glass

3 August, 2021 - 01:51 ashley cowie

Blood Stained Glass Panels At Canterbury Cathedral Saw Becket Die

The oldest known stained-glass windows in the world are traditionally associated with the late 11th century Augsburg Cathedral in Bavaria, Germany. Now, researchers from University College London (...

4 December, 2020 - 13:56 Alicia McDermott

Glass Beads Help to Map Unknown Medieval African Trade Routes

For several decades, a team of researchers have been carrying out excavations at old cemeteries and villages at sites in central Mali and eastern Senegal. Over the years they’ve come across a handful...

3 October, 2020 - 22:00 Ed Whelan

Vesuvius Eruption Turned Victim’s Brain to Glass!

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius is perhaps the best-known natural disaster in the ancient world. It preserved whole towns and human remains, which have all been priceless from an archaeological point...

Researchers have solved the mystery of the origins of the best Roman glass. Source: cascoly2 /Adobe Stock

6 August, 2020 - 14:05 Ed Whelan

Scientists Prove Rome’s Ancient Glass Was Not From Rome!

Many of the Roman elite enjoyed notoriously luxurious lifestyles. For example, Senators and nobles liked to drink from transparent glasses which were of the highest quality. The origin of the best...

Left: Archaeologists at the Pictish King's Seat Hillfort last year. Right top: A fragment of Anglo-Saxon drinking vessel. Right bottom: A decorated spindle whorl, which was used in textile production. Source: AOC Archaeology Ltd / Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust

18 February, 2020 - 23:03 ashley cowie

Ancient Pictish Hillfort Unearthed In Scotland Helps Kill Dogma

Archaeologists digging at an ancient Pictish hillfort, near Dunkeld in Scotland , prove it was an important power center for an elite class. The 7th to 9th century King's Seat Hillfort, “ the Fort Of...

The fragment from the Roman fish bottle, the only one of its type ever discovered in Britain. Source: National Trust Images / Rod Kirkpatrick

23 July, 2019 - 06:57 Ed Whelan

1800-year-old Shard of Roman Glass Left A Fishy Trail From the Black Sea

The mystery of the origin of an unusual piece of glass has been solved in Britain. It has been established that it belonged to a very rare fish-shaped bottle, that came all the way from the Black Sea...

A supposed Victorian tear catcher. The real use of this type of glass vial is debatable.

5 November, 2018 - 18:58 dhwty

Capturing Scents, Not Tears: Debunking the Myth of Tear Catchers

Victorians are often remembered for their obsession with death and mourning. It is not too surprising to discover that they had specific practices and even special objects created to further enhance...

Glass artifacts from Samarra representing the different compositional groups

25 August, 2018 - 01:58 ancient-origins

Firm Evidence of Early Glass Industry in Ninth-century Palace City of Samarra

The palace-city of Samarra, capital of the former Abbasid Caliphate, was home to an advanced industry of glass production and trade, according to a study published August 22, 2018 in the open-access...

Roman marbled glass piriform unguentarium.

16 August, 2018 - 16:40 dhwty

The Beautiful and Complex Artisanship of Glass-making in the Ancient World

In today’s society, glass is a material that is easily available. Due to mass production, glass objects are considered common and can be found everywhere. In the ancient world, however, glass-making...

Roman glass (not the legendary flexible glass). Landesmuseum Württemberg, Stuttgart.

18 January, 2018 - 01:50 dhwty

An Unbreakable Story: The Lost Roman Invention of Flexible Glass

Imagine a glass you can bend and then watch it return to its original form. A glass that you drop but it doesn’t break. Stories say that an ancient Roman glassmaker had the technology to create a...

31 December, 2017 - 18:54 dhwty

Unusual Little Chapel Built with Glass and Broken Pottery Destroyed Many Times Over – But Still Stands!

A surprising and secluded chapel – with glittering mosaics on every surface creating a fairytale quality – lies hidden in verdant, wooded hills in St. Andrew, a parish on the island of Guernsey, a...

Glass beads of all colors found in the ancient city of Ile-Ife.

14 June, 2017 - 23:01 Theodoros Karasavvas

1000-year-old Glass Beads Provide First Evidence of Glassmaking Development in Sub-Saharan West Africa

A newly found treasure trove of more than 10,000 colorful glass beads and evidence of glassmaking tools, makes scientists think that an ancient city in southwestern Nigeria was one of the first...

23 October, 2016 - 01:06 ancient-origins

Archaeologists from Mainz reveal new findings on the history of the early-Islamic caliphate palace Khirbat al-Minya

Archaeologists from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) started excavations in September 2016 at Khirbat al-Minya, an early-Islamic caliphate palace on the shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel...

11 April, 2016 - 21:51 Sam Bostrom

1600–Year-Old Glass Workshop Discovered in Israel

A newly discovered glass workshop reveals that Israel was an important center for glass production in Roman times. During excavations prior to a road construction in the Carmel Mountains a team of...

This piece of glass, a footed bowl, was blown about 1500 in Venice and enameled in the late 19th century in France.

6 February, 2016 - 00:53 Mark Miller

Expert Reveals Top Secret Venetian Glassblowing Techniques from the Renaissance

Throughout history, some artists, craftsmen and chefs have carefully protected and concealed knowledge about their processes or recipes. One such art was glass-blowing in Venice, where the process...

Kamigamo Shrine is an important Shinto sanctuary in northeast Kyoto, first founded in 678. It is one of the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan, and has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

14 July, 2015 - 14:55 Robin Whitlock

Glass shard found at Japanese shrine matches artifacts from Persian Royal Palace

A group of researchers have discovered that the chemical composition of a fragment of glass found 50 years ago at a shrine in Kyoto, Japan closely resembles that of glass found in the ruins of a...

Pages

Myths & Legends

The Green Children of Woolpit, created from Babes in the Wood illustration by Randolph Caldecott. Source: Project Gutenberg / Public Domain

The Green Children of Woolpit: Legendary Visitors from Another World

The 12th century tale of the Green Children of Woolpit, in Suffolk, is a bizarre medieval folk story which has been remembered for generations. It isn’t often we hear of children appearing at the edge of a field,

Lovelock Cave: A Tale of Giants or A Giant Tale of Fiction?

Haunted Mirrors, Bloody Mary and Superstitious Mirror Mythology

The Erlking: The Powerful Germanic Mythical Snatcher of Children

The Disturbing True Story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin

Time Travel: From Ancient Mythology to Modern Science

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.

Betrayed by the Acts of Others? The Events that Led to Prometheus’s Perennial Punishment

The Faces of Ancient Hominids Brought to Life in Remarkable Detail

3: The Perfect Number - Trinity Symbolism in World Religious Traditions

Top Ten Giant Discoveries in Ancient Britain

The Theory of ‘Three Human Species’

Ancient Technology

The mummified remains of Usermontu, Rosicrucian San Jose Museum

Medical Mystery of Usermontu: Why the Discovery of 2,600-Year-Old Knee Screw Left Experts Dumbfounded

In 1971, the Rosicrucian Museum in California acquired a sealed ancient Egyptian coffin containing the well-preserved mummy of a high status Egyptian male. More than two decades later, a team of...

The Stonehenge Calendar: A Prehistoric Approach to Time’s Passing

The Indian Sage who developed Atomic Theory 2,600 years ago

6 Advanced Ancient Inventions Beyond Modern Understanding

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

Dujiangyan: The 2,200-Year-Old Chinese Irrigation System That is Still Used Today!

Ancient Places

The front view of the gold neck ring found in Denmark that was likely a hidden treasure as opposed to a votive offering. Source: Sydvestjyske Museum

Exquisitely Made 1,700-year-old Gold Neck Ring Found in Denmark

In October 2021, Dan Christensen, an amateur metal detectorist made the exciting discovery of a remarkably fine gold neck ring weighing a whopping 446 grams (approximately 1 pound).

New Greco-Roman Tomb with 20 Mummies Found in Aswan

Remembering the Barbary Slaves: White Slaves and North African Pirates

World’s Oldest Surviving Amphitheater Preserved at Pompeii

Kings Weston Roman Villa, Where a Murder Lay Hidden for 1500 Years

The Judean Date Palm: Extinct Tree Resurrected from Ancient Seeds

Opinion

The Shepherds of Arcadia, by Nicolas Poussin, is reproduced on the Shepherd’s Monument, along with the Shugborough Inscription. Source: Public domain

The Enigma of the Shugborough Inscription

In the grounds of Shugborough Hall in Staffordshire, England, sits an 18th-century monument known as the Shepherd’s Monument. The monument contains a relief, depicting a copy of a Nicolas

Palatkwapi-Sedona: City of the Star People

The Icelandic Theory: Experts Challenge Establishment Dogma to Reveal History of Ivory Vikings

Winter Solstice Resurrection At Saqsayhuaman and Newgrange

Buddhism in Ancient Egypt and Meroe – Beliefs Revealed Through Ancient Script

Baltinglass Hill: Ireland’s Forgotten Gobekli Tepi?

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 exist 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.