All  

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ Mobile

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 Roman-era egg was cast into a watery pit, possibly as part of a funeral rite. Source: Oxford Archaeology.

1,700-year-old Egg Found at Roman Era Site Still Has Liquid Contents

An extraordinary discovery in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, has stunned archaeologists and scientists worldwide: a 1,700-year-old egg, is the only intact specimen from Roman Britain, and now considered...
Section of a Stone Age megastructure in the Bay of Mecklenburg, Germany. Source: Philipp Hoy/PNAS

Nearly 11,000-Year-Old Megastructure Is Oldest Ever Found in Europe

The oldest known megastructure built by humans has been found in Europe in the form of a Stone Age wall, almost an entire kilometer in length! Located at a depth of 21 meters (69 feet) in the Bay of...
Aerial view of Amazon tributary river, San Jose do Rio Claro, Mato Grosso, where ancient manufacturing of terra preta has been found. Source: Uwe Bergwitz/Adobe Stock

Advanced Amazonian Agriculturalists Intentionally Created ‘Terra Preta’ Thousands of Years Ago

A fascinating body of research has revealed how intimately our ancestors were connected to the earth – specifically, ancient Amazonians, who intentionally created a fertile dark earth or ‘terra preta...
Outside; Virgin Mary and Skull rosary bead, the star of the PAS 2022 Annual report launch. Center; Source: Portable Antiquities Scheme

UK Declared a Land Full of Hidden Treasure By British Museum

While Caroline Nunneley was exploring the Thames' shores in London, meticulously searching the mud on all fours for archaeological treasures, she encountered an unexpected find: a small, intricately...
Rongorongo Tablet D engraved with the undeciphered script.  Source: (© Museum Archives of the Congregazione dei Sacri Cuori di Gesu e Maria, 3D model Produced by ERC INSCRIBE Project, based at the University of Bologna)

Undeciphered Rongorongo Script Found on Easter Island Predates European Contact

There has long been an air of mystery and intrigue surrounding a set of wooden tablets with writing on them found on the tiny, remote South Pacific island of Rapa Nui (more commonly known as Easter...
The project team at the start of work at the end of 2018 in the University Library's manuscript collection with (from left) Markéta Preininger, Korshi Dosoo and Edward O. D. Love. Source: Gunnar Bartsch / Universität Würzburg

Translated Egyptian Magical Texts Map Human Emotions

After five years of research two German scientists have published translations of a collection of Egyptian magical texts. Cutting through the love spells, curses and protection rituals, this work...
Excavations of a city wall belonging to the ancient city of Gan which existed near the modern-day city of Puyang in China. It was here that the bone slips were uncovered. Source: China News Service

Bone Slips Excavated in Central China Linked to Ancient Fortune-Telling

During excavations at a 2,500-year-old archaeological site in Puyang, China, a set of 10 polished and painted bone slips or sticks were unearthed, all of which were inscribed with an ancient Chinese...
Caves and rock shelters dot the mountains in the northwestern highlands of Thailand. Over 40 in Mae Hong Son province contain wooden coffins on stilts, dating back 1,000 - 2,300 years. Source: © Selina Carlhoff/ Max Planck Society

DNA Elucidates Thailand's Iron Age ‘Log Coffin Culture’

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology A mortuary practice known as ‘Log Coffin culture’ characterizes the Iron Age of highland Pang Mapha in northwestern Thailand. Between 2,300 and 1,...
The bone, black henbane seeds and tar plug used to keep it sealed. Source: BIAC Consult

For Pain or Pleasure? Poisonous Plant Henbane Used by the Romans

While digging at the site of a rural, first-century AD Roman settlement in Houten-Castellum in the Netherlands, archaeologists uncovered a most unusual artifact. Inside a hollowed-out animal bone,...
Left; Cimex lectularius, bedbug. Center; Wing casings (elytra) of Oryzaephilus surinamensis found at Vindolanda. Right: Almost complete wing casing (elytron) of Aphodius sp. Source: Left; Daktaridudu/CC BY-SA 4.0, Center and Right; Katie Wyse Jackson/Vindolanda Trust

Romans Look to Have Brought Bedbugs to Britain

In a fascinating addition to our understanding of ancient Britain, recent archaeological work at Vindolanda, a key Roman garrison south of Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, has unearthed evidence...
Replicas of the Treasure of Villena. Source: Public Domain

Treasure of Villena Reveals Traces of Extraterrestrial Iron!

A dazzling Bronze Age hoard, discovered 60 years ago in Spain, referred to as the Treasure of Villena, and dating back to the period between 2200 and 750 BC, has now been found to possess ‘extra-...
Left; One of the Herculaneum scrolls that are being deciphered. Right; Text from the Herculaneum scroll          Source: Vesuvius Challenge

AI Tool Deciphers Herculaneum Scroll, and It’s All About Pleasure!

A team of student researchers have combined 3D-mapping and AI to decipher a Greek scroll that was encased in ash during the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The philosophical musing reveals Greek...
Archaeologists at Déri Museum made a significant discovery: a fully intact lamellar armor was unearthed from a solitary Early Avar warrior burial, near the border of Ebes, Hungary. Source: Déri Museum/Hungarian Museums

7th Century Armored Avar Warrior Buried with Horse Uncovered in Hungary

Archaeologists from the Déri Museum have unveiled an exciting find: the burial of an Avar warrior accompanied by a fully intact ‘lamellar’ armor set within a solitary early Avar tomb. This discovery...
The Roman funerary bed during excavations in London and a reconstruction of the bed. Source: MOLA

“Flat-Packed” Roman Funerary Bed Found in London

In 2019 I wrote a news article on Ancient Origins about the UK’s first “flat-pack” medieval home. Now, archaeologists in London have announced their discovery of an incredibly well-made, and...
A computer generated image of what the iron age workshop might have looked like. 	Source: DigVentures

Iron Age Blacksmith Workshop in the Oxford Countryside Reveals Master Craftsman

Researchers have been “completely blown away” by the uncovering of an Iron Age workshop belonging to a "master blacksmith" in the English countryside, complete with bellow protectors and small metal...
Rows of shallow pits drilled into rock are thought to be where ancient people played a version of the game Mancala.	Source: Courtesy of Veronica Waweru/Yale University

Yale Archaeologist Discovers Ancient Mancala Game Boards in Kenya's Highlands

In a remarkable fusion of local knowledge and academic expertise, Yale University's Veronica Waweru has uncovered what she thinks is an ancient "arcade" of Mancala game boards in central Kenya,...
Representational image of a marine archaeologist. Source: Microgen / Adobe Stock

New Project Will Search for Lost Stone Age Settlements on Sea Floors

An international team of researchers has been awarded a grant of more than £11.5 million (about $14.5 million USD) to organize an underwater archaeological survey of ancient ruins that are currently...
Detail from Nicolas Poussin’s depiction of the Biblical story of Joshua’s victory over the Amalek. Source: Public domain

Who Were the Biblical Amalek People?

If you’ve been following the news, you will have heard references to the use of the term Amalek which was cited by South Africa at the International Court of Justice in The Hague in January 2024. But...
Records on the shelves of one of the Archives' storage areas, known as the Scaffali in Ferro, which contains 13 kilometers of shelving over two floors. Source: Vatican Apostolic Archives

The Extraordinary Tale of a Pope, a Pirate, and a Dead Bishop’s Treasure

Documents published from the Vatican archives in 2014 revealed an incredible tale of pirate attacks and corruption involving a 14th century bishop, whose lifelong accumulation of treasure was...
Statue of Socrates    Source: araelf/Adobe Stock

Did the Ancient Greeks and Romans Experience Alzheimer’s?

Leigh Hopper /University of Southern California You might think age-related dementia has been with us all along, stretching back to the ancient world. But a new analysis of classical Greek and Roman...
Statue of Alexander the Great at Thessaloniki, Greece, Right: Facade of Philip II of Macedon tomb in Vergina, Greece.  Source: YK/Adobe Stock, Public Domain

Alexander the Great’s Family Identities Confirmed at Vergina Tumulus

Where is Alexander the Great buried? This mystery, that has baffled historians and devotees of the legendary conqueror, might be closer to an answer, as a group of archaeologists found the occupants...
The chamber under excavation. East side mould removed. The plastic tubes are samples for environmental DNA. Source: Karl-Göran Sjögren / University of Gothenburg

Missing Body Parts from 5000-Year-Old Dolmen in Sweden Poses Intriguing Questions

The first analysis results now confirm that the grave in Tiarp is one of the oldest stone burial chambers in Sweden . “It’s an early grave which dates to the Early Neolithic period, about 3500 BC,”...
Undated photo of a mosaic jade mask discovered inside an ancient Maya tomb dating back 1,700 years in Chochkitam, Guatemala, near the borders of what are now Mexico and Belize, on July 1, 2022. Source: Francisco Estrada-Belli/Tulane University

Haunting Jade Mask and Inscribed Bones Unearthed In Guatemala

An ancient Maya tomb, dating back 1,700 years, has been uncovered at the site of Chochkitam in Guatemala, near the border of modern-day Mexico and Belize. This looted, pyramid tomb revealed an...
Between 34,000 and 24,000 years ago, diverse European cultures from the Gravettian period utilized marine shells, teeth, beads, and other ornaments for personal adornment, shown here. Source: J. Baker, et al/Nature

Prehistoric Jewelry Unveils 9 Distinct Paleolithic European Cultures

A fascinating new study has explored the cultural behavior of prehistoric humans in Europe from tens of thousands of years ago, and learnt that our ancestors adorned themselves with a diverse array...

Pages