navigation

The Abora IV, based on the ancient Egyptian reed boat. Source: Mission ABORA

3 August, 2019 - 01:55 ashley cowie

Oceanic Indiana Jones Attempts to Sail the Black Sea in an Ancient Egyptian Reed Boat

Described by the New York Times as “part P. T. Barnum and part Indiana Jones” an eccentric former German school teacher, Dominique Goerlitz, has told reporters at AFP that he has assembled a team of...

Example of a Bayaka woman hunting in southern Central African Republic in 2014. Source: Max Chiswick/CC BY SA 4.0

24 July, 2019 - 00:19 ancient-origins

Hunter Gatherer Society Has a Time-Tested, Secret Method to Traverse the Rainforest

How do human foragers find food or the way home in rainforests, where heavy vegetation limits visibility, without a map, compass, or smartphone? Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for...

The team of five paddlers crossed 200 kilometers of open ocean and the Black Stream in a primitive log boat. Source: National Museum of Nature and Science/Tokyo

9 July, 2019 - 23:08 ashley cowie

Five Bold Navigators Master the Deadly ‘Black Stream’ Migration After 32,000 Years

A brave Japanese and Taiwanese rowing team has successfully replicated a 32,000-year-old ancient sea migration route in a traditional dugout canoe. After two failed attempts on Sunday afternoon, one...

A calcite crystal found on an Elizabethan ship believed to have helped the Vikings navigate the seas.

6 April, 2018 - 18:53 aprilholloway

Mythical Viking Sunstone Used for Navigation was Real and Remarkably Accurate, New Study Shows

The Vikings have been reputed to be remarkable seafarers who could fearlessly navigate their way through unknown oceans to invade unsuspecting communities along the North Sea and Atlantic Sea coasts...

Homo erectus statue, taken at David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins as the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.

23 February, 2018 - 18:54 ashley cowie

Primeval Navigation Suggests Language Began 1.5 Million Years Earlier Than Thought

Were our primeval ancestors skilled mariners who sailed thousand of miles to distant islands using language, or did they grunt at each other while holding onto tree trunks being blown randomly on the...

28 October, 2017 - 01:51 ancient-origins

Earliest Known Marine Navigation Tool Revealed with Scanning Technology

Details of the earliest known marine navigation tool, discovered in a shipwreck, have been revealed thanks to state-of-the-art scanning technology at WMG, University of Warwick. Professor Mark...

17 November, 2016 - 03:46 ancient-origins

How the 1,000-Year-Old Mystery of the Druze People’s Origin Was Solved

For 1,000 years, the mysterious origin of the Druze people – who live almost exclusively in the mountains of Syria, Lebanon and Israel – has captivated linguists, historians, and sociologists. There...

27 October, 2016 - 14:51 Clyde Winters

Did the Portuguese Have Secret Knowledge about Brazil Before the Treaty of Tordesillas?

Controversy surrounds the knowledge the Portuguese had about Brazil before they entered into the Treaty of Tordesillas. The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in 1494, was a treaty between Castile (Spain...

3 August, 2016 - 03:43 Mark Miller

The Remarkable Ancient Navigation System of the Marshall Islands

People were navigating long distances between islands in the Pacific for at least 2,000 years. How did they do it without astrolabes, sextants or modern satellite positioning technology? One group,...

Vikings. Summer in the Greenland coast circa year 1000.

5 June, 2016 - 14:56 William James Veall

Remote Sensing Satellite Uncovers Astonishing New Evidence of Viking Presence in Newfoundland, Canada

Ancient Origins Guest Writer, William James Veall, is far afield from his usual research concerning Trans-Oceanic visitations to South America. On this occasion he turns his attention towards the...

20 May, 2016 - 21:31 XpoKolon

End of the Enigmatic Christopher Columbus: A Man at Last Emerges to Eradicate the Myth

History is a record of the past – sculptured by omissions, interlarded with distortions, brazen lies and innocent befuddlement – forming an amalgam that's often stubbornly resistant to analysis. For...

22 February, 2016 - 14:49 dhwty

Songlines: Mapping the Journeys of the Creation Ancestors in Australia

Songlines (known also as dreaming tracks) are believed by the Aboriginal people of Australia to be the journeys taken by the creation ancestors (or creator-beings) across the land during the Dreaming...

30 January, 2016 - 13:12 ancient-origins

Did the Vikings use crystal sunstones to discover America?

By Stephen Harding Ancient records tell us that the intrepid Viking seafarers who discovered Iceland, Greenland and eventually North America navigated using landmarks, birds and whales, and little...

Wooden fragment discovered in Uunartoq, Greenland, in 1948, which is believed to be a sun-compass used to determine direction

26 March, 2014 - 22:07 aprilholloway

New study reveals Vikings could navigate after dark using sun-compass and mythical sunstone

The Vikings have been reputed to be remarkable seafarers who would confidently head into unexplored waters. Now a team of researchers from Hungary and Sweden claim to have a clue as to how the Norse...

25 October, 2013 - 12:14 johnblack

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

It was a few years ago that a Greek-American archaeological team made a startling discovery – they found the oldest indications of seafaring and navigation in the world, in an area called Plakia on...

Myths & Legends

“Full moon rising over Mount Shasta, as seen from northern valley.”

Mount Shasta: Inner Earth Realms and History of the Lava Beds

There are legends all over the world, found in every culture, which populate caves with spirits and supernatural guardians who dwell in a subterranean realm hidden just beneath surface of our own...

Baba Yaga: The Wicked Witch of Slavic Folklore

The Enigma of the Anasazi

The Pyramid Complex and the Hopi: Creation Myth Sheds Light on Building Plan

A Herculean Effort: What Led to the 12 Labors of Hercules and How Did He Succeed?

The Disturbing True Story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin

Human Origins

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,...

Pangu and the Chinese Creation Story

Do you dare enter a fairy ring? The mythical mushroom portals of the supernatural

The Origins of the Faeries: Encoded in our Cultures – Part I

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

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

Ancient Technology

Secrets Behind the Creepy Plague Doctor Mask and Costume

The plague doctor mask is one of the most recognizable symbols of the Black Death. Though the image is iconic the relationship may be a little anachronistic. While plague doctors have been plying their trade since the Middle Ages, it was only after this period, during the 17th century, that they acquired their creepy trademark costume. But what does it mean?

Did Egyptian Mummification Descend from a More Ancient and, Perhaps, Reversible Preservation Technique?

Poisonous Pigments: History’s Deadliest Colors

Ten amazing inventions from ancient times

The Indian Sage who developed Atomic Theory 2,600 years ago

The ancient invention of the steam engine by the Hero of Alexandria

Ancient Places

Why Isn’t This Map in the History Books?

By the age of 10, most children in the United States have been taught all 50 states that make up the country. But centuries ago, the land that is now the United States was a very different place...

The Dark Secret Behind the Hidden Room of Glamis Castle

Mount Shasta: Inner Earth Realms and History of the Lava Beds

The Anomaly of King Orry’s 5000-Year-Old Grave

Ancient Greek Theater and the Monumental Amphitheaters in Honor of Dionysus

The Lifegiving Aqueduct of Segovia, a Glorious Roman Heritage

Opinion

Mount Shasta: Spirits and Danger on a Sacred California Mountain

Mount Shasta, located near the Oregon border in northern California, holds the distinction of being one of the world’s preeminent sacred mountains. It is recognized as an eligible Native American...

Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms

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

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.