dead

Cremation area (right) and two middle-imperial Roman tombs under excavation. (© Sagalassos Archaeological Research Project/ Antiquity Publications Ltd)

14 March, 2023 - 21:58 Nathan Falde

“Dead Nails” Used in Roman Grave to Protect the Living from Restless Dead

Belgian archaeologists digging at the site of the ancient Roman city of Sagalassos in southwestern Turkey recently unearthed a most unusual burial. The tomb held the cremated remains of a man who’d...

A beautiful wandering wilas. Source: angel_nt / Adobe Stock

25 June, 2022 - 01:56 Riley Winters

Beware the Wandering Wilas of Slavic Mythology

In Slavic mythology, there is a type of nymph, which can only be described as somewhere between a ghost and a fairy. Said to float between the living world and the afterlife, the wandering wilas have...

3 March, 2021 - 21:04 Riley Winters

More Than A Game: The True History Of Ouija Boards

Ouija boards—also called spirit boards or talking boards—have been part of various cultures long before the introduction of the "game" in the 19th century. "Ouija", in fact, is the name of the game...

There are many legends of ancient hauntings at prehistoric burial mounds.

7 January, 2020 - 12:43 valdar

Ancient Hauntings in the Hills

It was a worldwide phenomenon during Prehistoric times for people to bury their dead under mounds (which are also known as tumuli ). The dead were buried along with their worldly possessions and...

Zoroastrians have used Towers of Silence in their funerary practices

6 December, 2019 - 16:55 dhwty

Zoroastrian Towers of Silence: Leaving the Dead for the Vultures

A tower of silence (known also as a ‘dakhma’) is a type of structure used for funerary purposes by adherents of the Zoroastrian faith. This Zoroastrian practice for the disposal of the dead involves...

Many prosthetic dentures were composed of Waterloo Teeth . Source: Museum of London Archaeology

30 November, 2019 - 17:49 Aleksa Vučković

Waterloo Teeth: Wearing A Dead Man’s Grin

Toothaches are the worst. We all get them, and we all hate them. Going to the dentist can often seem like a very unpleasant necessity. But in the 21 st century, it is often taken for granted –...

14 March, 2019 - 00:44 dhwty

Shinigami: The Grim Reaper and God of Death in Japanese Folklore

Shinigami are Japanese death gods or death spirits. They are akin to the Grim Reaper in many ways, however these supernatural beings may be somewhat less frightening and they arrived later on the...

31 January, 2019 - 22:45 Alicia McDermott

Ecuador’s Mummy of Guano is the Key to Understanding a Painful Global Disease

An Andean mummy in Ecuador may be the missing link to understanding the expansion of rheumatoid polyarthritis from the Americas to Europe. Its naturally mummified remains are set to change both local...

At Chan Chan statues thought to be marking tombs have been found.

25 October, 2018 - 14:02 ashley cowie

Oldest Statues Ever Found At Chan Chan Have Been Saved From the Claws of Climate Change

Archeologists excavating in Peru, at the largest pre-Columbian ancient site in the America’s, have saved 20 wooden statues dated to around 800-years-old from encroaching weather fronts. Culture...

A man marrying a deceased woman in China

16 August, 2018 - 17:23 Riley Winters

Ghost Marriages: Love For the Living and the Deceased

The tradition of the ghost marriage is one that supposedly stretches back to the first imperial dynasty of China: the Qin Dynasty, dating from the years 221 BC – 206 BC. The most comprehensive early...

An ancient carved stone face of a megalithic statue in the San Agustín Archaeological Park, Colombia.

16 June, 2018 - 00:48 dhwty

Necropolis of Warriors and Gods: The Ancient Statues of San Agustín, Colombia

The world’s largest necropolis, filled with gods, mythical animals, and heroes, rests in the southwestern Andes of Colombia The largest collection of religious monuments and megalithic sculptures in...

Skull from Roman Dead exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands

26 May, 2018 - 14:00 ancient-origins

The Dead Tell Us of a Diverse Londinium

Rebecca Redfern / The Conversation Our knowledge about the people who lived in Roman Britain has undergone a sea change over the past decade. New research has rubbished our perception of it as a...

The 10 skeletons were arranged in a spiral pattern found at Tlalpan, Mexico City

2 February, 2018 - 22:59 ashley cowie

Discovered! Ancient Mexican Spiral of Death

Ten ancient skeletons have been unearthed in Mexico this week including a baby of around one-month-old! Ritualistically deformed, in that their skull shapes and teeth had been altered, they were...

60 pieces of scroll have been reassembled in the latest scroll.

23 January, 2018 - 22:58 Theodoros Karasavvas

One of the Last Two Known Dead Sea Scrolls Is Deciphered

Researchers from the Haifa University have reconstructed the contents of one of the last two undeciphered Dead Sea Scrolls , disclosing a distinctive calendar used by a Jewish sect that lived in the...

Illustration of the "Emmons mask", a Mississippian culture carved cedarwood human face shaped object once covered in copper and painted with galena and used as part of a headdress

14 December, 2017 - 23:00 jason and sarah

Adena Axis Mundi & Large Skeletal Remains: Travelling to the Realm of the Dead at Grave Creek Mound - Part II

The large Grave Creek Mound proved to be an irresistible attraction to early antiquarians and curiosity seekers. In 1823, John Haywood mentioned the impressive mound: “of a conical form, 75 feet high...

16th or 17th century painting of the ‘Dance of Death.’ The living weren’t always scared of the dead.

1 November, 2017 - 01:01 ancient-origins

Dance Macabre: How the Dead Danced with the Living in Medieval Society

Ashby Kinch / The Conversation In the Halloween season , American culture briefly participates in an ancient tradition of making the world of the dead visible to the living: Children dress as...