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 pit of arm bones (Antiquity photo)

Pit of Amputated Arms in France from 6,000 years ago Suggest War and Trophy-Taking

About 6,000 years ago in France some hostiles in an apparent act of warfare and trophy-taking killed a group of adults and children, amputated their arms and buried the limbs in a circular pit...
Some of the Chaco Canyon ruins are still standing

Puebloans in Treeless Chaco Canyon Hauled 240,000 Trees over 75 KM for House Construction

Analysis of tree-ring patterns shows the prehistoric Pueblo Indians who built the multi-story great houses in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, at one time hauled huge wooden beams a good distance from one...
Adena Giant Mound Builders

The Adena Giant Revealed: Profile of Prehistoric Mound Builders

In the 1800s, reports began to surface of the discovery of very large skeletal remains in the burial mounds of North America. These skeletons were described as reaching seven to eight feet (2.4...
The head and upper thorax of Hatason (Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco)

Mummy of middle class ancient Egyptian woman found to have intriguing features

A 3,000-year-old female mummy that underwent radiological examination in November was determined to be a middle class, free citizen but not an extremely important or influential person, says a...
The famous Stonehenge monument in Wiltshire, England.

Startling New Evidence Suggests Stonehenge was First Built in Wales then Transported and Reconstructed 500 Years Later in England

Archaeologists have found the exact holes in a rocky outcrop in Wales from where the bluestones found at Stonehenge originated, revealing that they were quarried 500 years before they were assembled...
The horse burial pit in the newly-discovered tomb.

2,500-Year-Old Royal Tomb Complex with Horse Burial Pit Unearthed in China

Archaeologists in China have uncovered an elaborate 2,500-year-old tomb in a giant complex containing around 200 other grave sites, which they have been excavating since 2009 in Luoyong city, Henan...
Detail of one of the semicircular engravings recently discovered and interpreted as a hut.

Paleolithic Stone Slab Discovered in Spain May be the First Map of a Hunter-Gatherer Campsite

The Spanish archaeological site Moli del Salt (Vimbodi i Poblet, Tarragona) continues to provide new and pleasant surprises. The latest discovery is a stone slab that is over 13,000 years old. The...
Samuel Scott’s painting titled “Action off Cartagena, May 28, 1708,” executed before 1772.

Gold, silver, jewels - Spanish galleon with $1 billion in treasure located off Colombian coast

Underwater explorers in Colombia have found what they believe is the richest shipwreck in the world, The San Jose , a Spanish galleon blown up by the British about 300 years ago, killing most on...
Underground Etruscan tomb at Cerverteri (representational image).

Unlooted Etruscan Tomb Complete with Sarcophagi and Treasures Unearthed in Italy

Archaeologists have made a rare discovery near the small town of Città della Pieve, near Perugia in Italy – a 2,400-year-old sealed and untouched Etruscan tomb. The burial chamber contains sarcophagi...
The Ashalim cave artifact

Oldest Known Lead Artifact was Found with Skeletons, Suggesting Mystical Significance

Archaeologists working in a cave in Israel, which prehistoric people used as a burial ground, have found an object made of lead that is at least 6,000 years old. They are unsure what the artifact was...
Three of the hearts in their urns on top of the earth in which they were buried

Embalmed heart of 17th century knight buried in grave of his wife

Archaeologists recently unearthed five embalmed human hearts that had been removed from bodies, placed inside heart-shaped urns and buried underneath a convent in France in the late 16 th and early...
One of the Greek temples in the Valley of Temples outside Agrigento, Sicily

New Study Shows Some Greek Temples Were Oriented to the Moon or Stars, Rather than the Sun

The Ancient Greeks, who designed temples in honor of gods, goddesses and heroes, usually oriented them facing the rising sun or to the cardinal directions. But a new study shows that a few of the...
Google Image of some of the “wheel” geoglyphs found in the Azraq Oasis of Jordan.

Some Giant Geoglyphs in Jordan are Older than the World Famous Nazca Lines

Despite the difficulty in discerning the finished product of the giant designs from earth, archaeologists have recently announced that at least some of the great “works of old men” (as the Bedouin...
The beautiful monument, Taj Mahal.

Debate rages as legal case points to evidence that Taj Mahal was once a Hindu temple

The origins of the famous ancient landmark in India, the Taj Mahal, are under some dispute, casting controversy over the long-held history, and pitting religions against each other. A lawsuit claims...
The remains of the woman with male DNA contained grave goods that make researchers think she had high status in her community. (Photo by Museum of London)

Person genetically a male but physically a female lived in London nearly 2,000 years ago

Scientists say that in a few births per thousand there are males born with female chromosomes and females born with a male chromosome. One such case came to light recently in London in the skeleton...
Archeologists and anthropologists believed the warrior was not only female - and a pig-tailed teenager - but a member of an elite corps of warriors within the Pazyryk culture. Picture: Marcel Nyffenegger, Natalia Polosmak

Female Amazon warrior buried 2,500 years ago in Altai Mountains was... male

By The Siberian Times reporter New DNA findings have altered the sex of one of most famous recent Siberian archeological finds of human remains. A Swiss taxidermy expert brought 'her' to life,...
Part of the newly discovered tunnel. (Notimex / 24-horas.mx)

Tunnel to Two Previously Unknown Chambers Found in Mexican Temple Mayor

In February 1978, a group of workers from an electrical company located a monumental sculpture in the middle of Mexico City. Its discovery and excavation marked a before and after in the study of...
A well unearthed at New Place (Shakespeare Birthplace Trust photo)

New Findings at Final Home of Shakespeare, Where he Wrote at the Height of his Career

William Shakespeare owned the biggest, most lavish residence in the borough of Stratford-Upon-Avon, a home fitting his high status in the world. Archaeologists excavating the ruins of the 20-room...
Children learning math, Yucatan, Mexico

Yucatan Children Learn Math Better Thanks to Ancient Mayan Numeral System

Children of the Mexican Yucatan region are getting much better results in mathematics by learning using the ancient Mayan numeral system. Studies suggest that the results are far exceeding those...
The stone sarcophagus containing the mummy of King Tut is seen in his underground tomb.

Press Announcement: Radar Scans Reveal Hidden Chamber in Tutankhamun Tomb with 90 Percent Certainty

A press conference held this morning in Luxor with Egyptian Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty revealed the results of a three-day operation to scan behind the walls in the burial chamber of...
An archaeologist working in one of the tombs found at the Huaca Pucllana archaeological site in Lima, Peru.

Four Pre-Inca Burials Discovered at 1500-year-old Site in Peru

Four burial sites have been unearthed in a cemetery recently discovered at the Huaca Pucllana archaeological site located in the residential neighborhood of Miraflores, in Lima, Peru. One...
Ministry of Antiquities, Egypt.

Sarcophagus of Egyptian High Priest Unearthed with Hieroglyphic Inscriptions and Scenes of Offerings

The sarcophagus of a high priest of the ancient Egyptian god Amun Ra has been unearthed in Egypt. The well preserved sarcophagus, discovered by a team of archaeologists within the 3,400-year-old tomb...
Fermented shark, hákarl, is an example of a culinary tradition that has continued from the settlement of Iceland in the 9th century to this day.

Viking diet was better than in many parts of the Medieval world

The Vikings are famous for their great feasting halls, in which an image of a rowdy bunch of beer-drinking men gnawing on meaty bones comes to mind. But what did they really consume besides beer and...
Front view of the mummy of the "Younger Lady".

French Egyptologist Asserts that the Younger Lady is Really the Mummy of Nefertiti

French Egyptologist Marc Gabolde, specialist in the Eighteenth Dynasty and the Amarna period, argues that the mummy known as the "Younger Lady" discovered almost a century ago, is actually the famous...

Pages