Genes

11 July, 2019 - 15:44 Alicia McDermott

March of the Denisovans: Evidence of Archaic Human Gene Now Detected In the Orient

The Denisovan story keeps evolving. This group of ancient hominins has been something of a mystery ever since they were first discovered in 2010 as an extinct sister group to the Neanderthals. Bits...

A skull from a 10th-9th century BC burial in the excavation of the Philistine cemetery in Ashkelon. New research on Philistine DNA reveals their southern European origins. Source: Tsafrir Abayov/Leon Levy Expedition

3 July, 2019 - 22:28 ancient-origins

DNA Shows Biblical Philistines Came From Europe

New research on Philistine DNA reveals that the Biblical enemies of the Israelites were newcomers to the region in the 12th century BC. Where did they come from? Their genes suggest Southern Europe...

A new study explores why humans are ‘the fat primates.’ Source: Vadym / Adobe Stock

27 June, 2019 - 20:50 ancient-origins

What Made Humans 'The Fat Primate'? (It’s Far Deeper Than Diet)

Blame junk food or a lack of exercise. But long before the modern obesity epidemic, evolution made us fat too. "We're the fat primates," said Devi Swain-Lenz, a postdoctoral associate in biology at...

Neanderthals and woolly mammoths seem to have shared more than just an environment.

9 April, 2019 - 22:55 ancient-origins

Convergent Evolution: Neanderthals and Woolly Mammoths May Have Shared Genetic Traits

A new Tel Aviv University study suggests that the genetic profiles of two extinct mammals with African ancestry - woolly mammoths, elephant-like animals that evolved in the arctic peninsula of...

‘Indian Barbers Saharanpore’ by Edwin Lord Weeks. Scientists have recently found just how diverse both Indian and Jewish genes really are.

9 January, 2019 - 23:02 Rabbi Allen Maller

Unity in Diversity: Studies Reveal Surprising Stories for the Genes of Ancient Hindus and Jews

New research using ancient DNA is rewriting the genetic history of two ancient peoples; the Hindus and the Jews - and it shows that their two religious civilizations are the result of multiple...

Three different Jewish people giving Selichot prayers at the Wailing Wall, Jerusalem

18 September, 2018 - 01:56 Rabbi Allen Maller

Can Jewish People be a Nation, and a Religion, and a Race?

Although Jewish people usually, but not always, share a common gene pool, they are not a race because any non-Jew who converts to Judaism will be recognized as being Jewish by all those rabbis who...

Prehistoric Man Hunting Bears by Emmanuel Benner the Younger.

8 June, 2018 - 13:56 ancient-origins

Neolithic Male Genetic Diversity Plummeted – Here’s Why

Starting about 7,000 years ago, something weird seems to have happened to men: Over the next two millennia, recent studies suggest, their genetic diversity - specifically, the diversity of their Y...

First Americans, photo of mural in the Page Museum, Los Angeles by Travis S.

2 June, 2018 - 01:51 ancient-origins

Previous Models of Ancient Populations in the Americas were ‘Unrealistically Simple’

A new genetic study of ancient individuals in the Americas and their contemporary descendants finds that two populations that diverged from one another 18,000 to 15,000 years ago remained apart for...

A modern human, left, and Neanderthal woman, right.

29 March, 2018 - 22:56 aprilholloway

Research Confirms that Neanderthal DNA Makes Up About 20% of the Modern Human Genome

Though it was disputed for many years, there is conclusive evidence that Neanderthals bred with modern humans (Homo sapiens). The first complete mapping of a Neanderthal genome took place about five...

The Stone Age’ (1882-1885), detail of a painting by Viktor M. Vasnetsov.

12 January, 2018 - 01:48 ancient-origins

Ancient DNA Sheds Light on the Mysterious Origins of the First Scandinavians

Jan Apel / The Conversation Tracking the migration of humans isn’t easy , but genetics is helping us uncover new information at breathtaking speed. We know that our species originated in Africa and...

10 September, 2017 - 01:48 aprilholloway

Sons of the Sun? Looking for the Origins of the Uros People

The Uros people live on 42 artificial floating islands on Lake Titicaca. They call themselves "Lupihaques" (Sons of the Sun) and descendants of the ancient Uros, a pre-Incan people. However, there...

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...

Weakened Neanderthal amongst plant foodstuff

9 August, 2017 - 13:58 Theodoros Karasavvas

New Studies Clash with Previous Analyses On the Life and Fate of Neanderthals

Two new studies have emerged in the past week claiming to provide more details than ever about the Neanderthal’s genetic contribution to the modern population plus a new theory on how it eventually...

Professor Kasimir Popkonstantinov and the marble reliquary that potentially held John the Baptist’s bones.

2 May, 2017 - 02:01 ancient-origins

Can We Ever Find Jesus’s DNA?

It was the first stop on an extraordinary journey. On a bright but bitterly cold January afternoon earlier this year, I found myself on a small island in the Black Sea, just off Sozopol on the east...

A representation of Leonardo da Vinci. (Deriv.) Background: Structure of DNA.

21 April, 2017 - 13:59 Theodoros Karasavvas

Can Researchers Crack da Vinci’s DNA Code? Recently Discovered Relics Attributed to the Legendary Renaissance Man May Help

A team of Italian researchers claim that they have discovered two relics belonging to Leonardo da Vinci, which could them help in tracing the DNA of the legendary polymath whose work epitomized the...

7 December, 2016 - 03:47 Mark Miller

Researchers Find Evidence for Deadly Malaria in Imperial Rome 2000 Years Ago

Biologists and other academics have long debated whether there was malaria in ancient Rome, and recent analysis of teeth of human remains from the time has confirmed it, says a story just published...

Pages

Myths & Legends

An illustration from page 17 of Mjallhvít (Snow White) from an 1852 icelandic translation of the Grimm-version fairytale.

Exploring the True Origins of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is one of the most famous fairy tales in the world, first related in 1812 when the Grimm brothers published their collection of tales that had been gathered from old...

Batman Existed in Mesoamerican Mythology and His Name Was Camazotz

The Powerful Symbol of the Swastika and its 12,000 Year History

Legendary Black Knights: Mysterious Medieval Entities of Neutrality

‘First Kings’ Myths From Around the World: How Do They Compare?

Magic and Mayhem of Japanese Legend: Don’t Try To Out-Trick A Tengu!

Human Origins

Evolution includes many now extinct human species.

11 Mysterious Human Species That Most People Don’t Know Existed

Modern humans, Homo Sapiens, are now the only surviving member of the homo genus. It is almost inconceivable to us that there was a time we walked with other human species, but as the science of archaeology has progressed and more findings have been made it has become clear that the homo genus was once rife with different species.

They’re Alive! Megalithic Sites Are More than Just Stone

Return of the Ancient Gods: The Resurgence of Paganism

‘First Kings’ Myths From Around the World: How Do They Compare?

The awesome, terrible, and unknowable creator gods through history

The Widespread Appearance of Neanderthal DNA: Africans Have It Too

Ancient Technology

They’re Alive! Megalithic Sites Are More than Just Stone

It doesn't take much to stimulate the human body's electro-magnetic circuitry, in fact a small change in the local environment is enough to create a change in awareness. People who visit ancient...

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

The Evidence is Cut in Stone: A Compelling Argument for Lost High Technology in Ancient Egypt

The Discovery that Revealed Ancient Humans Navigated the Seas 130,000 Years Ago

6 Advanced Ancient Inventions Beyond Modern Understanding

Ten amazing inventions from ancient times

Ancient Places

The Mali Empire: The Rise of the Richest Civilization in West Africa

The Mali Empire (known also as the Manding Empire or Manden Kurufa) was a state that dominated West Africa between the 13th and 17th centuries.

Return of the Ancient Gods: The Resurgence of Paganism

Why were the Knights Templar so Interested in Harran, One of the Oldest Cities in the World?

The Plastico di Roma Imperiale Wasn’t Built in a Day: Accurate Mini Rome Model Took 35 Years

Why Isn’t This Map in the History Books?

Fort Shirley, Where A Mutiny Led to Emancipation of the British Slave Soldiers

Opinion

Mount Shasta: Spirits and Danger on a Sacred California Mountain

Mount Shasta, located near the Oregon border in northern California, holds the distinction of being one of the world’s preeminent sacred mountains. It is recognized as an eligible Native American...

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?

Cracking the Code to Discover Ancient Tarot Symbolism and Forgotten Universal Knowledge

The Secret Strategic Plans of Darius the Great

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.