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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. 

Pharoah’s Little Helpers: The Shabti Funerary Statuettes of the Ancient Egyptians

Pharaoh’s Little Helpers: The Shabti Funerary Statuettes of the Ancient Egyptians

A shabti is a funerary figurine used by the ancient Egyptians. These statuettes were placed in tombs as grave goods and were believed to function as servants for the deceased in the afterlife...
Frankincense may soon disappear

Frankincense: An Ancient Wonder Cure on the Verge of Extinction

Frankincense is famous for being one of the three gifts presented by the Magi to baby Jesus (the other two being gold and myrrh). Several thousand years ago, people knew how to use frankincense to...
Petroglyphic Features of Portable Rock Art

Petroglyphic Features of Portable Rock Art

Paleo rock art from around the world ranges in style, method, and age, and includes cave paintings, petroglyphs, pictographs, polished and engraved stones such as effigies, stone sculptures, and...
The Lady of Baza, a famous example of Iberian sculpture by the Bastetani, has long been a source of contention. Source: Juan Aunión / Adobe Stock

The Lady of Baza and the Battle to Take Her Home

The Lady of Baza, a statue unearthed in Baza, has long been a subject of contention. Discovered in 1971, it was swiftly removed and taken to Madrid where it has been kept at the National Museum of...
Lost Key to St. Leonard’s Tower Mysteriously Returned After 47 Years

Lost Key to St. Leonard’s Tower Mysteriously Returned After 47 Years

When the large brass key to St. Leonard’s Tower in Kent went missing in 1973, no one knew if it had been lost or stolen. Now, 47 years later, the key has been returned , and its sudden arrival is...
Vendel Helmets: Spectacular Scandinavian Relics from the Vendel Period

Vendel Helmets: Spectacular Scandinavian Relics from the Vendel Period

Vendel and Valsgärde are two archaeological sites located in Sweden. Both of these sites were once used as burial grounds, and it is from the former that a period in Swedish prehistory, the Vendel...
Theseus (center) invented wrestling

The Real Reason That Men in Classical Portrayals Were Given Small Manhoods

Today, bigger is widely regarded as better. But was this always the case? This article sheds some light on how the Western culture changed in its phallic preferences. Over the past few decades,...
The Fake Hercules Sarcophagus of Tarragona Spain - And The Real Ones

The Fake Hercules Sarcophagus of Tarragona Spain - And The Real Ones

Some artifacts, even when they were discovered a long time ago are hard to authenticate and some certainly are fakes. The Hercules Sarcophagus is one such artifact, widely regarded to be a hoax. This...
The controversial Praeneste fibula is currently housed at the Luigi Pigorini National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography in Rome. Source: Vobiscum / CC BY-SA 3.0

The Enigmatic Inscription of the Praeneste Fibula – Was it Just a Hoax?

The earliest history of ancient Rome is somewhat clouded in mystery. Judging from its glorious past that spanned many centuries, you would think that it was well documented and crystal clear. But...
The Piraeus Lion of Venice: Runes and Roaming from Greece to Italy

The Piraeus Lion of Venice: Runes and Roaming from Greece to Italy

Some ancient artifacts travel from where they were first made to become symbols of other foreign lands. This is certainly the story of the Piraeus Lion. The Piraeus Lion is a marble lion displayed in...
Another “Cursed” Roman Ballista Ball Is Returned in Israel

Another “Cursed” Roman Ballista Ball Is Returned in Israel

Ancient curses are most popularly associated with Egyptian mummies, their tombs, and their grave goods. In reality, however, people may associate ancient curses with just about anything, including...
The Panyer Boy, An Enigma on the Streets of London

The Panyer Boy, An Enigma on the Streets of London

The Panyer Boy is a mysterious relief found in London. As indicated by its name, the sculpture depicts a boy seating on what seems to be a basket. Additionally, there is a stone plaque with an...
The Perplexing Horned Helmet of Henry VIII

The Perplexing Horned Helmet of Henry VIII

One of the most bizarre artefacts exhibited today in the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, England, the peculiar horned helmet of Henry VIII has attracted much scholarly attention. Nevertheless, the...
Modern Welsh love spoon on flower petals

The Sweet Symbolism of a Welsh Love Spoon

Roses are red Violets are blue, Presenting a spoon Means I love you While one often thinks of presenting his/her loved ones with flowers or candy as a gesture of romance, it was once more common to...
Rivodutri’s Alchemical Door To Enlightenment In 17th Century AD Italy

Rivodutri’s Alchemical Door To Enlightenment In 17th Century Italy

Add magic to natural philosophy and early chemistry knowledge and you have the ancient art of alchemy . Alchemists tried to change various substances into gold and looked hard for the elixir of...
Detail, the medieval Hereford Mappa Mundi, “Cloth of the World” in Hereford, England. Circa 1300.

Hereford Mappa Mundi: Legendary Cities, Monstrous Races, and Curious Medieval Beasts

A large calfskin canvas was secreted away beneath the floor of an English cathedral, featuring what, at first glance, appeared to be a map of the world. Once recovered and repaired, the map which is...
The Vinland Map: A Most Non-European Artifact

The Vinland Map: A Most Non-European Artifact

The Vinland Map carries with it the air of mystery and, some would say, the stench of deception. In the vaults of Yale University, and insured for $25 Million, it is either a colossal fraud or an...
The Cursed Amethyst: Trail of Misfortune and Misery Follows Ancient Gem

The Cursed Amethyst: Trail of Misfortune and Misery Follows Ancient Gem

The ‘Cursed Amethyst’, also known as the Delhi Purple Sapphire was incorrectly identified as a sapphire in the nineteenth century. This legendary gemstone remained hidden for three centuries beneath...
Bronze Horseman on Thunder Stone Monolith Pedestal

The Thunder Stone and Bronze Horseman: The Monolithic Savior of St Petersburg?

The Bronze Horseman is a monument located in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg. The pedestal of this equestrian statue is known as the Thunder Stone, a monolith claimed to be the largest block of...
The concept of magic, occultism and protection from demons in daily life lies at the heart what the Arslan Tash amulets provided to the ancient Phoenician and Assyrian peoples.                       Source: Sergei / Adobe Stock

The Mystical Arslan Tash Amulets: Protection From Night Demons

The culture of Phoenician civilization was one of the most inspiring and influential in the ancient world. Through maritime trade and over many centuries, the Phoenician writing script, their...
Samurai with a sword

Searching for the Honjo Masamune, Lost Samurai Sword of Power

The Honjo Masamune is a sword that was forged by the renowned Japanese swordsmith, Goro Nyudo Masamune. This samurai sword is one of the most famous swords in Japanese history, and at one point of...
The rich burial of Varna man found with gold in Bulgaria

Varna Man and the Wealthiest Grave of the 5th Millennium BC

In the 1970s, archaeologists in Bulgaria stumbled upon a vast Copper Age necropolis from the 5th millennium BC containing the oldest golden artifacts ever discovered near the modern-day city of Varna...
The Gebel el-Arak Knife (Rama/CC BY SA 3.0) and detail of one side of the ivory handle. (Rama/CC BY SA 3.0)

Gebel El-Arak Knife – A Link to Ancient Egypt’s Distant Beginnings

The ancient, far reaching civilizations of the world are for many people a continuous source of inspiration. Ancient, ageless myths and wonders of emerging societies and archaic technologies are not...
Professor Charles Hapgood believed strange, unexplained maps were signs of a long-forgotten civilization of ancient sea kings. Source: Freesurf / Adobe Stock

Charles Hapgood and the Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings

Charles H. Hapgood began his book, Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings , by stating, after studying composite maps at least partially derived from ancient sources, that ancient voyagers traveled from pole...

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