During the development of a social housing residence in Rue de Beaucaire in Nîmes, archaeologists have uncovered a series of ancient structures including tombs and funeral pyres. These Roman finds...
Many people see death as a rite of a passage : a journey to some new place, or a threshold between two kinds of being. Zoroastrians believe that there is a bridge of judgment that each person who...
Ancient India's history is marked by practices that, by today's standards, appear bewildering. One such practice was baby dropping, where infants under 2 years old were shaken and dropped from...
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...
Sati, the practice of a widow self-immolating on her husband's funeral pyre, remains one of the most controversial and emotive issues in South Asian culture. While some view it as a sacred funerary...
The Viking warriors who invaded England in the late ninth century have long been a topic of fascination for historians and archaeologists alike. Now, a team of British and Belgian scientists have...
Archaeologists digging at a Stone Age campsite in northern Germany have found 10,500-year-old cremated human bones. These Mesolithic era ‘bog bones’ are the oldest human remains found so far in...
When you think of intelligent people, Albert Einstein may be the first name to come to mind. Known as one of history’s greatest geniuses, he fascinated the world with his many contributions to...
A rare 2,300-year-old Hellenistic cremation burial has been discovered in Istanbul. Artifacts discovered in the Hellenistic-era burial tomb are revealing secrets about the city of ancient Chalcedon,...
“A discovery of a lifetime” is what archaeologist Dr. Michal Sip termed the find: a golden sun bowl dated to 3,000 years ago, unearthed during ongoing excavations in a prehistoric settlement in...
The archipelago of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea in southern Europe, is a place of mystique and wonder. With a rich history that commences with human occupation in 5,900 BC, archaeologists have now...
The remains of what appears to have been a unique funeral ceremony and Greek burial have been discovered at the ancient colony of Gela in southern Sicily. Founded some time between 689 and 688 BC,...
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...
Archaeologists in Poland have discovered a 2,000-year-old burial site containing the remains of ancient Germanic warriors. In an effort to protect the archaeological dig site located near Kostrzyn (...
Overlooking the Alps, in the idyllic Austrian mountain town of Hallstatt , a few hundred grave markers indicate the resting place of former residents. But those who choose to be buried there know...
An archaeologist from The Australian National University (ANU) has hailed her excavation of a Bronze Age burial mound in south west England a huge success with the discovery of an intact 4,000 year...
For Thai Buddhists, funerals are extremely important moments, as they represent rebirth and the passage from one existence to another. The elaborate funeral rites recently held in honor of Thailand’s...
The Vikings had a very bizarre tradition that might be totally unique: they buried their own homes. From the Bronze Age until the Viking Age, historians have noted that burial mounds were placed on...
A group of previously unknown burial mounds has been discovered near Czaplinek in north-western Poland. The most interesting feature found so far is a stone ring, which is shaped similar to the world...
There is a mausoleum in the heart of ancient Rome which saw the funerals of some of the most important people in the history of the Roman Empire. The mausoleum is known as the Mausoleum of Augustus,...
A curious badger has inadvertently helped archaeologists to unearth remains of an archer or person who made archery equipment sometime between 2,200-2,000 BC in a burial mound at Netheravon,...
Analysis of remains from the famous megalithic site of Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, England, have revealed the relics of 14 wmen. According to researchers, the women were very important to the society...
A medieval Buddhist tradition started by a Buddhist monk centuries ago has people this month in Thailand exhuming and painstakingly cleaning the remains of 3,890 people who were buried without their...
India is renowned for having distinctive religious practices that coexist with one another. The numerous shrines and monuments allow one to contemplate the importance of faith for many. One of the...
