pet

17 January, 2021 - 17:45 ashley cowie

Roman Baby Burial Challenges “Unceremonious Disposal” Dogma

Archeologists digging at France’s Clermont-Ferrand Airport have discovered the remains of a 2,000-year-old, upper-class, Roman baby and his pet dog. This rare Roman baby burial discovery further...

26 October, 2020 - 23:18 Alicia McDermott

Do All Dogs Go To Heaven? Pet Cemeteries and Belief in an Animal Afterlife

The loss of a pet is always tragic. However the way we have treated our pets after their death and the beliefs we hold about what happens after our cherished animal is gone have changed over the...

The remains of the cat fund in Kazakhstan. Source: Ashleigh Haruda / MLU

10 July, 2020 - 22:45 ashley cowie

Silk Road Cat Pushes Back Central Asia Domestication to 8th-century AD

Archaeologists have found the well-preserved remains of a Silk Road cat buried in Kazakhstan that likely dates from the 8th century AD, and the evidence suggests this was a “well-loved pet cat.” In a...

Remains of the Roman toy dog reveal its tiny stature and a healthy diet similar to its owners. Source: Martínez Sánchez / University of Granada

26 March, 2020 - 22:01 Ed Whelan

Ancient Remains Reveal the Romans Had ‘Toy Dogs’ Too

Research in Spain reveals that the Romans loved miniature or toy dogs. In antiquity, many members of the elite had pampered pets. Just as today, many celebrities have ‘toy dogs’ such as chihuahuas...

Foxes and dogs were domesticated in antiquity.

22 February, 2019 - 18:24 ancient-origins

Dogs and Foxes Were Domesticated By Bronze Age Humans

Science Daily In the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, between the third and second millennium BC, a widespread funeral practice consisted in burying humans with animals. Scientists have discovered...

Representational image of a war elephant. The recently-discovered fortress at Berenike guarded a port that supplied war elephants

6 January, 2019 - 18:51 ashley cowie

2300-Year-Old Fortress Which Guarded Port That Supplied War Elephants Found in Egypt in Major Discovery

A Polish-American archaeological team have discovered the ruins of a 2,300-year-old fortress that once protected the Ancient Egyptian port of “Berenike”, situated strategically on the coast of the...

The Carniolan honey bee (Apis mellifera carnica) is a subspecies of Western honey bee.

29 June, 2018 - 10:26 Kerry Sullivan

After 2000 Years of Harmony, the Maya May Soon Lose their Stingless Bee Pets

For several years now, reports have circulated about the worrisome decline of the population of bees. Periodically, newspaper headlines lament the bees’ disappearance as an irreversible tipping point...

11 October, 2017 - 01:56 ancient-origins

Viking Dogs Followed Their Masters to Valhalla

By THORNEWS Large amounts of animal bones have been found in Viking Age ship graves. For example, there were eight large sighthounds (Old Norse: mjór) buried on both sides outside the ship In the...

Some of the remains of ancient Egyptian pets unearthed in Berenike.

8 October, 2017 - 22:45 Theodoros Karasavvas

2,000-Year-Old Ancient Egyptian Cemetery Containing Dozens of Pets Unearthed in Berenike

A team of archaeologists have discovered a nearly 2,000-year-old pet cemetery holding the remains of dogs, monkeys and scores of cats at the site of Berenike, an Egyptian town on the Red Sea that...

22 June, 2017 - 02:00 Theodoros Karasavvas

DNA Analysis Suggests Cats Chose to Be Domesticated

According to an extensive DNA analysis of cat genes the domestic cat is descended from wild cats that were tamed twice; once in the Near East and then in Egypt. The study suggests that cats lived for...

20 April, 2017 - 18:41 ashley cowie

From Mighty Bear Dogs to Breathless Bulldogs: How Human Manipulation Has Changed the Shape of Canines Forever

Dogs in Prehistory The early ancestors of Gray Wolves were a group of carnivores named the creodonts that roamed the northern hemisphere between 100 and 120 million years ago. About 55 million years...

Did You Known That Baboons Were Trained in Ancient Egypt to Catch Criminals?

19 February, 2017 - 14:28 dhwty

Did You Know That Baboons Were Trained in Ancient Egypt to Catch Criminals?

The ancient Egyptians were renowned for their worship of animals, and one of these was the baboon. In ancient Egyptian mythology, baboons are best known for their association with Thoth, the god of...

Ancient Egyptian relief carving of a dog.

7 September, 2015 - 14:49 lizleafloor

Ritual and Burial: The Strange and Elaborate Ways Humans Prepared Animals for the Afterlife

The practice of animal burial is one that dates back to prehistoric epochs. Many cultures around the globe have buried animals for various reasons: sentimentality, religious rituals, superstition,...

Myths & Legends

Noah's Sacrifice - watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot

The ‘Dynastic Race’ and the Biblical ‘Japheth’ – Part I: After the Deluge

The imperfect state of archaeological researches in the Near East impedes any definite identification of the original race or races that created the earliest civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. According to Gordon Childe, however, the predominant racial element in the earliest graves in the region from Elam to the Danube is the ‘Mediterranean’.

Craniums and Controversies of the Chachapoya Cloud Warriors

Edgar Cayce, Six-fingered Giants and the Supernatural Creation Gods of Atlantis: Part 1

The Pagan Attis and Christian Jesus: A Spurious Connection?

Crossing the Veil: The Pre-Christian Origins of Halloween and Samhain

The Last of the Siberian Unicorns: What Happened to the Mammoth-Sized One-Horned Beasts of Legend?

Human Origins

Silhouettes (Public Domain) in front of blood cells (Public Domain) and a gene.

Rh-Negative Blood: An Exotic Bloodline or Random Mutation?

Most people who have the Rh blood type are Rh-positive. There are also instances, however, where people are Rh-Negative. Health problems may occur for the unborn child of a mother with Rh-Negative blood when the baby is Rh-Positive.

Return of the Ancient Gods: The Resurgence of Paganism

The ‘Dynastic Race’ and the Biblical ‘Japheth’ – Part I: After the Deluge

Ancient Anomalous Human Skeletons: Humanity Could be Much Older Than We Think

Edgar Cayce, Six-fingered Giants and the Supernatural Creation Gods of Atlantis: Part 1

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

Ancient Technology

Norimitsu Odachi: Who Could Have Possibly Wielded This Enormous 15th Century Japanese Sword?

The Norimitsu Odachi is a huge sword from Japan. It is so large, in fact, that it was said to have been wielded by a giant. Apart from the basic knowledge of it having been forged in the 15th century AD, measuring 3.77 meters (12.37 ft.) in length, and weighing as much as 14.5 kg (31.97 lbs.), this impressive sword is shrouded in mystery.

Egyptian Blue – The Oldest Known Artificial Pigment

Secrets Behind the Creepy Plague Doctor Mask and Costume

Han Purple: A 2,800-year-old artificial pigment that quantum physicists are trying to understand

Ten amazing inventions from ancient times

The Beautiful and Complex Artisanship of Glass-making in the Ancient World

Ancient Places

The underwater ruins of Fuxian Lake in China are an enigma. Their age is enough to set the forgotten city apart, but the strange carvings still gracing the submerged stones really confuses archaeologists.

Enigmatic Carvings on Underwater Ruins in China Mystify Investigators

In an underwater investigation in Fuxian Lake, Yunnan Province, China, started on June 13, 2006, archeologists discovered remains of a group of huge ancient buildings at the bottom of the lake. The investigation team found numerous regularly placed stones featuring mysterious carvings.

Mound to Mountain: The Long Road to the Great Pyramid

Birka: The Mysterious Demise of a Majestic Viking Trading Center

This is What a Man from the Tomb of Sunken Skulls Looked Like

The Ġgantija Temples of Gozo: A Mysterious Megalithic Complex of Maltese Giants and Dwarfs

What Happened to the Sunken City of Cuba?

Opinion

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 portable ceremonial objects.

The Northern Mysteries Current: Futhark and Mystery Schools of the Viking Age

Was There Ever a Trojan War?

Floki and the Viking Discovery of Iceland

Messiah on Temple Mount: Are We Nearing the End of Time?

3 Problems to Remember When Trying to Find Atlantis

Our Mission

At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exists countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained.

The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe.

We’re the only Pop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives.

By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings.

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