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Baby Slings Were a Thing 10,000 Years Ago, New Discovery Reveals

A team of archaeologists have studied the remains of a 10,000-year-old baby with high technology. Their new paper not only found signs of ritual burial, but it reveals that baby carriers, or baby...
Leonardo da Vinci’s weapons included a tank and a scythed chariot, drawings shown here. Source: janaka Dharmasena / Adobe Stock

Da Vinci’s Deadly Designs: The Wildest Weapons of the Renaissance Man

Although Leonardo da Vinci is predominantly remembered as a great artist, he was also a remarkable scientist and inventor. Many of his inventions were weird, some were wonderful, and more than a few...
The curious history of the fork. Source: TATIANA / Adobe Stock

Forks Were Once Seen as Blasphemous and Effeminate

You may not know it, but the fork is a relatively new invention, especially when comparing it to the spoon and the knife. So much so, that it only became popular in the United States in the 19th...
A statue of a woman grieving the loss of a loved one at Staglieno Cemetery (mallorca78 / Adobe Stock)

12 Hauntingly Beautiful Headstones of Staglieno Cemetery

There may be no other cemetery on earth that captures the emotion of love, loss and grief around death like Staglieno Cemetery in the Italian city of Genoa. With its stunningly life-like sculptures...
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...
Detail of an etching of Manetto, who was pranked by Filippo Brunelleschi, from The Fat Woodworker. Source: Public domain

Filippo Brunelleschi and his Remarkable Renaissance Prank

Everyone loves a good, harmless prank. This was especially true for Filippo Brunelleschi, a Florentine man who famously got back at his friend for having failed to show up at a dinner party in...
Two more stone giants of Mont’e Prama from the Iron Age have been unearthed in Sardinia.	Source: mont’e prama

Two More Disc-eyed Giants of Mont’e Prama Found in Sardinia!

Their purpose is currently unknown, but two more disc-eyed giants of Mont’e Prama have been unearthed on Sardinia. The Mont’e Prama Iron Age burial necropolis on the Italian island of Sardinia has...
The Theodoric the Great mosaic being excavated in Montorio, Verona. Source: AGSM AIM Group

Immaculate Theodoric the Great Mosaic Unearthed in Verona

During work to replace gas pipes in the northern Italian city of Verona, archaeologists have unearthed a stunning 5th century mosaic which they now claim was part of a huge villa which could have...
Spot the robotic guard dog, built by Boston Dynamics, is now working at the Pompeii Archaeological Park as a security guard dog and also as an engineering inspection dog. 	Source: Pompeii Archaeological Park

Pompeii Ruins Now To Be Protected by Robotic Guard Dog

Meet Spot, the robotic guard dog now patrolling the ruins of Pompeii. In 2013, Pompeii was declared by UNESCO as being on the verge of being declared unsafe unless Italian authorities spent more...
Ithaca looks likely to offer us a new understanding of the ancient world. Source: Kras99 / Adobe Stock.

Can Artificial Intelligence Unlock Secrets of the Ancients?

AI is helping historians rewrite history, quite literally. Published in the journal Nature , a new study reports that AI can fill gaps in ancient Greek inscriptions and indicate where and when they...
Four views of the Venus of Willendorf, which a recent study proved was made from oolite limestone from a prominent prehistoric site in northern Italy.		Source: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen / CC BY-SA 4.0

High-Tech Scans Prove Austria’s Venus of Willendorf Originated in Italy

During an archaeological dig near the village of Willendorf in Lower (Eastern) Austria in 1908, a laborer dug up a small statue that proved to be one of the most important pieces of prehistoric art...
5th century chamber pot from the Roman villa at Gerace, Sicily (Italy). Source: Roger Wilson / Journal of Archaeological Science

Parasite Traces Show ‘Storage Jars’ Were Actually Portable Chamber Pots

A brilliant new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science highlights how the archaeologists and researchers involved in analyzing a 1,500-year-old chamber pot have developed a unique...
The ruins of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy. Source: scaliger / Adobe Stock

McDonald’s Banned from Building Fast Food Chain at Rome’s Baths of Caracalla

The Baths of Caracalla were built from 212 to 216 AD during the rule of Emperor Caracalla, formally known as Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, who reigned between 198 to 217 AD. This enormous and iconic...
Painting by John Collier, "A glass of wine with Caesar Borgia," depicting Cesare Borgia, Lucrezia Borgia, Pope Alexander, and a young man holding an empty glass. The painting represents the popular view of the treacherous nature of the Borgias: the implication being that the young man cannot be sure that the wine is not poisoned. 		Source: John Collier / Public domain

Lucrezia Borgia: The Misunderstood Femme Fatale of the Renaissance

Women of the Middle Ages were often sadly lacking in rights. Across the world, this period was dominated by a patriarchal society, where the might and prowess of Lords, knights, Kings, warriors, and...
It was here in the Arma Vierana cave in northern Italy where the Mesolithic infant and her shell beads were found by the research team.		Source: Jamie Hodgkins / University of Colorado Denver

10,000-Year-Old Mesolithic Burial Showed Special Reverence For Infant Girl

Archaeologists and paleoanthropologists exploring a cave in Italy excavated parts of a skeleton that belonged to an infant girl who died approximately 10,000 years ago, in the early Mesolithic period...
Artifacts unearthed during excavations at the Library House in Pompeii point to work being done painting frescos at the time of the volcanic eruption. Source: Pompeii Archaeological Park

Evidence of Fresco Painting Uncovered at Library House in Pompeii

Recent restoration work in ancient Pompeii has uncovered evidence that work was being carried out at the Library House, or Casa della Biblioteca , when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, reports...
Excavated remains of the last fugitive at Herculaneum archaeological park. Source: Parco Archeologico di Ercolano

Heat from Mount Vesuvius Eruption as Deadly as Hiroshima Atomic Bomb

Archaeologists continue to excavate in search of remains left behind after the 79 AD Mount Vesuvius volcanic eruption which decimated the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy. Now, an...
Fresco of Dante and the Divine Comedy (1465), Domenico di Michelino, Florence cathedral, Italy

A Pilgrimage of Thought, Pt 1: the Politician, Poet, and Pilgrim called Dante Alighieri

Born in Florence in the late thirteenth century, Dante Alighieri would grow up to become one of the most famed and well-read authors of the Italian Middle Ages. The scope of his political and...
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...
Theodelinda, queen of the Lombards, marries Agilulf, duke of Turin, in a painting by Fratelli Zavattari. Source: Fratelli Zavattari / Public domain

The Lombards: The “Barbaric” Germanic Warriors Who Changed Italy

As the Roman Empire crumbled, the history of the ancient world was undoubtedly marked and shaped by more than one powerful Germanic tribe. From their oldest roots, they developed into iconic ethnic...
Craco, Italy

Craco: The Abandoned Medieval Ghost Town of Italy

For nearly fifty years, the town of Craco in southern Italy has stood uninhabited. Here, dark windows look out at potential travelers like empty eye sockets and the streets and buildings of this...
The Doge’s Palace in Saint Mark’s Square, Venice. Source: Mapics / Adobe Stock.

The Republic of Venice, The Greatest Jewel of the Mediterranean?

To visit Venice is a dream of every passionate traveler. The city, crisscrossed with channels and marvelous relics of art and culture, is one of Italy’s most sought-after tourist destinations. But...
View of the Romanelli Cave in Italy. 	Source: Sigari et. al. / Antiquity Publications Ltd

New Stone Age Rock Art Discovered at Romanelli Cave

Expert researchers with an interest in ancient European rock art have just completed an exhaustive study of Romanelli Cave, an impressively decorated rock art site located on the southeastern tip of...
Nestor’s Cup was discovered on the Italian island of Ischia in 1954. Source: Marcus Cyron / CC BY-SA 4.0

Reopening Cold Case of Nestor’s Cup Burial Solves a Mystery

Homer’s Iliad , a classical ancient Greek tale from the 8th century BC, contains a brief, 6-line description of the famous 2,800-year-old Nestor’s Cup, which was the subject of a great deal of...

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