human

DNA molecule spiral structure with unique connection.

24 January, 2019 - 22:43 ancient-origins

Study Proves Human Mutation Rate Is Slower Than Believed Posing New Date For Human-Neanderthal Separation

By Christina Troelsen / Science Daily Researchers from Aarhus University, Denmark, and Copenhagen Zoo have discovered that the human mutation rate is significantly slower than for our closest primate...

Artistic representation by Heinrich Harder of humans hunting glyptodon, a megafauna that lived during the Pleistocene period.

19 October, 2018 - 23:02 Caleb Strom

Pleistocene Epoch: Humans, Welcome to Earth

The Pleistocene epoch is a geologic epoch which began around 2.6 Mya (Million years ago) and came to an end around 11,700 BP (Before Present). It is characterized by lower sea levels than the present...

Sophisticated rock carvings in Ratnagiri, India indicate a lost Indian civilization.

3 October, 2018 - 22:49 Ed Whelan

A Gallery of Hidden Prehistoric Rock Art Points to Lost Indian Civilization

India is a land of many civilizations. Now it appears that another one has been uncovered in the west of the country. A team of explorers has discovered a number of petroglyph sites that belonged to...

12 August, 2018 - 14:03 Ed Whelan

Surprise Discovery of 4,000-Year-Old Egyptian Sphinx with Human Head and Lion Body

Local authorities in Egypt have announced the discovery of an ancient sphinx statue between two of the best known ancient temples in the country – Karnak and Luxor. The discovery was made by chance,...

Our species is ecologically unique in its ability to occupy, and specialize in, a variety of different environments as it began to colonize the entire planet between approximately 300 and 60 thousand years ago.

1 August, 2018 - 19:02 ancient-origins

Adapt, Diversify, Find a Niche: Survival Tactics of Homo Sapiens That Brought World Domination

Our species' ability to occupy diverse and 'extreme' settings around the world in the Middle and Late Pleistocene (300-12 thousand years ago) stands in stark contrast to the ecological adaptations of...

Archaeologist carrying out excavations at the pyramid of the bees.

8 July, 2018 - 14:00 ashley cowie

Peruvian Pyramid of the Bees Reveals Its Deathly Secrets

The Inca Empire of modern-day Peru dominated the South American Andes mountain range with a vast network of roads, farms and temples, before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Archaeologists...

The ancient woman was buried wearing a silk skirt with a funeral meal.

25 June, 2018 - 18:56 ancient-origins

2,000-Year-Old Mummified ‘Sleeping Beauty’ Dressed in Silk Emerges from Siberian Reservoir

By The Siberian Times reporter Archeologists have hailed the find of suspected ‘Hun woman’ with a jet gemstone buckle on her beaded belt as extraordinary. The ancient woman was buried wearing a silk...

Victim of Waldemar Atterdags invasion of Visby in 1361

17 June, 2018 - 19:02 dhwty

Battle of Visby: Medieval Massacre Leaves Behind Harrowing Remains of Fallen Soldiers

The Battle of Visby was a violent Medieval battle near the town of Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland, fought between the inhabitants of Gotland and the Danes, with the latter emerging victorious...

17 June, 2018 - 13:58 dhwty

Timeless Beauty of the 25,000-Year-Old Venus of Brassempouy

About 25,000 years ago an Upper Paleolithic artist took up a piece of ivory and lovingly carved the details of a woman’s coiffed hair or headdress, gracefully curved chin, intense eyes, and carefully...

Prehistoric Man Hunting Bears by Emmanuel Benner the Younger.

8 June, 2018 - 13:56 ancient-origins

Neolithic Male Genetic Diversity Plummeted – Here’s Why

Starting about 7,000 years ago, something weird seems to have happened to men: Over the next two millennia, recent studies suggest, their genetic diversity - specifically, the diversity of their Y...

University at Buffalo Ph.D. candidate Alia Lesnek works at Suemez Island.

31 May, 2018 - 01:54 ancient-origins

Clever Rock Science Provides New Possibilities for Migration to the Americas

When and how did the first people come to the Americas? The conventional story says that the earliest settlers came via Siberia, crossing the now-defunct Bering land bridge on foot and trekking...

Human Brain by J.M. Bourgery, 1831-1854.

24 May, 2018 - 02:00 ancient-origins

Why do humans have such large brains? (And why aren’t they larger?)

Mauricio Gonzalez Forero / The Conversation Most animals have brains in proportion to their body size – species with larger bodies often have larger brains. But the human brain is almost six times...

Archaeologist at uncovering bones at the Kalinga site.

4 May, 2018 - 01:50 Ed Whelan

Butchered Rhino Indicates Much Earlier Human Occupation of the Philippines

Archaeologists have made an extraordinary find that shows that early humans occupied the Philippines much earlier than thought. According to a report in scientific journal Nature , archaeologists...

Artists impression of a giant sloth being confronted by human hunters. Credit: Alex McClelland, Bournemouth University

1 May, 2018 - 02:00 ancient-origins

How to Hunt a Giant Sloth – Ancient Tactics Revealed in Human Footprints

Rearing on its hind legs, the giant ground sloth would have been a formidable prey for anyone, let alone humans without modern weapons. Tightly muscled, angry and swinging its fore legs tipped with...

Bone daggers of the Sepik watershed, New Guinea. (a) Human bone dagger attributed to the Upper Sepik River. (b) Cassowary bone dagger attributed to the Abelam people.

26 April, 2018 - 22:58 Alicia McDermott

Human Bone Daggers in New Guinea were Used to Strike the Fatal Wound

Prized as symbols of a warrior’s strength, prestige, and power, bone daggers were once widespread artistic and functional tools in New Guinea. New research on the subject shows that not all the bones...

22 April, 2018 - 13:59 aprilholloway

More than Brutish Grunting: Can One Bone Prove Neanderthal Speech Existed?

For a long time, the common depiction of Neanderthals was a group of unintelligent subhumans who could only communicate through wild gestures and loud grunts. But many researchers were not convinced...

Pages

Myths & Legends

Glastonbury Tor. Source: vlorzor / Adobe. Inset: Representational image of a skeleton.

The Glastonbury Giant: Who Did the Mystery Bones of A Nine Foot Skeleton Belong To?

When researching the reality of giants in the past, one story which has survived the ages is the apparent discovery of the ‘Glastonbury Giant’ which was allegedly unearthed in 1190, on orders of King Henry II, following rumors that the legendary King Arthur was in fact buried at that specific location.

Magu: The Hemp Goddess Who Healed Ancient Asia

The symbol of the Swastika and its 12,000-year-old history

Ten Mythological Creatures in Ancient Folklore

The Disturbing True Story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin

Was Moloch really Ba’al, the Ancient God Who Demanded Child Sacrifice?

Human Origins

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

Sumer , or the ‘land of civilized kings’, flourished in Mesopotamia, now modern-day Iraq, around 4500 BC. Sumerians created an advanced civilization with its own system of elaborate language and...

Rh-Negative Blood: An Exotic Bloodline or Random Mutation?

The human skull that challenges the Out of Africa theory

Where Did the Polynesians Really Come From?

A Snapshot of Our Mysterious Ancestor Homo erectus

Research Confirms that Neanderthal DNA Makes Up About 20% of the Modern Human Genome

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.

Boggling Bannerstones of Ancient Americans: Were They a Function of Flight or More a Flight of Fancy?

The Indian Sage who developed Atomic Theory 2,600 years ago

Ten amazing inventions from ancient times

The Lost Knowledge of the Ancients: Were Humans the First? Part 1

6 Advanced Ancient Inventions Beyond Modern Understanding

Ancient Places

Chongoni Rock Art Offers Fascinating Insight into Mysterious Secret Society of the Chewa

Civilizations who have left no written records have in some cases left us with a way to understand their history and culture. The Chongoni Rock Art area, which contains a number of locations, is a unique site in the central African country of Malawi.

Were the Women of Petra More Important Than the Men?

The Mysterious Waffle Rock: A Bizarre Boulder with a Hazy Background

The 9,500-year-old honeycomb city of Çatalhöyük

The Grim Reality of the Brothels of Pompeii

The Construction of Venice, the Floating City

Opinion

The astronomical ceiling at the Pronaos, Detail of the first Band west from the center. From left to right: two wind creatures (the winged ram with four heads personifies the south wind), the snake- and frog-headed eight goddesses and gods of the Ogdoad who ruled the cosmos before the creation of the world and Osiris seated on a throne sails across the sky as personification of the full moon accompanied by the seated goddesses Nephtys (left) and Isis on the right (Maat stands near the bow of the ship). Siri

Changing Colors and Scampering Across the Night Sky: What Did the Ancients Say about Sirius?

In Egypt, Sirius was the Star of Isis, Isis being the companion and rescuer of the god Osiris. In a very deep way, Osiris was Egypt.

Cracking the Code to Discover Ancient Tarot Symbolism and Forgotten Universal Knowledge

The Secret Strategic Plans of Darius the Great

The Secrets of the Kabbalists Garden

Alchemy and Generating Lifeforce —Global Temples Made in the Shape of Lingams: Shaivite Bull Cult Part II

From Green Man to Bull Son, The Universal Shaivite Bull Cult – Part I

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.