pirates

Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, Panamá Viejo

13 May, 2019 - 13:46 Ed Whelan

How An Infamous Welsh Pirate Destroyed the Conquistadors' City of Panama Viejo

Panama City in Central America is a bustling city of 1.5 million people. It is a major financial hub as well as a popular tourist destination and fortunately the remains of the old Panama City , an...

View of the Colonial home on Labourdonnais’ estate reflecting the opulent lifestyle of French sugar cane plantation owners of the 18th century.

18 March, 2019 - 19:44 micki pistorius

Slaves and Sugar: ‘Black Gold’ and ‘White Gold’ of Mauritius’ Economy

In the 18th and 19th centuries, sugar was considered the ‘white gold’ in the commercial arenas of the world, but it was accrued by the scourge of ‘black gold’ – slave labor. The tiny green emerald...

Sir Henry Morgan, Capture of Panama, from the Pirates of the Spanish Main series (N19) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes.

15 March, 2019 - 14:37 ashley cowie

Hunting for Captain Morgan’s Lost Inca Gold

Native mythology on San Andrés talks of the privateer Captain Henry Morgan burying a vast treasure in a sea cave and in December 2018, after two years of researching the life and times of Captain...

Mudlarking on the exposed foreshore at low spring tide.

6 March, 2019 - 14:00 dhwty

Mudlarking the Thames: How a Riverbed Became the World’s Biggest Archaeological Site

A mudlark is the name given to a person who scavenges in the foreshore of a river for objects that could be sold. This term applies specifically to those operating along the Thames River in London...

Pirate or privateer, buccaneer or corsair?

22 January, 2019 - 13:58 dhwty

The Intricate World of Pirates, Privateers, Buccaneers, and Corsairs

Piracy can be defined as “the act of attacking ships in order to steal from them”, and one who participates in this act is known simply as a pirate . As simple as this may sound in theory, there were...

18 January, 2019 - 22:45 dhwty

When Julius Caesar Was Kidnapped by Pirates - And Made Them Increase the Ransom!

Piracy is a practice that can be dated all the way back to ancient times. In the Mediterranean, pirates were not a major threat as long as they could be kept in check, usually by a strong navy. By...

14 November, 2018 - 01:44 Caleb Strom

Is This the Real Reason Why Pirates Wore Eyepatches?

Between 1700 and 1725, the Caribbean was a relatively lawless place with numerous merchant ships traversing the high seas with no authorities to protect them. These factors helped to make this period...

Skeletal remains from the pirate ship Whydah Gally inside a mass of hardened sand and stone.

12 February, 2018 - 13:57 ashley cowie

Pirate’s Crossed Bones Rise from Ghost Ship – Are They the Remains of Notorious Pirate Samuel Bellamy?

Scientists in Massachusetts will soon know if bones discovered in a pirate shipwreck belong to one of the most notorious Pirates of the Caribbean that ever sailed the seven seas - Captain Samuel “...

A fragment of paper discovered on Blackbeard's flagship Queen Anne’s Revenge, compared with the book it was determined to be from. Credit: North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources

7 January, 2018 - 22:58 Theodoros Karasavvas

Paper Fragment on Shipwreck Reveals Blackbeard’s Crew Enjoyed Reading Pirate Stories

Conservators from North Carolina have discovered paper fragments hidden inside a cannon chamber that was drawn up from the wreck of Queen Anne's Revenge, the flagship of the notorious 18th century...

Battle of Grand Port by Pierre-Julien Gilbert

1 December, 2017 - 13:52 micki pistorius

Mauritius: From Conquests to Naval Battles, Piracy and a Long-Awaited Independence

Volcanic activity in the Indian Ocean gave rise to the island we know today as Mauritius. Undetected for millennia, like a tiny green emerald dropped in the azure blue Indian Ocean, it lay virginally...

A collection of images of the ruins of Port Royal as it stands today.

30 July, 2017 - 13:24 aprilholloway

Unexplored Sunken Pirate City in the Caribbean Will Finally Be Revealed

Seventeenth century life in Port Royal, Jamaica, commonly referred to as "the wickedest city on earth", conjures up images of marauding pirates, treasure hunters, naval conquests, looting, and the...

5 January, 2017 - 14:54 dhwty

Piracy in the Ancient Mediterranean and the Notorious Cilicians

Piracy (in its maritime context) is thought to have existed ever since the seas were used by merchants as trade routes. The Mediterranean Sea was no exception, and piracy has been notorious in this...

Roman Army & Chariot Experience, Hippodrome, Jerash, Jordan.

18 March, 2015 - 00:21 lizleafloor

Oldest Roman Military Camp discovered in Italy was Built to Fend off Fierce Pirates

An ancient Roman fort has been discovered in Italy by researchers using advanced sensing technology. It is reportedly the oldest military camp built by the Roman army ever found, and the only Roman...

Typical fragment of a wall, Lelu Ruins, Kosrae

15 March, 2015 - 21:20 Mark Miller

Coral Tombs Housed Royal Micronesians 700 years ago

Centuries ago on the island of Kosrae in the central Pacific Ocean, islanders cleaned their deceased kings’ bodies, anointed them and then buried them in temporary coral tombs for three months only...

6 October, 2014 - 13:26 aprilholloway

The White Slaves of Barbary

Much attention and condemnation has been directed towards the tragedy of the African slave trade, which took place between the 16 th and the 19 th centuries. However, another equally despicable trade...

1 October, 2014 - 23:55 aprilholloway

The extraordinary tale of a pope, a pirate, and a dead bishop’s treasure

Documents published from the Vatican archives in 2014 revealed an incredible tale of pirate attacks and corruption involving a 14 th century bishop, whose lifelong accumulation of treasure was...

Pages

Myths & Legends

The Epic of Gilgamesh. Source: Luca Oleastri / Adobe.

The Epic of Gilgamesh Unveiled: Searching For a Way to the Home Planet

In contrast to many theorists, this unconventional retelling of key parts of the Epic explores the idea that Gilgamesh was not searching for life eternal on Earth, as has been suggested as the theme of the Epic, but was instead searching for the means of transport to return to his goddess mother Ninsun’s home planet in the heavens.

Say the Magic Word: The Origins of Abracadabra

The Real Story of Medusa: Protective Powers from a Snake-Haired Gorgon

The Epic of Gilgamesh Unveiled: Enlightenment and Source of Religions

The Nature and Dangers of the Legendary Kobold

The Menhune of Hawaii – Ancient Race or Fictional Fairytale?

Human Origins

The Pagan Wheel of the Year: What Elaborate Rituals and Events Mark this Sacred Cycle?

Although it may be a long time (if ever) before pagans reclaim their Yule from Christmas or their Samhain from Halloween, it is worthwhile to explore these ancient religious traditions. The Wheel of the Year follows the cycle of pagan festivals.

The Epic of Gilgamesh Unveiled: Enlightenment and Source of Religions

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

The Secret Life of an Ancient Concubine

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

Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms

Ancient Technology

An ancient Roman road at Leptis Magna, Libya

Ancient Journeys: What was Travel Like for the Romans?

It was not uncommon for the ancient Romans to travel long distances all across Europe. Actually during the Roman Empire, Rome had an incredible road network which extended from northern England all...

The incredible earthquake detector invented nearly 2,000 years ago

Secrets Behind the Creepy Plague Doctor Mask and Costume

Romans in Pompeii Repaired the Roads with Molten Iron

Mummy Brown – the 16th century paint made from ground up mummies

Why Are There 365 Days in a Year? Organizing Dates with an Ancient Egyptian Calendar

Ancient Places

Royal Palace at Ebla. Source: CC BY-SA 3.0

First Kingdoms: The Forgotten Mesopotamian Kingdom of Ebla

Spectacular things were happening in Mesopotamia in the period we call the Early Bronze Age, particularly in the southern part of it, commonly called Babylonia.

Sumer: Where Written Language, Arithmetic and Civilization Were Born

Explaining the Fall of the Great Akkadian Empire

Homer’s Iliad Casts Doubt on the Aegean Location of Troy

The Incredible Subterranean City of Kish

The Great Ziggurat of Ur

Opinion

Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms

There are many accounts of a land of immortality and eternal youth in world myths and legends, as well as shamanic and indigenous spiritual traditions. Mysterious Worlds Writing in his recent work,...

Pharaoh Akhenaten: An Alternative View of the Heretic King

Changing Colors and Scampering Across the Night Sky: What Did the Ancients Say about Sirius?

Cracking the Code to Discover Ancient Tarot Symbolism and Forgotten Universal Knowledge

The Secret Strategic Plans of Darius the Great

The Secrets of the Kabbalists Garden

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.

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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.