All  

Store Banner Mobile

Store Banner 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.

A new CT scan of the Tashtyk death mask has uncovered the face of the ancient Tashtyk man, revealing he had a scar on his face from a wound stitched up after his death. Source: ©The State Hermitage Museum / The Siberian Times

Tashtyk Death Mask Scan Reveals Evidence of Prehistoric Surgery

The surgically enhanced face and skull of an ancient tattooed Tashtyk man, hidden behind a stirring gypsum death mask for 1,700 years, has been 3D-visualized for the first time. Discovered wearing a...
Aztec Palace Complex and Later Cortes Home Unearthed in Mexico City

Aztec Palace Complex and Later Cortes Home Unearthed in Mexico City

Archaeologists have unearthed an Aztec palace complex in the heart of Mexico City . The recently unearthed palace complex in the capital of Mexico was built for an Aztec emperor but was also...
Archaeologists at work at one of the 8 digs at the Piraeus Port aqueduct discovery area.

Ancient Greek Piraeus Port Aqueduct, Wells, and 4000 Artifacts Found

Archaeologists excavating in Greece have uncovered a historic Piraeus port aqueduct and wells that date back over 2000 years, and about 4000 objects, many of them wooden, have been unearthed as part...
Istanbul’s world-famous Hagia Sophia museum to become a fulltime mosque in July 2020      Source: romas_ph/Adobe Stock

Hagia Sophia Museum to Become a Mosque Again Says Turkish Government

The government of Turkey has announced that the world-famous Hagia Sophia museum in Istanbul will be turned back into a mosque . This former cathedral and mosque is widely considered to be one of the...
Skeletal evidence of an Iron Age murder victim

Iron Age Murder Victim Discovered at Ceremonial Monument

Archaeologists in England have discovered evidence of a large ceremonial structure and a potentially brutal human sacrifice. While excavating a 4000-year-old Iron Age site at Wellwick Farm near...
Main: Camels fighting. Credit: fraenzken / Adobe Stock. Inset: Camel etchings show fighting camels which could represent the mating season. Credit: Yuri Esin

Stone Age Etchings of Camel Fight Found on Siberian Mammoth Tusk

Ancient engravings etched onto a 13,000-year-old mammoth tusk have been examined and are believed to include the oldest known images of camels in Asia. Several ancient camel etchings on the tusk, one...
Gobekli Tepe or the “Pot-Bellied Hill”: The site where paradigms were shifted, dogma was broken and our understanding of human history changed forever. Source: mehmet / Adobe Stock

Can Gobekli Tepe Reveal Prehistoric Masonic Secrets?

Our journey begins with the Freemasons . This late sixteenth century group occupies a strange, almost mythical place in modern popular culture and, while evoking many conspiracies, the self-...
People have vandalized a Welsh ring cairn by using it as a motorbike circuit. Source:  AA+W / Adobe Stock

Irresponsible Bikers Use 3,000-Year-OId Ring Cairn as Motorbike Circuit

Scrambler motorbikes are a popular pastime in many countries, including Britain. However, a group of irresponsible scramblers have been using a 3000-year-old Welsh ring cairn as a motorbike circuit...
The remains of the cat fund in Kazakhstan. Source: Ashleigh Haruda / MLU

Silk Road Cat Pushes Back Central Asia Domestication to 8th-century AD

Archaeologists have found the well-preserved remains of a Silk Road cat buried in Kazakhstan that likely dates from the 8th century AD, and the evidence suggests this was a “well-loved pet cat.” In a...
The Pope’s seal found in Shropshire, England, (British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme) belonged to Pope Innocent IV. (Public Domain)

Warrior Pope’s Seal is 1.5 Millionth Archaeological Find in Britain!

A metal detectorist has unearthed the 1.5 millionth archaeological artifact to be found by the public in Britain under a government-backed scheme. This item is one of great historic interest. It is a...
The discovery that a collection of shells were threaded onto 120,000-year-old strings, at a cave in Israel is an important discovery which advances our understanding of human evolution. Source: Bar-Yosef Mayer et al/Plos One/PA Wire

Evidence of 120,000-Year-Old String Discovered in Israeli Cave

A team of archaeologists excavating a cave in Israel have made the incredible discovery of a collection of shells that were once threaded onto strings and worn by humans as beads 120,000 years ago...
The sacred Whiteleaved Oak near Ledbury has been destroyed by fire. Source: Ledbury Fire Station / Hereford Times

Famous Sacred Historic Oak Destroyed by Fire in the UK

In England a sacred historic oak has been reduced to a burnt stump after it was engulfed by fire. This tree was a local landmark and it was venerated by people from all over the world. This sacred...
Is sexism exhibited in Bronze Age horse selection?     Source: ginettigino / Adobe Stock

Bronze Age Sexism In Horses May or May Not Extend to Human Society!

A team of French researchers studying horse DNA dated to between 40,000 BC and 700 AD claim that when horses were first domesticated there was no sex preference but by 1,900 BC stallions outnumbered...
Cerne Abbas Giant chalk figure, in Dorset, England is now believed to be less than 350 years old!       Source: PeteHarlow / CC BY-SA 3.0

Research Shows Cerne Abbas Giant Chalk Figure Is NOT Ancient

In Britain, researchers believe that they are finally able to date the mysterious gigantic chalk figure at Cerne Abbas . The Cerne Abbas Giant has intrigued people for at least a century as its...
This is a CGI reconstruction of Thomas Beckets shrine.           Source: Dr John Jenkins / Taylor & Francis Group

Thomas Becket’s Sacred Healing Shrine Digitally Reconstructed

800 years to the day since the body of England ’ s legendary Saint Thomas Becket was moved to Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, in southeast England, this mysterious and deeply sacred building has been...
Norman dietary influences in England after the Battle of Hastings (pictured here) and the Norman Conquest.  Joseph Martin Kronheim (1810–96) / Public domain

The Norman Conquest Didn’t Kill the English Appetite

A team of researchers have established that Norman dietary influences in England after the Norman Conquest were less profound than previously imagined. This was a huge surprise given the perceived...
Maps of the extensive Neolithic structures show the new Durrington Shafts feature dwarfing all other ancient developments. Source: © University of Bradford

Durrington Shafts: Is Britain’s Largest Prehistoric Monument a Sonic Temple?

The recent discovery of an enormous ring of cylinder-like pits, each approximately five meters deep and 10 meters in diameter (16.5 by 33 ft), found to surround the henge enclosure of Durrington...
Bladelets and flakes with two pairs of notches interpreted as Neolithic figurines. Source: Kharaysin archaeological team / Antiquity Publications Ltd

10,000-Year-Old Neolithic Figurines Discovered in Jordan Burials

The historical time period for the mid-9th millennium BC onwards is known as the early Neolithic . At this time in the Near East human iconography began expanding, but archaeological theories to...
Mongolian horseman in Avraga, where Genghis Khan’s winter camp ruins were found.           Source: sergelen1 / CC BY 2.0

Australian Archaeologists Identify Genghis Khan’s Lost Winter Camp

Australian archaeologists claim to have identified the legendary lost Genghis Khan winter camp. Known as Chinggis Khan in Mongolia, Genghis Khan lived from about 1162 AD until 1227 AD. He was the...
Aerial view of the construction site. Source: Dom Eko

Massive Polish Fort Walls Over 100 Feet Wide Indicate Medieval Capital

The discovery of three rings of fortification walls have provided archaeologists with startling new information on Medieval Poland. The find of the massive Polish fort walls suggests that Poznań was...
Diver Christophe Le Maillot documents the ocher mining activity at the site.   Source: Sam Meacham, CINDAQ. A.C. SAS-INAH / INAH

Divers Find Oldest Ocher Mines in the Americas

Experts in Mexico have discovered what they believe to be the oldest ocher mines in all the Americas. They date back an astonishing 10-12,500 years ago. The discovery is helping researchers to better...
There is a new theory about how the huge stones got to Stonehenge. Source: Lisa /Adobe Stock

Everything Changes at Stonehenge as Pivotal Theory is “Totally Destroyed”

Scientists in England have determined Stonehenge's huge blocks were transported over land, rejecting the theory that Neolithic builders “floated” the huge slabs from Wales to the construction site at...
The cave painting, believed to represent the now extinct giant sloth lemur, was discovered in the a limestone cave located in a nature reserve in western Madagascar. Source: gudkovandrey / Adobe Stock

Unique Painting of Extinct Giant Sloth Discovered in Madagascar Cave

A team of scientists exploring a cave in western Madagascar have discovered an ancient painting which they are calling the “only known drawing of an extinct giant lemur” that once lived in the island...
Hegmataneh hill, Hamadan City, Iran, where the new Iranian Median Empire discoveries were made Source: IRNA

New Digs Provide Insights into the Median Empire and Capital

The Median Empire and the Medes people are one of the most important in the ancient world. However, relatively little is known about them or their capital city, thought to be Ecbatana. Now, Iranian...

Pages