All  

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ Mobile

giant

AI image of Gigantopithecus, Giant Ape. Source: Sven Bachstroem/Adobe Stock

The Giant Prehistoric Ape Doomed By Its Own Coolness (Video)

The saga of the giant prehistoric ape, often overshadowed by its cinematic counterpart, unveils a creature of remarkable proportions and enigmatic fate. Known as gigantic Gigantopithecus , this...
Detail of the two heads of Kap Dwa. Source: CC BY SA

Tales of a Two-headed Giant: Are Legends of Patagonia’s Kap Dwa Real?

In the annals of history, tales of giants have permeated diverse cultures, weaving a rich tapestry of myth and legend. From the towering Greek titans to the colossal Norse beings, the Chinese Pangu...
  Cerne Abbas Chalk Figure Now Identified As the Greek Hero Hercules Researchers have been speculating for centuries about the meaning and origin of a gigantic 180-foot (55-meter) human figure carved into a chalky hillside near the village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset, England. While many explanations have been offered purporting to explain who this man really is, a new study published in the medieval history journal Speculum asserts that the mystery has been solved. The answer to this timeworn question appears

Cerne Abbas Chalk Figure Now Identified As the Greek Hero Hercules

Researchers have been speculating for centuries about the meaning and origin of a gigantic 180-foot (55-meter) human figure carved into a chalky hillside near the village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset,...
The Piedras Blancas tomb with La Peña de los Enamorados behind it. Source: M. Ángel Blanco de la Rubia / Antiquity Publications Ltd

5,000-Year-Old Astro-Tomb Discovered On Spanish Giant

As archaeologists in Spain were researching a rock formation known as the Sleeping Giant, they noticed something curious. From a distance, they identified a feature on the giant’s chest, which turned...
A representation of Jötunn (Giant) Surtr of Norse mythology. Source: warmtail/Adobe Stock

Surtr: Norse Mythology's Giant God of Fire and Apocalypse

Giants, demigods, dwarves and elves - all these creatures made the Old Norse mythology so colorful and captivating. Preserved for posterity in the Norse sagas and manuscripts, these myths and legends...
The largest penguin to ever waddle on Earth, Kumimanu fordycei, steps onto a beach surrounded by another newly discovered species, Petradyptes stonehousei, in this life reconstruction. Source: Simone Giovanardi

Massive Penguins the Size of Gorillas Once Waddled Around New Zealand

Scientists have discovered what appears to be the world’s biggest penguin species known to have swum Earth’s oceans or waddled across its surface, and it was the size of a gorilla! This newly...
An X-ray showing the relative size of the giant sword found in the Japanese tomb. Archaeological Institute of Kashihara in Nara Prefecture.

Giant 7-Foot Sword and Mirror for Demon Slaying found in Japan Tomb

Researchers in Japan were excavating an ancient kofun burial mound when they found an enormous shield-shaped bronze mirror and a giant 7-foot iron sword, the largest that have ever been discovered on...
Left: Oil painting of John Hunter; Center: Charles Byrne’s skeleton at the Hunterian Museum, London; Right; Charles Byrne in and etching by J. Kay	Source: Left: CC BY 4.0; Center: Emőke Dénes/ CC BY-SA 4.0; Right: CC BY 4.0

Skeleton of Irish Giant, Charles Byrne, to be Removed from Public Display

The skeleton of an Irish giant, which has been on display at the Hunterian Museum in London for more than two centuries, will be permanently removed from the museum’s collection, the Royal College of...
Argos Panoptes, the all-seeing giant of Greek mythology. Source: matiasdelcarmine / Adobe Stock

Argos Panoptes – The All-Seeing Giant of Greek Mythology

Argos Panoptes was one of the primordial giants of Greek mythology. His epithet Panoptes means “the one who is all-seeing” and reminds us of the symbol of the all-seeing eye of God. Although Panoptes...
These rare dinosaur tracks were exposed to the light, as it were, by extreme dryness in a Texas riverbed gone dry. Source: Texas Parks & Wildlife Department

Extreme Drought Exposes Theropod Dinosaur Tracks in Texas River

A record drought in Texas has exposed a bunch of 110-million-year-old dinosaur tracks in yet another example of how climate change is both revealing new things and making us uncomfortable. As lakes,...
Mystical shamanic ritual. Photo By: Andrey Kiselev / Adobe Stock

What is the Real Celtic Creation Myth?

A bard travels through the streets, gathering an audience as he goes, and then starts to recall the adventures of heroes and the tales of the gods. In the ancient world, word of mouth was one of the...
A photo of the Kummakivi Balancing Rock.

The Kummakivi Balancing Rock and its Unlikely Explanation in Finnish Folklore

The Kummakivi Balancing Rock is a natural feature found in a scenic forest region of Ruokolahti, a municipality in the region of South Karelia, in the southeastern part of Finland. This feature...
Graphic chart displaying the heights of various giant discoveries in North America (authors supplied)

Top Ten Giant Discoveries in North America

The Iroquois, the Osage, the Tuscaroras, the Hurons, the Omahas, and many other North American Indians all speak of giant men who once lived and roamed in the territories of their forefathers. All...
Leshan Giant Buddha is the world's largest stone-carved Buddha

The Leshan Giant Buddha: Largest Stone Buddha in the World

Not far from the city of Chengdu in Sichuan Province, China, sits the Leshan Giant Buddha statue. Carved into the side of Mt. Lingyun, the colossal statue is over 1,300-years-old and is considered to...
Some of the stone structures found in the Northeastern United States appear man-made.

Did Stone-Age Giants Live in the Champlain and Hudson Valleys?

In the serene woodlands of the Northeastern United States, the Champlain Lake Valley meanders through the landscape, dividing the Adirondack and Green Mountain ranges. As the Champlain Basin ends,...
Plain of Jars

The Plain of Jars: A Megalithic Archaeological Mystery in Laos

The Plain of Jars on the Xieng Khouang plain of Laos is one of the most enigmatic archaeological points of interest on Earth. The unusual scattering of thousands of megalithic jars across nearly one...
Moai on Rapa Nui, aka Easter Island. Source: thakala /Adobe Stock

Hidden Rapa Nui: Easter Island’s Cults, Cannibals, and Cultural Connections

Two-thousand-and-two-hundred miles (3,500 km) west beyond the coast of Chile, in the dark blue belly of the southeastern Pacific Ocean, hides Easter Island. A slightly more appropriate name of this...
Artistic representation of Titanoboa.

Titanoboa: The Monster Snake that Ruled Prehistoric Colombia

You may not want to read about this frightening creature if you suffer to any degree from ophidiophobia, or even if you are about to embark on a camping trip. Titanoboa fossils show it was the...
Defacing of Cerne Abbas Giant

Defacing of Cerne Abbas Giant by Amazon Provokes National Trust Wrath

A movie PR team at Amazon have defaced a British monument to increase box-office takings for their new Borat film. The National Trust claims they willfully “defaced” the iconic English monument. The...
Artistic representation of a standing Gigantopithecus

The REAL Bigfoot: Gigantopithecus Would Have Been Terrifying to our Ancient Ancestors

From legends of Bigfoot to films like Mighty Joe Young, humans seem to have a fascination with giant ape-like creatures. This leads to the question of whether stories about giant apes have a basis in...
Example of an Adena mound in Mound Cemetery at Marietta Ohio. Unfortunately the Spearhead Mound was destroyed in 1940 for gravel operations.

The Spearhead Mound: Interpretation of a Forgotten Adena Burial Site

The people of the Adena Culture were some of the first to construct burial mounds and earthworks in the Ohio River Valley. Early Adena sites date to between 1000 and 200 BC and usually consist of...
European standing stones: Rudston Monolith (CC0), Maen Llia (Tony Martin Long /Adobe Stock), Maen Madoc (Alan Bowring/CC BY SA 2.0), Kerloas Menhir (mariof /Adobe Stock), Riesenstein (Tecty/CC BY SA 4.0), Menir da Meada. (StockPhotosArt /Adobe Stock)

European Standing Stones: The Mute Witnesses of Forgotten Times

If we reach far back into the distant past of our ancestors, as far back as the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, we can get a critical glimpse into the lives and traditions of Europe’s ancient...
A man stands in what appears to be a giant footprint in bedrock in Pingyin China

The Giant Footprint of Pingyan: Giant Made or Man Made?

Stories and tales about gigantic beings inhabiting the Earth occur in almost all ancient cultures and civilizations. From the Indo-Europeans, to the Greeks, to the Christian Bible, tales of giants...
Fossils of almost 70 mammoths have been found at the future site of a Mexican airport. Source: INAH

Here Come the Mammoths, 60 of Them, Unearthed at Mexican Airport

Bones of more than 60 mammoths have been unearthed at the location of a new Mexican international airport. Last November I wrote an Ancient Origins news article about anthropologists from Mexico ’ s...

Pages