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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.

Fragments of a female figurine from Hohle Fels in south-western Germany dating to the Aurignacian period roughly 40,000 years ago. Images: J. Lipták/University of Tübingen.

Fragments of 40,000 year old female ‘Venus’ carving found

Two fragments of a prehistoric female figurine have been discovered in a cave at Hohle Fels in Germany. The figurine was carved from mammoth ivory and fit together to form an artifact measuring 23 mm...
Perilous position of HMS 'Terror', Captain Back, in the arctic regions in the summer of 1837, by William Smith.

Researchers discover a grisly end to a British naval expedition: Crew boiled bones of the dead

The 1845 Franklin expedition aimed to discover a sea-route through the Canadian Arctic. It consisted of two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror . In command was Sir John Franklin who had previously...
Mummy of a Four Year-old Child - Roman Period, representational image.

Researchers Use Modern Technology to Uncover Secrets of Ancient Egyptian Child Mummies

At the St. Bernward hospital in Hildesheim, Germany, researchers are busy working on two Ancient Egyptian child mummies, investigating them with the help of CT scanning equipment. The project is...
Left: Amazon shaman (Wikimedia Commons). Right: Australian Aboriginal

Genetic studies link indigenous peoples in the Amazon and Australasia

Native Americans living in the Amazon bear an unexpected genetic connection to indigenous people in Australasia, suggesting a previously unknown wave of migration to the Americas thousands of years...
Piwo pijacy mnisi (Beer Drinking Monks), Olaf Simony Jensen

Ancient Monastery Recreates Beer Based on Historic Recipe by British Soldiers

The Strahov Monastery in Prague, Czech Republic, has created a popular new beer based on a historic recipe. The Times of India report that they call it the Sv Norbert India Pale Ale and it is based...
Hieroglyphic panel discovered at La Corona's Palace, El Petén, Guatemala

Discovery of Hidden Mayan Stela and Panels Give Hints to the Importance of History in the Preclassical Period

Archaeologists working for the La Corona Regional Archaeological Project who discovered the ‘end-date’ of the Maya calendar in 2012, have now discovered a Mayan stela dating back to the 5 th century...
Relief carved from stone featuring Ptolemy XIII of Egypt and the deity Isis. Representational image.

4,000-Year-Old Relief Carvings and Decorated Stone Blocks Discovered in Temple of Serapis in Egypt

Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered two 4,000-year-old reliefs in the Temple of Serapis on the Red Sea. The Egyptian Antiquities Minister Mamdouh Eldamaty announced last week that discoveries...
The marble facade of Philip II tomb, Vergina Greece

Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, Was Buried with Wife and Child after Assassination Says New Study

Spectacular golden tombs containing the remains of ancient Macedonian royalty are under scrutiny after new examinations challenge previous research. A new study claims to conclusively identify King...
The charred scroll and its virtually unwrapped image with biblical text.

Oldest Biblical text since the Dead Sea Scrolls deciphered from charcoal scroll

Scientists using high-tech methods have deciphered a charred fragment of the Bible that is the oldest known biblical text other than the Dead Sea Scrolls. The parchment or animal-skin scroll, which...
Team of eight unbridled donkeys walk past a mud mosque laden with a load of gravel.

Tombs and Shrines in the City of 333 Saints Restored after Violent Destruction in Timbuktu

Efforts to restore the ancient monuments of historic Timbuktu have been successful after several years of violent strife in the region. The reconstruction of the city’s monuments is both a practical...
Rio Tinto, Huelva, Spain

An Ancient Mine with Links to the Search for Life on Mars: Rio Tinto Reopens

The Rio Tinto mine in Spain is set to re-open after being closed in 2001 due to declines in production, EMED Mining announced to Australian Mining . Reportedly one of the oldest mines in the world,...
The chariot with horse skeletons at left in the grave (Photo by Chinese Archaeology)

An honored Zhou Dynasty warrior, buried with a chariot and horses, has been unearthed in China

There is a legend about the battle of Muye in 1046 BC, fought between the 50,000 soldiers of the ancient Chinese Zhou Dynasty and 700,000 from the Shang Dynasty. The legend says Shang soldiers were...
Medieval leather shoes found at the Westgate site, Oxford, England

Over 100 Rare Leather and Wooden Artifacts Found in Oxford Dig

Archaeologists excavating in Oxford have found a stockpile of wonderfully preserved medieval leather and wooden artifacts, which is as good as gold in their eyes. They expect to uncover many more...
The inscription in ancvient Greek on marble was probably part of a temple to Demeter, a goddess shared by Thracians, Greeks and other peoples in Europe, the Near East and Asia

A marble slab inscription invoking a goddess sheds light on Thracian history

A marble slab with an inscription to the goddess Demeter, which gives vital clues to the last ruling kings of ancient Thrace before Rome conquered the enigmatic people, has been unearthed in Bulgaria...
The star chart painting on the ceiling of the Kitora Tomb, Asuka, Japan

Kitora Tomb Star Chart is Declared the Oldest in the World

The Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs have announced that a star chart discovered in ancient Asuka in the country’s Nara Prefecture, is based on much older celestial observations made in China,...
Indian sailing vessels from a 1745 AD.

Archaeologists may have located ancient port dating back 4,500 years in Goa

Archaeologists have found an old wharf that points to the existence of an ancient port on the Zuari River near Goa, India. They say it may date back 4,500 years and be evidence of early trade on...
Recent Excavations at Kultepe, Turkey

4,000-Year-Old Tablets with Evidence of Bronze Age Rights for Women Discovered in Turkey

Great finds continue to be unearthed at the Bronze Age site of Kültepe-Kaniş-Karum, in Turkey. The latest discovery includes millennia old cuneiform tablets referring to commercial interests as well...
The child - seen here in these remarkable pictures for the first time - appears to be from a higher social strata that previous remains unearthed at the site, the mysterious  Zeleny Yar necropolis.

Mummy of a child warrior from lost medieval civilization unearthed near Arctic

By Anna Liesowska / Siberian Times Scientists this week opened the mummified child's remains cocooned in birch bark and copper which - combined with the permafrost - produced an accidental...
Gobeklitepe

Archaeologists find 12,000-year-old pictograph at Gobeklitepe

Excavations being conducted at the ancient city of Göbeklitepe in Turkey have uncovered an ancient pictograph on an obelisk which researchers say could be the earliest known pictograph ever...
The ruins of a classical Chinese garden landscape of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) uncovered at a construction site in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China.

Golden Age of Classical Chinese Gardens Revealed: Archaeologists Uncover Ancient Garden near Buddhist Monastery

The expansive ruins of an ancient Buddhist garden from the Tang Dynasty have been uncovered by archaeologists working in Sichuan province, China. The tiered garden, undoubtedly glorious in its time,...
Cloth Gifted by Ptolemy XII Auletes to the Temple of Hathor

Polish Archaeologists Discover Rare Gift from Father of Cleopatra

A linen cloth that was once given as a gift by the father of legendary Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII has been discovered by Polish archaeologists during excavations in Western Thebes, now the modern...
Archaeological dig site near Winterborne Kingston in Dorset. Credit: Bournemouth University.

Archeologists discover Ancient Celtic village with more than 150 roundhouses

Archaeologists and students from Bournemouth University in England have unearthed an ancient Celtic village at Duropolis, which is named after the Celtic Iron Age Durotriges tribe that lived in the...

Four 6000-Year-Old Tombs with Child Burials Uncovered in Egypt

Four pre-dynastic tombs have been discovered at Tel Al-Farkha, Egypt, by a Polish Expedition which has been working at the site since 1998. They are located on the edge of the village of Ghazala,...
Handle of newly revealed Viking sword, Langeid, Norway

Sword of Late Viking Age Burial Unveiled Exhibiting Links Between Norway and England

Though they discovered it in 2011, archaeologists from the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo had to wait through four long years of conservation and research to finally reveal the finding of a...

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