london

8 December, 2018 - 18:56 ancient-origins

Here is What it Would Have Been Like to be Caught in the Great Fire of London

Great explosions rang out in London’s Lower Thames Street: the sound of houses, shops, warehouses and taverns being blown up, a method intended to halt the spread of the seemingly unstoppable flames...

The Medieval skeleton was found still in its boots

4 December, 2018 - 22:57 ashley cowie

Mystery Man in High Leather Boots: How Did His Medieval Skeleton End Up in London’s River Thames?

Archaeologists working at London’s 'super sewer' in Bermondsey have recovered the skeletal remains of a man, wearing high leather boots, lying face-down in the silt of the River Thames. Much about...

13 November, 2018 - 13:58 dhwty

Why Were The Shrove Tuesday Riots So Brutal?

The Shrove Tuesday Riots (known also as the Bawdy House Riots of 1668, or the Messenger Riots) were a series of brutal riots that took place in London in 1668. During the 17 th century, it was...

Dozens of skeletons found underneath Westminster Abbey lavatory block. Credit: Dan Kitwood

6 November, 2018 - 22:58 Ed Whelan

Fifty Ancient Skeletons Found Crammed Together under Westminster Abbey Toilet Block

Westminster Abbey, the traditional place of coronation and burial for English monarchs, is one of the most popular historic sites in England. During a recent excavation in the great Abbey, some fifty...

Detail of ‘The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome’ (1505-1506) by Andrea Mantegna.

25 June, 2018 - 22:45 Miranda Aldhous...

Candles in the Dark and Spice from the Orient: Mystery Cults

‘But what a small part of our dregs Is Greek! Long ago the wide Orontes of Syria poured into the Tiber And brought With its lingo and morals its flutes And harps...’ - Juvenal Rome did not sit...

5 June, 2018 - 22:39 Mark Miller

Experts explore identities of 5,000 buried in Bedlam psychiatric hospital graveyard

Officials building a huge cross-London underground railway are starting to publish the identity of some of the thousands of people buried 400 to 500 years ago in Bedlam cemetery. After researching...

Skull from Roman Dead exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands

26 May, 2018 - 14:00 ancient-origins

The Dead Tell Us of a Diverse Londinium

Rebecca Redfern / The Conversation Our knowledge about the people who lived in Roman Britain has undergone a sea change over the past decade. New research has rubbished our perception of it as a...

Wall fragment with Two Women Roman 1-75 CE Plaster and pigment fresco.

20 May, 2018 - 13:57 ancient-origins

Scientists Amazed to Discover 2,000-Year-Old Face Cream Still Containing Last Finger Imprints

When archaeologists came across a tin containing an unknown 2000-year-old ointment they were both pleased and bemused. It was not discovered in a home as one might think, but rather near an ancient...

Images taken by Dr. John Dale in 1958 showing the intact saucer, the copper base with hieroglyphs and one of the copper sheets from the ‘booklet’ that contained a message from Ullo.

13 February, 2018 - 18:52 ashley cowie

Miniature UFO Wreckage Discovered in Science Museum Archive?

Wreckage from a “miniature” UFO crash in North Yorkshire sixty years ago has been rediscovered in the archives of the Science Museum in London. Or has it? Known as Britain’s “answer to America’s...

5 January, 2018 - 01:56 Winston Hall

A Masterful $2.5 Million Dollar Rare-Book Heist Stuns Community

In an unprecedented incident in 2017, a group of unknown thieves rappelled down into a specially secured warehouse in Feltham, Middlesex in the early hours of January 30 th and made off with 160 rare...

Fight with Cudgels, 1819-1823 by Francisco de Goya

29 August, 2017 - 02:00 Theodoros Karasavvas

New Study Reveals that London was the Most Violent Place in Medieval England

A new study suggests that medieval London was notorious for its excessive violence. The overall findings suggest that violence affected many parts of medieval London, although predictably it...

17 August, 2017 - 14:01 Alicia McDermott

Big Ben to be Silenced – But the Iconic Bell Will Chime Again!

The Victorian-era treasure known as Big Ben will be taking a four-year break from its hourly song starting at noon on Monday August 21. The bells making up the clock at the most photographed building...

Tower of London as viewed from across the River Thames.

25 July, 2017 - 13:59 ML Childs

Tower of London: A Palace, a Prison and a Place of Execution

The White Tower, most commonly known as the Tower of London, is situated on the north bank of the river Thames in central London and is one of the oldest, long-standing edifices in England. It is...

Removing the lid of Roman sarcophagus found in Borough Market, London

19 July, 2017 - 23:02 Theodoros Karasavvas

Ancient Roman Sarcophagus of Great Archaeological Value Discovered in Central London

A remarkably rare Roman sarcophagus has been discovered at an ancient burial site in the Borough area of London, England. The stone coffin, has been described by experts as “the find of a lifetime”,...

27 September, 2016 - 03:51 Natalia Klimczak

William Flinders Petrie: A Forgotten Father of Scientific Archaeology

He was an archaeological genius whose sixth sense allowed him to accomplish an impressive number of excavations. Moreover, he created a chronological system for artifacts. The list of his...

15 July, 2016 - 21:41 Mark Miller

Controversy Reignites as British MPs Propose Finally Returning Ancient Parthenon Marbles to Greece

When the British Empire ruled much of the world, many artifacts and artworks, including reliefs and statues from the Parthenon in Athens known as the Elgin Marbles, were taken to Britain. For years...

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Myths & Legends

The stele dubbed by some as the “astronaut of Casar” is exhibited in the Caceres Museum, Caceres, Spain. Source: Left; Alberto del Barrio Herrero / CC BY-SA 2.0, Right; verpueblos

The Astronaut of Casar Is An Unsolved Mystery, But Can We Explain It?

Some artifacts seem to be easy to misunderstand or are not well understood at all and this leads to wild theories. One of the biggest curiosities on display at the Caceres Museum in Caceres, Spain is a stele or upright stone slab that originally stood at the southern end of the cemetery in the nearby village of Casar.

Batman Existed in Mesoamerican Mythology and His Name Was Camazotz

The Powerful Symbol of the Swastika and its 12,000 Year History

The Epic of Gilgamesh Unveiled: Searching For a Way to the Home Planet

A Pilgrimage of Thought: The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Solid Muldoon: Petrified Prehistoric Man was an Elaborate and Daring Hoax

Human Origins

Snow White a Disney story based on real historical events.

The Truth Behind 5 Disney Movies That Are Based On Real Histories

Many of us grew up watching Disney movies and their tales of fairy princesses and evil queens are undeniably a part of the modern zeitgeist.

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

Ancient Anomalous Human Skeletons: Humanity Could be Much Older Than We Think

The Comet that Changed Civilization – And May Do Again

The human skull that challenges the Out of Africa theory

Return of the Ancient Gods: The Resurgence of Paganism

Ancient Technology

150,000-Year-Old Pipes Baffle Scientists in China: Out of Place in Time?

Oopart (out of place artifact) is a term applied to dozens of prehistoric objects found in various places around the world that seem to show a level of technological advancement ...

The Discovery that Revealed Ancient Humans Navigated the Seas 130,000 Years Ago

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

An Unbreakable Story: The Lost Roman Invention of Flexible Glass

Beaver's teeth 'used to carve the oldest wooden statue in the world’

Ten amazing inventions from ancient times

Ancient Places

The magnificent Boat of Khufu, Solar Boat Museum, Giza

The Great Boat of Khufu: The ‘Black Box’ to the Construction of the Pyramids

Perhaps this is not the first time that the reader will have heard of how in 1954 the Great Boat of Khufu was discovered, practically intact, at the southern face of the Kheops Pyramid, and how it is believed by the majority to have had cultic significance, although opinions vary within scientific circles. One belief was that the Sun sailed in such a vessel during the day, crossing over to another during the night hours.

Adam’s Calendar: Oldest Megalithic Site in the World?

World’s Oldest Surviving Amphitheater Preserved at Pompeii

Competing for the Title of the Oldest House in England - Luddesdown Court and Saltford Manor

Island in the Clouds: Is Mount Roraima Really A ‘Lost World’ Where Dinosaurs May Still Exist?

A New Japanese Emperor Takes To The Chrysanthemum Throne

Opinion

Floki and the Viking Discovery of Iceland

The Vikings’ next step out into the Atlantic – the discovery and settlement of Iceland – is one of the best documented events of the Viking Age. Medieval Icelanders were fascinated by genealogy, not only because, as emigrants

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

3 Problems to Remember When Trying to Find Atlantis

Naupa Iglesia: An Egyptian Portal in the Andes?

The Nephilim: Giant Offspring of the Sons of God and the Daughters of Man?

Mount Shasta: Spirits and Danger on a Sacred California Mountain

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.