Lost

6 December, 2018 - 01:55 Alicia McDermott

The Curious Disappearance of the Eilean Mor Lighthouse Keepers – A Scottish Mystery

The Flannan Isles, located in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, are a set of small and uninhabited rocky islands with a curious history. One of the islands, Eilean Mor, was the setting of a great historical...

A representation of what the lost city of Atlantis may look like

17 November, 2018 - 19:19 ashley cowie

Ancient Underwater Ruins Found off the Coast of Spain… Atlantis Again?

The coast of southern Spain is an archaeological wonderland with thousands of ruins from ancient Roman and Greek cultures, but hidden among these crumbling stones, scientists from a private satellite...

LiDAR image revealing Maya structures beneath the jungle canopy in Guatemala

1 October, 2018 - 20:10 Joanna Gillan

Laser Scans Reveal 60,000 Previously Unknown Maya Structures Hidden in Guatemalan Jungle!

In a monumental archaeological discovery, whose magnitude hasn’t been seen in decades, an aerial survey over northern Guatemala revealed tens of thousands of Maya structures, including pyramids,...

Wichita Lodge, Thatched with Prairie Grass (1834-1835) by George Catlin

23 August, 2018 - 17:55 Mark Miller

Possibly Decimated by Conquistadors 400 Years Ago, Has the Lost City of Etzanoa Finally Been Found?

It may be necessary to add another large nation of Native Americans to the list of peoples wiped out by the rapacious Spanish conquistadors after they arrived in the Americas. The location of the...

Members of Hatshepsut's trading expedition to the mysterious 'Land of Punt' from this pharaoh's elegant mortuary temple at Deir El-Bahri.

28 June, 2018 - 11:15 aprilholloway

Will We Ever Discover the Elusive Land of Punt?

The Land of Punt was an important location thousands of years ago. Ancient Egyptian writing suggests Punt was a rich location that prospered between 2450 BC and 1155 BC. People from the famous...

30 May, 2018 - 00:29 lizleafloor

Tiny Black Sea Island may be Hiding Lost Temple of Apollo

A lost temple dedicated to the Greek and Roman god Apollo may be hiding in Sozopol, Bulgaria, known in ancient times as Apollonia Pontica - ‘Apollonia on the Black Sea’. Archaeologists with the...

28 May, 2018 - 20:08 dhwty

The Search for the Lost Library of Ivan the Terrible

The thought of a lost library is a tantalizing one, as one can speculate and imagine the kind of knowledge it might provide to the person who finds it. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that there...

Illustration of an ancient city in Mesopotamia.

12 May, 2018 - 18:58 Ed Whelan

Hoard of Ancient Tablets Found in Iraq Reveal Location of Lost Royal City of Mardama

In an exciting discovery, archaeologists have found the location of the lost royal city of Mardama. The ancient Hurrian city had laid buried for millennia until archaeologists unearthed the remains...

7 April, 2018 - 13:55 ancient-origins

Lost Amazonian Tribes: Why the West Can’t Get Over Its Obsession with El Dorado

A number of ancient settlement sites were recently discovered in the Amazon’s Upper Tapajós Basin. This is no El Dorado – although you’d be forgiven for thinking so. The press coverage demonstrates a...

24 February, 2018 - 01:58 ancient-origins

LiDAR Lifts the Veil on the Oldest Known Maya Settlement in Guatemala

With the help of airborne laser mapping technology, a team of archaeologists, led by University of Arizona professor Takeshi Inomata, is exploring on a larger scale than ever before the history and...

Detail of ‘Iwatake mushroom gathering at Kumano in Kishu.’

22 January, 2018 - 13:56 ashley cowie

Zombie Powder, Bird Saliva, and Rotten Shark: Would You Try These Ancient Foods?

Ancient tribal cultures all over the world partook in perilous hunting, fishing, and food gathering adventures. Hearths appear 250,000 years ago - which is the accepted archaeological estimate for...

Alexander the Great founding Alexandria (Placido Costanzi, 1737) In conquests from Greece and Egypt to Afghanistan, the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) founded cities-often named for himself-in key military and trading locations.

26 September, 2017 - 22:53 Theodoros Karasavvas

Lost City Believed Founded by Alexander the Great Discovered in Iraq

An ancient city considered to have been founded during the reign of Alexander the Great has been discovered in Iraq, after hiding under tons of sand for more than 2,000 years. The discovery was made...

Remains of the famous Fugan Temple that was recently discovered in Chengdu, China.

6 June, 2017 - 22:50 Theodoros Karasavvas

Buried for Almost a Millennium, Archaeologists Recover Over 1,500 Religious Artifacts at Lost Chinese Temple

A team of archaeologists has uncovered more than 1000 tablets inscribed with Buddhist scriptures and over 500 pieces of stone sculpture, as well as glazed tiles with inscriptions, at the site of a...

20 April, 2017 - 13:59 dhwty

Was the Magnificent Monumental Tomb of Pasargadae Really Built for Cyrus the Great?

The tomb of Cyrus the Great is the name given to a monument located in the ancient Persian city of Pasargadae. This city was founded by Cyrus, and served as the capital of the Achaemenid Empire until...

Entrance from above to the Loltun Cave complex

15 April, 2017 - 18:46 dhwty

Guided by the Ancestors? Mayan Fanatic Saved by a 1000-Year-Old Priest

On the 3rd of January 1931, an article appeared in the Modesto News-Herald entitled ‘Mystery of the Loltun Cave hermit’. The article recounted the encounter between a man by the name of Robert Stacy-...

An artist’s representation of a pyramid with UFOs.

6 April, 2017 - 13:58 Theodoros Karasavvas

UFOs Over Ancient Egypt? Revealing the Mysterious Story of the Tulli Papyrus

The so called “Tulli Papyrus” is an enigmatic text that some describe as the first written account of a UFO sighting. This Egyptian text records an event which supposedly occurred during the 18th...

Pages

Myths & Legends

Camazotz Maya style Batman suit created by Mexican designer Kimbal

Batman Existed in Mesoamerican Mythology and His Name Was Camazotz

As social media is abuzz with who might be cast in the next Batman movie, with concerns that some of the candidates might not be menacing enough to fill those big black boots, it might be time to...

The Brosno Dragon: The Loch Ness Monster’s Evil Russian Cousin?

Say the Magic Word: The Origins of Abracadabra

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

Tattooed Scythian Warriors, Descendants of the Amazons? Part One

The Real Story of Medusa: Protective Powers from a Snake-Haired Gorgon

Human Origins

The Pagan Wheel of the Year: What Elaborate Rituals and Events Mark this Sacred Cycle?

Although it may be a long time (if ever) before pagans reclaim their Yule from Christmas or their Samhain from Halloween, it is worthwhile to explore these ancient religious traditions. The Wheel of the Year follows the cycle of pagan festivals.

Mastema – The ‘Persecutor’ of God

The Secret Life of an Ancient Concubine

The Epic of Gilgamesh Unveiled: Enlightenment and Source of Religions

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

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

Ancient Technology

3D printed model of the ancient site of Puma Punku, Tiwanaku.

Advanced Ancient Architecture of Puma Punku Site is Fully Recreated With 3D Printing

Part of the ancient archaeological site of Tiwanaku, Bolivia, believed by Incans to be where the world was created has been reconstructed using 3D printed models of fragments of an ancient building.

Pick Your Poison: The AK-47 of the Ancient Near East

The revolutionary invention of the wheel

Ancient Journeys: What was Travel Like for the Romans?

The engineering marvel of the Pozzo di San Patrizio

Norimitsu Odachi: Who Could Have Possibly Wielded This Enormous 15th Century Japanese Sword?

Ancient Places

The White Slaves of Barbary

Much attention and condemnation has been directed towards the tragedy of the African slave trade , which took place between the 16 th and the 19 th centuries. However, another equally despicable...

Advanced Ancient Architecture of Puma Punku Site is Fully Recreated With 3D Printing

First Kingdoms: The Forgotten Mesopotamian Kingdom of Ebla

The Dark Underworld of the Paris Catacombs

Devetashka - the Bulgarian Cave with 70,000 Years of Human Habitation

Masyaf Castle, the Seat of the Assassins

Opinion

Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms

There are many accounts of a land of immortality and eternal youth in world myths and legends, as well as shamanic and indigenous spiritual traditions. Mysterious Worlds Writing in his recent work,...

Pharaoh Akhenaten: An Alternative View of the Heretic King

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

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

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.