The Torajan people, living in Sulawesi, Indonesia, have a unique funeral tradition . According to their beliefs, a person isn't truly dead until water buffalo have been sacrificed at their funeral,...
In the 16th and 17th centuries while, with astonishing hypocrisy, Europeans were reacting with disgust and outrage to reports of cannibalism brought back by travelers from the New World. And yet in...
The Hopping Vampires (jiang shi) are a type of undead creature found in Chinese folklore. Although its Chinese name is often translated as ‘Chinese hopping vampire / zombie / ghost), its literal...
Tierradentro is a national archaeological park in Colombia. Within the Tierradentro Park are structures known as hypogea as well as stone statues. This unique South American site gives visitors a...
Archaeologists have unearthed parts of a nine thousand-year-old individual’s body in Israel who was burned or cremated in a ritualistic way. This discovery has established a new milestone for the...
Maria Adelaide was a Portuguese woman who lived and died during the 19th century. Although not officially recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church, she is popularly considered to be one by the...
The Aragonese Castle is a castle built on top of a rocky islet next to Ischia, a small Italian island on the northern end of the Gulf of Naples. Whilst a stronghold is said to have already been built...
Inspired by Ötzi’s fascinating story for survival, German filmmaker Felix Randau attempts to revive the life of the most famous natural mummy in history though a feature film. Der Mann aus dem Eis (...
Mummies fascinate historians, archaeologists, and anyone with antiquarian leanings. Mummies allow scientists to learn more about the diets, clothing, appearance, genetics, and general lifestyle of...
When one thinks about the interior design of a place of worship, one generally includes statues of religious icons, paintings of important religious events, perhaps the odd stained-glass window and...
Tissue from a human Bronze Age brain has been preserved for 4000 years. Archaeologists hope that similar specimens can be found to discover more information on health conditions in the prehistoric...
For the first time, researchers have found evidence in a belief in the walking dead in medieval England, where they analyzed bones and skeletons that were decapitated, burned, and otherwise mutilated...
According to legend, in the mid-14th century a heart-broken King Peter (Pedro) I of Portugal exhumed the corpse of his lover to have her posthumously crowned queen. The romantic scandals of European...
The tradition of Sky burials, which is also known by the name of ‘Celestial burial’, is particularly associated with the Tibetan culture, although it has existed in other civilizations throughout...
According to the Roman Catholic tradition, the corpses of certain venerable people never decompose or decay. They are “incorruptible”. It is believed that certain individuals and objects can escape...
The mummies of Guanajuato are a group of naturally preserved bodies that were found in Guanajuato, a city in central Mexico. The story of these mummies dates back to 1833, when the city was hit by an...