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.
Chinese archaeologists say they have confirmed the ancient capital of legendary emperor Yao Tangdi, who lived 4,200 years ago and who is said to have brought peace and “illumined the people.” Yao has...
An important ancient temple site dedicated to the founder of a sect of Taoism has recently been excavated by Chinese archaeologists. In China's Jiangxi Province, the archaeological site of ruins of...
When scientists examined the cracked skulls and gnawed bones found in a cave in England, they recognized the grisly signs of cannibalism. Archaeological findings now indicate that the dwellers of...
New research suggests that people in a Stone Age village in Turkey cut the flesh off the bones and skulls of several people who were dying or had just died then painted and/or plastered the bones and...
According to Manetho, an ancient Egyptian historian and priest of the 3 rd century BC, Memphis once carried the name Ineb-hedj, meaning ‘White Walls’. Some historians maintain that the city was named...
Archaeologists excavating ritual pits in southwest Bulgaria have found the remains of two children that had been sacrificed about 2,700 years ago. The remains indicate that they had been crushed to...
There is a debate among archaeologists, anthropologists and psychologists about whether prehistoric people were violent and warlike or whether there was widespread peace in prehistory. A new...
A person with a metal detector uncovered some beautiful items of a Roman period burial from around 200 AD in a field in England north of London. An archaeologist says the items were likely owned by a...
Skeletons from one of the world’s oldest civilizations—the Indus Valley or Harappan Civilization—have been unearthed in India. Scientists hope to be able to examine their genetic makeup to learn more...
An incredible archaeological discovery in Alaska provided evidence that trade was occurring between Asia and the New World centuries before Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492...
Archaeologists have just a few ways to study how humans lived in the distant past; one of them is how people handled bodies after their loved ones died. In southeast England about 7,600 years ago,...
Egyptologists have found carved basalt blocks in a chapel to King Nectanebo I, founder of the 30 th Dynasty—the last native Egyptian royal house before Alexander the Great conquered the country in...
Scientists call Mount Arteni in Armenia, an extinct volcano that has rich deposits of obsidian, a Stone Age weapons factory. They say from about 1.4 million years, Homo erectus people and later Homo...
An Italian man’s dream to open a modest restaurant became an archaeological obsession when he broke ground in order to repair a faulty toilet. The underground world filled with centuries of history...
A vow of silence has protected the mystery behind an ingenious invention for nearly 500 years. The secrets behind Guglielmo de Lorena’s amazing diving bell, a technical marvel, would have remained an...
Workers operating an excavator during a road-widening project in the Caha mountain range in County Cork made a surprising discovery, when they accidentally made an opening in the earth that exposed...
Archaeologists in South Korea have uncovered a 1,500-year-old tomb of a noblewoman containing the ancient remains of a woman and a man. The discovery of precious grave goods and the circumstances of...
Scientists recently examined tissue samples from tuberculosis-infected bodies that were naturally mummified in a church crypt in Vac, Hungary. Researchers found that the tuberculosis that killed them...
A new study suggests the rulers of the Maya city of Nakum used water as a social control method. They represented themselves as rainmakers, researchers say, showing themselves on monuments with water...
A medieval or Saxon man whose skeleton was found in a Roman villa in Hampshire, England, may have been buried in the countryside because of a jaw deformity that made his community consider him...
The 15 th century voyages of Chinese maritime admiral and diplomat Zheng He have been well documented by historical accounts. Zheng He, highly influential in Ming emperor Yongle’s court, was...
A farmer made an amazing discovery more than 130 years ago in a field outside Vettersfelde (now Witaszkowo) Poland. He stumbled upon a great hoard of golden treasure, including dozens of ornaments...
Archaeologists in Peru made a monumental discovery when they found dozens of tombs with up to 40 mummies in each at a 1,200-year-old ceremonial site in Cotahuasi Valley. So far 171 mummies have been...
Almost 6,000 years ago, the man was placed behind the woman with his arms around her body, and their legs were intertwined. They were buried. Why they were interred in this manner is not yet...