Irish

30 January, 2019 - 18:57 dhwty

Niall of the Nine Hostages, One of the Most Fruitful Kings in History

Niall Noígíallach or Niall of the Nine Hostages in English, was an Irish king believed to have lived during the 4th / 5th century. The Uí Néill dynasties, which dominated the northern part of Ireland...

Women shaman of Ireland in trance - magic rotates the leaves.

17 November, 2018 - 23:08 David Halpin

Ancient Women Shaman of Ireland: Goddesses of Prophecy and Omens

The Celtic scholar Nora Chadwick notes that in Irish mythology the prophetess Fedelm tells Queen Medb that she has been in the land of Alba learning the art of the Filidect. Medb asks if she has...

17 November, 2018 - 13:54 David Halpin

Ancient Women Shaman of Ireland: Healers, Priestesses and Diviners

All around the world many of the oldest ceremonial megalithic sites are associated with women shaman and oracular tradition and prophecy. A good example of this is Napta Playa which was linked to...

Overlooking Inch Island from the "Grainan of Aileach" ancient stone ring fort, Donegal, Ireland.

20 October, 2018 - 02:00 dhwty

The Grianan of Aileach: An Irish Fort Featured on Ptolemy’s Map of the World

The Grianan of Aileach (Sun Temple of Aileach) is one of the largest and most impressive circular stone hill top enclosures in the whole of Ireland. The stone fort, which is located in Donegal,...

Raymond McElroy with the antlers and skull of an Irish Elk recovered from Lough Neagh

9 September, 2018 - 19:00 Ed Whelan

Enormous 10,500-Year-Old Antlers of Extinct Giant Elk Pulled from Lake in Northern Ireland

Fishermen in Northern Ireland had an amazing catch in Lough Neagh, the largest lake in the British Isles, when they retrieved a huge pair of ancient elk antlers. It is estimated that they are about...

The church on top of Rock of Cashel, Ireland. Credit: Ioannis Syrigos

9 July, 2018 - 14:01 dhwty

Rock of Cashel: From 2,000-Year-Old Royal Stronghold to Symbol of Christian Power

Steeped in mythology and immersed in over two millennia of history, the Rock of Cashel is one of Ireland’s most important archaeological sites. Prior to the arrival of the Normans, the Rock of Cashel...

A stereotypical depiction of a leprechaun

29 June, 2018 - 10:33 dhwty

Fascinating Facts You Probably Did Not Know About Leprechauns

The leprechaun is perhaps one of the best-known creatures in Irish folklore. Leprechauns are popularly depicted as little men with beards dressed in green coats and tall green hats. Other well-known...

Spanish Armada cannon found off the coast of Ireland.

21 June, 2018 - 05:08 Robin Whitlock

Bad weather reveals stunning relics from the Spanish Armada

In 2015 archaeologists made a fascinating discovery when cannons from the La Juliana, a merchant vessel commandeered by King Phillip II of Spain into the Spanish Armada, were washed into shallow...

4 June, 2018 - 14:00 ancient-origins

The Remote Irish Monastery Where Medieval Christianity Meets Fictional Jedi Spiritualism

Star Wars is many things to many people: nostalgia-tinted staple of childhood memory, space opera extraordinaire, modern day merchandising behemoth. For every starry-eyed fan there is probably a...

30 April, 2018 - 23:01 Joanna Gillan

Vikings in Ireland: Traces of Warriors Not Just Buried Beneath the Ground, They Are in the DNA

As science progresses and archaeologists are forging new positive relationships with developers around Irish heritage, more secrets from Ireland’s Viking past are coming to light, and they are not...

Some of the Viking raids ended in death – for the Vikings.

30 April, 2018 - 19:01 Joanna Gillan

Vikings in Ireland: Recent Discoveries Shedding New Light on the Fearsome Warriors that Invaded Irish Shores

Solar gods were worshiped in prehistoric Ireland.

20 April, 2018 - 19:02 lizleafloor

Was Prayer to the Ancient Solar Gods enough to Change the Renowned Irish Weather?

Ireland’s history is rich in dramatic myth and mysterious legends. The significance of the natural world, and most importantly the sun, was obvious in the daily lives of the pre-Christian Irish...

The Fomorians as depicted by John Duncan, 1912.

28 December, 2017 - 18:58 dhwty

The Fomorians: Destructive Giants of Irish Legend

Bloodthirsty, warrior giants which came from far across the sea? Or was it the underworld? Perhaps they were more like monsters with a single leg, arm, and eye? No, it was heads of goats they had…or...

Exhibit in the Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

2 December, 2017 - 13:43 dhwty

Saint Brendan and His Epic Voyage: Was the Irish Saint the First European in the New World?

Saint Brendan (also referred to by his various epithets ‘the Navigator’, ‘the Voyager’, ‘the Anchorite’, and ‘the Bold’) was an Irish saint who lived between the 5th and 6th centuries AD known for...

Mysterious man on a creepy night. Who really killed the King?

17 September, 2017 - 13:59 David Halpin

Who Killed the King? Was it Eochaid the Slayer? An Ancient Irish Murder Mystery

It might almost be a shocking moment from a Shakespeare play or even a plot-line from Game of Thrones, but the murder of an ancient Irish king, Crimthann mac Énnai, is an event which actually took...

12 April, 2017 - 18:58 Caleb Strom

The Carlingford Leprechauns: Protected by the European Union, But Are They Real?

Along with the harp and Saint Patrick, leprechauns have become iconic of Ireland. These mischievous fairies; with their green coats and hats, pots of gold at the edge of rainbows, and promise of...

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

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

A Snapshot of Our Mysterious Ancestor Homo erectus

Zecharia Sitchin and the Mistranslation of Sumerian Texts

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 Construction of Venice, the Floating City

The Grim Reality of the Brothels of Pompeii

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.