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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. 

Vikings arriving in North America at the Newfoundland site. Source: Nejron Photo / Adobe Stock.
16 July, 2019 - 22:54 ashley cowie

Dispute Over Evidence Of Cannabis Use By Vikings In North America

Cannabis pollen discovered near an ancient Viking settlement in Newfoundland is generating differences in opinion as to whether or not the Vikings were smoking and eating the weed while they explored...
Photograph (top) and tracing (bottom) of an engraved human bone fragment found at Lingjing in China’s Henan Province. Source: Francesco d’Errico and Luc Doyon / Fair Use.
16 July, 2019 - 14:05 Ed Whelan

Oldest Human Bone Engraved and Painted By Hominid Found In China

In China a team of archaeologists has made a significant discovery after examining a human bone that may be up to 125,000 years old . They found a small bone that shows signs that it was cut and then...
Plastico di Roma imperiale at the Museum of the Roman Civilization. Source: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra / CC BY-SA 2.0.
14 July, 2019 - 23:05 Sarah P Young

The Plastico di Roma Imperiale Wasn’t Built in a Day: Accurate Mini Rome Model Took 35 Years

The Roman Empire dominated most of Europe and parts of Africa and the Middle East for over thousand years, evolving from a monarchy to a democracy and finally a militaristic dictatorship. The empire...
Catacomb Saint - Saint Gratian. Source: Xenophon / CC BY-SA 4.0.
10 July, 2019 - 19:08 Aleksa Vučković

A Beauty in Darkness: The Hidden Secrets of the Catacomb Saints

Death was always a source of mystery for people around the world. But what happens when we erase that invisible border and make the dead a thing to worship? Never too far from every major turn of...
Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii. Source: dbvirago / Adobe Stock.
7 July, 2019 - 01:40 Sarah P Young

Pompeii: The Ancient Roman City Frozen in Time

In the Campania region of Italy near the modern day city of Naples , there was once a prosperous Roman city - Pompeii. As a thriving center for trade, the inhabitants of the city were a mixture of...
Temple of Edfu illustration by artist David Roberts.
5 July, 2019 - 23:14 Morgan Smith

The Grand Architect: The Sacred Link Between Architecture and the Divine Across Ancient Cultures

In 1892, architect W.R. Lethaby wrote: “The main purpose and burden of sacred architecture - and all architecture, temple, tomb, or palace, was sacred in the early days - is…inextricably bound up...
The Step Pyramid of King Djoser, does it include a path to the afterlife? Source: WitR / Adobe Stock.
2 July, 2019 - 14:02 ashley cowie

A Quarry Is Actually A 3D Map Of The Ancient Egyptian Underworld, Suggests Polish Scientist

Ancient Egyptians are well known for their creation of vast architectural structures which penetrate the skies and each one required a thorough understanding of the universal dynamics of breadth,...
Ossuary of James. Source: Finavon / Public Domain.
22 June, 2019 - 23:01 Pierluigi Tombetti

Ossuary of James the Just: The First Archaeological Evidence of the Existence of Jesus of Nazareth?

The Ossuary of James was the archaeological find that triggered the most sensational cover up of the 21st century. From the first charges of forgery in 2002 to the absolute silence of the media at...
Was the Great Pyramid built with sound technology in mind? Source: © Andrew Collins
22 June, 2019 - 18:50 Andrew Collins

The Great Pyramid Experiment: Exploring Infrasound Technology Use By The Ancients

In part one of this article we saw how there is compelling evidence to suggest that the ancient Egyptians of the Pyramid age incorporated sound technology into the design of Giza’s Great Pyramid ...
Giza pyramids where the Dixon relics were discovered. Source: kanuman / Adobe.
30 May, 2019 - 18:55 Morgan Smith

Lost Artifacts of the Great Pyramid: The Mysterious Case of the Dixon Relics

There is a certain perception of the Great Pyramid as an utterly void arrangement of empty halls and chambers, strangely bereft of artifacts and inscriptions that might offer clues to its...
Samurai armor is both brutal and delicate.
22 May, 2019 - 01:36 Kerry Sullivan

The Brutality and Delicacy of Samurai Armor: Superior Protection with a God-like Aesthetic

The Samurai class was officially dissolved over 150 years ago. Nonetheless, the warriors’ elaborate armor is still recognized globally as an iconic emblem of Japanese military strength and virtue...
Death mask of Napolean Bonaparte
21 May, 2019 - 23:03 ancient-origins

10 Sacred Masks for Hunting, Ritual, Shame and Death

Masks are one of the few things on the earth that connect all of humanity throughout time. We have created ritual masks since our very beginnings in order to disguise, protect, or entertain. They...
A comet strike/ Tutankhamun’s brooch/Tutanhhamun’s Sarcophagus
21 May, 2019 - 20:53 Joanna Gillan

Tutankhamun’s Scarab Brooch Confirmed as Born From a Direct Comet Hit

The fascinating story of the origins of a component in Tutankhamun ’s scarab brooch has been furthered this week. It has been established that some of the material found in that brooch was result of...
Charred food remains from hearths were discovered, left by ancient humans eating starch. Source: PetarPaunchev / Adobe.
21 May, 2019 - 01:41 ancient-origins

Earliest Evidence for a Cooked Starch Paleo Diet

New discoveries made at the Klasies River Cave in South Africa's southern Cape, where charred food remains from hearths were found, provide the first archaeological evidence that anatomically modern...
The ancient Crusaders' DNA can help us understand historical events. Source: Alessandro Cristiano / Adobe.
19 May, 2019 - 18:58 ancient-origins

A History of the Crusades As Told by Crusaders' DNA

History can tell us a lot about the Crusades , the series of religious wars fought between 1095 and 1291, in which Christian invaders tried to claim the Near East. But the DNA of nine 13th century...
Finger bone fragment containing Denisovan DNA. Source: Thilo Parg / CC BY-SA 3.0.
18 May, 2019 - 18:49 Glenn Dahlem

Did the Denisovans Walk to North America?

For a people from whom one 41,000 year old finger bone fossil from a nine year old girl, along with a bracelet she wore, were (until recently) the only authenticated known artifacts, the mysterious...
Imprints found in the cave allowed analysis of ancient human behavior
15 May, 2019 - 23:57 ancient-origins

14,000-year-old Footprints in Italian Cave Reveal Ancient Human Behavior

Evidence of crawling in an Italian cave system sheds new light on late Stone Age human behavior in groups, especially when exploring new grounds, says a study published today in eLife. The Discovery...
Archaeological excavations illuminate human environmental impact.
13 May, 2019 - 22:55 ancient-origins

New Data Platform Illuminates History of Human Environmental Impact

The human environmental footprint is not only deep, but old. Ancient traces of this footprint can be found in animal bones , shells , scales, and antlers at archaeological sites. Together, these...
The Burney Relief
5 May, 2019 - 18:55 dhwty

The Famous Burney Relief: Who Was the Mysterious Mesopotamian Goddess?

The Burney Relief (known also as the Queen of the Night) is a terracotta plaque from ancient Mesopotamia . The relief is dominated by a nude female figure with wings and talons . She is usually...
Was the Brazil Tablet left by early Transatlantic explorers?
25 April, 2019 - 01:30 Clyde Winters

The Brazil Tablet: Dropped in the Jungle by Early Transatlantic Explorers?

In 1310, Malian explorers led by Mansa (King) Abubakari set sail to discover new lands across the Atlantic. A mysterious statuette was left by these ancient explorers in the Brazilian jungle...
Artistic representation of a shotel sword (PetriBot / CC BY-SA 4.0) on a fractal background. (Pixabay License)
20 April, 2019 - 13:58 Sarah P Young

The Shotel Sword: Ancient African Weapon Was Worn To Impress the Ladies

One thing that every culture has in common is weaponry, and that weaponry is often unique and distinctive in its appearance. Swords are a particularly prevalent example of this – from the...
Jean-Marc Fournier is chaplain of the Paris Fire Brigade.
18 April, 2019 - 01:55 ashley cowie

Heroic Priest Saved Ancient Crown of Thorns from The Flames of Hell

As the flames of every disaster fade, stories emerge about heroes and this is again the case in Paris where a brave French priest not only attended to the wounded after the Notre-Dame cathedral fire...
Plates vi and vii of the Edwin Smith Papyrus
15 April, 2019 - 19:01 dhwty

Edwin Smith Papyrus: 3,600-Year-Old Surgical Treatise Reveals Secrets of Ancient Egyptian Medical Knowledge

The Edwin Smith Papyrus is a medical treatise from ancient Egypt. This papyrus is named after Edwin Smith, the American collector of antiquities who purchased the papyrus. The Edwin Smith Papyrus is...
Four of the Tucson Artifacts Source: The Tucson Artifacts / Photographs by Robert C. Hyde. © Donald N. Yates, 2013. All rights reserved. Used by special permission.
9 April, 2019 - 18:52 Gary Moran

Genuine Ooparts Crucial to History or a Colossal Hoax? A Thorough Examination of The Tucson Artifacts [Exclusive Images]

The Tucson Artifacts created quite a sensation when they were discovered in the 1920s. Over 30 crosses and other relics were recovered, and they tell the story of a group of Roman colonists who were...

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