Ancient Origins | (Page 615)Reconstructing the story of humanity's past

15 May, 2015 - 03:15 Bryan Hill

Lovelock Cave: A Tale of Giants or A Giant Tale of Fiction?

The Paiutes, a Native-American tribe indigenous to parts of Nevada, have an oral tradition that they told to early white settlers of the area about a race of red-haired, white giants or ‘barbarians’...

Mummy of a child with a gilded face mask. Greco-Roman Museum, Alexandria, Egypt. Representational image only.

15 May, 2015 - 01:14 lizleafloor

Egyptian Child Mummy Dumped in Garbage in France, Now Restored and Protected

The mummy of an ancient Egyptian child was saved from a municipal dump and is set to go on display for the first time outside Paris. The 2,000-year-old mummified body and casket are thought to have...

Lady Mei’s brick tomb found in Nanjing, China.

14 May, 2015 - 18:00 aprilholloway

Stone Tablets found in Gold-Filled Chinese Tomb tell Remarkable Rags to Riches Tale

Two stone epitaphs found within a 500-year-old gold-filled tomb discovered in Nanjing, China, tell a remarkable story about the tomb owner, a woman named Lady Mei. According to the tablets, Lady Mei...

13 May, 2015 - 21:29 Riley Winters

Song of the Nibelungs: The Epic Germanic Tale of Love, Death, and Revenge – Part 2

Like many ancient poems and epic tales, the 13 th century saga of The Nibelungenlied, or "The Song of the Nibelungs", is based on both myth and history. Written by an unknown author, the tale remains...

The scene at the supermarket, before the bones were removed

13 May, 2015 - 17:40 Mark Miller

Archaeologists piece together final moments of hundreds of Medieval Parisians

The skeletons of more than 200 medieval Parisians have been moved for further study to a warehouse of the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research in a suburb north of Paris,...

A necropolis was found under land upon which a new culture center is being built in Sinop

13 May, 2015 - 17:22 Mark Miller

Remnants of ancient necropolis excavated in Black Sea city in Turkey

A necropolis is being excavated at a veritable crossroads of ancient civilizations, in Sinop, Turkey. Workers found remnants of the 4 th century BC city of the dead while building a culture center in...

12,300-Year-Old Bone Pendants discovered in Alaska

13 May, 2015 - 14:26 lizleafloor

12,300-Year-Old Bone Pendants May be Oldest Artwork Ever Discovered in Alaska

Carved bone pendants have been found at a prehistoric site in Alaska that may prove to be the very first known examples of artwork in the northern region of North America. Two pairs of pendants were...

Selene (also Diana) as Personification of the Night. 1765.

12 May, 2015 - 21:26 Riley Winters

Celestial Goddess Selene: The Star of the Night

With silver wings and a golden diadem, Selene shone brightly throughout the lands of ancient Greece. The goddess of the moon, Selene captivated the hearts of ancient poets, authors, and orators,...

The mummified head of Egyptian pharaoh King Ahmose I, whose parents and grandparents were probably both sets of siblings.

12 May, 2015 - 21:16 aprilholloway

Study Presents Evidence of Extensive Inbreeding among Ancient Egyptian Royalty

A 2015 study revealed little variation in body height among Egyptian Pharaohs compared to the general population, signaling the presence of extensive inbreeding among the ancient Egyptian royalty...

The wooden coffin of a mummified cat [left] and a CT scan revealing the ancient cat skeleton inside.

12 May, 2015 - 14:05 lizleafloor

70 Million Mummified Animals in Egypt Reveal Dark Secret of Ancient Mummy Industry

In what is described as Egypt’s “dark secret,” a staggering 70 million mummified animals have been found in underground catacombs across Egypt, including cats, birds, rodents, and even crocodiles...

The enigmatic archaic faces, found in large numbers over the Burrup are among the earliest rock art works in the region.

12 May, 2015 - 04:10 aprilholloway

Oldest and largest concentration of ancient rock art under threat from Australian Government

Australian Indigenous art is the oldest unbroken tradition of art in the world. It is so old in fact, that examples have been found that depict long extinct megafauna. One particular region, the...

First Standing Stone Circle in Dartmoor, England

11 May, 2015 - 18:14 Mark Miller

Discovery of First Standing Stone Circle in Over a Century in Dartmoor, England

New geophysical investigations into a stone circle discovered in 2007 in Dartmoor, southern England, show the stones were once standing and may have been arranged in a “sacred” circle with seven...

11 May, 2015 - 14:42 Bryan Hill

The Three Fates: Destiny’s Deities of Ancient Greece and Rome

The ancient Greeks believed that many aspects of a person’s life were determined by the three mythical women known as Fates. These were three sister goddesses that appeared in Greek and Roman...

Ancient bronze stork discovered in the Rhodope Mountains in Southern Bulgaria.

10 May, 2015 - 19:37 aprilholloway

Bronze Age Thracian Stork may be Oldest Children's Toy in Europe

Local residents in the area of Zlatograd, Bulgaria, have uncovered an ancient bronze artifact that archaeologists have described as “the oldest children’s toy in Europe”. The supposed toy consists of...

10 May, 2015 - 19:34 lizleafloor

100 Merchants Retrace Silk Road Trade Route on Camelback in Epic Year-Long Journey

In a quest to repeat the traditions of ancient merchants, more than 100 tea traders are making an epic journey, crossing 15,000 kilometers on camelback and retracing the steps of the Silk Road...

Statue of King Rene House of Valois-Anjou.

10 May, 2015 - 19:24 Katrina Sisowath

Rene of Anjou - the Littlefinger of the pre-Renaissance Game of Thrones

Ask someone of the most notable figures in the 15 th century and they may respond with: Jeanne d’Arc, Cosimo de Medici, Leonardo da Vinci, Christopher Columbus, or those involved in the War of the...