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desert

A strong relationship between human and animal: a cow with a modified ‘neck’ pendant and horns. 	Source: Julien Cooper/The Conversation

Rock Art Discoveries in Eastern Sudan Tell a Tale of the Once ‘Green Sahara’

By Julien Cooper /The Conversation The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my...
The Garamantes carved out a thriving civilization in one of the most inhospitable environments on Earth. Source: Superhero Woozie / Adobe Stock.

The Garamantes, Ancient Masters of the Hostile Sahara

In the heart of the Sahara desert, an arid wasteland the size of the US, it seems nothing can survive. But there were some who mastered this most inhospitable of landscapes, and turned an empty land...
Tuareg man with his traditional tagelmust face and head covering in the mountains of Hoggar, Algeria.	 Source: Sahara Nature / Adobe Stock

The Ancient Tuareg: “Free Men” of the Sahara Desert

In the heart of the Sahara Desert, an ancient people known as the Tuareg have thrived for centuries. The enigmatic history, which can be traced back thousands of years, unfolds as a testament to...
A team of international archaeologists discovered life-sized wild camel carvings on a rock outcrop near the southern Nafud desert border in Saudi Arabia. Carvings are outlined in white to enhance visibility.         Source: Maria Guagnin, et al/Science

Carved Camels Ready for Copulation in Saudi Arabian Desert: Unknown Origin

An international team of archaeologists studying ancient rock art in Saudi Arabia is celebrating a new and surprising discovery. On a rock outcropping near the southern border of the Nafud desert ,...
Weapons and defensive objects are evidence that show that hunter-gatherer communities in the Atacama Desert resorted to violence for conflict-solving. Source:  Standen et al., 2023, PLOS ONE/CC-BY 4.0

Hunter-Gatherers in the Atacama Desert Resorted to Brutal Violence

A couple of years ago, a study alluded to Neolithic farmers in Chile’s Atacama Desert engaging in violent battles over resources. Turn back the clock further, and a newer study points to ancient...
Camel caravan. Source: Gaper / Adobe Stock.

The Archaeologist, the Sahara and the Caravan (Video)

In the vast expanse of the Sahara , a retired archaeology professor, Thierry Tillet, embarks on yet another expedition to trace the ancient routes of desert trade caravans . Unlike modern researchers...
Deserted ksar (representational). Source: Tupungato / Adobe Stock.

Mystery of the Desert: The Lost Cities of the Sahara (Video)

Deep within the desolate expanse of the Sahara in Niger , the mystery of lost civilizations becomes tantalizingly tangible in the form of ancient ksars or fortified villages. Located in Fachi, among...
Egyptian Symbols Found in the U.S. Source: YouTube Screenshot / History.

Unearthing Ancient Egyptian Glyphs in America (Video)

An extraordinary discovery has left experts perplexed—a 500-pound rock slab adorned with an ancient Egyptian symbol found in the U.S. desert. For two years, researchers have been grappling with its...
Remains of the ancient city of Sijilmasa within the lush Tafilalt Oasis in Morocco. Source: Mohammed / Adobe Stock

Sijilmasa: The Golden Oasis and Africa's El Dorado

Throughout ancient African history, gold has played a fundamental role, particularly as a source of wealth and power. Meanwhile, the cities that thrived on the gold trading routes were motivated by...
Left to Right: Photograph of the engraved stone at the time of discovery at the Jibal al-Khashabiyeh, Jordan location. Sketch of position of plans on the engraved monolith from Jibal al-Khashabiyeh. Location of the engraved rock in Wadi az-Zilliyat, Saudi Arabia. Source: SEBAP & Crassard et al. 2023 PLOS One

8,000-Year-Old Rock Carvings Are Earliest Scale Diagrams By Prehistoric Architects

While exploring two remote sites on the Arabian Peninsula, an international team of archaeologists found a pair of rocks that each featured a most unique set of engravings. It seems that the stars...
Excavation of a Neolithic tomb at the Nafūn site, central Oman.         Source: Roman Garba and Alžběta Danielisov/ Institute of Archaeology of the CAS in Prague

300,000yo Hand Axes, Tombs & Rock Art Discovered in Oman

In the deserts of Oman, two teams of scientists have made remarkable discoveries that shed new light on the earliest history of human civilization. From rare hand axes dating back to the first waves...
A kite from above, taken from a balloon with a camera attached. Source: Global Kites Project

Desert Kites: Ancient Hunters Built Massive Death Traps for Animals

Located on the Ustyurt plateau spanning Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are some puzzling ancient structures - or what remains of them. The plateau is a dry, clay desert which stretches a...
The luxurious Islamic mansion found in the Negev desert also had a substantial subterranean portion, as this image reveals. Source: IAA

Lavish Early Islamic Mansion Found in Israel’s Negev Desert Astounds!

In the Bedouin town of Rahat, during pre-emptive excavations carried out before the building of a new neighborhood by the Israeli government, archaeologists stumbled upon a 1,200-year-old Islamic...
Thanks to 21st-century technology we are now able to examine ancient artifacts, like those found with a Judean shepherd, to learn fascinating details about his life. Source: sajis / Adobe Stock

Fascinating Details of Judean Shepherd’s Life 6,000 Years Ago Revealed by New Tech

New technology has allowed scientists to discover fascinating details about the life of a Judean shepherd that lived and died around 6,000 years ago. In the 21st century the deductive power of...
A Racetrack Playa Sailing Stone.

Leave No Stone Unturned: What Propels the Racetrack Playa Moving Rocks?

Racetrack Playa is a dried-up lake located in Death Valley, California, USA. This dry lake is notable for its sailing stones, which are known also as sliding stones, rolling stones, or moving rocks...
As the Earth’s axis tilted towards the Sun, the Green Sahara transitioned to the dry Sahara and still many millions continued to impact this changing ecosystem. Source: appledesign / Adobe Stock

The Sahara As We Know It Today Versus The Green Sahara It Once Was!

The Sahara Desert is the largest desert in the world. Covering over 3.6 million square miles (9.3 million square kilometers), it is more or less equal to the entire United States. However, ten...
One of the ancient faces carved in stone at a remarkably well-preserved Neolithic shrine found at a prehistoric gazelle hunting camp in Jordan’s eastern desert.           Source: Jordan Tourism Ministry

Pre-Pottery “Perfect” Neolithic Shrine Found in East Jordan Desert

A team of Jordanian and French archaeologists have found an exceptionally well-preserved and intact Neolithic shrine at a remote prehistoric hunting campsite in Jordan’s eastern desert that dates...
The Zone of Silence in northern Mexico. Source: Cryptocône / CC BY-SA 3.0

The Zone of Silence – The Bizarre Bermuda Triangle of Northern Mexico

Within the Mapimí Biosphere Reserve, in a place known as the Trino Vertex, lies a patch of desert which has garnered a reputation for strange occurrences. Known as la Zona del SIlencio , or the Zone...
Yacouba Sawadogo planting.

The Man Who Stopped a Desert Using Ancient Farming

Desertification is a serious problem facing numerous countries in the world today. Various measures have been taken to counter the negative effects, with some providing better results than others. A...
The Jubbah Oasis in northern Saudi Arabia, where humans were repeatedly present during periods of increased rainfall over hundreds of thousands of years.           Source: Ceri Shipton, Palaeodeserts Project / Nature

Arabian Peninsula Was a Hotbed of Hominin Cultures 400,000 Years Ago

Three things that we’ve heard before ad nauseam – climate change, human migration, and Africa being the cradle of modern humans. Combining all of them together is a fascinating new study which shows...
105,000-Year-Old Kalahari Crystals Challenge Cultural Evolution Story

105,000-Year-Old Kalahari Crystals Challenge Cultural Evolution Story

New research at a rockshelter on the edge of the Kalahari Desert in South Africa challenges the assumption that modern human origins and complex behaviors were limited to coastal environments. A...
Amazonian Mummified Parrots Discovered in the Atacama Desert

Amazonian Mummified Parrots Discovered in the Atacama Desert

Researchers have made the curious discovery of mummified parrots in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile . Between 1000 and 1460 BC, parrots and macaws were transported over 300 miles to one of the...
Five Legendary Lost Cities that have Never Been Found

Five Legendary Lost Cities that have Never Been Found

The story of Atlantis is one of the most renowned and enduring tales of a lost city, said to have been swallowed up by the sea and lost forever. Yet, the story of Atlantis is not unique, as other...
Visual Evidences of Higher Intelligence from Antiquity

Landlocked Bermuda Triangle: The Mexican Zone of Silence

Of all the sites that are unexplained, the Bermuda Triangle is usually the first one that comes to mind. Located in the Caribbean, it is renowned for the ships and radio signals that have disappeared...

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