cambodia

9 July, 2018 - 21:54 Caleb Strom

Phnom Kulen: Sacred Mountain and Hidden Temples Hold Forgotten Treasures in Cambodia

In Cambodia, some 40 kilometers (24.85 miles) northeast of Angkor, is the mountain range of Phnom Kulen. This sandstone plateau is a sacred site to Hindus and Buddhists. In addition to a giant statue...

The dinosaur carving at Ta Prohm temple in Cambodia.

4 February, 2018 - 13:49 Caleb Strom

Is the Creature Carved Into Angkor Temple Wall a ‘Domestic’ Dinosaur?

Mainstream paleontologists say that dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years before the evolution of modern humans. This, however, has not stopped the suggestion that some dinosaurs may have survived...

Rice goddesses are found across cultures

18 December, 2017 - 15:27 MartiniF

Rice Goddesses - Earth Mothers who Influenced Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld

For centuries, rice has been a staple diet and plays an important role in Asian culture. Although rice farmers have found their lives becoming more difficult due to climate change, Bloomberg states...

Sculpture of a head from 950-1150 AD found at Building Y in the Tajin Chico section. On display at the Tajin site museum, Veracruz state, Mexico

17 November, 2017 - 13:57 Marco M. Vigato

Mexico’s Haunted City of Thunder – El Tajin: Surprising Connections Between Cultures Worlds and Eras Apart

El Tajin is a Mesoamerican archaeological site located in the North of the state of Veracruz, near the Gulf Coast of Mexico. The city, one of the most flourishing of the Classic and early Post-...

4 May, 2017 - 19:01 samosmanagich

Revealing the Mysterious Story of the Koh Ker Pyramid in Cambodia

The Koh Ker complex of temples is located in Northeastern Cambodia. This is the conventional story for its beginnings: “Army General Jayavarmal separated from the central government in Angkor, from...

One of the scenes created by the research team, depicting a small temple in the surrounds of Angkor Wat. Tom Chandler and Brent McKee (Monash University)

1 May, 2017 - 22:50 Theodoros Karasavvas

Amazing Reconstruction Shows Daily Life Around Angkor Wat in Remarkable and Beautiful Detail

A new project called Digital Angkor has reconstructed Angkor Wat and its surrounding environment in exceptional detail, shedding light on what daily life would have been like centuries ago at the...

Hanuman and Ravana in Tholu Bommalata, the shadow puppet tradition of Andhra Pradesh, India.

8 September, 2016 - 02:25 MartiniF

The Ancient Beginnings of the Art of Shadow Puppetry

In his Republic, Plato mentions a cave in India with an inscription from the second century BCE. The inscription refers to a shadow play performance where puppets of humans and animals were...

Ta Prohm, Angkor

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

17 June, 2016 - 00:47 Mark Miller

Laser Surveys in Cambodia Reveal Unparalleled Pre-Industrial Working of the Landscape

In the jungles of Cambodia, archaeologists are using aerial laser surveys to uncover mysterious features, including man-made mounds and geoglyphs arranged in geometric shapes that indicate widespread...

30 April, 2016 - 14:50 dhwty

Jayavarman II: Self-Proclaimed God-King of the Khmer Empire

Jayavarman II is traditionally regarded as the founder of the Khmer Empire, a powerful state which ruled much of mainland Southeast Asia from the 9th century AD until the 15th century AD. The Khmer...

Excavations are underway at Longvek, a site that was capital of Cambodia after Angkor fell in the 15th century.

13 January, 2016 - 21:51 Mark Miller

New Discoveries at Ancient Cambodian Capital Dispel Old Beliefs

After the Siamese (Thai) people sacked Angkor in 1431 AD, the usual view is that Cambodia descended into a centuries-long dark age of isolation at the new capital its people established, called...

15 December, 2015 - 14:52 aprilholloway

New discoveries redefine history of Angkor Wat

The temple of Angkor Wat was much larger and more complex than previously thought, University of Sydney archaeologists have discovered. The University of Sydney's Professor Roland Fletcher and Dr...

The spectacular architecture of Angkor Wat, Cambodia

7 July, 2015 - 03:58 SACHIN KUMAR TIWARY

Tracing Indo-Cambodian relations through Magnificent Stupa Architecture - Part 2

Over the centuries, there was a great influence of art, culture, literature, and architecture from India to Cambodia. But after a certain time, when Cambodia and India become the cultural, religious...

7 July, 2015 - 01:06 SACHIN KUMAR TIWARY

Tracing Indo-Cambodian relations through Magnificent Stupa Architecture

Southeast Asia was under Indian influence from around the 3 rd century BC until the 15th century AD, when Hindu - Buddhist influence was absorbed by local politics. India had established trade,...

Monumental stone face at Bayon Temple, Cambodia.

4 March, 2015 - 12:58 dhwty

Built by Kings, the Ancient Bayon Temple of Cambodia Mixes Spirituality, History and Symbolism

The 12 th century is generally regarded as a period of European decline. In other parts of the world, however, this was certainly not the case. In South East Asia, the Khmer Empire was enjoying its...

Pages

Myths & Legends

A coloured rendition of the Sun Stone Calendar - Atzec

The Aztec Calendar Wheel and the Philosophy of Time

The Aztec calendar wheels have been a source of fascination for centuries. It was not just a way to keep time - it was a complete philosophy of time in which every day had a religious significance...

The symbol of the Swastika and its 12,000-year-old history

Messengers of Misery: Mourning Women in Mythology

Helen of Troy, The Beauty Who Sparked the Trojan War

The Real Story of Medusa, the Snake-Haired Gorgon

The Ancient Pagan Origins of Easter

Human Origins

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

Sumer, or the ‘land of civilized kings’, flourished in Mesopotamia, now modern-day Iraq, around 4500 BC. Sumerians created an advanced civilization with its own system of elaborate language and writing, architecture and arts, astronomy and mathematics.

11 Mysterious Human Species That Most People Don’t Know Existed

Creation Myth of the Maori – New Zealand

The human skull that challenges the Out of Africa theory

Rh-Negative Blood: An Exotic Bloodline or Random Mutation?

The Secret Life of an Ancient Concubine

Ancient Technology

Norimitsu Odachi: Who Could Have Possibly Wielded This Enormous 15th Century Japanese Sword?

The Norimitsu Odachi is a huge sword from Japan. It is so large, in fact, that it was said to have been wielded by a giant. Apart from the basic knowledge of it having been forged in the 15th century AD, measuring 3.77 meters (12.37 ft.) in length, and weighing as much as 14.5 kg (31.97 lbs.), this impressive sword is shrouded in mystery.

Robots Guarded Buddha’s Relics in a Legend of Ancient India

Secrets Behind the Creepy Plague Doctor Mask and Costume

The revolutionary invention of the wheel

The Evidence is Cut in Stone: A Compelling Argument for Lost High Technology in Ancient Egypt

The High-Tech Stonework of the Ancients: Unsolved Mysteries of Master Engineers

Ancient Places

Were the Chislehurst Caves Originally Created By Druids?

The Chislehurst Caves are a series of man-made subterranean tunnels, rooms, and caverns located in the southeastern part of Greater London. The caves were originally chalk and flint mines, which were abandoned around the early 19th century.

Vikings in Ireland: Recent Discoveries Shedding New Light on the Fearsome Warriors that Invaded Irish Shores

First Feast? The Burial at the Hilazon Tachtit Cave Site

Khajuraho: The Sexiest Temples in India

Somalia: The Ancient Lost Kingdom of Punt is Finally Found?

How Ancient People Marked the Equinox Around the World

Opinion

The astronomical ceiling at the Pronaos, Detail of the first Band west from the center. From left to right: two wind creatures (the winged ram with four heads personifies the south wind), the snake- and frog-headed eight goddesses and gods of the Ogdoad who ruled the cosmos before the creation of the world and Osiris seated on a throne sails across the sky as personification of the full moon accompanied by the seated goddesses Nephtys (left) and Isis on the right (Maat stands near the bow of the ship). Siri

Changing Colors and Scampering Across the Night Sky: What Did the Ancients Say about Sirius?

In Egypt, Sirius was the Star of Isis, Isis being the companion and rescuer of the god Osiris. In a very deep way, Osiris was Egypt.

Cracking the Code to Discover Ancient Tarot Symbolism and Forgotten Universal Knowledge

The Secret Strategic Plans of Darius the Great

The Secrets of the Kabbalists Garden

Alchemy and Generating Lifeforce —Global Temples Made in the Shape of Lingams: Shaivite Bull Cult Part II

From Green Man to Bull Son, The Universal Shaivite Bull Cult – Part I

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.