mediterranean

Copper slag excavated at Hala Sultan Tekke. Source: University of Gothenburg / CC BY 4.0

17 March, 2023 - 21:57 Nathan Falde

Copious Copper Supplies Made Cyprus a Trading Center 3,500 Years Ago

In the earliest period of international trade in the Mediterranean region, the island of Cyprus was a surprisingly busy trading hub. Its exalted status during the Late Bronze Age (1,500 to 1,150 BC)...

Evidence from several of the Aegean Islands shows archaic humans must have been sailing the seas around 450,000 years ago. Source: Chris/Adobe Stock

21 December, 2022 - 17:54 Nathan Falde

Evidence Shows Archaic Humans Sailed to Aegean Islands 450,000 Years Ago

Ample archaeological and geological evidence has now been uncovered that suggests archaic humans were building boats and crossing the Aegean Sea as long as 450,000 years ago, the authors of a new...

‘Destruction’ from Thomas Cole’s ‘The Course of Empire.’ Representation of a city destroyed in the Late Bronze Age Collapse. Source: Public domain

4 December, 2022 - 00:59 Liu Jiaxin

Civilization's Midnight: The Late Bronze Age Collapse

To the layman who is educated in the Euro-Centric tradition, history stops at the Greeks. We are all familiar with the militaristic ferocity of the Spartans and the open atmosphere of discourse in...

The modern paleo diet is also called the caveman diet, as it’s inspired by Paleolithic eating habits. But is this meat-heavy depiction of ancient diets accurate? Source: Gorodenkoff / Adobe Stock

21 November, 2022 - 13:50 Molly Dowdeswell

Three Ancient Diets That Are Still Popular Today

There is no denying that the weight loss and diet industry in the Western world is huge. For many people, inspiration comes from our very early ancestors, who are believed to have eaten a simple,...

Comparison of Ferula drudeana plants with representations of silphion. Source: CC BY 4.0

24 September, 2022 - 22:43 ashley cowie

Ancient Aphrodisiacal and ‘Cure-All’ Plant Rediscovered!

Pliny the Elder claimed Emperor Nero consumed the last stalk of silphion, which was believed to have gone extinct almost 2000 years ago. But now, a Turkish professor claims to have identified the...

Typhoid fever salmonella bacteria like this, according to the latest study, were a primary killer along with the plague that could well be the missing reason for the sudden Bronze Age collapse of Near East and Mediterranean societies. Source: sveta / Adobe Stock

10 August, 2022 - 23:00 Nathan Falde

Mediterranean Bronze Age Collapse Linked to Deadly Typhoid and Plague

A new genetic research project has revealed evidence of the profound impact highly infectious and dangerous diseases may have had on the Bronze Age collapse in the Mediterranean and Near East region...

Though the crusades are numbered it would appear that the Pisans zero crusade was truly the first as it preceded the First Crusade by nearly 80 years. And from that time forward the fortunes of Pisa rose to incredible heights! Source: Lunstream / Adobe Stock

10 May, 2022 - 23:01 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Was Pisa’s 1016 Sardinia Expedition the First Crusade of Them All?

During the First Crusade, the city state of Pisa, like many other European powers, was moved by the pleas of Pope Urban II, who in 1095 ordered the Christian kingdoms of Europe to launch a holy...

The continuous use of lavender throughout history reveals its popularity. Source: asife / Adobe Stock

1 May, 2022 - 14:59 Lex Leigh

History’s Love of Lavender: From Mummies to Bathhouses and Beyond!

Lavender is one of the most well-known plants throughout the world. It is popular in gardening, baking, cleaning, and medicine. The soft purple flowers have been around for a few thousand years and...

The two Viksø horned helmets found in Denmark in 1942, which were used in a new study as evidence that an ancient Bronze Age trade route linked the Mediterranean to Scandinavia. Source: Nationalmuseet / CC BY-SA 3.0

23 December, 2021 - 21:55 ashley cowie

Do 3,000-year-old Bronze Age Horned Helmets Have Trans-Continental Links?

A team of researchers has sampled organic matter from residue found inside a rare and deeply ancient bronze horned-helmet in Denmark. But their claim that a long-distance prehistoric oceanic trade...

St. Sebastian pleads for those afflicted with plague during the 7th century Plague of Justinian in a painting by South Netherlandish painter Josse Lieferinxe. Source: Josse Lieferinxe / Public domain

23 November, 2021 - 21:57 Nathan Falde

Study Demonstrates Terrible Toll of Sixth Century Plague of Justinian

In a new study appearing in the journal Past & Present , Cambridge University history professor Peter Sarris argues that recent scholarship has badly underestimated the true impact of the sixth-...

One of the naval Roman battering rams being hoisted from the sea near Ustica Island, Italy. Source: RPM Nautical Foundation

1 September, 2021 - 18:55 ashley cowie

Divers Find Four Naval Roman Battering Rams From the 241 BC Punic War

Four ancient bronze Roman battering rams, the kind used at the front of a battleship, have been discovered by divers near Ustica Island, north of Palermo, Italy. These rare artifacts of ancient naval...

The excavation area at the Son Catlar fortress where the Roman artifacts were discovered. Source: University of Alicante

30 July, 2021 - 22:56 Nathan Falde

Large Cache of Roman Artifacts from 100 BC Found on Mediterranean Isle

Archaeologists digging at the Son Catlar stone fortress on the Mediterranean island of Menorca (or Minorca) have unearthed a collection of buried Roman artifacts dating back to the year 100 BC, the...

A hacksilber hoard dated to the middle of the eleventh century BC found by the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon. Source: We are grateful to L. E. Stager and D. Master, directors of the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon, and to D. T. Ariel, for allowing us to publish these photographs.

7 July, 2021 - 15:02 Nathan Falde

Scientists Track Silver Trade From Trojan War to Roman Republic

A team of French, Australian, and Israeli scientists has collected evidence proving there was an active and thriving silver trade network in the eastern Mediterranean region in the Late Bronze Age...

2 June, 2021 - 18:38 Sahir

2,000-Year-Old Punic-Era Tomb Accidentally Found in Malta

The archipelago of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea in southern Europe, is a place of mystique and wonder. With a rich history that commences with human occupation in 5,900 BC, archaeologists have now...

Deriv; Bust of Plato, map of Santorini, 1703, underwater ruin.

25 May, 2021 - 14:55 Christos Djonis

Atlantis: Examining the Legendary Tale of Plato

Around 360 BC, in his dialogues of Timaeus and Critias , the Greek philosopher Plato introduced an incredible story, a tale of an enigmatic island civilization which has since captivated the...

10 April, 2021 - 14:57 Adam Stokes

Unravelling the Roots of Hera, the Wrathful Goddess of Marriage

Hera, also known by her Latin title as Juno, is best known in Western culture as the wife of Zeus, king of the gods. While technically subordinate to him, Hera is never a submissive figure, in fact...