cave art

Key images from the top human origins stories of 2018: Sophisticated tools and large, all-purpose handaxes from the Olorgesailie Basin in Kenya. (Human Origins Program, Smithsonian) Drawing of a Neandertal mother and a Denisovan father with their child, a girl, at Denisova Cave in Russia. (Petra Korlević) Neanderthal cave art in La Pasiega, Spain (C.D Standish, A.W.G. Pike and D.L. Hoffmann) Photograph of a footprint beside digitally-enhanced image of the same feature. (Duncan McLaren) The left hemi-maxilla

21 January, 2019 - 13:48 Sarah P Young

Five Things We Learned About Our Human Origins in 2018

The question of what makes us human is one that is fascinating to most of us, and for many the answer lies in looking back to our roots as a species. 2018 was a fantastic year for learning new and...

A piece of hematite found in Denisova cave was used as a crayon for art work in the cave.

16 December, 2018 - 14:13 ancient-origins

Ancient Colored ‘Pencil’ Up To 50,000-Years-Old Found in Siberia

Cave-dwellers used hematite crayon for art work in Altai Mountains, say archeologists investigating a latest find in Siberia. The pre-historic artists were not Homo sapiens but Denisovans - a long-...

Hand images at Cosquer Cave. Researchers believe that Upper Paleolithic cave art depicting hands missing fingers may be explained by prehistoric ritual amputation practices.

6 December, 2018 - 13:50 ashley cowie

Does Upper Paleolithic Cave Art with Missing Fingers Really Provide Evidence for Ritual Amputation?

In a research paper published in the Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology, three scientists: Brea McCauley, David Maxwell, and Mark Collard from the Simon Fraser public research university in British...

Some of the world's oldest cave paintings have revealed people had an ancient, yet advanced, astronomy. Animal symbols represent star constellations in the night sky, and are used to mark dates and events such as comet strikes, analysis from the University of Edinburgh suggests.

28 November, 2018 - 13:57 ancient-origins

Wild Animals in the Sky? Prehistoric Cave Art Suggests Ancient Advanced Astronomy

Some of the world's oldest cave paintings have revealed how ancient people had relatively advanced knowledge of astronomy. The artworks, at sites across Europe, are not simply depictions of wild...

Figurative art depicting wild cattle, dated at about 40,000 years old, in a cave in East Kalimantan, Borneo.

9 November, 2018 - 18:48 Ed Whelan

Figurative Art Discovered Deep in Indonesian Cave is the Oldest in the World

Cave paintings offer an invaluable insight into the lives and minds of early humans. Experts, working in Borneo, Indonesia have made a potentially historic discovery in a remote karst cave system...

Uluru, also referred to as Ayers Rock, is sacred to the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara, the Aboriginal people of the area. It has many springs, waterholes, rock caves and ancient paintings. Uluru is listed as a World Heritage Site.

27 August, 2018 - 23:46 Robin Whitlock

Aboriginal languages could reveal scientific clues to Australia’s unique past

The loss of Australian aboriginal languages could obstruct access to unique scientific information regarding Australia’s ancient geological history, according to a story reported this week by BBC...

Hand prints, animals and human forms found in Yucatan cave. Source: Sergio Grosjean / Youtube Screenshot

31 July, 2018 - 23:00 Ed Whelan

Uncertain Origins of Ancient Cave Paintings Found in the Yucatan Peninsula

A major discovery has been reported by archaeologists in the Yucatan Peninsula, in south-eastern Mexico. A team of experts has discovered some astonishing cave paintings deep in a remote jungle. The...

A carving of an extinct deer in the Asphendou Cave on Crete.

13 April, 2018 - 13:58 Alicia McDermott

Greek Art Goes Palaeolithic: Cretan Cave Art Includes an Animal Extinct for 11,000 Years

More than 11,000 years ago, an Ice Age artist carefully carved the images of deer into the floor of a cave on Crete. Others would follow this person’s lead and soon the engravings became a jumble of...

Ancient art in the Altai Mountains, Russia. While the world’s best-known cave art exists in France and Spain, examples of it abound throughout the world.

14 March, 2018 - 00:40 ancient-origins

Did Humans Speak Through Cave Art? Ancient Drawings and Language's Origins

When and where did humans develop language? To find out, look deep inside caves, suggests an MIT professor. More precisely, some specific features of cave art may provide clues about how our symbolic...

Paintings in the Kapova cave (Southern Urals).

29 November, 2017 - 23:01 Alicia McDermott

A Double-humped Camel Provides Clues to Long-distance Paleolithic Travel

Researchers have discovered an unexpected painting after graffiti was removed at a cave in the Southern Urals – a double-humped camel. Now they are explaining what it means about Upper Paleolithic...

Bison from Magdalenian occupation of Altamira Cave. In black charcoal, c. 16500 – 14000 years ago.

25 April, 2017 - 01:43 Natalia Klimczak

A Pearl of Prehistoric Spain in Danger of Disappearing: Can the 35,600-year-old Art of Altamira Cave be both Witnessed and Preserved?

The cave located at Altamira was inhabited thousands of years ago and contains remarkable examples of sophisticated art from Prehistory. The first paintings appeared there most probably around 35600...

A replica of a painting of an aurochs in Lascaux cave in France. Scientists have estimated these paintings may be 20,000 years old.

2 January, 2017 - 00:59 ancient-origins

Scientists Have Almost Completed the Resurrection of Extinct Aurochs and Plan to Reintroduce Them to the Wild

A group of scientists is attempting to re-wild 1 million hectares (2.47 million acres) of European lands, and one of the keys in the circle of life will be reintroducing the fierce, huge, wild...

17 November, 2016 - 02:09 nrushton

Shamanic Explorations of Supernatural Realms: Cave Art - The Earliest Folklore

“The neuropsychological and ethnographic evidence that I have adduced strongly suggests that, in these subterranean images, we have an ancient and unusually explicit expression of a complex shamanic...

19 October, 2016 - 14:40 ancient-origins

Ancient Cave Art Reveals Origin of Mysterious Bison Hybrid

More than 30,000 years ago, early cave artists in what is now southwestern France ventured deep underground into limestone caves, where they painted elaborate and detailed frescoes of the huge...

The Cochno Stone bears what is considered to be the finest example of Bronze Age 'cup and ring' carvings in Europe.

8 September, 2016 - 00:49 aprilholloway

Will the Secrets Behind the 5000-year-old Cochno Stone Finally Be Solved?

With dozens of grooved spirals, carved indentations, geometric shapes, and mysterious patterns of many kinds, the Cochno Stone, located in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, is considered to have the...

A tiny hand, originally assumed to be of a very young child or infant was stenciled inside the outline of an adult hand on the wall of the Wadi Sura II rock shelter about 8,000 years ago. New research suggests that the prints were actually made by reptiles.

1 March, 2016 - 21:52 Alicia McDermott

Anthropologist Suggests that Tiny Stone Age Cave ‘Handprints’ Are Not Actually Human Hands

The 6,000-8,000-year-old cave paintings at the Wadi Sura II site in Egypt have been a source of interest since they were discovered in 2002. Although there are thousands of paintings that include a...

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Myths & Legends

Glastonbury Tor. Source: vlorzor / Adobe. Inset: Representational image of a skeleton.

The Glastonbury Giant: Who Did the Mystery Bones of A Nine Foot Skeleton Belong To?

When researching the reality of giants in the past, one story which has survived the ages is the apparent discovery of the ‘Glastonbury Giant’ which was allegedly unearthed in 1190, on orders of King Henry II, following rumors that the legendary King Arthur was in fact buried at that specific location.

Magu: The Hemp Goddess Who Healed Ancient Asia

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

Ten Mythological Creatures in Ancient Folklore

The Disturbing True Story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin

Was Moloch really Ba’al, the Ancient God Who Demanded Child Sacrifice?

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...

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

The human skull that challenges the Out of Africa theory

Where Did the Polynesians Really Come From?

A Snapshot of Our Mysterious Ancestor Homo erectus

Research Confirms that Neanderthal DNA Makes Up About 20% of the Modern Human Genome

Ancient Technology

Stone of the Pregnant Woman, an example of ancient high-tech stonework in Hajar al Hibla at Baalbek in Lebanon.

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

There are many stone artifacts from the ancient world made from the hardest stone on the planet such as granite and diorite, which have been cut and shaped with such quality, precision and accuracy that the standard explanations of their manufacture are simply inadequate.

Boggling Bannerstones of Ancient Americans: Were They a Function of Flight or More a Flight of Fancy?

The Indian Sage who developed Atomic Theory 2,600 years ago

Ten amazing inventions from ancient times

The Lost Knowledge of the Ancients: Were Humans the First? Part 1

6 Advanced Ancient Inventions Beyond Modern Understanding

Ancient Places

Chongoni Rock Art Offers Fascinating Insight into Mysterious Secret Society of the Chewa

Civilizations who have left no written records have in some cases left us with a way to understand their history and culture. The Chongoni Rock Art area, which contains a number of locations, is a unique site in the central African country of Malawi.

Were the Women of Petra More Important Than the Men?

The Mysterious Waffle Rock: A Bizarre Boulder with a Hazy Background

The 9,500-year-old honeycomb city of Çatalhöyük

The Grim Reality of the Brothels of Pompeii

The Construction of Venice, the Floating City

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.