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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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Between 34,000 and 24,000 years ago, diverse European cultures from the Gravettian period utilized marine shells, teeth, beads, and other ornaments for personal adornment, shown here. Source: J. Baker, et al/Nature

Prehistoric Jewelry Unveils 9 Distinct Paleolithic European Cultures

A fascinating new study has explored the cultural behavior of prehistoric humans in Europe from tens of thousands of years ago, and learnt that our ancestors adorned themselves with a diverse array...
Excavations of a group burial complex of the Wari empire. Source: ed. M. Giersz, © PUCP Archaeology Program “Valley of Pachacámac”/ CC BY-SA 4.0; Center & Right: © M.Giersz, ed. K. Kowalewski/ CC BY-SA 4.0

Wari-Mask Mummies And Carved Totems Dating Back to 800-1000 AD Found in Peru

A recent discovery at Pachacámac in Peru has revealed a significant find of seventy-three intact burials, in funerary bundles known as ‘fardos’. The burials are of both genders, with some adorned...
Legend has it that in his madness, Caligula declared war on the sea. Source: Iva / Adobe Stock

The Roman Emperor Caligula Declared War on the Sea

Throughout history, inept leaders have repeatedly manufactured enemies to rally their base and deflect attention from the real issues at hand. But the idea that Caligula declared war on the sea...
The new research revealed that the giant snails were cooked on hot embers by hunter-gatherers in southern Africa thousands of years ago. (Gorodenkoff / Adobe Stock)

Prehistoric Hunters Roasted and Ate Giant Snails 170,000 Years Ago

In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists have unearthed the remains of enormous snail shells at a 225,000-year-old archaeological site in southern Africa. What makes this find truly remarkable is...
Human skeletal remains (representational image). Source: Thanakrit / Adobe Stock

11,000-Year-Old Human Remains Found in British Cave

An astounding discovery in the Heaning Wood Bone Cave in northern England has revealed the oldest human remains found in the region, dating back 11,000 years. A team from the University of Central...

Baby Slings Were a Thing 10,000 Years Ago, New Discovery Reveals

A team of archaeologists have studied the remains of a 10,000-year-old baby with high technology. Their new paper not only found signs of ritual burial, but it reveals that baby carriers, or baby...
Kai-Awase: Elegant Shell Matching Pastime Of The Nobility During Heian Japan

Kai-Awase: Elegant Shell Matching Pastime Of The Nobility During Heian Japan

Coming in an infinite number of shapes and colors, seashells have been used as a medium of exchange for centuries in a variety of locations, such as many Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean islands, as...
It was here in the Arma Vierana cave in northern Italy where the Mesolithic infant and her shell beads were found by the research team.		Source: Jamie Hodgkins / University of Colorado Denver

10,000-Year-Old Mesolithic Burial Showed Special Reverence For Infant Girl

Archaeologists and paleoanthropologists exploring a cave in Italy excavated parts of a skeleton that belonged to an infant girl who died approximately 10,000 years ago, in the early Mesolithic period...
The Bizmoune Cave sea snail shell beads have been dated to at least 142,000 years ago, according to the latest research study, making them the oldest jewelry

Were Bizmoune Cave Shell Beads A Form Of Ancient ID?

Humans were adorning their persons to make fashion statements 142,000 to 150,000 ago, according to a new analysis of the sea snail shell jewelry beads found in Morocco’s Bizmoune Cave. Conducted by a...
World’s Oldest Jewelry Excavated at a Moroccan Cave

World’s Oldest Jewelry Excavated at a Moroccan Cave

Human beings have been wearing necklaces, bracelets earrings, and other forms of jewelry for a long time. But when you are next looking at a cross bracelet in an antique store and wondering what...
Shellfish Extravaganza at Iron Age Feast Unearthed in Ancient Orkney

What Prompted the Shellfish Extravaganza at an Iron Age Feast Site, Orkney?

Archaeologists in the far north of Scotland have unearthed thousands of seashells from the remains of an Iron Age feast dating back to around the 5 th century AD, including 18,630 sea snail shells...
Exposed shell midden on the Pike River cliff line near the Riverland region Aborigines’ project site.      Source: Flinders University

Study Shows Riverland Region Aborigines Were Thriving 29000 Years Ago

Researchers have established that Riverland region Aborigines lived in South Australia much earlier than previously thought. They determined that Riverland region Aborigines lived in the area an...
The discovery that a collection of shells were threaded onto 120,000-year-old strings, at a cave in Israel is an important discovery which advances our understanding of human evolution. Source: Bar-Yosef Mayer et al/Plos One/PA Wire

Evidence of 120,000-Year-Old String Discovered in Israeli Cave

A team of archaeologists excavating a cave in Israel have made the incredible discovery of a collection of shells that were once threaded onto strings and worn by humans as beads 120,000 years ago...
A lost Spanish Jesuit missionary fort has been found at Mound Key     Source: Florida Museum of Natural History

Archaeologists Verify Location of Elusive Spanish Fort at Florida's Mound Key

Florida Museum of Natural History Florida and Georgia archaeologists have discovered the location of Fort San Antón de Carlos, home of one of the first Jesuit missions in North America. The Spanish...
Falls in the Amazon in Bolivia, representation of area of Amazonia settlement.

Humans Inhabited the Amazon 7,500 Years Earlier Than Previously Thought

Humans settled in southwestern Amazonia and even experimented with agriculture much earlier than previously thought, according to an international team of researchers. "We have long been aware that...
Ancient Saladoid child foraging for shellfish.

Shell Heap Shows Ancient Caribbean Children Helped With the Groceries [New Report]

Researchers have long thought that snail and clam shells found at Caribbean archaeological sites were evidence of ‘ starvation food ’ eaten in times when other resources were lacking. Now, a...
Model of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan

Sacrificial gifts found at Aztec Temple in Mexico feature a trove of diverse species

One of the great archaeological sites in Mexico is the sprawling ancient city of Tenochtitlan, religious center and capital of the Aztec civilization. Templo Mayor (The Great Temple) was a huge...
Piles of clamshells (Schvin/CC BY 2.0), background: men in a Curragh, a skin boat (WilliamMurphy/CC BY-SA 2.0);Deriv.

Seafarers and Shell Rings: Strange Formations on the American Coast a Hallmark of Faraway Visitors?

Just south of Awendaw, South Carolina, in the Francis Marion National Forest, is an example of a type of architectural artifact that still baffles archaeologists. For every explanation someone offers...
Old Chinese coins.

When – and Why – Did People First Start Using Money?

Chapurukha Kusimba / The Conversation Sometimes you run across a grimy, tattered dollar bill that seems like it’s been around since the beginning of time. Assuredly it hasn’t, but the history of...
The story of King Tang (Ta Ji), the dynasty, in a 17th-century painting Shang Dynasty (Public Domain)

Reading Oracle Bones and Writing the Future in the Shang Dynasty

Oracle bones (known in Chinese as 甲骨, transliterated as ‘jiǎ gǔ’, and literally translated as ‘shells and bones’) are a type of artifact best known for its association with the Shang Dynasty (roughly...
West Acropolis of Yaxchilan

Animal bones shed light on the lifestyle of citizens in ancient Maya cities

While archaeologists and historians know much about the lives of Maya royalty and rulers, the lifestyles of the poor and middle class are wrapped in mystery. A new study that is examining hordes of...
The Ruins Lagoon located in the Royal Towers, home to over 20,000 deep reef and pelagic fish.

Dark Mysteries of the Deep: Ancient Divers and their Dangerous Journeys

It is not known who first braved cold, dark waters and held their breath to explore, or gather rare treasures or food, but divers have been retrieving items from beneath the water’s surface since the...