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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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Mayan ball game. Source: Sputnik / CC by SA 2.5

Juego de Pelota: Ancient Mayan Sporting Tradition Resurrected (Video)

In Mexico, a dedicated group of athletes is embarking on a remarkable mission: to revive an ancient sporting tradition that pays tribute to the game once cherished by their ancestors. The...
Samurai vs conquistador. Source: AI generated.

The Ultimate Showdown: Samurai vs. Conquistadors in battle (Video)

It’s always a lot of fun to imagine what would happen if history’s greatest warriors had ever clashed. Medieval Knights vs Spartans. Vikings vs the Roman Legion. But there’s one epic clash which isn’...
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca: The Extraordinary Adventure of a Compassionate Conquistador

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca: The Extraordinary Adventure of a Compassionate Conquistador

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish explorer, born in 1490 in the town of Jerez, a place famed for its sweet wines. Although his name, which meant ‘Cow’s Head,’ was amusing to some, it placed...
Left; Portrait of Francisco Pizarro. Right; The tomb of Francisco Pizarro in the Lima Cathedral held the wrong man’s remains for nearly a century, but modern science has corrected the error with Pizarro’s remains, found in two boxes beneath the cathedral in 1977.						Source: Left; Public Domain, Right; RAF-YYC / CC BY-SA 2.0

Finding Francisco Pizzaro: The Strange Story of Pizarro’s Remains

It’s fair to say that Francisco Pizarro was a highly divisive figure. Indeed, even a mention of him today in some parts of the world can incite blood fueled anguish and hatred of the man responsible...
The white rock at Vilcabamba. Source: Walter_Xim / Adobe Stock.

The White Rock at Vilcabamba: The Sacred Heart of the Inca?

In the Inca heartlands of Peru, hidden away in the mountains and overshadowed by the more famous Inca ruins at Machu Picchu and around Cusco lies a seldom visited and obscure carved rock at...
Hernan Cortes: The Conquistador Who Beat the Aztecs

Hernan Cortes: The Conquistador Who Beat the Aztecs

Hernan Cortes was a Spanish conquistador who lived between the 15th and 16th centuries AD. He is best remembered for his expedition against the Aztec Empire centered in Mexico. This was part of the...
Archaeologists at the excavation site of Tecoaque near Calpulalpan in Mexico have discovered 24,000 bones relating to the 500-year-old “sacrifice and revenge slaughter” events that brought Zultépec-Tecoaque to a bloody end.

Charred Remains Reveal the Ultra-Violent End of Zultépec-Tecoaque

Archaeologists at the excavation site of Tecoaque near Calpulalpan in Mexico have discovered 24,000 bones relating to the 500-year-old “sacrifice and revenge slaughter” events that brought Zultépec-...
Fall of Tenochtitlan - Spanish Conquest of Mexico

The Fall of Tenochtitlan - Truly the End of the Aztec Empire?

The fall of Tenochtitlan is an important event in the history of the Americas as it marks the end of the Aztec Empire. This event took place on August 13, 1521 and was the result of a three-month...
Aerial view of the Kansas earthwork site and drone-acquired orthoimage showing major features of the site

Surprise Find! Thermal-Drones Spot Ancient Earthwork in Kansas

Archaeologists have flown high-tech drones over the rainbow in Kansas, revealing a large circular earthwork. The recently discovered Kansas earthwork is thought to be linked to a famous indigenous...
Quetzalcoatl, detail. Source: Manzanedo/Deviant Art

The Real Story of the ‘Bearded God’ Named Quetzalcoatl

Many myths have cropped up in the centuries since Columbus landed upon the shores of Hispaniola. While some of these myths have come to be seen for what they are, many more persist in the zeitgeist...
The wooden statue of the Pachacamac idol.  Source: (Sepúlveda M, Pozzi-Escot D, Angeles Falcón R, Bermeo N, Lebon M, Moulhérat C, et al. (2020)/ PlosOne)/ Museo de sitio Pachacamac

Ancient ‘Inca’ Pachacamac Idol Whispers Secrets of Wari Past

An ancient and deeply spiritualized wooden idol of the Andean ‘Earth Maker’, Pachacamac ( Quechua: Pachakamaq ), was once worshiped at the Temple of the Sun; a 30,000-square-meter step pyramid at the...
The location of the Treasure of Lima remains a mystery. Source: fergregory /Adobe Stock

Search for the Treasure of Lima and Wealth Beyond Measure

We all remember how the daring, thrilling novels of pirates, buried treasures, and exciting swashbuckling sparked our imagination when we were kids. The iconic novels such as “Treasure Island” by...
Portrait of Juan Ponce de León.

The Fake Story of Juan Ponce de León and the Fountain of Youth

Juan Ponce de León was one of the first Europeans known to have set foot on what is today the United States of America. This was due to his expedition to the area now known as Florida (the first one...
The Island of Cubagua, Venezuela

Nueva Cádiz and the Pearls of Venezuela

South America is famous for many reasons and amongst history lovers, for its many lost and abandoned cities . Since they have been rediscovered, they are among some of the most remarkable...
La Malinche (Young Girl of Yalala, Oaxaca).

The Controversial Role of La Malinche in the Fall of the Aztec Empire: Traitor or Hero?

La Malinche (meaning ‘ the captain’s woman’) , also known as ‘Malinalli’, ‘Malintzin’ or ‘ Doña Marina’, is an important figure in the history of Mexico, especially for the pivotal role she played in...
Modern recreation of a ceremonial macuahuitl, an Aztec obsidian sword, made by Shai Azoulai. Source: Zuchinni one/CC BY SA 3.0

Macuahuitl: Aztec Wooden ‘Paddles’ Are Obsidian Swords, Sharper Than Steel

By Michael Wing , Epoch Times The Spanish conquerors of the 16th century were met by the sophisticated Aztec culture when they first landed on the shores of Mexico. The Europeans’ steel weapons and...
The ruins of León Viejo. Source: CC BY-SA 3.0

León Viejo, The Lost City of Nicaragua That Emerged From The Ashes After 400 Years

The city of León Viejo has been rediscovered and is now open to visitors. The ruins of the city are very important in the history of the Central American nation as it has some of the oldest Spanish...
 Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, Panamá Viejo

How An Infamous Welsh Pirate Destroyed the Conquistadors' City of Panama Viejo

Panama City in Central America is a bustling city of 1.5 million people. It is a major financial hub as well as a popular tourist destination and fortunately the remains of the old Panama City , an...
Wichita Lodge, Thatched with Prairie Grass (1834-1835) by George Catlin

Possibly Decimated by Conquistadors 400 Years Ago, Has the Lost City of Etzanoa Finally Been Found?

It may be necessary to add another large nation of Native Americans to the list of peoples wiped out by the rapacious Spanish conquistadors after they arrived in the Americas. The location of the...
Changes in Guerrero

Gonzalo Guerrero: Father of the First Mestizos and Army Captain of the Mayans

Gonzalo Guerrero (known also as Gonzalo Marinero, Gonzalo de Aroca, and Gonzalo de Aroza) was a Spanish soldier who hoped to become a conquistador in the New World. Instead, he was captured by the...
Monument to Cuauhtémoc in Veracruz, Mexico.

Cuauhtémoc, The Last Aztec Emperor to Fight Against the Spanish

Cuauhtémoc (meaning ‘Setting Sun’ or ‘Descending Eagle’) was the 11th Tlatoani (literally meaning ‘speaker’, but may also be translated as ‘king’) of Tenochtitlan, and the last ruler of the Aztec...
Hernando De Soto and Spanish Conquistadores seeing the Mississippi River for the first time.

The Forgotten Story of Spanish Conquerors in North America

Official history says that the Spanish colonizers in America were focused on the territory from Mexico to the end of South America. For centuries, there was the question of why the Spaniards didn't...
Hernán Cortés Monroy, with his coat of arms on the upper left corner. Painting reproduced in the book America, (R. Cronau 19th century).

The Many Burials of Hernan Cortes: Locating the Gravesite of a Conquistador

Hernán Cortés was a Spanish conquistador who was instrumental in the fall of the Aztec Empire. After death, his body was buried in Seville, but later it was re-buried many times, in some cases to...
Little is known about the natives with whom the Luna expedition made contact, but they left behind these beads, which were unearthed in Pensacola, Florida.

Lone Archaeologist Discovers First Multi-Year European Settlement in the U.S.

An archaeologist and historian working on his own found the first multi-year settlement by Europeans on U.S. soil, in Pensacola, Florida. The mid-16th century expedition of about 1,500 people led by...