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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 Pictish stone was reused as a horizonal grave slab in the 1790s - hence the inscription in the corner. Source: NOSAS
24 August, 2019 - 17:54 ashley cowie

‘Once-in-a-Lifetime’ Pictish Stone Discovered In Scotland

The rare discovery of a Pictish symbol stone has been uncovered deep in the Scottish Highlands, and it is truly marvelous. 1,200 years old and originally standing more than two meters (6.56 ft.) high...
Fresco of the battle of Troy. Credit: quasarphotos / Adobe Stock
24 August, 2019 - 17:15 Ed Whelan

Surprise Discovery Reveals Ancient City of Troy is 5,500 Years Old

The city of Troy has fascinated people for millennia. Once thought to be purely mythological, the lost city emerged as a real place in history when it was discovered in Turkey by Heinrich Schliemann...
23 August, 2019 - 22:58 ancient-origins

Viking Invasion Resurrected Ireland's Failing Population

By Rowan McLaughlin / Emma Hannah / The Conversation The early medieval period in Ireland (400-1200 AD) was a time of key importance. It was a turning point in European history and the origin of much...
One of the two elongated skulls belongs to a teenage boy who died 1500 years ago and was buried in a pit with two other boys of different genetic background. Source: © D. Los/Kaducej Ltd / University of Wien
23 August, 2019 - 19:01 ashley cowie

Ancient Alien-Like Heads Discovered in Croatia

Archaeologists digging in Croatia have unearthed three ancient alien-like skeletons and two have artificially elongated skulls. Since 12,000-years-ago in ancient China, all over the ancient world,...
20-million-year-old skull discovered in the Andes Mountains of Chile. Source: AMNH / Facebook .
23 August, 2019 - 07:51 ashley cowie

20-Million-Year-Old Skull Whispers Evolutionary Secrets

A visually entrapping 20-million-year-old skull is providing new data on the evolution of brains in primates. Imagine looking through a wormhole into the past and seeing your ancient origins up close...
The Egtved girl. Source: Robert Fortuna/National Museum of Denmark
23 August, 2019 - 01:56 Alicia McDermott

Egtved Girl Origins Keep Getting More Complicated

The Egtved girl’s remains were found in an oak coffin in a peat bog at a Bronze Age archaeological site near Egtved, Denmark in 1921. Her remains have been dated to 1370 BC, but the story of where...
The mummy Ñusta. Credit: Michigan State University
22 August, 2019 - 16:51 ashley cowie

8-Year-Old ‘Princess’ Mummy Finally Laid to Rest in Her Home Bolivia

An incredibly well-preserved and rare young female mummy is finally being returned from North America to her rightful home in Bolivia . 129 years after being donated to the Michigan State University...
Excavations at the Ness of Brodgar. Source: Ruth_W / CC BY-SA 2.0.
22 August, 2019 - 06:18 ashley cowie

Human Bone Found at Orkney’s Neolithic Cathedral, Ness of Brodgar

Archaeologists excavating a vast Neolithic cathedral at Ness of Brodgar on the Scottish island of Orkney have made the rare discovery of a human arm bone . While the discovery of a single bone might...
An aerial photograph of Dinas Dinlle Iron Age Hill Fort from the north (suffering from coastal erosion); Gwynedd, Cymru / Wales. Cromlechs & Ancient Sites. (CADW/Visit Wales/CC BY SA 3.0)
21 August, 2019 - 22:28 Alicia McDermott

Experts Scramble to Study Ancient Fort Before It’s Lost to the Sea

Archaeologists working on the 2,500-year-old Dinas Dinlle hill fort on the Gwynedd coastline in Wales are racing a climate change clock to uncover the site’s secrets before they are lost to the sea...
Skull in the snow. Credit: Antje / Adobe Stock
21 August, 2019 - 18:00 ashley cowie

Himalayan Skeleton Lake Mystery Just Got Deeper

The mysterious circumstances surrounding events at a remote mountain lake, found full of human skeletons, are evading scientists who have looked deep into this bizarre incident. The remains of about...
Ancient human. Credit: procy_ab / Adobe Stock
21 August, 2019 - 13:55 ancient-origins

Surprise Discovery of 45,000-Year-Old Tools in Mongolia Indicates Early Human Migration

Stone tools uncovered in Mongolia by an international team of archaeologists indicate that modern humans traveled across the Eurasian steppe about 45,000 years ago, about 10,000 years earlier than...
The newly uncovered wall carvings found in Vichama, Peru.
21 August, 2019 - 01:55 Alicia McDermott

3800-Year-Old Carvings Show Starving City’s Pleas To Water God Were Answered

3,800 years ago, the people living in what is now called Vichama, Peru carved snakes and human heads into their walls alongside depictions of emaciated people. They were starving and dying and hoped...
Wooden canoes. Credit: hanohiki / Adobe Stock
20 August, 2019 - 23:01 Ed Whelan

8000-Year-Old Shipyard Located off English Coast is World’s Oldest

Marine archaeologists have published stunning images of what they think is an 8000-year-old shipyard located just off the coast of England. They have just found a large number of timber boards that...
Book of the Dead papyrus
20 August, 2019 - 18:57 ancient-origins

Invisible Ink on Nile Papyrus Revealed by Groundbreaking Method

The first thing that catches an archaeologist's eye on the small piece of papyrus from Elephantine Island on the Nile is the apparently blank patch. Researchers from the Egyptian Museum, Berlin...
Piece of ancient Roman warrior’s diploma. Source: Deultum Archaeological Preserve / Fair Use.
20 August, 2019 - 01:51 ashley cowie

Roman Diploma Unearthed In Bulgaria Spells Out Warrior’s Freedom

A tiny, rare and unique piece of a Roman military diploma has been unearthed in the ancient Roman city of Deultum near the village of Debelt in Bulgaria. Deultum was built in the 1st century AD...
The discovery of the sarcophagus was made during redevelopment work. Source: Département du Lot / Facebook.
19 August, 2019 - 22:34 Ed Whelan

Sarcophagus From the Frankish Merovingian Era Found in France

In France a very significant early medieval tomb has been uncovered in a chance find from a key period in the history of France, under the Franks . Construction workers came across the sarcophagus of...

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