The Mescalero Apache reservation in New Mexico holds a time-honored rite of passage for its young girls every Fourth of July. The four-day ritual involves a series of tests that challenge the girls'...
Being a full-fledged member of any society was an important thing in many of the world’s oldest cultures. To be a part of the community, of the tribe, or the family, is one of the strongest human...
Between the 18th and 19th century in Poland, a child was given an unusual burial involving bird skulls within the Tunel Wielki Cave. A ritualistic burial like this surely would have been a spectacle...
Mithra was the god of light, purity, goodness, and truth and occupied an important place in the faith of the ancient Aryans. The Spread of Mithra There are various opinions on the spread of the...
Researchers in the UK have created a mini model of one of the most famous prehistoric monuments in the world in order to understand its acoustics . They have built a replica of Stonehenge and have...
If they stayed almost any length of time, the ancient Romans left a cultural mark on the place they visited, conquered, and/or had extensive trade with. One way this makes itself known in Egypt is in...
A group of researchers using hard science put frankincense to the test: Does this ancient, fragrant smoke give feelings of exaltation to the practitioners of the many religions in whose rites it has...
Nothing ignites archaeological and historical curiosity more than an unexpected and mysterious discovery. A secret room uncovered by researchers at a Bronze Age temple in Sidon, Lebanon, is such a...
The Aragonese Castle is a castle built on top of a rocky islet next to Ischia, a small Italian island on the northern end of the Gulf of Naples. Whilst a stronghold is said to have already been built...
For Thai Buddhists, funerals are extremely important moments, as they represent rebirth and the passage from one existence to another. The elaborate funeral rites recently held in honor of Thailand’s...
Archaeologists claim that remains of dogs and wolves found at the Srubnaya-culture settlement of Krasnosamarskoe in the Russian steppes, dating back to 1900–1700 BC, indicate that a ritual took place...
The Djehuty Project, led by research professor, José Manuel Galán, from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), has discovered a 4,000-year-old funerary garden- the first such garden ever to be...
In the modern world, the mere mention of “Sacred Prostitution” may receive raised eyebrows or disgusted grimaces. Evidently, this was also the case for the ancients as many ancient authors describe...
Czech archaeologists have unearthed an 18 meter (59.1 ft.) long boat near a tomb of an unknown member of the Old Kingdom’s elite class in Abusir (Abu-Sir), Egypt. The boat was found in a good state...
Throughout northeastern Greece, western Turkey, and Bulgaria, in the region known in antiquity as Macedonia, Anatolia, and Thrace, there are numerous megalithic natural rock formations that resemble...
Archaeologists studying a cave in southeast Italy with remains of people who died 7,500 years ago say they have identified the first known cases in New Stone Age Europe of people scraping the flesh...