science

Amazing artwork was found on walls on a stone tomb in Siberia. Picture: Vladimir Kubarev/IAET SB RAS

15 June, 2019 - 14:21 ancient-origins

5,000 Years Ago, Ancient Scientists Used Chemical Reactions to Create Pigments in Altai Mountains

By The Siberian Times reporter Scientists have unlocked intriguing 5,000-year-old secrets of prehistoric illustrators behind the stunning artwork of Karakol. These magnificent paintings found in the...

15 June, 2019 - 11:29 Nathan Falde

Teleportation: Will Quantum Physics Make Star Trek Tech a Success?

Most of us have seen the science fiction series Star Trek and are familiar with their concept of teleportation, in which characters are ‘beamed’ off the ship to another spacecraft or to the surface...

Creation. Source: AGPhotography / Adobe Stock.

5 June, 2019 - 22:59 Daniel Friedmann

How the Universe Came to Be: The Bible and Science Finally in Accord?

For most of our history, scientists have primarily believed that the universe is eternal and unchanging. Aristotle in the fourth century BC asserted that the world is without beginning or end. But...

The Shroud of Turin: modern, digitally processed image of the face on the cloth [left] and the full body image as seen on the shroud [right].

5 March, 2019 - 23:03 lizleafloor

The Shroud of Turin: Jesus' Bloodstained Burial Cloth or a Fascinating Forgery?

The Shroud of Turin is believed by many to be the bloodstained burial cloth Jesus of Nazareth was wrapped in after his crucifixion. But skeptics say it is a forgery, or at best only a religious...

A 1909 photo of Mark Twain. (Public Domain) Background: Halley’s Comet as taken March 8, 1986 by W. Liller, Easter Island, part of the International Halley Watch (IHW) Large Scale Phenomena Network. (Public Domain) It’s an interesting historical coincidence that Mark Twain was born and died alongside appearances of Halley’s Comet.

5 December, 2018 - 18:54 ashley cowie

Are These Incredible Historical Coincidences Actually Due to Synchronicity or Mathematical Probability?

Coincidences are a concurrence of circumstances which are so unpredictable that they often become associated with the supernatural and paranormal. History is composed with brilliant acts of skill and...

‘The Unicorn is Found’ in one of the Unicorn Tapestries in Stirling Castle. Medieval science fiction had a convergence of science, technology and the imagination

14 September, 2018 - 00:31 ancient-origins

Medieval Science Fiction Existed – Here’s What it Looked Like

Carl Kears & James Paz / The Conversation Science fiction may seem resolutely modern, but the genre could actually be considered hundreds of years old. There are the alien green “ children of...

Four paintings from ‘The Course of Empire’

26 August, 2018 - 13:53 walter

Lost Star of Myth and Time: The Rise and Fall of Civilizations

The idea of a worldwide Dark Age or universal decline in man’s knowledge may be difficult to accept because the broad deterioration of ancient civilizations didn’t happen at an even pace in all...

ESO's Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) has captured this unusual view of the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), a planetary nebula located 700 light-years away. The Helix Nebula is sometimes called the “Eye of God.”

22 August, 2018 - 18:52 Rabbi Allen Maller

It Need Not Be Religion VS Science: Extra-Terrestrial Life and Religious Beliefs Combine

During Medieval times almost all Christian theologians accepted the Ptolemaic earth centered Greek view of the universe as an absolute universal truth of both nature and religion. The Catholic...

Archimedes pouring over his work by Fetti, 1620

15 August, 2018 - 01:06 Bryan Hill

Archimedes: An Ancient Greek Genius Ahead of His Time

Archimedes was a Greek mathematician, scientist, mechanical engineer and inventor who is considered one of the greatest mathematicians of the ancient world. The father of simple machines, he...

The Statue of Socrates at the Academy of Athens. Work of Leonidas Drosis (d. 1880). (C messier/CC BY SA 4.0) Background: This NASA image shows Earth from space. The image is a combination of data from two satellites.

9 August, 2018 - 18:53 Caleb Strom

Was Socrates in Space? A Question of Ancient Spaceflight

The ancient Greeks are credited with having made many early advancements in science and mathematics which influenced later western civilization. Aristarchus of Samos proposed an essentially...

28 May, 2018 - 14:00 ashley cowie

Out with the Ouija Board! How the Popular Divining Tool Influenced A Modern Murder Case

A convicted double murderer has won the right to a retrial on the basis that four of the jury had used a Ouija board the night before finding him guilty. Does this mean that the UK judicial system...

Neanderthal man at the Natural History Museum London

13 May, 2018 - 14:44 Alicia McDermott

Spectacular Science! Lab-Grown Mini Neanderthal Brains Could Explain What Makes Humans Different

We’re living in an age when many people believe there are no limits to what technology can do. Apply that to paleogenetics and you’ll see research into ancient disease, the domestication of animals,...

4 May, 2018 - 22:53 Daria Shatsylo

8 Ancient Chinese Inventions the West Had Not Imagined

According to the statistics provided by the World Economic Forum, nowadays China can boast its position of the world’s second largest spender on scientific research and development, yielding only to...

Llullaillaco mummy being examined by scientists (CC by 2.0)

9 April, 2018 - 14:00 ancient-origins

Rights of the Dead and the Living Clash when Scientists Extract DNA from Human Remains

The remains of a 6-inch long mummy from Chile are not those of a space alien, according to recently reported research . The tiny body with its strange features – a pointed head, elongated bones – had...

The Shroud of Turin: modern, digitally processed image of the face on the cloth

6 March, 2018 - 18:46 Dr Peter J Shield

Blood on the Shroud: An Interview with the Blood Investigator of the Shroud of Turin Research Project

In 1978 a large team of American scientists under the auspices of the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP) spent over two years prior to embarking for Turin, planning a large number of specific...

27 January, 2018 - 22:56 ancient-origins

Religion Isn’t The Enemy of Science: It’s Been Inspiring Scientists for Centuries

Take notice of any debate in the media and you’ll see that science and religion are, and always were, at loggerheads. Science is about evidence-based fact, religion is about faith-based belief. But...

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Myths & Legends

The Descent of Inanna into the Underworld: A 5,500-Year-Old Literary Masterpiece

The Descent of Inanna (known also as ‘Inanna’s Descent to the Netherworld / Underworld’) is a piece of work in the literary corpus of ancient Mesopotamia. This story, which was originally written in cuneiform and inscribed on clay tablets, is in the form of a poem.

The Amazons: Ancient Warrior Women Dismissed as Myth and Legend Were Real Fearsome Fighters

Stay Out of the Water: Does a Prehistoric Shark Still Live in the Ocean?

Eight Legendary Creatures from Greek Mythology That You Might Not Know About

Jason and the Legendary Golden Fleece

Tuatha Dé Dannan, the Enchanting Predecessors of Irish Fairies and Elves

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.

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

Drugs in Ancient Cultures: A History of Drug Use and Effects

They’re Alive! Megalithic Sites Are More than Just Stone

Mount Shasta: Spirits and Danger on a Sacred California Mountain

The human skull that challenges the Out of Africa theory

Ancient Technology

The Great Pyramid at Giza and Noah’s Ark: Are we coming closer to an understanding of the Ancient Mind? Part I

Two phenomena that have been haunting humanity for a long time are Noah’s Ark and the Great Pyramid of Giza. It has however rarely been suggested that these two are connected. One, the Ark, is part...

They’re Alive! Megalithic Sites Are More than Just Stone

6 Advanced Ancient Inventions Beyond Modern Understanding

Ancient Magic: The Illusions Created in Temples by Amazing Inventions

Secrets Behind the Creepy Plague Doctor Mask and Costume

The revolutionary invention of the wheel

Ancient Places

An Olmec style face adorns the side of the Mask Temple at the Mayan site of Lamanai in Belize

The mysterious civilization of the Olmecs

Mexico is perhaps most well-known, archaeologically speaking, as the home of the Aztec civilization. Yet, before the arrival of the Aztecs, another sophisticated civilization, the Olmecs, ruled the...

Xanten Archaeological Park – Step Back and Experience the Romans

The Mystery of Egyptian Tomb KV55 in the Valley of the Kings

The Rosslyn Chapel Carvings: Facts, Mysteries, and Conspiracies

A Millennium of Glory: The Rise and Fall of the Byzantine Empire

Why Isn’t This Map in the History Books?

Opinion

Mount Shasta: Spirits and Danger on a Sacred California Mountain

Mount Shasta, located near the Oregon border in northern California, holds the distinction of being one of the world’s preeminent sacred mountains. It is recognized as an eligible Native American...

Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms

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

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.