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History & Archaeology

We bring you all the latest historical news and archaeological discoveries relating to ancient human history. Read more history news from around the world here at Ancient Origins.

The remains of soldiers from Napoleon's army

Hundreds of Bodies of Napoleonic Soldiers Unearthed in Germany

Hundreds of skeletons of soldiers in Napoleon's army have been discovered in the city of Frankfurt at a future construction site thanks to archaeological studies started decades ago. "We estimate...
Monk’s Mound, Cahokia

Monks Mound at Cahokia built in decades, not 250 years as previously thought

By studying plant seeds and spores in the soil used to construct Monk’s Mound, the largest prehistoric earthen structure in North America, archaeologists have determined that it was not built over...
Neo-Hittite Stone relief

Would you enjoy this 4,000-year-old Hittite feast?

An archaeological team excavating an ancient center of the Hittite civilization in Turkey have recreated a 4,000-year-old Hittite feast including sweet breads, casseroles, grilled lamb hearts, and...
Main: The west tower of the Frankfurt Imperial Cathedral, under which were interred two Medieval children, one with a Christian burial the other a pagan burial.

Double Medieval child burial, one Pagan, one Christian, mystifies German researchers

Archaeologists say the circumstances of the death and double burial of two little children who died in Medieval Frankfurt, Germany, will probably never be known. One of the children had an apparently...
A detail of the star chart of Idy of Asyut showing the sky goddess Nut holding up the heavens at the top.

Star charts reveal how ancient Egyptians planned to navigate the sky after death

Like others in the ancient world in the Americas, Asia, Europe and around the Mediterranean, Egyptian pharaohs and nobles associated stars with their gods or thought they could be deified by becoming...
Main: The twin pillars at Göbekli Tepe (g.frilli / flickr). Inset: The tiny bone plaque found at Göbekli Tepe and now on display at Sanliurfa’s new archaeological museum.

First Pictorial Representation of Gobekli Tepe Found

A tiny bone plaque in Sanliurfa museum holds the key to the orientation of the 11,500 year-old temple complex. It was found during routine excavations at the 11,500-year-old site of Göbekli Tepe in...
One of 16 pyramids uncovered in a cemetery in the ancient town of Gematon in Sudan. The pyramid likely rose more than 39 feet (12 meters) in height.

16 Ancient Pyramids, Burial Sites for a Vanished Kingdom, Found in Sudan

2,000-year-old pyramids have been found in an ancient cemetery, revealing the burial practices of a long-vanished kingdom in Sudan. Discovered near the ancient town of Gematon in Sudan, the 16...
The double burial of the Serpent-Jaguar Priests, Pacopampa, Peru.

Lost for 2 700 years: Tomb of the Serpent Jaguar Priests Uncovered in Peru

A very interesting tomb has been uncovered in San Pedro de Pacopampa, Chota Province, Cajamarca Region, Peru. The tomb contains a double burial of what is believed to be high-ranking priests from the...
Chester country court record showing use of the name ‘Roger Fuckebythenavele’. Credit: Crown copyright, published with approval of Her Majesty’s Stationary Office.

Fuckebythenavele: Historians uncover oldest known use of the F-word in 1310 court records

A British historian believes he has found the earliest recorded use of the F-word, a swearword of Anglo-Saxon origin, where its meaning has a sexual connotation. The word was found in court records...
The stone tools found at Bear Creek include the upper two in the photo with rare concave bases.

10,000-year-old stone tools with animal tissue residue unearthed in Washington State

After the glaciers retreated during the end of the last Ice Age in North America, people quickly moved in and inhabited the areas free of the ice. One such site, in the Puget Sound area of Washington...
The rediscovered leather manuscript has been compared to the Egyptian Book of the Dead (pictured). Book of the Dead papyrus of Pinedjem II, 21st dynasty, circa 990-969 BC. Originally from the Deir el-Bahri royal cache.

4,000-year-old Ancient Egyptian manuscript measuring more than 8ft has been rediscovered in Cairo

The oldest known Egyptian leather manuscript, dating back some 4,000 years, has been rediscovered at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo after it was pulled from a dusty, old storage box, where it had been...
Divers and marine archaeologists used high-resolution sonar systems to survey the ancient sea route and associated features.

Researchers in Turkey identify Bronze Age sea route and ancient shipwrecks

Marine archaeologists working in the eastern Mediterranean Sea are reconstructing the facts around what they call a 5,000-year-old shipping route and shipbuilding center that have been long submerged...
The bent and hunched bones of the woman with rickets. (Images by the journal Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society)

Stone Age woman with deformities may have been shunned by her community

A case of possible ostracism because of deformation caused by rickets has come to light in an ancient burial from the Scottish island of Tiree. The remains of the Stone Age woman, buried about 5,000...
Chief Saturiwa prepares his men for battle during a ceremony involving the black drink.

People in the Southwestern United States drank caffeinated drinks in 750 AD

The sparse population inhabiting the area that is now the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico during the eighth century AD regularly consumed drinks made from cacao—the plant that is...
An artist’s impression of life in the Stone Age

Stone Age people were eating porridge 32,000 years ago

Archaeologists say they have found traces of wild oats on grinding tools from about 32,000 years ago, about 20,000 years before formal farming is thought to have been established. The prehistoric...
Copy of Bonampak Painting in Chetumal. This is an artist's copy of a mural at the Temple of the Murals at Bonampak, a Maya archaeological site.

The environmental impact of the Maya civilization is still visible today

A new study has found that the Maya civilization of Central America had a considerable impact on the surrounding environment, the effects of which are still visible. Activity from 2,000 years ago...
Some of the photographs taken via satellite and presented by Manuel Cuevas as an indication of the presence of ancient buildings in the area of the Pinar de la Algaida, Cadiz province.

2,500-year-old city buried under flood sediment may belong to lost civilization in Spain

Manuel Cuevas is 52 years old and is not only an entrepreneur, but also a passionate independent researcher. A few days ago, this resident of Sanlucar de Barrameda (Cadiz) sprung into the Spanish...
The ancient Roman coins, dating to the 1st century AD alongside the clay vessel in which they were found; the owner’s name is inscribed on the vessel.

Nearly 3,000 Roman silver coins dating to 1st century AD found in Bulgaria

A trove of 2,976 silver Roman coins stamped with emperors and their family members has been unearthed in Sofia, Bulgaria, at an ancient Roman and Thracian city inside the city’s borders...
The earliest phase of Durrington Walls with its line of megaliths.

Major Discovery: 4,500-year-old megalithic super-henge found buried one mile from Stonehenge

An enormous row of 90 megalithic stones has been found buried beneath the prehistoric super-henge of Durrington Walls earthworks, only one mile from the world-famous site of Stonehenge in Wiltshire,...
Newly-discovered tunnels in Puebla.

Urban Myth Confirmed True as Archaeologists Discover Hidden Tunnels in Mexico

Talk of a maze of underground tunnels beneath the Colonial city of Puebla in Mexico have long been disregarded as mere urban legend. However, city authorities have now confirmed that their existence...
Small grave at the Children’s Fort in Tullycrine, Ireland

The Graveyard of the Lost: Why Hundreds of Children were Buried in an Old Irish Ring Fort

Inside the ring fort at Tullycrine in West Clare, Ireland, visitors can see the graves of hundreds of children dating from a period in Irish history when those who had not been baptized were banned...
Top: The tail of an animal can be seen in the innards of this kestrel mummy in a CT scan. (Stellenbosch University photo). Bottom: The mummified kestrel

Discovery of mummified kestrel reveals evidence for falconry in ancient Egypt

Throughout the ages around the world, humans have associated gods of various religions with animals. Some individual animals in ancient Egypt were so sacred they were believed to have the spirits of...
The young man on the 1,800 year old sarcophagus, Ashkelon, Israel

Builders Uncovered Unique Sarcophagus in Israel… and Hid It

A 1,800 year old sarcophagus believed to have belonged to a young Roman man has been returned to the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) after initially being hidden by builders. The sarcophagus is...
A skeleton of the one of the young men buried on what is now the University of Durham campus

Discovery of 17th century mass grave reveals tragic remains of child soldiers

Archaeologists say they have verified that skeletons unearthed in a mass grave in northern England were Scottish prisoners, including child soldiers as young as 13, who died after capture in a 1650...

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