Romans

Chinese woman in white makeup, illustrative of how lead white makeup was once worn. Source: yuri2011 / Adobe Stock

7 September, 2022 - 14:53 Sahir

The Chinese May have Been First to Use Synthetic Skin-whitening Cosmetics

A new study suggests that the Chinese may have been the first to use synthetic skin-whitening makeup and were making it before the Greeks and Romans. Bronze jars excavated from an elite tomb in...

The rare 69-AD Batavian mask find. Source: City of Krefeld, Press, and Communications

28 July, 2022 - 18:56 Nathan Falde

Rare Batavian Calvary Mask Worn in Revolt Against The Romans Found

Archaeologists excavating an ancient Roman site near the German city of Krefeld, just a few miles west of the Rhine, uncovered a rare Batavian mask, face-fitted for the elite Batavian cavalrymen,...

The Nymphaeum of Illyria at the ancient city of Apollonia, Albania fed by underground water sources, built in the middle of the 3rd century BC. It is the biggest and best-preserved Apollonia monument covering an area of 1,500 square meters or 16,146 square feet. Source: Carole Raddato / CC BY 2.0

18 July, 2022 - 15:00 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Illustrious Post-Macedon Illyria and the Roman Illyrian Wars

The legendary and illustrious tribal kingdoms of Illyria were located in current-day Albania and Montenegro, just across the Adriatic from Italy. The Illyrian world was also an important strategic...

A Roman road found in west Wales was the same road used to transport bluestones to Stonehenge according to the latest research. Source: Mark Merrony / Oxford University

7 June, 2022 - 14:53 ashley cowie

Stonehenge’s Bluestone Tracks Discovered Beneath Roman Road

An Oxford University archaeologist exploring the Welsh countryside has discovered an ancient Roman road in Wales. He believes it might be the lost route upon which the bluestones were transported to...

Burnswark hillfort in southwest Scotland was used as the start point for discovering the indigenous Hadrian’s Wall settlements, which lay north of Hadrian’s Wall that was pretty much the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire. Source: J. Reid / Antiquity Publications Ltd

25 May, 2022 - 00:01 Sahir

Over 100 Indigenous Settlements North of Hadrian’s Wall Discovered

Northern Britain, a fluctuating frontier area during the Roman occupation of Britain (43-410 AD), represented a tussle between Iron Age communities and the centralizing authority and power of the...

The saints Chrysanthus and Daria being pushed underground to their horrible death in a salt mine. Source: Public domain

24 May, 2022 - 22:57 Sahir

Legendary Christian Martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria Proved To Be Real

Legend has it that the now Christian saints Chrysanthus and Daria, who lived in the third century AD, converted thousands of fellow Romans to the Christian faith. This resulted in their arrest and...

Medieval battlefield. Source: Gorodenkoff / Adobe Stock

28 April, 2022 - 22:41 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Aeons of Battle: The 5 Longest Wars in History

In the annals of humanity there is one phenomenon that has consistently weaved and threaded itself through the fabric of time. It is, of course, war, which from the very earliest times until the...

Detail of illustration showing Roman soldiers killing the Anglesey Druids, as described by Tacitus. Source: Public domain

14 April, 2022 - 14:59 Jake Leigh-Howarth

The Conquest of Anglesey and the Destruction of Druidism’s Last Stronghold

With a reputation for their savagery, the destruction of the Anglesey Druids and conquest of the Welsh Isle of Anglesey by the Romans put an end to the last pagan corner of Wales in 77 AD. But was...

The bronze plate pieces of the Roman military diploma found in the ancient Anatolian city of Perre or modern-day Adiyaman, Turkey. Source: Anadolu Agency

4 January, 2022 - 18:00 Sahir

1,898-year-old Roman Military Diploma Gives Citizenship Rights

Archaeologists have found an ancient Roman military diploma dating to 123 AD in Turkey’s ancient city of Perre (modern day Adiyaman). The latest round of excavations, which have been carried out...

The Pillar of Eliseg is just one monument that bears witness to the Romanitas of early medieval Wales. Source: Public domain

4 December, 2021 - 13:57 Meagan Dickerson

Romanitas in Early Medieval Wales: The Evidence of Latin Standing Stones

There are very few texts that survive from early medieval Wales, an era spanning the moment when the Romans left Wales until the Normans arrived. This is one of the reasons that historians have...

The Roman Army employed whistling stones as an effective terror weapon. Source: James Steidl / Adobe Stock.

16 August, 2021 - 22:59 Bipin Dimri

Whistling Sling Stones: Psychological Warfare and the Roman Army

1800 years ago, Roman troops carried a very unusual kind of missile weapon for defeating their enemies. Those weapons were “whistling” sling bullets, and new research suggests these were employed as...

Misleading 19th century depicting the “barbarian” Visigoths sack of Rome in Late Antiquity Source: Public domain

24 July, 2021 - 18:54 Meagan Dickerson

Barbarians versus Romans: Violence and Urban Life in Late Antiquity

The image of the savage, violent barbarian is well-entrenched in Western culture and has been a part of our literary, popular culture and even our language for centuries. Most people would not...

Dark Age Britain is the name given to the post-Roman era, remembered as a time when British kingdoms descended into a fight for supremacy. Source: Stanislav / Adobe Stock

17 July, 2021 - 14:58 Meagan Dickerson

‘Just’ War and Martialism in Dark Age Britain

Dark Age Britain has been remembered as a time of great chaos and constant war. After the Romans withdrew from Britain in 410 AD, taking the stability of their imperial structures and large armies...

It was in a canyon like this one in the Judean Desert in the West Back of Israel that archaeologists found two ancient Jewish coins (one from 67 AD and one from circa 135 AD). That the coins were found in the same area rewrites existing assumptions about the Jewish revolts against the Romans in an area assumed to be uninhabited after the first Jewish revolt stage.

14 July, 2021 - 22:48 Sahir

Two Coins Found in Israel Prove That Jewish Revolt History is Wrong!

East of Jerusalem lies the historic Judean Desert and the hilltop fortress of Masada overlooking the Dead Sea. Masada was the setting of the mass suicide of almost 1,000 Jewish zealots, including men...

A Roman Coffin has been unearthed during restoration works in Bath.

4 July, 2021 - 19:01 Sahir

Roman Sarcophagus Containing Two Skeletons Unearthed in Bath

Bath is the largest city in the county of Somerset and, as the name suggests, it is renowned for its Roman-built baths which were used until the end of Roman rule in Britain in the 5th century AD...

2 June, 2021 - 18:38 Sahir

2,000-Year-Old Punic-Era Tomb Accidentally Found in Malta

The archipelago of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea in southern Europe, is a place of mystique and wonder. With a rich history that commences with human occupation in 5,900 BC, archaeologists have now...

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Greek Mythology

As Greek mythology goes, the universe was once a big soup of nothingness. Then, two things happened: either Chaos or Gaia created the universe as we know it, or Ouranos and Tethys gave birth to the first beings.

Typhon and Echidna were parents to a pantheon of Greek monsters. Statue of Echidna in Parco dei Mostri, Bomarzo, Italy Source: Public Domain

Typhon and Echidna: Monster Makers of Greek Mythology

Greek mythology is full of terrible monsters. Although it is difficult to choose the worst or most terrible of the Greek monsters, Typhon and Echidna are strong contenders.

Typhon and Echidna: Monster Makers of Greek Mythology

Eros: Everything You Need to Know about the Greek God of Love and Sex

Nyx, the Primordial Goddess of the Night

Argos Panoptes – The All-Seeing Giant of Greek Mythology

Dark Sketches & Stories from the Underworld in Greek Mythology

Famous People

Gout can be caused by large amounts of red meat and alcohol, a common diet of historical kings Source: diter / Adobe Stock

Why Was Gout The Kingliest of Ailments?

When we think of historically significant diseases we tend to think of diseases like the bubonic plague, cholera, tuberculosis, or more recently, COVID-19.

Da Vinci’s Deadly Designs: The Wildest Weapons of the Renaissance Man

Why is William’s New Prince of Wales Title So Significant?

The Queen’s Death Sparks Conversation Around Royal Line of Succession

Queen Elizabeth II, the Second Longest-Reigning Monarch in History, Dies

The Himyarite Kingdom’s Bloody Conversion to Judaism: Passion or Ploy?

Unexplained Phenomena

Frog brooch of amber and bronze on a rock, representative of living fossils. Source: ISliM / Adobe Stock

Mysterious Cases of Living Fossils, Suspended Animation, and Hibernation

We all know that fossils, by their very nature, are dead. Of course, nothing can survive the conditions of pressure, depth and time required to petrify wood, see saplings mature into massive trees, transmogrify vegetation into coal or metamorphose mud into solid rock.

Apocalyptic Apocrypha: What was Removed from the Bible - and Why?

From Araucanía, Chile to Berchtesgaden, Germany - A Remote Connection?

The Alien Petroglyphs of Chile’s Valle del Encanto

The Sumerian King List Reveals the Origin of Mesopotamian Kingship

The Disc of Life in Ancient Texts

Important Events

Queen Elizabeth II, the Second Longest-Reigning Monarch in History, Dies

Today, Thursday 8th of September, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Commonwealth has passed away peacefully at her country home, Balmoral.

The Medieval Crushing of the Cathars and Sexualizing of Witches

Mediterranean Bronze Age Collapse Linked to Deadly Typhoid and Plague

Controversial Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb & Mughal Wars of Succession

Last Salem Witch Has Been Exonerated Posthumously By Boston Court

The Notorious Hashshashins, the Original Assassins of Persia

Myths & Legends

Typhon and Echidna: Monster Makers of Greek Mythology

Greek mythology is full of terrible monsters. Although it is difficult to choose the worst or most terrible of the Greek monsters, Typhon and Echidna are strong contenders.

The Glastonbury Giant: Who Did the Mystery Bones of A Nine Foot Skeleton Belong To?

Mount Olympus, Dwelling Place of the Gods: Myth vs Reality

Dark Sketches & Stories from the Underworld in Greek Mythology

Underground Cities and Networks Around the World – Myths and Reality (Part 1)

Cronus: The Titan Harvest God and Erroneously The Titan Time God

Human Origins

The Coming Gnostic Civilization, and his most recent book, Sedona: City of the Star People.

The Truth Behind the Christ Myth: Ancient Origins of the Often Used Legend – Part I

What is the origin of the legend of the Christed Son who was born of a virgin on December 25th? I am sure you are familiar with his legend which states that he was born in a manger surrounded by shepherds

The Origins of the Faeries: Encoded in our Cultures – Part I

The Controversial Lapedo Child – A Neanderthal / Human Hybrid?

3: The Perfect Number - Trinity Symbolism in World Religious Traditions

The human skull that challenges the Out of Africa theory

Picts, Gaels, and Scots: Exploring their Mysterious (and Sometimes Mythical) Origins

Ancient Technology

Roman glass (not the legendary flexible glass). Landesmuseum Württemberg, Stuttgart.

An Unbreakable Story: The Lost Roman Invention of Flexible Glass

Imagine a glass you can bend and then watch it return to its original form. A glass that you drop but it doesn’t break. Stories say that an ancient Roman glassmaker had the technology to create a flexible glass, ‘vitrium flexile’, but a certain emperor decided the invention should not be.

Europe’s Famous Mesolithic Pesse Canoe: Earth’s Oldest Known Boat

Chinese Knife Money: Making Markets feel Murderous?

Da Vinci’s Deadly Designs: The Wildest Weapons of the Renaissance Man

An Undersea Mystery: The Accidental Discovery of the Ghost Ship in the Baltic Sea

The Mystical Pentatonic Scale and Ancient Instruments, Part I: Bone Flutes

Ancient Places

Moche pottery depicting copulation. Museo Larco – Lima, Perú

The Moche Uncensored! 15 Surprising Erotic Ceramics of Peru

The Moche were a mysterious civilization who ruled the northern coast of Peru beginning 2,000 years ago.

Why Isn’t This Map in the History Books?

The Mysterious Midas City: 2,800-Year-Old City with Monumental Facades and Strange Inscriptions

Does Newfoundland Have the Oldest Intact Ancient Ships in the World?

The Lupanare: Prostitution and Houses of Pleasure in Ancient Pompeii

Europe’s Famous Mesolithic Pesse Canoe: Earth’s Oldest Known Boat

Opinion

The Truth Behind the Christ Myth: Ancient Origins of the Often Used Legend – Part I

Library in Stone: The Ica Stones of Professor Cabrera – Part I

Two Sides to Every Story: The North American Martyrs Shrines and Indigenous/ Roman Catholic Relations

The Origins of the Faeries: Encoded in our Cultures – Part I

Curse of the Buried Pearl: The Hunt for Ancient Treasures – Part I

The Enigma of the Shugborough Inscription

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 exist 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.

Greek Mythology

Romans

The Chinese May have Been First to Use Synthetic Skin-whitening Cosmetics

Rare Batavian Calvary Mask Worn in Revolt Against The Romans Found

Illustrious Post-Macedon Illyria and the Roman Illyrian Wars

Stonehenge’s Bluestone Tracks Discovered Beneath Roman Road

Over 100 Indigenous Settlements North of Hadrian’s Wall Discovered

Legendary Christian Martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria Proved To Be Real

Aeons of Battle: The 5 Longest Wars in History

The Conquest of Anglesey and the Destruction of Druidism’s Last Stronghold

1,898-year-old Roman Military Diploma Gives Citizenship Rights

Romanitas in Early Medieval Wales: The Evidence of Latin Standing Stones

Whistling Sling Stones: Psychological Warfare and the Roman Army

Barbarians versus Romans: Violence and Urban Life in Late Antiquity

‘Just’ War and Martialism in Dark Age Britain

Two Coins Found in Israel Prove That Jewish Revolt History is Wrong!

Roman Sarcophagus Containing Two Skeletons Unearthed in Bath

2,000-Year-Old Punic-Era Tomb Accidentally Found in Malta

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Greek Mythology

Famous People

Unexplained Phenomena

Important Events

Top New Stories

Myths & Legends

Human Origins

Ancient Technology

Ancient Places

Opinion

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