Guatemala

Mold used by the Maya to make figurines. Credit: Dr Brent Woodfill, Winthrop University.

23 April, 2019 - 18:52 ashley cowie

Largest Ever Maya Figurine Workshop Discovered Accidentally in Unexplored Mound

In May 2018, heavy machinery excavating outside the city of Coban, in the highlands of Guatemala , sliced into a large earthen mound that was found to contain millions of parts from Classic Maya...

Drivers from the ‘Underwater Archaeological Expedition to Guatemala’ project.

11 February, 2019 - 22:58 Ed Whelan

Divers Find Hundreds of Ritual Offerings in Lake Sacred to the Maya

The civilization of the Maya is one of the most fascinating of the many that flourished in ancient Mesoamerica and it has just been announced that a joint Polish and Guatemalan team have retrieved a...

LiDAR image revealing Maya structures beneath the jungle canopy in Guatemala

1 October, 2018 - 20:10 Joanna Gillan

Laser Scans Reveal 60,000 Previously Unknown Maya Structures Hidden in Guatemalan Jungle!

In a monumental archaeological discovery, whose magnitude hasn’t been seen in decades, an aerial survey over northern Guatemala revealed tens of thousands of Maya structures, including pyramids,...

This is an artist's copy of a mural at the Temple of the Murals at Bonampak, a Maya archaeological site showing examples of heavy jewelry.

20 September, 2018 - 13:59 Mark Oliver

New Discovery Suggests That Maya Elites Danced Wearing As Much As 25 Pounds of Jade Jewelry

A five-pound jade head pendant has been found at Ucanal, an archaeological site in what was once the Maya city of K’anwitznal. The massive jade pendant, the heaviest of its kind ever found, once hung...

13 September, 2018 - 02:10 lizleafloor

Human Blood Found on Ancient Maya Arrowheads, Bloodletting Rituals to Feed Life Force to the Gods

Five hundred years ago at a remote temple in Guatemala, sacrificial blood was spilled during cutting ceremonies using razor-sharp obsidian arrowheads. Archaeologists say this ritual was done to feed...

One of the two stone monuments found in Guatemala.

24 July, 2018 - 22:55 Ed Whelan

Symbolic Monuments Depicting 'Descent of the Grandfather' Myth of the Olmecs Found in Guatemala

It has been announced by the Guatemalan Ministry of Culture that two large carved stone monuments have been found in an archaeological park in the Central American country. The finds were made in the...

Detail of Stela 1, Fragment 1, front. La Corona, Guatemala.

18 April, 2018 - 22:48 Alicia McDermott

Maya Snake King Dynasty Used Local Gods to Gain Authority in Rural Guatemala

Taking political control is often a violent affair, but tactics, knowledge of local customs and beliefs, and trickery can also be used to get an ambitious leader’s foot in the door. New research on...

24 February, 2018 - 01:58 ancient-origins

LiDAR Lifts the Veil on the Oldest Known Maya Settlement in Guatemala

With the help of airborne laser mapping technology, a team of archaeologists, led by University of Arizona professor Takeshi Inomata, is exploring on a larger scale than ever before the history and...

21 February, 2018 - 13:59 dhwty

The Marvelous Mayan Zoomorph Monoliths of Quiriguá

Elaborate designs adorn unique monoliths in an ancient Mayan site in Guatemala. There are immense stelae hailing past rulers and huge stones carved with majestic beasts and curious creatures. The...

A stone cup in the center of burial 80 surrounded by bones during excavation. And the jade mask found in the burial, painted red with cinnabar paint

15 September, 2017 - 22:37 Theodoros Karasavvas

Oldest Royal Tomb of the Classic Maya Centipede Dynasty is Unearthed in Guatemala

The Ministry of Culture and Sports of Guatemala has declared the excavation of a royal tomb pertaining to a mature man at the Classic Maya city of Waka' as the oldest royal tomb to be discovered at...

Five of the sacrificed children were found in a multiple burial. (Flory Pinzón) Grave goods, including obsidian, were found in a burial of two more sacrificed children.

7 September, 2017 - 22:59 Alicia McDermott

Mayan Child Sacrifices with ‘Divine’ Obsidian and Jade Discovered in Guatemala

The bodies of nine sacrificed children have been found at the Maya site of Ceibal in Guatemala. Some of the children were buried with obsidian tools, a fact which research suggests shows the enhanced...

eft: Old Moon Goddess Destructive, Chak Chel. Dresden Codex, Forstemann version, with permission of FAMSI. Right: Old Moon Goddess, Beneficent Chak Chel. Dresden Codex, Forstemann version, with permission of FAMSI

2 August, 2017 - 13:59 lennie

Mayan Women and the Coiled Snake Headdress

The coiled snake headdress is a significant artifact connected with Mayan women, both ancient and modern. Images of ancient Mayan women wearing this distinctive headdress have been found carved on...

The Palace at Sayil, a Maya city on the Gulf of Mexico side of the Yucatan Peninsula. Heavily damaged by ancient floods, complete reconstruction is impossible because of scattered stoneworks.

27 July, 2017 - 18:45 Cliff Dunning

The Maya Controversy: Startling New Evidence for an Antediluvian People who Influenced the World

The oral traditions of Native Americans are historical content that most academics refuse to reference, even in the face of startlingly accurate perceptions of early earth conditions and human...

12 January, 2017 - 00:48 Clyde Winters

2,000-Year-Old Maya Superhighway Discovered in the Jungle of Guatemala

Few ancient civilizations have left us evidence of the roads they built to maintain effective communication and transportation within their sphere of influence. Until recently, the model for...

9 December, 2016 - 03:54 dhwty

Ahuitzotl: Powerful Ruler in the Aztec Golden Age

Ahuitzotl was a tlatoani (meaning ‘speaker’) of the city of Tenochtitlan, and the eighth ruler of the Aztec Empire. This emperor reigned from 1486 AD to 1502 AD, a period which is regarded by some...

8 December, 2016 - 00:51 Clyde Winters

Birds, Stones, and Jaguars: Piecing Together the Multifaceted Ancient Olmec Religion

The Bilingual-Mayan inscription of Comalcalco and decipherment of the La Venta celts and Olmec iconography allows one to understand much about the ancient Olmec religion and its cult associations...

Pages

Myths & Legends

The Epic of Gilgamesh. Source: Luca Oleastri / Adobe.

The Epic of Gilgamesh Unveiled: Searching For a Way to the Home Planet

In contrast to many theorists, this unconventional retelling of key parts of the Epic explores the idea that Gilgamesh was not searching for life eternal on Earth, as has been suggested as the theme of the Epic, but was instead searching for the means of transport to return to his goddess mother Ninsun’s home planet in the heavens.

The notorious and much feared ancient order of Hashshashins

The Warriors of the Rainbow Prophecy

The Epic of Gilgamesh Unveiled: Enlightenment and Source of Religions

Say the Magic Word: The Origins of Abracadabra

Gateway to the Heavens: The Assyrian Account to the Tower of Babel

Human Origins

Work using the Statue of Gilgamesh and Lamassu. Source: CC BY 4.0

The Epic of Gilgamesh Unveiled: Enlightenment and Source of Religions

This retelling of key parts of the Epic explores the unconventional idea that Gilgamesh was not searching for life eternal on Earth, as has been suggested as the theme of the Epic, but was instead searching for the means of transport to return to his goddess mother Ninsun’s home planet in the heavens. Taking poetic licence, the author merges some ideas from modern science and technology with the story from the ancient text.

The Pagan Wheel of the Year: What Elaborate Rituals and Events Mark this Sacred Cycle?

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms

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

Evidence that Noah’s Ark Landed on a Mountain 17 Miles South of Ararat

Ancient Technology

Egyptian Blue – The Oldest Known Artificial Pigment

Egyptian Blue, also known as calcium copper silicate, is one of the first artificial pigments known to have been used by man. The oldest known example of the exquisite pigment is said to be about...

Secrets Behind the Creepy Plague Doctor Mask and Costume

The revolutionary invention of the wheel

Romans in Pompeii Repaired the Roads with Molten Iron

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

Ten amazing inventions from ancient times

Ancient Places

Sumer: Where Written Language, Arithmetic and Civilization Were Born

The Sumerian civilization (known also as Sumer) was one of the earliest civilizations in the world. This ancient civilization emerged in the region of southern Mesopotamia (modern day southern Iraq), between the Tigris and Euphrates River.

Homer’s Iliad Casts Doubt on the Aegean Location of Troy

Fuerte De Samaipata - A Site of Ceremonial Carvings and Sacrifice

The ancient Vespasianus Titus Tunnel of Turkey

Ten Must-See Ancient Places

Ten Incredible Mummy Discoveries from Around the World

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.

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.