon ivory rings had remained a mystery for 200 years, but scientific...
Artist impression of the 4000 year old sanctuary in Tiel, made by Alexander van de Bunt	Source: Alexander van de Bunt/Municipality of Tiel/BAAC

4,000-Year-Old Stonehenge-Like Sanctuary Unearthed in the Netherlands

Archaeologists digging at an ancient site in the central Netherlands over the course of several years discovered something remarkable and unexpected. Following an analysis of excavations that have...
Left, The Trumpington Cross is found during the excavation of the burial in 2012. Top right, The Trumpington Cross. Bottom Right, Skull of Anglo-Saxon girl in the burial. Source: University of Cambridge Archaeological Unit

Rare Anglo-Saxon Trumpington Cross Girl Burial Has Been Given A Face

Who Was This Anglo-Saxon Girl? Face of Trumpington Cross Bed Burial Revealed In 2011, a mid-7th century Anglo-Saxon Christian burial of a 16-year-old teenage girl in a village had turned out to be...
Representative image of mummy in Nazca, Peru. Source: Matthias Kestel/Adobe Stock

Students Find A Mummy In A Temple, Beneath A Peruvian Trash Site

Dump diving in Lima, archaeology students removed 8-tonnes of rubbish to reveal a rare, mummified body from Peru's ancient Manchay culture. Astonishingly, they also identified a colossal U-shaped...
Artist’s reconstruction of the Swedish shaman. Photography by Gert Germeraad, Trelleborgs Museum.

Sweden's Exceptional 7,000-Year-Old Burial That Defied Tradition (Video)

The discovery of 'Burial XXII' in Sweden during the early 1980s generated considerable excitement among archaeologists. This unique Mesolithic grave , located in Skateholm on the southern coast,...
Skeletons in a mass grave. Source: EKH-Pictures / Adobe Stock.

Grim Discovery: Uncovering London's Plague Burial Ground (Video)

In August 2015, an astounding discovery was made in the heart of London that sent shockwaves through the archaeological and historical communities. Researchers announced the unearthing of a mass...
Representative image of human skulls in one of the famous catacombs around the world. Source: mila103 / Adobe Stock

Tales from the Crypt: Exploring the World's Most Famous Catacombs

Beneath the streets and buildings of many of the world's most historic cities lie mysterious and ancient catacombs. These underground burial sites hold the remains of thousands of people and have...
Ancient Roman funeral and mourning. Source: Erica Guilane-Nachez / Adobe Stock.

Watch the Reenactment of a Traditional Roman Funeral (Video)

The ancient Romans had a unique relationship with death and dying, and their burial practices were no exception. When someone passed away, their loved ones would gather around the dying person's bed...
Lying in a foetal position, the remains were found during a dig near Kraków. Credit: Paweł Micyk

7,000-Year-Old Skeleton in Foetal Position Discovered in Poland

Archaeologists in Poland have discovered a remarkably well preserved 7,000-year-old skeleton lying in the foetal position. The loosely packed soil with a non-acidic chemical composition acted as a...
The Taizhou mummy was discovered accidentally by road workers and was found immersed in a mysterious brown liquid. Source:  GU XIANGZHONG, XINHUA

Accidental Find of Impeccably Preserved Ming Dynasty Taizhou Mummy

Mummies often evoke thoughts of the ancient Egyptians and their sophisticated mummification rituals. These practices aimed to create a seamless transition between life and death and led to remarkable...
The unearthing of the U shaped Miraflores stone temple in Huaral, Peru. Source: Global News/ YouTube Screenshot

Incredibly Ancient Temple Found in Peru with Mysterious Cross Symbol

While exploring in and around Lima, a team of Peruvian archaeologists from the National Major University of San Marcos (UNSM) uncovered the remains of a U-shaped stone temple that was somewhere...
Viking ship burial mound discovered at Salhushaugen, Norway.          Source: Museum of Archaeology, University of Stavanger/Science Norway

1,200-Year-Old Viking Ship Burial Found in Supposedly Empty Mound

A large Viking burial mound found on the island of Karmøy off Norway’s western coast was long thought to be empty. Excavations that opened the Salhushaugen mound in 1906 were launched in the belief...
The forgotten jewelry found buried with a girl in Jerusalem. Source: Israel Antiquities Authority

1,800-Year-Old Golden Protective Jewelry Adorned Roman Girl

In 1971, on Mount Scopus in Israel, an extraordinary discovery was made: an 1,800-year-old lead coffin containing a young Roman girl adorned with precious jewelry to ward off the ‘evil eye’ and...
A land purchase document which is a square brick with writing that can be seen on the front, most of which is blurred. From the upper right, only part of the words "Wang Village, Yuanqu County, Jiangzhou, Jiangzhou, South East Road, Dajin Kingdom... Name of Gongcao... Mingchang..." and other parts of the text can be discerned. (Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology)

800-year-old Jin Period Tomb in China is a Window into Funeral Customs of the Age

Detailed findings from an extraordinary Jin Dynasty tomb in Shanxi province of central China that was discovered in 2019 have recently been made public - a magnificent ornately carved brick structure...
Representative image of a round wooden shield similar to the Viking shields found at Gokstad. Source: Aleksandrs/Adobe Stock

Ceremonial Viking Shields Re-identified as Actual Battle-Worn Armor

A reexamination of 1,100-year-old wooden Viking shields excavated in Norway in 1880 have been used to assert that these round protective devices could very well have been used in hand-to-hand combat...
Ruins of the ancient Maya city of Palenque, where the recent Palenque burial chambers were discovered by archaeologists during excavations ahead of the planned Maya train construction. (Maximilian / Adobe Stock)

Elite Maya Burial Chamber Uncovered in Palenque Excavation

Archaeologists have made a thrilling discovery at the ancient Maya city of Palenque - a burial chamber of a high-status elite individual within the enigmatic CP3 structure, unveiled during the latest...

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