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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 most striking feature of African gold adornment is the wealth of its proverbial imagery. Many of the objects depict animals, birds, fish, insects, seeds, manmade objects and fruit. (© Javett-UP Collection)

Spectacular Gold Treasures of Ancient Africa Revealed

Mined, melted and sculptured, adorning royalty and showcasing wealth and prestige, buried or lost in the earth for centuries, only to be excavated and exhibited and once more cast its seductive magic...
An island in Scotland (supakit / Adobe Stock)

1000 Ancient Sites Revealed by Aerial Scan of Scotland’s Arran Island

Archaeologists in Scotland have concluded a cutting-edge archaeological project which has revealed around 1,000 previously unknown archaeological sites on the Isle of Arran. There is an island off...
Gladiator fresco found in Regio V, near Pompeii. Credit: Pompeii Archaeological Park

Gory Fresco of Gladiator Fight Found in Sleazy Pompeii Tavern

Archaeologists in Pompeii have unearthed a well-preserved fresco in a gladiators’ tavern illustrating the end of a fight in gory detail. The fresco of two gladiators fighting was discovered beneath a...
Illustration of the later Bronze Age by Rasmus Christiansen.               Source: Dandebak

Puzzling Family Structure Revealed in Bronze Age Households

Archaeogenetic analyses have provided new insights into social structures of Bronze age households in ‘Europe’ 4000 years ago. Nuclear families lived together with foreign women and unrelated...
Archaeologists in Egypt have unearthed a previously unknown tomb and several artifacts. Source: Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities

Industrial Zone Found In Luxor’s Valley of the Monkeys

Archaeologists in Egypt have made two remarkable discoveries at the Valley of the Monkeys in Luxor . They have found evidence of industrial areas or zones, where workers lived and worked. Then they...
Early Human diet: Marrow inside a metapodial bone after six weeks of storage. Source Dr. Ruth Blasco/AFTAU

Did 420,000-Year-Old Humans Plan Their Diets and Store Food?

Israeli scientists have found evidence that early humans thought ahead and stored fat and marrow laden animals bones for rainy days. According to a new study published in Science Advances the early...
Oldest Egyptian Soul Map has been found on the text of a woman’s coffin.     Source: Boggy / Adobe Stock

Inscription on Coffin Discovered to be Oldest Egyptian Soul Map

A 4000-year-old ancient Egyptian text illustrates the oldest map of the underworld in existence. In 2012 archaeologists opened a burial shaft in the Middle Egyptian necropolis of Dayr al-Barsha and...
A dancers curse has been revealed on a Byzantine tablet.                  Source: par /Adobe Stock

Mysterious 1500-year-old Tablet Deciphered as Dancer’s Curse

An academic has finally deciphered the mysterious writings on a lead tablet after 70 years. They were shown to be a curse aimed at a dancer. The curse-tablet dates from the Byzantine era and is...
15th-Century Medieval Home Comes Flat-Packed!

15th-Century Medieval Home Comes Flat-Packed!

A magnificent, authentic 15th century home could be yours for as little as £100,000. So, what’s the catch? Think IKEA assembling on a much bigger scale! This rare home today belongs to Colin Mantripp...
Aerial photograph of the Early Bronze Age excavation site near modern Harish. (Assaf Peretz, Israel Antiquities Authority)  By Ed Whelan

5,000-Year-Old Canaanite Megacity Unearthed in Israel

Archaeologists working for the Israel Antiquities Authority have announced the discovery of a major city, which they are calling a megalopolis. The site is rich in historic finds. Most of the site...
An ancient child skeleton. Representational only – not the skeleton found in Turkey.  Credit: Scott Haddow / Flickr

5,700-Year-Old Child Skeleton with Crushed Head Found in Turkey

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a child who died in the Copper Age, 5,700 years ago, in Turkey. The skeleton, believed to be that of a 6- or 7-year-old, was found in the ruins of a...
Aborigines using fire to hunt kangaroos by Joseph Lycett (ca. 1817)  Source: The Conversation / National Library of Australia

New Research Turns Tasmanian Aboriginal History On Its Head

Ted Lefroy et al / The Conversation American farmer and poet Wendell Berry said of the first Europeans in North America that they came with vision, but not with sight. They came with vision of former...
Menthu and Ptolemy IV. The Place of Truth, Deir el Medina   Source: Merlin UK /CC BY-SA 3.0

Lost temple of the Pharaoh Ptolemy IV found in Egypt

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities has announced a dramatic find in the center of the country. During construction work, the lost temple of a pharaoh of the Ptolemaic Dynasty was uncovered,...
Monument of the stone penis, excavated in Rollsbo near Gothenburg in Sweden. Source: The Archaeologists/NHM.

Prehistoric Stone Penis Penetrates Through Time

A Bronze Age stone penis once used for sacrificial fertility rituals has been uncovered in Sweden. The carved phallic statue stands erect at nearly 2 feet (52 centimeters) high and has been linked to...
Some of the hundreds of sword parts found in Estonia.          Source: Estonia Dept for the Protection of Antiquities / ERR

Huge Hoard of Viking Sword Parts Found in Estonia

Archaeologists have uncovered the fragments of about a hundred swords that once belonged to Viking warriors . They were unearthed in the Baltic country of Estonia. The experts believe that the...
An example of an inscription found in the Pompeii ruins.        Source: prosiaczeq /Adobe Stock

Decoded Inscription Reveals Pompeii was a City of Extremes

The ruined city of Pompeii that was devastated by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD continues to provide insights into Roman history and society. An inscription on the tomb of an unidentified...
Archaeologists have discovered a range of mysterious man-made stones submerged beneath the surface of Lake Constance.   Source: Thurgau Archaeology

Swiss Archaeologists Discover 5,500 Year Old Submerged Monument

Ancient stone alignments and cairns have been discovered in Switzerland’s Lake Constance and researchers say they are 5,500 years old. The unusual man-made pile of stones were discovered 15 feet (4.6...
Robinson Crusoe Island is being searched by Dutch treasure hunter.  Source: JeremyRichards / Adobe Stock

Treasure Hunter Given Go Ahead to Dig for $10 Billion Inca Hoard

A Dutch treasure hunter has clashed with a Chilean politician over the legendary treasure of Robinson Crusoe Island. Robinson Crusoe Island is a remote Chilean island and protected as a Unesco World...
Representation of sarcophagus of Princess Hatshepset. Source: Denis Doukhan / Public Domain.

Coffin Pieced Together Reveals Egyptian Princess Face

In Egypt archaeologists have been able to reconstruct the face of the daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh . They painstakingly pieced together what seems to be the sarcophagus of an Egyptian princess...
Swan shamanism could go back hundreds of thousands of years.       Source: abiwarner / Adobe Stock

Wing Bone Indicates Swan Shamanism Could Be 420,000 Years Old!

The idea that the human soul might take the form of a swan to journey from this world to the next could be one of the oldest fundamental beliefs of human kind, or so suggests a new discovery from the...
Modern humans had superior hunting technology. Source: gerasimov174 / Adobe Stock.

Modern Humans' Advanced Weapons Outclassed the Neanderthals

A team of Japanese and Italian researchers, sponsored by Tohoku University, have proven evidence of mechanically delivered projectile weapons in Europe dating to 45,000 - 40,000 years ago -- more...
The box of Mesolithic bones were rediscovered at the Somerset Heritage Centre near Taunton.           Source: Cotswold Archaeology

9,000 Year Old Bones of Oldest Residents of England Found

Researchers in England have just proven that some human remains that were believed to be from the Roman era are in fact significantly older and come from the Middle Stone Age . The bones are from the...
Egyptian mummy. Credit: Andrea Izzotti / Adobe Stock

Mummies with Heart Disease: A Mass-Killer with Ancient Origins

Scientists studying ancient mummies found modern heart disease is an ancient human killer. All over the world heart disease is one of nature’s most effective devices of population control and one of...
Left: The balsamarium was found beside the burial of a man who died between 35 and 40 years old. Right: Balsamarium from the brick grave in the Kral Mezar tumulus. Credit: Daniela Agre, Deyan Dichev and Gennady Agre / ajaonline.org.

Skeleton of Ancient Sports Fan Found Buried with Head-Shaped Jar

A grave has been found in Bulgaria with the skeleton of an ancient sportsman or sports fan. Alongside the human remains was a nearly 2000-year-old jar that represents the head of a boxer or a...

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