grave goods

Recreation of the oldest drinking straws, found at the Maikop burial, in use. Source: Kevin Wilson / Antiquity Publications Ltd

19 January, 2022 - 00:00 Sahir

Maikop ‘Scepters’ Are Actually the World’s Oldest Drinking Straws

An exciting new study from Russia has reinterpreted an 1897 find of silver and gold tubes from a Bronze Age burial mound in Maikop in the northern Caucasus as being straws rather than scepters as...

One of the Warring States Period graves found in Sanmenxia City in central China of a total of 260 that have stunned Chinese archaeologists. Source: CGTN

3 January, 2022 - 18:00 Nathan Falde

260 Warring States Period Graves Stun Archaeologists in Central China

Archaeologists digging near the city of Sanmenxia in central China’s Henan province have uncovered a massive graveyard of ancient burials, traceable to the Warring States Period that lasted from 481...

The elite woman found in a grave in southern Siberia belonged to the Karasuk culture, which was known for its impressive skills in producing high-quality bronze which they cast in wax molds. The jewelry recently found in the grave is shown here on a living woman’s hand. Source: Novosibirsk Institute of Archeology and Ethnography

30 September, 2021 - 14:40 Nathan Falde

Spectacular Bronze Age Karasuk Culture Jewelry Found in Siberian Grave

A Bronze Age burial in southern Siberia has produced one of the most diverse and dazzling collections of high-quality jewelry ever discovered in an ancient individual’s grave. Inside the grave of a...

28 September, 2021 - 01:10 Sahir

Highway Project Unearths Post-Medieval Burial Ground in England

Twelve months after a massive archaeological dig at the Trinity Burial Ground that forms part of a £355 million Highways England improvement and redevelopment project started in Hull in northern...

One of the Chilca culture burials accidently unearthed by the Calidda gas company in the city of Chilca, 37 miles (60 km) south of Lima Peru. Source: Calidda

24 September, 2021 - 18:38 Sahir

Gas Pipe Workers Accidentally Unearth Chilca Culture Burial in Peru

Workers laying pipes for the gas company Calidda in Chilca, which is 37 miles (60 km) south of Lima, Peru, have recently uncovered the remains of eight people buried together in a Chilca culture...

Amber ornaments found in the Copper Age burial. Source: Petrozavodsk State University

7 September, 2021 - 18:55 ashley cowie

Unique Copper Age Burial Discovered By Russian Archaeologists

A sacred looking “Amber Burial” has been found in Russia. The Copper Age grave is so laden in amber buttons and other items made from the rare resin rock, and steeped in ochre at the burial site,...

An incomplete early early-medieval (Anglo-Saxon, 500-600 AD) gilded copper-alloy zoomorphic plate bird brooch with garnet eye detail, missing its pin. This type of brooch was found in many medieval furnished graves across Kent and the Frankish world. But after 600 AD European burial rites transitioned to unfurnished churchyard burials, according to the latest study. Source: Hampshire Cultural Trust

6 August, 2021 - 14:51 ashley cowie

Big Data Study Reveals Rapid Transition in Medieval Burial Rites

An English archaeologist has analyzed “big data” to make a slate of new observations about changing burial traditions in medieval Europe. In business the term “big data” describes large, hard-to-...

18 June, 2021 - 00:15 Alicia McDermott

Medieval People Were Reopening Graves, But Not to Rob Them

In the Middle Ages being dead wasn’t a guarantee you would rest in peace. Researchers have found hundreds of examples of people re-opening graves in cemeteries from Transylvania to southern England...

21 January, 2021 - 00:00 Alicia McDermott

Early Medieval Europe – Dark Age Death Practices Spread Quickly

A new study suggests that Europe has been ‘global’ for over a millennium. The evidence for this claim comes from a set of shared cultural practices spread over a wide area in early Medieval Europe...

19 January, 2021 - 17:56 ashley cowie

Anglo-Saxon Settlement And Cemetery Complex Excavated In England

A vast Anglo-Saxon settlement and cemetery complex has been discovered in England that is being called a “one of a kind” discovery. Not, however, because the site was found laden with gold and silver...

Thanks to new DNA analysis, the Krems-Wachtberg infants discovered in 2005 have now been identified as the earliest twins discovered to date. Source: OREA / Austrian Academy of Sciences

10 November, 2020 - 17:05 Ed Whelan

DNA Reveals Earliest Twins Buried 30,000 Years Ago in Austria

Thanks to news DNA analysis, prehistoric remains discovered in Austria have been found to contain the earliest evidence of twins found to date anywhere in the world. The discovery of infant remains...

27 October, 2020 - 00:12 Ed Whelan

Egyptian Pharaonic Tomb Of Elite Family And Countless Artifacts Found!

Major archaeological finds in Egypt continue to be unearthed and this one involves an entire elite family burial tomb. Archaeologists have found a new ancient Egyptian pharaonic tomb, belonging to an...

6 October, 2020 - 00:52 Ed Whelan

Mighty Anglo-Saxon Warrior Grave May Throw Light On the Dark Ages

The discovery of a 1400-year-old warrior buried in a British field is being hailed as a major discovery and is providing new insights into the so-called Dark Ages and early English history...

Respect For Canines Shown In Stone Age Dog Burial In Sweden

25 September, 2020 - 21:52 Ed Whelan

8,400 Year Old Dog Burial With Grave Goods Unearthed

Dogs have long been considered to be human’s best friend with evidence of their relationship going back for millennia. Now a remarkable discovery in Sweden, shows that even 8,400 years ago people and...

The Wolji (formerly Anapji) artificial pond located in Gyeongju National Park, South Korea, was constructed by the Silla Kingdom in 674 AD. The pond is not far from where the recent Korean kingdom finds were discovered. Source: Pixabay

10 September, 2020 - 21:02 Ed Whelan

Major Kingdom Finds Provide New Insights Into Ancient Korean Society

Two major recent Korean kingdom finds are providing archaeologists with new critical insights into the culture and history of Korea’s ancient past. Both of the recent finds date from the Silla...

Skeleton of Sarmatian warrior discovered near Krasnodar, Russia. Source: Russian Highways

22 June, 2020 - 23:00 ashley cowie

Ancient Sarmatian Warrior Unearthed During Russian Road Works

The body of an ancient Sarmatian warrior has been unearthed in an early Iron Age burial mound along the planned route of the Far Western Bypass of Krasnodar on the M-4 Don highway in Russia...

Pages

Myths & Legends

: Interior of Lovelock Cave located next to the former lakebed of Lake Lahontan in Nevada. Source: BLM Nevada / CC BY-SA 2.0

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

The Paiutes, a Native American tribe indigenous to parts of Nevada, have an oral tradition that they told to early white settlers of the area about a race of red-haired, white giants or “barbarians”

Haunted Mirrors, Bloody Mary and Superstitious Mirror Mythology

The Erlking: The Powerful Germanic Mythical Snatcher of Children

Palatkwapi-Sedona: City of the Star People

Araucanian “Staircase to Heaven” Symbolism in the Pre-Hispanic World

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

Human Origins

The Faces of Ancient Hominids Brought to Life in Remarkable Detail

Several years ago, a team of scientists from the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, Germany, set out to put a human face to ancient hominid species that once walked the Earth.

The Controversial Lapedo Child – A Neanderthal / Human Hybrid?

Where are Ashkenazi Jews from? Their Origins May Surprise You

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

Did Ancient People Really Have Lifespans Longer Than 200 Years?

The human skull that challenges the Out of Africa theory

Ancient Technology

Understanding the Stonehenge calendar is easy if you follow Stephen Childs’ thinking in this article and in his book “Stone Circles Explained.” This image shows sunrise at this ancient site. Source: Gail Johnson / Adobe Stock

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

Readers will probably know that Stonehenge’s design highlights the longest and shortest days of the year, but it is not always understood that its strange configuration was designed to enable every day

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

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

6 Advanced Ancient Inventions Beyond Modern Understanding

The Lost Knowledge of the Ancients: Were Humans the First? Part 1

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

Ancient Places

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

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

Kidd Mine Ontario: The World's Oldest Pool of Water

World’s Oldest Surviving Amphitheater Preserved at Pompeii

The Judean Date Palm: Extinct Tree Resurrected from Ancient Seeds

Castles Align: Unearthing a Navigational Artifact of the Knights Hospitaller

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.