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Glassblowing processs, with a ball of glass being heated by a kiln. Source: SvetlanaSF / Adobe Stock

Heat, Blow, and Roll: The History of Glassblowing

One of the most fascinating crafts in the art world is the practice of glassblowing. Glassblowing is the art of creating beautiful pieces of glassware by blowing air into semi-molten glass through a...
Alatri acropolis cyclopean wall by the Porta Maggiorre. Source: Laura Tabone

The Cyclopean Problem: Who Built Italy’s Astounding Ancient Walls?

Megalithic cyclopean masonry is found in many parts of Italy, including Lazio , Abruzzo, Campania, Umbria, Tuscany and Molise. This type of masonry involves fitting together huge differently shaped...
George Long performing genomic data analysis on the mummy where the E. coli was detected.	Source: Georgia Kirkos / McMaster University

436-Year-Old Neapolitan Mummy Found To Have E. Coli Hidden in Gallstone

Escherichia coli, popularly known as E. coli , is a bacteria that is commonly found in the lower intestine of healthy, warm-blooded organisms. Most E. coli bacteria are harmless, but a few have the...
Detail of ‘The Battle of Pavia’ (1528-1531) by Bernard van Orley and William Dermoyen.

The Battle of Pavia: Paving the Political Roads of Rival Rulers with Blood

February 24, 1525. A day that is not marked in infamy but in the blood of France. On this date, the Battle of Pavia occurred – the decisive event in a longstanding war and rivalry, and the crushing...
Bust of an Etruscan woman. Source: Ana Tramont / Adobe Stock

Mysterious Origins of the Etruscans: DNA Study Solves the Riddle

A new study published in the journal Science Advances offers evidence to support the theory of local origins of the Etruscans, an advanced Iron Age peoples in central Italy. For the study, scientists...
Stolen Roman Marble Fragment Returned by Regretful Thief

Stolen Roman Marble Fragment Returned by Regretful Thief

Tourists from all over the world visit the Italian capital to see its remarkable Roman remains, such as the Colosseum. However, one tourist was so impressed with the ruins that she stole an ancient...
Damaged 19th century sculpture of Paolina Bonaparte by Antonio Canova      Source: Gypsotheca Antonio Canova Museum (Inset, Carabinieri Treviso)

Tourist Damages A Valuable Italian Sculpture And Just Walks Away

CCTV in an Italian museum has captured the moment a tourist snapped two toes off a 200-year-old sculpture’s model. This horrendous act of vandalism followed by sheer negligence of all adult...
An ancient imperial floor has been discovered in the latest Rome sinkhole, right in front of the Pantheon.        Source: Virginia Raggi

Rome Sinkhole Reveals Extraordinary Archaeological Find

Another Rome sinkhole has appeared, this time, in front of the Pantheon in Piazza della Rotonda and in it, archaeologists have made the unexpected ‘rediscovery’ of an ancient imperial floor...
Left:  A team of scientists have found an alignment that occurs between the rising Sun and a major street in Turin that was constructed around 28 BC. (Guido Cossard) Right: Statue of Emperor Octavian in Rome. (fabiomax / Adobe stock)

Does This Ancient Solar Phenomenon Really Honor Emperor Octavian?

A team of scientists in Turin, Italy , have claimed the alignment of one of the city streets marks the day Roman Emperor Octavian (“Augustus”) was titled “father of the country” - but not everyone...
Archaeologists have unearthed “recycling sites” outside the walls of ancient Pompeii, showing the Pompeiians once recycled trash in an a very effective manner. Pictured: shot of the ruins with Mount Vesuvius in the background.      Source: dbvirago / Adobe stock

Ancient Pompeiians Built Parts of the City With Recycled Trash

Archaeologists have determined rubbish mounds outside the city walls at Pompeii were “recycling sites” where trash was sorted, reformed and resold, revealing the ancient Pompeiians were eco-conscious...
One of the decorated ostrich eggs used in the study.  Source: Tamar Hodos et al. / Antiquity Publications Ltd

Scientists Unscramble Secrets to World of Ancient Ostrich Eggs

An international team of scientists have revealed secrets about the ancient creation skills, trade and economy of decorated ostrich eggs in the Mediterranean and Middle East. Easter is here again and...
Left: representation of an alpine glacier. (ryszard filipowicz / Adobe stock). Right: 19th-century depiction of St Thomas Becket, showing a sword piercing his head. St Peter’s Church, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, UK. (Cnbrb / CC BY-SA 4.0)

Alpine Glacier Reveals Unlikely Insights Into Murder of Thomas Becket

Laser scans of an alpine glacier reveal a climate catastrophe in the shadow of England’s Archbishop Thomas Becket’s murder. A team of researchers using lasers to read the levels of lead pollution in...
Devil footprints’ on the Ciampate del Diavolo.          Source: Edmondo Gnerre / CC BY 2.0

Walking Into Danger? Italian Devil’s Footprints Mystery Revealed

An ancient set of footprints commonly known as the ‘ devil footprints ’ on the side of an extinct volcano have long frightened and intrigued people in southern Italy . In reality, it was thought that...
Fort Antoine, Monaco          Source: johnbraid / Adobe Stock

Fort Antoine, A Theatre That Once Protected Monaco

Monaco is famed for being the playground of the rich and famous and hosting an exciting annual Grand Prix race, and yet, this tiny sovereign state also has a long history. There are several historic...
The Flower of Battle is an Italian martial arts manual from the Renaissance. Source: sheikoevgeniya / Adobe Stock.

The Flower of Battle – A Medieval Manuscript of Martial Arts

The Flower of Battle is an Italian martial arts manual from the Renaissance. This manual was written by Fiore Furlano, a knight , diplomat, and itinerant fencing master who lived between the 14th and...
Modern glass carafe of olive oil.

Italy's Oldest Olive Oil Discovered in Peculiar Pot

Olive oil is a staple of Italian cuisine. It's been that way for thousands of years. And new chemical analysis conducted on ancient pottery proves the liquid gold has existed in Italy hundreds of...
Drawing of the Medieval Birdman of Stirling Castle.

The Birdman of Stirling Castle: An Alchemical Pilot Searches for The Fifth Element

History books are peppered with stories of medieval European Alchemists attempting to turn base metals into gold and to produce elixirs of immortality. However, there was one disastrous alchemical...
Fresco depicting two lares pouring wine from a drinking horn (rhyton) into a bucket (situla), they stand on either side of a scene of sacrifice, beneath a pair of serpents bringers of prosperity and abondance, Pompeii, Naples Archaeological Museum

6,000-Year-Old Cave Find Shows Sicilians Made Wine Way Before Previously Thought

Researchers have found traces of wine in Sicily dating back to the 4th millennium BC. According to experts, that could mean that Italians have been making and drinking wine for much longer than...
Ancient Well, Etruscan and Roman

Ancient well sheds light on 1,500 years of Etruscan, Roman and medieval civilization

During a four-year excavation of an Etruscan well at the ancient Italian settlement of Cetamura del Chianti, a team led by a Florida State University archaeologist and art historian unearthed...