gender

Excavations of ancient households and study of fingerprints in New Mexico reveal that men and women were equally involved in domestic pottery production. Source: John Kantner / UNF.

4 June, 2019 - 18:58 Ed Whelan

Fingerprints Overturn Ideas On Women In Ancient Native American Society – But What About The Third Sex?

Fingerprints are very important in criminal investigations , but it seems they are also increasingly important when it comes to archaeological studies . By studying 1000-year-old fingerprints ,...

Ary Scheffer (French, 1795-1858): ‘The Souliot Women’, 1827, Oil on canvas, Paris, Musée du Louvre. Around the world, ancient laws tended to favor men over women, often with dire consequences. Unfortunately, many would argue the problem still exists

12 November, 2018 - 18:58 ashley cowie

Ancient Laws and Women’s Rights: The 6000-Year-Old World War Continues

The term ‘legal rights of women’ refers to the social and human rights of women. There has never been a time in history where this subject has been more at the fore of politics. Social justice...

Illustration of Mahabharata (Public domain)

2 January, 2018 - 15:31 MartiniF

The Legend of Shikhandi, the Transgendered Warrior Who Paid the Price of Opposing Powerful Men

Chauvinism existed even in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. The ancient text depicts the legendary eighteen-day bloodbath, dubbed the Kurukshetra War, where the hero/heroine’s greatest feat was not...

Representation of a Bronze Age woman in Dartmoor.

6 September, 2017 - 13:58 Alicia McDermott

New Study Questions Archaic Views on Gender Roles, Showing Women as Cultural Leaders

Saying that someone with archaic views on gender roles lives in the Stone Age may not work anymore. A new study suggests that men and women in Lechtal, Germany during the Stone and Bronze Ages...

Hansanlu Lovers skeletons close up of torsos and skulls

30 August, 2017 - 19:01 Theodoros Karasavvas

The Eternal Kiss of the Hasanlu Lovers Throws Up Questions of Ancient Love: Romance, Bromance or Something More Familial?

Have you ever heard of the “The Hasanlu Lovers?” If not, don’t be too quickly seduced by the exotic and romantic sounding moniker this phenomenon has been awarded. Colorful and amorous images are...

Detail of the kudu engraving which is said to depict female initiation rituals in the Namib desert thousands of years ago.

18 August, 2017 - 14:00 Alicia McDermott

Rock Art Rituals: Namib Desert Engravings Provide Fascinating Insight into Ancient Initiation for Girls

When it is carefully examined, rock art in the Namib Desert may shine light on forgotten rituals and practices from thousands of years ago. One particularly interesting feature appears to show...

22 February, 2017 - 01:57 ancient-origins

Was a Key Ancient Puebloan Society Ruled by Women?

Discovering who was a leader, or even if leaders existed, from the ruins of archaeological sites is difficult, but now a team of archaeologists and biological anthropologists, using a powerful...

Left, Sisters Charlotte and Susan Cushman in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in 1846. Right, Male Kabuki actor in Japan

31 August, 2016 - 01:50 MartiniF

Ancient History of Cross-Dressing: From Ancient Religions to the Theaters

Ephippus, in a surviving fragment of his lost pamphlet depicting the court of Alexander the Great in 324-323 BC, alleges that Alexander liked to cross-dress as the Greek archer-goddess Artemis...

23 August, 2016 - 16:29 MartiniF

Monks, Hermits and Ascetics: The Little-Known History of Women in Desert Asceticism

Theodoret of Cyrrhus (423–457) tells us that when little girls played games in forth-century Syria, they played monks and demons. One of the girls, dressed in rags, would reduce her little friends...

An artistic representation of the burial at Paviland Cave.

9 February, 2016 - 22:11 Natalia Klimczak

The Peculiar Narrative of the Red Lady of Paviland, A Man from Paleolithic Wales

During the 1800s, archaeologists discovered human remains in one of the most famous caves in the world. The bones were dated to be 33,000 years old. This is one of the oldest ceremonial burials of a...

A family of Neanderthals in Eurasia, during the Pleistocene epoch

21 February, 2015 - 00:35 Mark Miller

Did light-skinned, redheaded Neanderthal women hunt with the men?

A team of Spanish researchers theorizes, based on grooves and nicks on the teeth of Neanderthals, that gender roles among that species were similar to gender roles of modern Homo Sapiens. Neanderthal...

Reconstruction of the ancient city of Çatalhöyük

2 October, 2014 - 23:31 aprilholloway

Men and women held equal status in ancient city of Catalhoyuk

Overlooking the Konya Plain in Turkey lies the remarkable and unique ancient city of Çatalhöyük, the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date. At a time when most of the world's people...

Myths & Legends

Glastonbury Tor. Source: vlorzor / Adobe. Inset: Representational image of a skeleton.

The Glastonbury Giant: Who Did the Mystery Bones of A Nine Foot Skeleton Belong To?

When researching the reality of giants in the past, one story which has survived the ages is the apparent discovery of the ‘Glastonbury Giant’ which was allegedly unearthed in 1190, on orders of King Henry II, following rumors that the legendary King Arthur was in fact buried at that specific location.

Batman Existed in Mesoamerican Mythology and His Name Was Camazotz

Ragnar Lothbrok: A Real Viking Hero Whose Life Became Lost to Legend

Enki: The Epic Mesopotamian Water God Who Saved Humanity

Lilith: Adam’s First Wife in Eden or a Diabolical Demoness?

The Real Story of Medusa: Protective Powers from a Snake-Haired Gorgon

Human Origins

Chichén Itzá’s shadow revealed during the spring equinox on Kukulcán.

Chichen Itza's Shadows: Unexpected Light Shed on Ancient Maya

What we see is not always what we expect, whether from nature or man-made. This is often true with archaeological remains of cities or human settlement, when new discoveries shed unexpected light on...

Rh-Negative Blood: An Exotic Bloodline or Random Mutation?

Ancient Anomalous Human Skeletons: Humanity Could be Much Older Than We Think

The Secret Life of an Ancient Concubine

Easter Island’s Birdman Cult: A Story of Struggle and Survival

Sky Burial: Tibet’s Ancient Tradition for Honoring the Dead

Ancient Technology

Two small figures guard the table holding the Buddha’s relics. Are they spearmen, or robots?

Robots Guarded Buddha’s Relics in a Legend of Ancient India

As early as Homer, more than 2,500 years ago, Greek mythology explored the idea of automatons and self-moving devices. By the third century BC, engineers in Hellenistic Alexandria, in Egypt, were building real mechanical robots and machines.

Secrets Behind the Creepy Plague Doctor Mask and Costume

Norimitsu Odachi: Who Could Have Possibly Wielded This Enormous 15th Century Japanese Sword?

Mysterious GodSelf Icon Found Worldwide: Lost Symbol of an Ancient Global Religion?

Was the Baghdad Battery a medical device?

150,000-Year-Old Pipes Baffle Scientists in China: Out of Place in Time?

Ancient Places

Chichen Itza's Shadows: Unexpected Light Shed on Ancient Maya

The Lost Gardens of Heligan: Rediscovering a Centuries-Old Paradise

Competing for the Title of the Oldest House in England - Luddesdown Court and Saltford Manor

Populating Palmerston Island: One Man, Three Wives and A Desert Island Paradise

Pindai Caves, Once Home to the Lapita People and Extinct Species

The Macabre Capela dos Ossos: Why was it Decorated with the Dead?

Opinion

Naupa Iglesia: An Egyptian Portal in the Andes?

Halfway up a near-vertical ravine in the Andes, someone carved an inverted V-shaped entrance into the mountainside. Then they sliced the bedrock with great precision to create a shallow door that...

The Nephilim: Giant Offspring of the Sons of God and the Daughters of Man?

Mount Shasta: Spirits and Danger on a Sacred California Mountain

Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms

Pharaoh Akhenaten: An Alternative View of the Heretic King

Changing Colors and Scampering Across the Night Sky: What Did the Ancients Say about Sirius?

Our Mission

At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exists countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained.

The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe.

We’re the only Pop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives.

By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings.