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Mesopotamian cylinder seal showing Sumerians drinking beer with straws. Source: Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative / CC by SA 4.0.

Sumerians Used Straws to Drink Beer from Shared Vessels!

In the quest to uncover the everyday lives of ancient civilizations, archaeologists have stumbled upon some fascinating finds. Among these intriguing artifacts are the beer pots of ancient Sumer ,...
Replicas of the Golden Horns of Gallehus at the National Museum of Denmark. Source: Public domain

The Golden Horns of Gallehus: Stolen and Recovered Danish Heritage

The Golden Horns of Gallehus are a pair of richly decorated, 5th-century BC Germanic drinking horns that were discovered in Gallehus, a town in southern Denmark in 1639. The horns were made from...
The drunkard's cloak on display at the Torture Museum in Bruges. Source: Dimitris Kamaras / CC BY 2.0

Wearing the Drunkard’s Cloak Was the Worst Hangover in History

After a night of drinking, few things are worse than a heinous hangover. Or so I thought! For during the early modern era, heavy drinkers were faced with a far worse punishment. Those guilty of...
Top image: Painting by Peder Severin Krøyer, entitled Hip, Hip, Hurrah!, depicting a group of artists toasting at a party. Source: Gothenburg Museum of Art / CC BY 4.0

Despite its Ritual Importance, “Toasting” Came from a Piece of Toast

We’ve all taken part in toasting rituals. At birthdays and weddings, in remembrance of loved ones or as a sign of respect, modern-day toasts range from a polite nod while wetting one’s lips to...
A monkey drinks from a can of beer, representing the study finding that human alcohol consumption relates to a primal draw to the ethanol in fruits.	 Source: michalcbf6 / Adobe Stock

It’s Monkey Business! Human Desire For Alcohol Consumption Is Hardwired

When Dr. Robert Dudley of the University of California, Berkeley, proposed a hypothesis in 2000, and then published a book called ‘ The Drunken Monkey: Why We Drink and Abuse Alcohol’ on the same...
Wendigos fall into the larger definition of cannibalism as they consume parts of living people.		Source: Daniel / Adobe Stock

Atypical Nourishment – Hematophagy, Cannibalism and Necrophagy

The character Renfield from Bram Stoker's “Dracula" admitted the importance of blood, saying that “The blood is the life." This idea is not new, for example, Maya kings attempted to obtain the good...
Recreation of the oldest drinking straws, found at the Maikop burial, in use. Source: Kevin Wilson / Antiquity Publications Ltd

Maikop ‘Scepters’ Are Actually the World’s Oldest Drinking Straws

An exciting new study from Russia has reinterpreted an 1897 find of silver and gold tubes from a Bronze Age burial mound in Maikop in the northern Caucasus as being straws rather than scepters as...
Israeli archaeologists working at the Tel Tsaf site in the Jordan valley have discovered the earliest evidence of social drinking in the Middle East, dating to 5000 BC. This image shows medieval people eating and drinking together in an ancient kitchen interior. 		Source: Nejron Photo / Adobe Stock

Earliest Social Drinking Evidence in the Middle East Found in Israel

Social drinking history in the Middle East has been rewritten with finds at Tel Tsaf, Israel. According to the Times of Israel , Israeli archaeologists have found the first evidence of social...
Culinary and medicinal spices and herbs on a wooden board

Ancient Herbal Medicine And What To Use At Home To Stay Healthy Today!

“Let food be thy medicine.” – Hippocrates You’d be surprised how your knowledge of natural healing medicines can benefit from the wisdom of our ancient ancestors. Herbal medicine has been in use...
Drinking Horn by Brynjólfur Jónsson of Skarð, South Iceland – 1598

Icelandic Drinking Horn Changes Our Historic Understanding of Saint Olav

After the Reformation, Norway's Olav Haraldsson was no longer supposed to be worshipped as a saint. An Icelandic drinking horn offers some clues on how the saint's status changed over time. Drinking...