homo sapiens

22 November, 2014 - 12:44 aprilholloway

Researchers claim Neanderthals were NOT a sub-species of modern humans

Researchers have identified new evidence supporting the growing belief that Neanderthals were a distinct species separate from modern humans (Homo sapiens), and not a subspecies of modern humans. The...

8 November, 2014 - 00:02 aprilholloway

37,000-year-old bone reveals surprising connection between Ancient and Modern Europeans

A genetic analysis of a 37,000-year-old human bone from Russia has revealed a surprising genetic connection between ancient and modern Europeans. The DNA revealed close ancestry with the 24,000-year-...

27 October, 2014 - 10:54 Danny Vendramini

Mysterious Origins – What we don’t know about the emergence of humans

We humans are such a clever species. Our spaceships have landed on the moon and Mars. We have discovered life forms ten kilometers underground and in deep-sea fumaroles. Our geneticists have...

16 August, 2014 - 14:27 aprilholloway

The Enigma of the Prehistoric Skulls with Bullet-Like Holes

Nearly one century ago, a Swiss miner was searching for metal ore deposits in the limestone caves of Kabwe, Zambia, when he found an ancient skull that dated back to between 125,000 and 300,000 years...

Ancient Human Fossils found in China - Zhirendong cave

11 August, 2014 - 02:43 aprilholloway

Ancient Human Fossils found in China Challenge Out-of-Africa Theory

The origin of human beings (anatomically modern Homo sapiens) and their movement across the globe have been fundamental questions in human evolutionary studies for over a century. While the accepted...

2 August, 2014 - 02:33 aprilholloway

Cultural and technological boom 50,000 years ago linked with less testosterone

Archaeological findings around the world have revealed a cultural and technological boom around 50,000 years ago in which making art and advanced tools became widespread. A new study appearing in the...

31 July, 2014 - 03:35 aprilholloway

Archaeologists unearth fragment of ivory belonging to 40,000 year old animal figurine

Archaeologists from the University of Tübingen have found an ancient fragment of ivory belonging to a 40,000 year old animal figurine. Both pieces were found in the Vogelherd Cave in southwestern...

27 July, 2014 - 03:48 aprilholloway

Discovery of 70,000-year-old African Settlement Challenges Previous Theories

Archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology in Poznań have unearthed a very ancient village, which dates back an incredible 70,000 years, according to a news announcement in PAP ...

24 June, 2014 - 23:15 trevorsmith

Why did our brains stop expanding?

In the forest the human brain was expanding and expanding at a phenomenal rate. Sometime at around 200,000 to 150,000 years ago, this process came to an end. The brain stopped expanding and started...

3 May, 2014 - 04:23 aprilholloway

Neanderthals may have been the first to boil their food

A palaeontologist has claimed at a recent meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Texas that Neanderthals cooked stews using skin bags or birch bark trays, according to a National...

19 April, 2014 - 13:55 aprilholloway

Neanderthals and Humans are 99.84 percent genetically identical – so where are the differences?

Research has shown that modern-day humans and their extinct Neanderthal cousins differ by only a fraction of a percent. So what accounts for the differences that are known to exist between the two?...

Le Moustier Neanderthals, AMNH By Charles Knight.

15 April, 2014 - 23:56 aprilholloway

New research suggests Neanderthal children played with toy axes

Last week, we reported on a new study published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology that revealed that Neanderthals were no strangers to good parenting. Their research indicated that Neanderthal...

12 April, 2014 - 02:59 aprilholloway

Ancient tools evolved in Australia thousands of years before they appeared in Europe

Australia receives relatively little attention in academic literature when it comes to examining the origins and development of ancient weapons and tools. But neglecting to examine the capabilities...

10 April, 2014 - 03:19 aprilholloway

New study leaves little room for doubt – Neanderthals and humans interbred

In recent months, numerous DNA studies of ancient humans have all converged on one conclusion – Neanderthals and Homo sapiens interbred. While for many this may seem unsurprising or even obvious, we...

14 March, 2014 - 11:12 aprilholloway

Scientists are alarmed by shrinking of the human brain

A study published earlier this year confirmed what scientists have long believed to be the case – the human brain is shrinking. For more than 7 million years the hominid brain has grown increasingly...

3 March, 2014 - 10:41 aprilholloway

Neanderthal study reveals origin of language is far older than once thought

Neanderthals were once considered to be subhuman brutes with low intelligence and capable of communicating through little more than a series of grunts. However, research fuelled by a fascination into...

Pages

Myths & Legends

The Last of the Siberian Unicorns: What Happened to the Mammoth-Sized One-Horned Beasts of Legend?

Elasmotherium, also known as the Giant Rhinoceros or the Giant Siberian Unicorn, is an extinct species of rhino that lived in the Eurasian area in the Late Pliocene and Pleistocene eras. They have been documented from 2.6 million years ago, but the most recent fossils come from around 29,000 years ago.

The notorious and much feared ancient order of Hashshashins

The Real Story of Medusa: Protective Powers from a Snake-Haired Gorgon

Magic into Myth: Avalon, Mystical Isle of Medieval Arthurian Literature

Were the Merovingians Descended from a Monster? Meet the Quinotaur

The Norse Legend of the World Tree - Yggdrasil

Human Origins

The Controversial Lapedo Child – A Neanderthal / Human Hybrid?

Buried for millennia in the rear of a rock-shelter in the Lapedo Valley 85 miles north of Lisbon, Portugal, archaeologists uncovered the bones of a four-year-old child, comprising the first complete Palaeolithic skeleton ever dug in Iberia.

The Mythological Maori Origin Stories of New Zealand

Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu In Zoroastrianism’s Creation Mythology

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

The Egyptian Goddess Isis, Found in India

The Surprising Truth About Fasting for Lent

Ancient Technology

Stone of the Pregnant Woman, an example of ancient high-tech stonework in Hajar al Hibla at Baalbek in Lebanon.

The High-Tech Stonework of the Ancients: Unsolved Mysteries of Master Engineers

There are many stone artifacts from the ancient world made from the hardest stone on the planet such as granite and diorite, which have been cut and shaped with such quality, precision and accuracy that the standard explanations of their manufacture are simply inadequate.

The Evidence is Cut in Stone: A Compelling Argument for Lost High Technology in Ancient Egypt

Han Purple: A 2,800-year-old artificial pigment that quantum physicists are trying to understand

Is this a 300 million-year-old screw or just a fossilized sea creature?

The Original Swiss Army Knife: Check Out This Must Have Gadget for Guys on the Go

The Man Who Stopped a Desert Using Ancient Farming

Ancient Places

Part of the extensive East Bay Wall network

Unravelling the Mystery Behind the East Bay Walls: Who Really Made Them and Why?

In the hills around East Bay and elsewhere near San Francisco, there is a series of stone walls that extend discontinuously for miles. The walls are about 3-4 feet high in most places and are not...

Tomb of the Lord of Sipan, Mochican Warrior Priest

Psusennes, the Silver Pharaoh with riches that rivalled those of Tutankhamun

The Great Serpent Mound of Ohio, the Largest Earthen Effigy in the World

The 9,000-year-old underground megalithic settlement of Atlit Yam

The Nile: How One River Helped Build a Civilization – 10 Amazing Facts

Opinion

Unearthing Ancient Magic in The Runes –Messages with Hidden Symbols and Powerful Numbers

The etymology of the word “rune” means: “to carve, or to cut.” In Low German the word is “raunen.” As the runes were cut and carved into wood, metal or stone, the word “rune” was analogous to the rune letters themselves.

Petroglyphic Features of Portable Rock Art

The Northern Mysteries Current: Futhark and Mystery Schools of the Viking Age

Was There Ever a Trojan War?

Floki and the Viking Discovery of Iceland

Messiah on Temple Mount: Are We Nearing the End of Time?

Our Mission

At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exists countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained.

The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe.

We’re the only Pop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives.

By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings.