The Piltdown Man scandal is arguably the greatest scientific fraud ever perpetrated in the UK, with faked fossils being claimed as evidence of our earliest ancestor. It is highly likely that an...
The third-century AD ruler, Elagabalus, has been declared transgender by a British Museum, which is set to relabel its display to accommodate the change. The decision has been taken by the North...
In ancient Japan , where the art of battle was predominantly a male domain, a remarkable shift in tradition unfolded, highlighting the tenacity of women in the face of adversity. Takeko Nakano and...
In ancient times, during the Shang Dynasty , there existed an extraordinary force led by the remarkable Queen Fu Hao . This troop, composed primarily of skilled soldiers, occasionally reinforced by...
An important discovery at Umm Al-Qaab in Abydos, promises to add to the story of Queen Merneith, an Egyptian consort and regent, who could have also been the first or second queen of Egypt. A joint...
On one of the small and lightly populated Isles of Scilly off the coast of Cornwall in southwestern England, archaeologists uncovered a unique stone-lined burial chamber in 1999. The grave goods...
For a long time, it has been believed that prehistoric men played the role of hunters while women took on the role of gatherers. However, a recent study uncovers that both men and women in hunter-...
Believe it or not, but beside men’s toilets, gentlemen’s clubs and certain temples, there is actually an entire peninsula in northern Greece, now a semiautonomous republic of Eastern Orthodox monks,...
Self-declared “anarchist archaeologists” are warning archaeologists not to assume the gender or race of ancient skeletons because they see the categorization of sexes as discriminatory to the dead...
If you haven’t heard of the renegade 17th century Queen Christina of Sweden, you’re in for a treat. Remembered for breaking gender norms and abdicating the throne to avoid marriage, Queen Christina...
When we think of the empowerment of women, we usually think about Western culture. Nevertheless, the East has had its fair share of female role models. While Islam has historically given men the role...
Catherine of Aragon was the first wife of the infamous King Henry VIII. Known for her failure to produce a male heir, she was the mother of Mary, later Queen Mary I of England. Catherine would spend...
Archaeologists from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona have discovered Western Europe’s first Bronze Age palace in Murcia, Spain. The site also holds a unique burial including a probable female...
True leadership knows no gender and despite societal condemnation or restrictions of the gods, powerful women have risen to the challenge and stepped up to take the reins of governance firmly in...
The Lady of Baza, a statue unearthed in Baza, has long been a subject of contention. Discovered in 1971, it was swiftly removed and taken to Madrid where it has been kept at the National Museum of...
While we all know too much icing can lead to obesity, a new study now says too much “Ice Age” can too, linking the famous Ice Age Venus figurines with a widespread prehistoric desire for “female...
Ching Shih (or Zheng Shi) was a Chinese prostitute who became a powerful female pirate, controlling the infamous Red Flag Fleet. The fleet grew under her command, with expanding reserves of loot, and...
A grave in Peru has been shown to contain the world’s oldest female hunter. This news is potentially explosive. It may change our understanding of gender relations in the ancient Americas and even...
The origins of the Papacy are traditionally traced to St. Peter, one of the original disciples of Jesus. The current pope, Francis I, is the 265th successor of St. Peter. Needless to say, all 266...
The Grimaldi Goddess clay figurine, unearthed at the Neolithic settlement of Çatal Hüyük in Turkey, dates back to about 6000 BC. It depicts an obese woman giving birth while seated upon a throne...
There are podcasts on every subject these days. Even the ancient world has been brought into the modern one through this medium. If you are looking for another way to learn about the past, check out...
Our world has numerous examples of kings who have left a significant impact upon the lives of their people. As the saying goes, “behind every powerful man is an extraordinary woman.” Queen Elizabeth...
Hua Mulan is one of the most legendary women of ancient China. Her heroic actions were first recorded in ancient texts, retold in the famous poem Ballad of Mulan , and later popularized in the 1998...
Historic gender archetypes of hunter-gatherer women are being challenged by a team of researchers whose new study presents further evidence of “warrior women” in prehistory. Traditional...