geoglyphs

Nazca Hummingbird identified as Source: / CC BY-SA 4.0

20 June, 2019 - 19:10 Ed Whelan

Have Japanese Ornithologists Cracked the Mystery of the Nazca Lines?

The Nazca Lines are among the most mysterious archaeological sites in all of Latin America. However, a team of Japanese experts has published a study in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports...

3 July, 2018 - 18:01 afaram

The Carnac Stones: A Centuries-Old Enigma Solved Using Ancient Science

The Carnac Stones have been one of the most puzzling archaeological artifacts in the world for hundreds of years. These megalithic stones exist around the village of Carnac in Brittany, France. The...

A map of the Nazca lines, showing all the figures, as well as the Panamerican Highway crossing the area.

17 July, 2017 - 14:02 Caleb Strom

Sacred Roads, Spirit Animals or Water Sources? The Perplexing Purpose of the Nazca Lines

The Nazca civilization thrived from 200 BC to about 600 AD in the arid plains of southern Peru. The Nazca practiced extensive irrigation at their main population centers and built two major urban...

8 November, 2016 - 15:07 ancient-origins

Amazing and Mysterious Geoglyphs from the Ancient World

The most well-known geoglyphs are undoubtedly the Nazca Lines of coastal Peru. Yet, scattered across the globe are thousands of other geoglyphs that are equally as impressive and mysterious. To this...

25 May, 2016 - 03:49 ancient-origins

The Loa Giants: Impressive and Enigmatic Geoglyphs in Northern Chile

Alberto Nadgar Rojas, researcher, visual artist, and photographer, defends the existence in northern Chile of an ancient civilization of giants as a hypothesis to explain what may be the biggest...

19 February, 2016 - 14:47 aprilholloway

Mysterious Ancient Wall Extending Over 150km Investigated in Jordan

The Aerial Archaeology in Jordan Project has mapped out a mysterious ancient wall in Jordan extending for some 150 kilometers (93 miles), leaving archaeologists perplexed as to how it was built and...

Google Image of some of the “wheel” geoglyphs found in the Azraq Oasis of Jordan.

3 December, 2015 - 03:52 Alicia McDermott

Some Giant Geoglyphs in Jordan are Older than the World Famous Nazca Lines

Despite the difficulty in discerning the finished product of the giant designs from earth, archaeologists have recently announced that at least some of the great “works of old men” (as the Bedouin...

One of the enormous earthwork configurations photographed from space is known as the Ushtogaysky Square, named after the nearest village in Kazakhstan. Credit: Digitalglobe, via NASA

30 October, 2015 - 23:47 aprilholloway

NASA Sparks Interest in Enigmatic Earthworks of Kazakhstan

Archaeologists call them the Nazca lines of Kazakhstan – hundreds of giant geoglyphs formed with earthen mounds and timber found stretched across the landscape in northern Kazakhstan. They are...

A photo of an ancient geoglyph in the shape of a llama found by Yamagata University researchers on the Nazca Plateau in Peru.

8 July, 2015 - 20:39 aprilholloway

Twenty Four more Ancient Geoglyphs Discovered in Nazca, Peru

In a surprising new discovery, researchers from the University of Yamagata in Japan have spotted 24 previously unknown geoglyphs in Peru’s famous Nazca Plateau, adding to the collection of hundreds...

A Blythe Intaglio in the Colorado Desert.

4 May, 2015 - 13:56 Bryan Hill

Blythe Intaglios: The Impressive Anthropomorphic Geoglyphs of the Colorado Desert

The Blythe Intaglios, often called America’s Nazca Lines, are a series of gigantic geoglyphs found fifteen miles north of Blythe California in the Colorado Desert. In the Southwestern United States...

12 December, 2014 - 12:18 aprilholloway

Ten Amazing and Mysterious Geoglyphs from the Ancient World

The most well-known geoglyphs in the world are undoubtedly the Nazca Lines of coastal Peru. Yet, scattered across the globe are thousands of other geoglyphs that are equally as impressive. The earth...

11 December, 2014 - 00:48 Mark Miller

Greenpeace treads on ancient Nazca lines site to urge renewable energy

Peru officials expressed dismay after Greenpeace environmental activists trod on the ancient geoglyphs of Nazca in Peru, to place a huge message printed in removable cloth urging the world to use...

11 November, 2014 - 12:03 mrreese

The Works of Old Men: Geoglyphs of the Middle East

Stretching from Syria to Saudi Arabia, thousands of ancient geoglyphs built from stone stretch across the desert plains. Known as the “works of old men”, some display a kite-like structure while...

6 November, 2014 - 21:01 lizleafloor

Giant stone circles in the Middle East puzzle archaeologists

Huge stone circles in the Middle East have been imaged from the air, but researchers remain puzzled as to why they exist, and who made them. 11 Big Circles dot the landscape across Jordan and Syria...

18 October, 2014 - 13:15 dhwty

The puzzling case of the Atacama Giant

The most well-known geoglyphs in the world are undoubtedly the Nazca Lines of coastal Peru. Yet, in the Atacama Desert of Chile, there is another group of geoglyphs that are equally as impressive...

23 September, 2014 - 23:41 aprilholloway

Over 50 ancient geoglyphs, including swastika, discovered in Kazakhstan

Archaeologists are calling them the Nazca lines of Kazakhstan – more than 50 giant geoglyphs formed with earthen mounds and timber found stretched across the landscape in northern Kazakhstan. They...

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Myths & Legends

Camazotz Maya style Batman suit created by Mexican designer Kimbal

Batman Existed in Mesoamerican Mythology and His Name Was Camazotz

As social media is abuzz with who might be cast in the next Batman movie, with concerns that some of the candidates might not be menacing enough to fill those big black boots, it might be time to...

Ubasute: Is the Ancient Tradition of Dumping the Elderly in a Forest Encouraging Modern Murder?

Lilith: Ancient Demon, Dark Deity or Sensual Goddess?

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

Cerberus: Legendary Hell Hound of the Underworld

Boudicca: The Celtic Queen Who Unleashed Fury on the Romans

Human Origins

Early man looking up at the stars (Kovalenko I / Adobe Stock)

Translation of 5,500-Year-Old Babel Text from China Reveals Oldest Known Map of Inner Solar System

It is obvious to any astronomer that some of the brightest objects in the night sky are the planets. It is thus mysterious that there are so few references to the planets in ancient literature.

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

Dwelling in the Land of Nod – Was it a Real City?

Resurrecting the Ancient Israelites From the Valley of Dry Bones

Pre-dating the Minoans: The Cycladic Civilization and Their Unusual ‘Modern’ Art

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

Ancient Technology

Detail of a mural from an Eastern Han tomb with artificial pigment

Han Purple: A 2,800-year-old artificial pigment that quantum physicists are trying to understand

Han purple is an artificial pigment created by the Chinese over 2,500 years ago, which was used in wall paintings and to decorate the famous terracotta warriors, as well as ceramics, metal ware, and...

The incredible earthquake detector invented nearly 2,000 years ago

Ten amazing inventions from ancient times

The hydraulic telegraph of Aeneas – long-distance communication of antiquity

The revolutionary invention of the wheel

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

Ancient Places

Inside the alchemy laboratory of the Speculum Alchemiae museum.

Speculum Alchemiae: Secret Underground Alchemy Lab Discovered in Prague During Flood

The city of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, is known for many things. But one aspect of its history is often overlooked – it was a major center of the occult and the dark arts in the 16th...

Maya Gateway to the World Below: Balankanchè Cave, Throne of the Tiger Priest

The White Slaves of Barbary

San Pedro de la Roca Castle and the Military Might of Spain in Cuba

The Templar Tunnel: Knight’s Strategic Passageway Was Lost for 700 Years

The Dark Secret Behind the Hidden Room of Glamis Castle

Opinion

Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms

There are many accounts of a land of immortality and eternal youth in world myths and legends, as well as shamanic and indigenous spiritual traditions. Mysterious Worlds Writing in his recent work,...

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

The Secrets of the Kabbalists Garden

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.

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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.