An old English proverb states that “necessity is the mother of invention”. On La Gomera in the Spanish Canary Islands, a need arose among its inhabitants to communicate with each other over the...
The Kalevala, a poem based on Finnish folklore and mythology, is regarded as the national epic of Finland. As such, the 28 of February has been set aside in Finland as a day to commemorate this piece...
Archaeologists in South Korea have uncovered a 1,500-year-old tomb of a noblewoman containing the ancient remains of a woman and a man. The discovery of precious grave goods and the circumstances of...
Ancient human fossils found in a cave in northern Laos are revealing to scientists that early modern humans were quite physically diverse, and they reveal an earlier migration timeline in Southeast...
Scientists recently examined tissue samples from tuberculosis-infected bodies that were naturally mummified in a church crypt in Vac, Hungary. Researchers found that the tuberculosis that killed them...
A new study suggests the rulers of the Maya city of Nakum used water as a social control method. They represented themselves as rainmakers, researchers say, showing themselves on monuments with water...
A medieval or Saxon man whose skeleton was found in a Roman villa in Hampshire, England, may have been buried in the countryside because of a jaw deformity that made his community consider him...
The 15 th century voyages of Chinese maritime admiral and diplomat Zheng He have been well documented by historical accounts. Zheng He, highly influential in Ming emperor Yongle’s court, was...
Teucer, great archer and legendary son of a king in Greek mythology, fought alongside his brother Ajax in the Trojan War, but the intrigues and tragedy of war ended with his banishment and exile...
A farmer made an amazing discovery more than 130 years ago in a field outside Vettersfelde (now Witaszkowo) Poland. He stumbled upon a great hoard of golden treasure, including dozens of ornaments...
Archaeologists in Peru made a monumental discovery when they found dozens of tombs with up to 40 mummies in each at a 1,200-year-old ceremonial site in Cotahuasi Valley. So far 171 mummies have been...
In Nitobe Inazo’s 1899 work exploring the way of the samurai, Bushido, the Soul of Japan , the sword is dubbed as the ‘Soul of the Samurai’. As swords were so highly revered, the swordsmith’s work...
Almost 6,000 years ago, the man was placed behind the woman with his arms around her body, and their legs were intertwined. They were buried. Why they were interred in this manner is not yet...
The Irish banshee and the Scottish bean nighe tread the darkest of nights as omens from another world, that of the unknown beyond. Though similar at first glance, they were regarded as quite...
The story of Zana, supposed Ape Woman of the Caucasus Mountains is one often revisited and reexamined by historians, explorers, and scientists alike. Now a leading geneticist believes that the wild...
The Divje Babe flute, discovered in a cave in Slovenia in 1995, has long been heralded as the oldest musical instrument ever discovered. The item is a fragment of the femur of a cave bear which had...
The Inca ruler, Atahualpa, is one of the key figures in the history of the European colonialization of South America. As the last emperor of the largest empire in pre-Columbian Empire, Atahualpa was...
The myriad of skin tones and eye colors that humans express around the world are interesting and wonderful in their variety. Research continues on how humans acquired the traits they now have and...
Though the tombs of two ancient Egyptian priests excavated recently had been vandalized and their bones scattered across the burial chamber many centuries ago, beautiful paintings on the walls and...
Previous studies have established that people of numerous pre-Columbian civilizations in northern Chile suffered from chronic arsenic poisoning between 500 and 1450 AD, through consumption of...
For the 10 th century holy man and jurist Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, the violent, orgiastic, drunken spectacle put on by mourning Vikings in Bulgaria must have been shocking. In Ibn Fadlan’s Muslim tradition...
Scholars in Wales have discovered that parts of one of the most important books in Welsh history was erased and some of the texts on its animal-skin pages overwritten. The book is titled The Black...
Just over two decades ago in the Grotta di Lamalunga, near the city of Altamura in Italy, a team of scientists discovered the remains of a prehistoric hominid branded ‘Altamura Man’. For years, the...
Sun and moon iconography can be found on the impressive standing pillars of Göbeklitepe, the Neolithic temples that are among the most important archaeological sites of our time. Guest author Özgür...
