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The 1,500-year-old Roman mosaic depicting people enjoying a pre-hunt party. Source: DHA

Mosaic Depicts 1,500-Year-Old Roman Party Scene

Archaeologists have found the remains of 1500-year-old architectural structures, baths, and a mosaic during the seventh stage of excavations in the ancient city of Germanicia in Turkey’s southeastern...
Book pages curled into a heart for Valentine’s Day. 	Source: pirotehnik / Adobe Stock

Day of Love? The Complex Origins of Valentine’s Day

On February 14, couples from around the world recognize Valentine’s Day. For most, Valentine’s Day is a day of love, a day to shower your beloved with gifts and tokens of appreciation, to enjoy a...
5th century chamber pot from the Roman villa at Gerace, Sicily (Italy). Source: Roger Wilson / Journal of Archaeological Science

Parasite Traces Show ‘Storage Jars’ Were Actually Portable Chamber Pots

A brilliant new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science highlights how the archaeologists and researchers involved in analyzing a 1,500-year-old chamber pot have developed a unique...
Polish diplomat Robert D. Rokicki points to where he believes the ancient city of Thebasa is located.		Source: Anadolu Agency

Amateur History Sleuth Finds Long-Lost City of Thebasa in Turkey

A Polish diplomat assigned to his country’s embassy in Ankara, Turkey has helped solve an archaeological and historical riddle that has puzzled scholars for more than two centuries. Accomplishing a...
Roman London’s Port Became Redundant In The Third Century AD

Roman London’s Port Became Redundant In The Third Century AD

A series of changes that contributed to the redundancy of London’s port took place during the period of wider disruptions known as the ‘Third-Century Crisis’ - a time of political instability, plague...
Drone shot of the last Roman amphitheater ever unearthed in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland.		Source: Canton of Aargau

The Last Roman Amphitheater Ever Built Found Near Basel Switzerland!

An archaeological team accompanying construction workers building a new boathouse for the Basel Rowing Club in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland in December last year unexpectedly stumbled upon the remains of...
The silver artifact, dubbed a “paranormal paracetamol,” may date back to the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine. Source: Peter Beasley.

Detectorists Find “Paranormal Paracetamol” in Fossilized Human Waste

A pair of metal detectorists in England have made the rare discovery of a solid silver Roman oddity dating back to the time of Roman Emperor Constantine (306 to 337 AD), remembered for making...
The Roman era wooden statue found at the Twyford Buckinghamshire HS2 rail project dig site in England submerged for cleaning. 	Source: HS2

Archaeologists Find Ultra-Rare Roman-Era Wooden Statue in Britain

In a waterlogged ditch in a field near the village of Twyford, Buckinghamshire, a team of experts working for the HS2 archaeological contractor Fusion JV were stunned but delighted to discover an...
The Roman coin hoard discovered in the cave in Northern Spain. Source: Consejería de Cultura del Principado de Asturias

Badger Finds Largest Ever Roman Coin Hoard in Northern Spain

A badger desperately hunting for food during the harsh winter of 2021, when Storm Filomena deposited snow across the Iberian Peninsula , has accidentally uncovered a substantial Roman coin hoard in a...
This beautifully shaped ceramic vessel is just one of the many Roman artifacts and ruins found at the Blackgrounds HS2 project dig site, which was once the setting for a prosperous Roman British trading center.		Source: HS2

Artifact-Rich Ancient Roman Village Unearthed By UK Archaeologists

Archaeologists employed to search along the pathway of England’s new high speed 2 (HS2) railway line have unearthed an impressive bounty of artifacts, ruins, and other remnants of past cultures at...
The terracotta dog statue found beneath the streets of central Rome, Italy.		Source: Soprintendenza Speciale Roma

Tombs Unearthed in Rome Produce Unusual 2,000-Year-Old Dog Statue

Utility workers laying pipes under the pavement of the Via Luigi Tosti in Rome’s Appio Latino quarter found something ancient and historically significant. While chipping out tunnels they discovered...
A firework show at the Temple of Dawn in Thailand

The Ancient Origins of New Year’s Celebrations

On January 1st of every year, many countries around the world celebrate the beginning of a new year. But there is nothing new about New Year’s. In fact, festivals and celebrations marking the...
The Velsen I Roman fort in the Netherlands. Source: Graham Sumner / Livius.org

Roman Fort Used During Conquest of Britain Found in the Netherlands

Between 43 AD and 410 AD, large parts of Britain were under Roman occupation. Part of the Roman empire’s eastwards occupation, these conquered territories had the status of a Roman province. The...
Broch of Dun Carloway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland.	Source: Manel Vinuesa / Adobe Stock

Advanced Scottish Culture Stopped Romans Taking All Of Britannia

New archaeological evidence demonstrates that Britain’s Hadrian’s Wall was not a cause, but instead an effect of the cultural differences that already thrived between the two territories that would...
Anachronistic painting by Piero della Francesca of the Battle of Nineveh (627) between Heraclius' Byzantine army and the Sasanians under Khosrow II, which was pretty much the end of the Byzantine–Sasanian War.		Source: Piero della Francesca / Public domain

The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 AD and the Rise of the Muslims

The Byzantines and Sasanians were rival powers who fought each other for supremacy in the Middle East. Although the conflict between the two powers began during the 6th century AD, it is in fact a...
Dr. David Neal making notes on his illustration during the excavation of the Roman mosaic with students from ULAS / University of Leicester. Source: Historic England

Roman Mosaic Depicting The Iliad Discovered in “Oh Wow Moment”

The accidental discovery of an extraordinary Roman mosaic in a Rutland field that has been described by experts as the “the most exciting Roman mosaic discovery in the UK in the last century,”...
A Turkish archaeologist holding up the 1800-year-old iron Roman cavalry mask found at the ancient garrison town of Hadrianopolis, Turkey.		Source: YouTube screenshot / DHA

Rare Iron Roman Cavalry Face Mask Discovered At Hadrianopolis, Turkey

An 1,800 year old Roman soldier's cavalry face mask has been discovered at a 3rd century AD military site in Turkey. But this site isn’t located in the heart of the Roman empire, but at a far flung...
The two shorter stones. Source: Paul Allison / CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Enigmatic Devil's Arrows: The Tallest Standing Stones in Britain

In the heart of Yorkshire in northern England, near the town of Aldborough, lie three huge pillars of stone known as the Devil's Arrows. Originally four, these are the tallest collection of standing...
An excavation trench showing a pillar of the unfinished Roman aqueduct now mapped out in Armenia by researchers from the Armenian-German Artaxata Project hosted at University of Münster.

Roman Empire’s Eastern-most Aqueduct Found Half Finished in Armenia

“The most easterly arched aqueduct of the Roman Empire” was found in the Hellenistic royal city of Artashat-Artaxata, the large, commercial capital of ancient Armenia between the 2nd century BC and...
Huge Roman Silver Hoard Unearthed in Augsburg, Germany

Huge Roman Silver Hoard Unearthed in Augsburg, Germany

A massive stash of Roman silver dating to the first and second centuries AD has been discovered in the Bavarian city of Augsburg in Germany. The cache, which includes 15 kg (33 pounds) of silver...
Statue of Romulus and Remus suckling on a she wolf. Their famous story was one of attempted Roman infanticide but were saved by the she wolf, now a major symbol of the Roman Empire. 						Source: borzywoj / Adobe Stock

Does Roman Infanticide Explain the Mass Infant Burial Discovered in England?

Between 43 AD and 410 AD, huge swathes of Britain were under the control of the Roman Empire and funerary practices were mostly Christian, but also included the practice of Roman infanticide...
The Roman dagger found by an amateur archaeologist with a metal detector that revealed the “unknown” Swiss Roman battle site, where the twelfth Roman legion fought against local Celtic tribes.			Source: Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen

Archaeologist Discovers Swiss Roman Battle Site and 2,000-Year-Old Dagger

Sometimes experts can get it wrong. And that is what seems to have happened in the case of a Swiss Roman battle site from 2000 years ago. The new site was found between the towns of Tiefencastel and...
Complete bust of female Roman statue discovered at the site of old St Mary’s church in Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, England. Source: HS2

‘Astounding’ Roman Statues Found Under Medieval Church in Britain

Archaeologists digging at the site of a Norman-era church north of London received quite a surprise recently. Their ongoing excavations unearthed the well-preserved remains of three large Roman...
The assassination of Julius Caesar by William Holmes Sullivan (1836-1908).	Source: Public Domain

Study Proves Statistical Probability of Violent Death for Roman Emperors

In December 2019 Ancient Origins reported that Dr. Joseph Saleh, an aerospace engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States, had published a study in the online journal Nature...

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