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Artist’s representation of Ragnar Lothbrok.

Ragnar Lothbrok: Legendary Hero or Historical Figure?

According to legend, Ragnar Lothbrok was a king of Denmark who succeeded Sigurd Hring in 804 AD. Some historians identify him with Reginherus, a Norse chieftain who was responsible for the siege of...
Reconstruction of a Neanderthal holding a spear

Oldest Neanderthal Wooden Tools Found in Spain Were Made 90,000 Years Ago

Archaeological excavations in Northern Spain have revealed several episodes of Neanderthal occupations with preserved wooden remains. The excavation revealed two very well preserved wooden tools; one...
Amazon jungle from above.

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...
A sauropod footprint found in Scotland was among several that included smaller, two-legged meat-eating dinosaur footprints.

Scientists Find Massive Footprints, Here’s What Ancient Creatures It Belonged To

By Tom Ozimek , Epoch Times The biggest dinosaurs ever to have lived left footprints 170 million years ago, which were only recently discovered by scientists in Scotland. Early sauropods – the...
A calcite crystal found on an Elizabethan ship believed to have helped the Vikings navigate the seas.

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...
Varangian Guard .Chronicle of John Skylitzes 13th Century

The Varangian Guard: Elite Byzantine Warrior Merchants

The Varangians were an elite guard that once served as the personal bodyguards of Byzantine emperors. When not protecting the emperor, they served at the frontlines in times of war to protect and...
A depiction of a flying human tethered to a monkey. The geoglyphs pre-dating the Nazca lines show many more human designs.

More than 50 Enormous Ancient Drawings Found in Peru Add to Nazca Mystery

More than 50 new geoglyphs have been added to the mysterious Peruvian desert carvings. Some are made by the same culture as the Nazca lines and others show unique designs predating them...
A cross stand on top Monte Testaccio, Rome, Italy.

At Monte Testaccio, An Entire Mountain is Made Up of Roman Trash

Monte Testaccio is an unusual landmark in Rome. It dates back to Roman times and is composed entirely of broken amphora sherds. Considering the enormous number of monumental structures in Rome, it is...
One of several processional crosses that were among the items looted during the British campaign in Ethiopia in 1868.

Ethiopian Treasures Stolen by British May Return Home, But Only on Loan

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England states the return of looted treasure is not a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ choice. The artifacts in question are Ethiopian treasure such as a gold crown, a...
Reconstructed face of the Lady of Cao, a Pre-Hispanic Peruvian female ruler.

Women Ruled the Ancient Peruvian World, New Research Shows

A historian has come forward with the assertion that sexism has tainted popular understanding of the lives of pre-Hispanic Peruvian women. Specifically, she has documented how high-ranking women have...
Tyr, Gleipnir and Fenrir.

Tyr: The Norse God of Law and War Breaks a Promise

The Norse god Tyr is not very well-known, at least when compared to such names as Odin and Thor. But he is also part of the Aesir tribe in the Norse pantheon and Tyr could be called the bravest of...
A detail from a silk samite shirt made by the nomadic Sogdian people of central Asia.

Ancient Silk Shirt from a Fallen Empire is Set to Fetch a Bundle at Auction

An exceptional silk shirt made by a skilled Sogdian craftsman is going up for auction at the end of April. The honey-golden color of the silk is decorated with ducks wearing flowing scarves while...
Wewelsburg Caste

Teutonic Knights’ Castle Turned into Nazi Cult Site?

The word ‘crusader’ conjures up images of scarlet-cross Knights Templar. Although these heroes of the 12th century may dominate popular culture, their Order was rivalled by the black-cross Order of...
The mummified head of Djehutynakht.

FBI Crime Team Solves Mystery of 4,000-Year-Old Decapitated Mummy

Just over a century ago, an American archaeologist found a hidden tomb buried 30 feet beneath boulders in an ancient Egyptian necropolis. He was met with one of the finest painted coffins ever found...
Skulls and bones are piled high at the charnel house Rothwell, Northamptonshire, England.

2500 Bodies fill Rare Charnel Chapel in England - Hidden House of Bones Revealed in 3D

A hidden hall of bones containing the remains of thousands of dead was a secret kept for centuries. 3D scans of the shocking find now bring light to the dark chambers, revealing England’s best-...
Alchemical illustration of a Homunculus in a vial

Alchemical Recipe for a Homunculus: Sperm + Rotting Meat = Mini Artificial Human

The question of how to create life does not just go back to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, when the eponymous character used forbidden science to create life. Humans have been interested in creating...
Witches' Sabbath, 1819-1823 by  Francisco Goya

Killing with Curses: Obscure 17th Century Muggletonian Sect

Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. One of the debates among fans of the ‘Potterverse’ – the fictional universe that is the setting for the Harry Potter-related novels and movies – is where did...
Shows Dr. Catherine Frieman in a field in Cornwall with survey equipment. Credit: ANU.

Property Owner Reports ‘Lump’ on His Land – Archaeologists Find 4,000-Year-Old Burial Mound

An Archaeologist at The Australian National University (ANU) has discovered a prehistoric Bronze-Age barrow , or burial mound, on a hill in Cornwall and is about to start excavating the untouched...
Painting by John Bauer of two trolls with a human child they have raised

The Weird, Wonderful and Wicked Beings in Scandinavian Folklore

In Scandinavian folklore, there are numerous races of beings, the best-known of which (apart from human beings) are the gods and the jötnar, their nemesis. In rather simplistic terms, these may be...
South Indian Sudoku: Archaeologists Find Magic Square Puzzle Inscribed on Temple Pillar

South Indian Sudoku: Archaeologists Find Magic Square Puzzle Inscribed on Temple Pillar

Archaeologists in India have discovered a rare 300-year-old inscription of a sudoku-like game on the pillar of a temple in Palani, India. When added in any direction, the numbers total 15, which is...
The laughing jester // Art museum of Stockholm, Sweden.

Jokes and Pranks: Here is the April Fools’ Day Origin Story

Every year, people celebrate April Fools’ Day with pranks, practical jokes, and hoaxes. Merriment, cheer, and joviality reign as people poke socially sanctioned fun at one another. This day has been...
Easter procession in Bilbao, Spain

Under the Hoods: The Brotherhoods (and Sisterhoods) of Spain’s Holy Week

“Spain is different!”. Napoleon took this view after his defeat by Spanish guerrilla warfare tactics. Generalissimo Franco’s government later made use of this slogan to promote Spain’s unique appeal...
The reconstructed face of Cro-Magnon man.

Scientists Reconstruct the Face of a Cro-Magnon Man, Tumors and All

To mark the 150th anniversary of the discovery his bones, researchers have re-examined the 28,000-year-old remains of a middle-aged Cro-Magnon man. They have found that he suffered from a genetic...
"Zaporozhian Cossacks write to the Sultan of Turkey" by Ilya Repin (1844–1930)

The Cossack Sorcerers of Folk Legends and Historical Chronicles

The image of Cossack Sorcerers was so popular that there are many legends about them. One tells of the Battle of the Cossacks against the Poles. As soon as the Cossack Sorcerer Kravchina (army) hit...

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