How old is the art of embalming the dead and where did it originate? This is one of those eternal archaeological questions that is constantly reinforced and altered with the arrival of new evidence...
Were extremely well preserved natural mummies discovered in Colombia made by special high altitude climatic conditions, or was it the fruit they consumed? The mausoleum of San Bernardo is located...
Immuring themselves in an underground stone chamber, sealed tight, waiting to die: that is what more than 24 known individuals did in northern Japan from the 1200s until the 19th century, though it...
The Covesea Caves range just short of Inverness on Scotland’s northeastern coast have been known to archaeologists since 1929, but each round of exploration and analysis throws up fresh surprises...
During a computed tomography (CT) scan of a child mummy belonging to a youngster who lived in ancient Egypt , archaeologists found something unique and most unexpected. The imagery they obtained...
A mummified fetus identified within the leathery womb of an ancient Egyptian pregnant mummy was preserved for more than 2,000 years. Now, scientists have described the unusual processes that led to...
Before 1900, the general knowledge about an ancient civilization on Crete was limited to the Greek mythology of King Minos and the heroic Theseus, prince of Athens, who slayed the minotaur in the...
There is new research to show that the ancient Egyptians started using their complex mummification process a good 1000 years before previously believed. This startling revelation will be made in...
The mummies of ancient Egypt are arguably the most famous mummies in the world. They are not, however, the oldest. The Chinchorros of South America began preserving their dead about 7,000 years ago...
A central concept in the novel The Sphinx Scrolls is whether a mummification technology has ever existed that could preserve someone for long periods and retain the potential to bring them back to...
From 1494 to 1496, the island of Tenerife was beset by a military invasion. The conquerors and soldiers of the Castilian kingdom of Castile and Aragon deployed numerous troops to subdue the hardened...
Researchers have made the curious discovery of mummified parrots in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile . Between 1000 and 1460 BC, parrots and macaws were transported over 300 miles to one of the...
Everything known about ancient Egyptian medicine comes from four different types of sources: works of art, the writings of ancient historians, palaeopathology and papyri. Medical papyri can be...
When it comes to ancient Egypt and its long lasting and influential civilization, plenty of its unique characteristics can seem peculiar and otherworldly. Sure, it is no secret that ancient Egypt was...
A newly translated papyrus from ancient Egypt dating back 3,500 years provides a rare insight into Egyptian embalming techniques. The ancient medical text details a procedure never identified before...
CT scans of an Egyptian mummy from approximately 1,200 BC have exposed a type of mortuary treatment which has not been documented in the Egyptian archaeological record before now. The individual is...
Just how much can you learn from the color of a person’s skin? Well, in the case of Egyptian mummies, it is now turning out to be quite a lot. Researchers have worked out a non-intrusive way to map...
Thanks to modern CT technology, archaeologists have now been able to look deep within three ancient Egyptian mummies discovered back in 1615 AD. Discovered in a rock-cut tomb more than four centuries...
Researchers studying the mummies of birds from Ancient Egypt, used at the time as votive offerings to the gods, have made an important discovery. French experts, from the CNRS, the Université Claude...
Ancient Egypt is famous for its mummies of pharaohs, however, the ancient Egyptians mummified animals as well as people. In 2020, new non-invasive technology was used to digitally unwrap three animal...
Dr Kate Fulcher is a Research Assistant in the British Museum's Department of Scientific Research, and she led a research project to identify the “black goo” in Egyptian burials , and what it might...
Egyptian Ministers have announced exciting new discoveries at the Mummification Workshop Complex first unearthed in Saqqara in 2018. A hidden burial chamber has been uncovered at the bottom of the...
One of the greatest civilizations in our history belonged to the ancient Egyptians. It flourished in the fertile valleys of the world’s longest river - the Nile, where a magnificent civilization rose...
These days, not many Aussies consider the ibis a particularly admirable creature. But these birds , now colloquially referred to as “ bin chickens ” due to their notorious scavenging antics, have a...
