2,400 years ago a shamaness suffered a miscarriage. The remains of that baby were found in a rock shelter in Northern Chile and have the earliest known traces of ancient tobacco found in biological...
The Manchu people are an ethnic minority in China sometimes called "red-tasseled Manchus", a reference to the ornamentation on traditional Manchu shaman’ hats. Shamanism was the dominant religion of...
The Celtic scholar Nora Chadwick notes that in Irish mythology the prophetess Fedelm tells Queen Medb that she has been in the land of Alba learning the art of the Filidect. Medb asks if she has...
Chinese experts have determined that two skulls found in a historic site show evidence of ancient craniotomy. The finds are being taken to demonstrate that craniotomy, along with other advanced...
Pox, (pronounced posh ) is an ancient Mayan alcohol drink traditionally prepared by shamans in the mountains of Chiapas in southern Mexico. Now, you can find swanky city bars offering Pox on their...
When the word ‘shaman’ is mentioned, it is common for one to visualize semi-naked cat-skin clad witchdoctors, wheeling around fires in mild southern climates. Less often does one picture holy men...
In Petroglyphs Provincial Park, Vancouver Island, Canada, rock art is generally divided into two categories. Pictographs are painted onto rocks using a variety of natural colors such as red, brown,...
The First Nation peoples of Canada have left many remains of their long and varied history on the Canadian landscape. In the Peterborough Park Woodview, Ontario there is a series of their petroglyphs...
Before the Inuit’s ancestors conquered the Arctic region of what we now call Canada and Greenland, there is evidence of another remarkable Paleo-Eskimo culture– the Dorset. Soon after the arrival of...
In 2010 the existence of a previously unknown archaic human population was revealed following the DNA sequencing of a finger bone over 41,000 years old. It was discovered in 2008 in the Denisova Cave...
It is becoming increasingly clear that the Sumerians had established a colony in South America called Kuga-Ki. Kuga-Ki was the "Tin Land of the West" or the "Sunset Land", in Sumerian inscriptions...
It was July of 1923, and a hot day in Clearlake Park, California. Charles Hesse had been excavating a pit for his new septic tank all morning. Just before lunch, Charlie dug a good-sized, waist deep...
Turkic peoples comprise a variety of ethnic groups living in northern, eastern, central and western Asia, northwestern China and some parts of eastern Europe. Historically they were established in...
The large Grave Creek Mound proved to be an irresistible attraction to early antiquarians and curiosity seekers. In 1823, John Haywood mentioned the impressive mound: “of a conical form, 75 feet high...
In 1626, a ship filled with folks from the Netherlands put into what would later be called New York Harbor and went about building a Dutch colony called New Amsterdam. The figurehead on the prow of...
“That plant will save you from a poisonous snake bite,” my Kichwa guide, Pidru, pointed out as I tried to remove my boot from a foot of mud in the depths of the Amazon jungle in Ecuador. “And this...
A 2,700-year-old stash of whole marijuana plants was uncovered in an ancient tomb in northwest China. If marijuana aged like wine, the rare “artifact” may be one of the most wanted objects for all...
Near Trenton in Dade County, Georgia, is a place called Tunacunnhee , supposedly named after a Native American word meaning “Lookout Creek”. Located just a few hundred yards east of Lookout Creek is...
The people of the Adena Culture are widely regarded as the first builders of mounds and earthworks in the Ohio Valley. By conventional dating the culture spans the period of 1000 BC to around 300 AD...
Over the centuries, many of the world’s natural mystics have succumbed to pogroms of elimination or the steady erosion of traditional practices – witches burnt at the stake, indigenous peoples forced...
Where do we come from? A normal life consists of being born into and then living within a world made up of material building blocks such as subatomic particles, atoms, protoplasm, flesh and blood...
When it is carefully examined, rock art in the Namib Desert may shine light on forgotten rituals and practices from thousands of years ago. One particularly interesting feature appears to show...
The Olmecs were the first true Mesoamerican civilization. There were small villages and groups of people in the area in which the Olmec developed but these societies are referred to as Pre-Olmec. The...
Much is known about the ancient Mongol military and their incredible victories on the battlefield, but little is ever discussed about their arms, armor, horses, and logistics. What gear did they use...
