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 3,300-year-old clay tablet unearthed in central Turkey has painted a tale of a devastating foreign invasion of the Hittite Empire during a period of internal strife and civil war. As the civil war...
The world’s most expansive and complex Etruscan necropolis continues to produce surprises, revealing more details about the powerful civilization that preceded the Romans as the dominant force in...
David B. Hollander /The Conversation This silver denarius, minted over 2,000 years ago , is hardly the most attractive Roman coin. And yet, the coin is vital evidence for the early stages of a...
Something unexpected from the early Neolithic has been found in Turkey. During excavations in an ancient cemetery, a team of archaeologists from several institutions unearthed more than 100 small...
At the remote, ancient mountain fortress of Rabana-Merquly in Iraqi Kurdistan, German archaeologists have made a surprising discovery. Evidence has emerged that suggests the site had been used as a...
Remnants of the world’s oldest fossilized forests and trees, dating back 390 million years, have been uncovered along the Devon and Somerset coast among high sandstone cliffs. The trees likely...
Excavations at the Anciens Arsenaux site in Sion, Switzerland, have changed the way we understand prehistoric agriculture in Europe forever. Compelling evidence has emerged suggesting that Neolithic...
Researchers have mapped the ancient dispersal of the cacao or cocoa plant from South America to Central America. Not only did they discover the plant was a central commodity in ancient trading, but...
Pragya Agarwal /The Conversation In the medieval period, medical science was still dominated by the ancient writings of Hippocrates from the fifth century and Galen of Pergamon from the second...
In a remarkable find, an artifact of significant historical importance has been recovered by an avid magnet fisherman. Trevor Penny was scouring the River Cherwell near Enslow in Oxfordshire,...
A whopping 30,000 artifacts dating back to between 1250 and 1650 have been unearthed during excavations in medieval Kalmar, a town in southeastern Sweden. This includes a 15th-century gold ring...
In an ambitious archaeological endeavor, Beaumont Abbey, located in Indre-et-Loire, France, has been fully excavated, revealing layers of history dating back 800 years. This monumental 14-month...
During excavations two years ago at the famous ancient Anatolian city of Çatalhöyük , archaeologists uncovered a large furnace-like structure that would have been used as a communal oven. They also...
Getting high off toxic solvents and chemicals to induce mind-altering effects is a public health concern today. But dial back 5,000 years, in the Iberian Peninsula, and groups of women adorned in...
For gold lovers, it doesn’t get much better than this discovery at the archaeological park of El Caño in Panama. Archaeologists have unveiled the tomb of an esteemed Coclé lord from the pre-Hispanic...
Tom Almeroth-Williams /University of Cambridge The identification of an eleventh century Islamic astrolabe bearing both Arabic and Hebrew inscriptions makes it one of the oldest examples ever...
In a new chemical analysis performed on ceramic vases recovered during excavations at the ancient metropolis of Cotzumalhuapa in southwestern Guatemala, a team of researchers from Yale University and...
Chelsea Fisher /The Conversation In dozens of archaeological discoveries around the world, from the once-successful reservoirs and canals of Angkor Wat in Cambodia to the deserted Viking colonies of...
Ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras posited that "consonance," a harmonious combination of notes, arises from specific relationships between simple numbers like 3 and 4. While scholars have...
As part of the restoration works of the Gothic cloister of the Royal Monastery of Santes Creus currently underway in Catalonia, archaeologists have uncovered the ‘totally unexpected’ intact remains...
In a significant archaeological find, a collection of sixteen ancient artifacts dating back to the Iron Age and Roman periods has been officially declared treasure by H.M. Senior Coroner for North-...
Investigators have uncovered a burial ground from the pre-Hispanic era in today’s Mexico, which exhibits unique burial practices and how they were carried out in the region. The discovery occurred in...
Welcome to February 29th, the Leap day that comes around but once every four years! In the age of viral marriage proposals, the persistence of outdated traditions whereby men inevitably go down on...
In the heart of modern Frankfurt, Germany, a new window into the past has been uncovered. The recent archaeological discovery of a full, well-preserved Roman wooden cellar in the ancient Roman city...