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Other Artifacts

Other Artifacts covers many items which have been recovered from the past and give us insights into ancient human worlds. From loaded Roman dice to the Shroud of Turin, these items help tell the stories of the varied culture and everyday lives of our ancestors. 

Derbyshire Caving Club member examines a pipe found in the Alderley Edge Cobalt mine. Source: National Trust

Time Capsule Opened at Alderley Edge Cobalt Mine, England

Cavers exploring underground spaces in Alderley Edge, Cheshire in northwestern England were stunned to discover a sealed and abandoned mineshaft that hadn’t been visited by anyone since the early...
The heavy gold ring of Viking origin found in a pile of “worthless” estate jewelry weighed 11 grams or 0.4 ounces. (Vestland County Municipality)

Gold Ring Found in a Pile of Cheap Costume Jewelry Belonged to a Viking Chief!

A young Norwegian woman was browsing online for jewelry earlier this week, when she bought a jumbled collection of costume jewelry in an online auction. Upon receiving her purchase, she spotted a...
8,000-year-old Mother Goddess figurine excavated at Sha’ar HaGolan, Israel Source: Anna Eirikh-Rose / Jerusalem Post

8,000-Year-Old Yarmukian Mother Goddess Unearthed

An 8,000-year-old "Mother Goddess" figurine has been uncovered at a Neolithic site in Israel. Why then, does she have “coffee-shaped” eyes? Located at the foot of the Golan Heights in the Jordan...
Goods with Celtic influence found in Przeworsk burial at Velyka Dibrova, Lviv region, Ukraine. Source: V. Sydorovych / Lviv Regional Council

Grave Robbers Return Przeworsk Culture Burial Goods in the Ukraine

An extraordinary incident has helped archaeologists in Ukraine gain fresh insights into how Celtic culture influenced development in the lands of their country more than 2,000 years ago. The event in...
Grave 69, of an adult male, on the island of Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov, who had human bone jewelry in his grave. Human and animal bone pendants were found together with an elk tooth pendant. Source: Tom Björklund / University of Helsinki

Finnish Study Reveals Human Bones Were Used to Make Jewelry in 6,000 BC

During the Late Stone Age, our prehistoric ancestors regularly constructed and presumably wore pendants covered with symbolic images. These pendants were often made out of animal bones and teeth, but...
The face of the Chimu culture wooden Chan Chan sculpture recently discovered on the periphery of the giant Chan Chan complex near Trujillo, Peru. Source: Decentralized Directorate of Culture of La Libertad / Peruvian government

Perfectly Preserved Chimu Sculpture Found at Chan Chan, Peru

A perfectly preserved Peruvian Chimu culture sculpture in the form of an intriguing wooden figure, has been found at a ceremonial center near Chan Chan, Trujillo in northern Peru. Dated between 850...
The Gansu Provincial Museum’s stuffed flying horse toy (left) based on the famous 2000-year-old bronze Flying Horse of Gansu (right) becomes museum’s most popular souvenir. Source: Weibo

China’s Ancient Flying Horse of Gansu Artifact Becomes Cringeworthy Fad

China loses it on a new national fad. Chinese museum authorities have turned its most recognized cultural artifact into an “ugly” flying horse toy. To begin with let’s look at the word “fad.” It...
The vampire slaying kit which was sold at auction. Source: Hansons Auctioneers

Vampire Slaying Kit Sells During High-Stakes Bidding War

A vampire slaying kit has been sold for five times more than expected at an auction in Derbyshire, England. The sale of this bizarre box of artifacts, once believed to help guard against vampires,...
Lindisfarne Castle on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne is currently part of crowdfunded archaeological digs through DigVentures, and their most recent find were prayer beads made from salmon vertebrae. Source: Chris Combe / CC BY 2.0

Diggers Find England’s Oldest Prayer Beads on Lindisfarne Holy Island!

Archaeologists exploring Lindisfarne, an island known for its rich religious history - including the first Viking invasion - have recovered the oldest prayer beads ever found in England. While...
Backgammon as depicted from the 14th century Codex Manesse. Source: Public domain

The 5,000-Year-Old Ancient History of Backgammon

Despite its modern popularity, not many know that backgammon is actually one of the oldest board games known to man. The story of backgammon stretches back 5,000 years and around the globe, spanning...
An amateur has found a new piece of timber from the Spanish galleon known as the Beeswax wreck. To date, many artifact fragments have been found on this rough coastline area, including pieces of Chinese porcelain. This image shows an unnamed wooden shipwreck have buried in a sand beach. Source: Scott Williams / Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

Wreckage from 17th Century Spanish Galleon Found Along Oregon Coast

A beachcomber exploring sea caves along the north coast of western Oregon, USA discovered timbers from the hull of the Beeswax wreck Spanish galleon that sunk in the Pacific Ocean more than 300 years...
This marble head, believed to be the head of Hercules, was found next to the legendary Antikythera shipwreck. It may complete a headless statue found on the wreck in 1900 that is now on display in Athens’ largest museum. Source: Ministry of Culture and Sports

Divers Recovered a ‘Herculean’ Marble Head from the Antikythera Shipwreck

For a long time, most only associated the word “Antikythera” with an ancient computer. In 2020, that changed after Greek divers recovered a giant marble head from the world-renowned shipwreck...
An inscribed section of an altar stone in situ at one of the two Roman temples discovered in Herwin-Hemeling in the Netherlands near the German border. Source: ©RAAP

First Roman Temples from 2,000 Years Ago Found in the Netherlands

Dutch archaeologists from the private archaeological consulting firm RAAP recently uncovered the remains of a 2,000-year-old Roman temple complex in the Netherlands. While religious sanctuaries...
An amazing wooden mask found among the latest Aztec artifacts’ discoveries at Templo Mayor in central Mexico City. Source: Mirsa Islas Orozco / INAH

Mexican Archaeologists Find Over 2,500 Rare Wooden Aztec Artifacts!

Archaeologists in Mexico unearthed one of the largest and most impressive collections of Aztec artifacts ever found, just northeast of the central plaza of Mexico City. This incredible Aztec artifact...
Work on the HS2 rail project across the UK landscape has once again yielded treasure with the discovery of a major Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Wendover, Buckinghamshire. The site has revealed 138 graves, countless preserved burial goods, and many valuable historical artifacts. Source: HS2

Huge, Artifact-rich Anglo-Saxon Cemetery Found on England’s HS2 Line!

Archaeologists who’ve launched exploratory digs along the path of the HS2 high-speed rail project in England have made some fascinating and amazing discoveries. The latest addition to the list of...
Viking ships like these were built, serviced, loaded, and unloaded at Viking shipyards across Scandinavia, and the recent Birka Viking shipyard discovery is a "first of its kind” in the world of Viking ports.	Source: Dimart_Graphics / Adobe Stock

Unique Viking Shipyard Found Showing A “Maritime Cultural Landscape”

An archaeological investigation of maritime remains connected to the Viking Age town of Birka in Sweden carried out since August 2020 has revealed a “first of its kind” Viking shipyard. Birka, also...
These images represent just a few of the spectacular finds beneath an ancient district of Cairo, Egypt, which included first-of-its-kind evidence of King Khufu from roughly 4,500 years ago! Source: Ministry of Antiquities

“First of Its Kind” 2600-BC King Khufu Evidence Found In Cairo!

Artifacts belonging to the era of King Khufu (also known as Cheops), who ruled sometime in the 26th century BC or nearly 4,500 years ago, have been discovered in Cairo’s Ayn-Shams neighborhood by the...
One of the two more ships the underwater robot found while diving at the San Jose wreck site. Source: Presidency of the Republic of Colombia

Deep-Sea Robot Revealed Treasures of $20 Billion on San Jose Wreck

Billions of dollars of gold, silver and emeralds encrust a tiny patch of the Caribbean Sea. In 1708, during the War of Spanish Succession (1701 to 1714), a British Navy warship sailing from Panama...
Just one of the stunning metal-crafted artifacts recently found in a small portion of the sacrificial pits area at the Sanxingdui site in southwestern China, which had been almost lost to time until the 1980s. Source: Xinhua / China Daily Post

Sanxingdui Excavation Pits Reveal Sophisticated Ancient Civilization

An advanced 3,000-year-old Chinese culture, whose existence was not known about until the 1980s, has been further revealed by recent excavations. Apparently, the existence of the highly developed...
An artist’s recreation of the Gallo-Roman religious complex recently discovered at Rennes, France. Source: © Marie Millet / Inrap

Gallo-Roman Worship Complex Dedicated to Jupiter and Mars Discovered

Last week, French archaeologists found the long-lost remains of a 2,100-year-old Gallo-Roman worship complex in Rennes, Brittany (northwestern France) on a hilltop with sweeping views of the Flume...
The terracotta figure represents an acrobat, created to provide entertainment in the afterlife for Emperor Qin Shi Huang. Source: Xinhua

One In 8,000! This Unique Terracotta Figure Is Unlike All The Rest

Let’s begin this story with an exercise. If you are not driving, lie down on your back. Bend your knees and place your feet on the ground about your hips-width distance apart. Now, place your right...
Top; The short Hallstatt sword with design was characteristic of the Bronze Age. Middle; Longer sword, designed to take advantage of the stronger properties of iron and was dated to the very beginnings of the Iron Age.	Bottom; Bowl-head pin made of a non-ferrous metal alloy.

2,800-year-old Hallstatt Swords Rewrite Bronze to Iron Age Technological Leap

Two extremely rare early Iron Age Hallstatt swords dating to the eighth century BC have been unearthed in the Bavarian town of Andechs in Starnberg district. These 2800-year-old swords are among the...
An archaeologist excavates a ceramic artifact at the pre-Hispanic Aztatlán culture settlement in Mexico, hidden beneath the urban sprawl of the west coast port city of Mazatlán.	Source: INAH

Pre-Hispanic Aztatlán Culture Evidence Found Under Mexican Urban Sprawl

Workers carrying out paving and infrastructure work in Mexico’s southern port city of Maztalan stumbled upon ancient human remains from a pre-Hispanic Aztatlán culture settlement. Preliminary...
The world famous York Viking poop fossil or Lloyds Bank coprolite that is about 900 years old.	Source: Linda Spashett/ Wikimedia

The Lloyds Bank Coprolite: The Importance of One Huge Viking Poop

The scenic city of York in England has a lot to be proud of. The city, in one form or another has been nestled between the Ouse and Foss rivers for over 2,000 years. It has a rich history dating back...

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