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The underwater discovery of an ancient Maya canoe in a Mexican sinkhole. Source: INAH

Maya Canoe Found in Sinkhole Provides Clues to Belief in Underworld

Archaeologists from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) recently announced the completion of a study of a rare and unusual Maya artifact. During an underwater dive into a...
Cenote in Yucatan, Mexico. Source: Angiolo / Adobe Stock.

Exploring the Dark Depths: Mystery of the “Evil” Maya Sinkhole (Video)

Deep in the Yucatan jungle , near the ancient city of Mayapán in Mexico's Yucatán peninsula lies a cenote, a natural sinkhole, that has long been shrouded in mystery and superstition. It is a place...
From the Old Colosseum, by Valdemar Irminger. Source: Public domain

Most Popular Ancient Origins Articles of 2022

We’ve shared what we thought the most impressive finds of the year, and now we will share those articles which really caught our readers interest this this year. Here we have the top 10 most popular...
Giant sinkhole that has opened up in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Source: Sernageomin

Giant Sinkhole Is Growing In Chile’s Atacama Desert

An enormous sinkhole that appeared on a plot of mining land in Chile’s Atacama Desert region has continued to grow. The gigantic cavity was first seen on July 30 in a rural area outside the town of...
Composite of May’s top stories images. 	Source: Credited in article

A Run Down of May’s Top Ancient News Stories

The top breaking stories of May 2022 include: A primeval forest in a Chinese sinkhole, the first full DNA sequence of a Pompeii victim, the oldest fake eye found in Iran, another Roman penis...
An Omani Caves Exploration Team member about to descend to the bottom of Yemen’s legendary Well of Hell.			Source: Screenshot / OCET Oman

Omani Cavers Brave Descent into Yemen’s Famous “Well of Hell”

Popularly known as the Well of Hell, the Well of Barhout is a 98-foot (30-meter) wide and 367-foot (112-meter) deep sinkhole located in Yemen’s Al-Mahara province in the east of the country. The...
The Kaiadas Cave: Legendary Spartan Pit of Death

The Kaiadas Cave: Legendary Spartan Pit of Death

The Spartans of ancient Greece were always known as fierce warriors and determined fighters. Much of what we know about them is related to their military history and equally militarized society. Many...
Breaking News: Trapped Neanderthal Altamura Man Had A “Third Hand”

Trapped Neanderthal Altamura Man Had A “Third Hand”

Altamura Man was a Neanderthal who lived in southern Italy at least 130,000 years ago. His fossilized skeleton was uncovered by a team of cavers in 1993 AD, entombed within calcite mineral deposits...
Ik-Kil cenote, Chichen Itza, Mexico

Sacred Cenotes: Portals to the Maya Underworld

The ancient Maya who populated the Yucatan Peninsula in the first millennium AD believed that there were three ways for the living to enter Xibalba, the world of the dead: through deep caves, through...
Octavio del Rio recording one of the bonfires in the Yucatan cenote, Aktun Ha. 	Source: Krzysztof Starnawski / INAH

Ancient Fires In Yucatán Cenote Dated To 10,000 Years Ago

The oldest charcoal remains ever discovered in Mexico have been found submerged in a Yucatán Peninsula cenote. New archaeological evidence from burnt charcoal samples has determined the earliest...
An ancient imperial floor has been discovered in the latest Rome sinkhole, right in front of the Pantheon.        Source: Virginia Raggi

Rome Sinkhole Reveals Extraordinary Archaeological Find

Another Rome sinkhole has appeared, this time, in front of the Pantheon in Piazza della Rotonda and in it, archaeologists have made the unexpected ‘rediscovery’ of an ancient imperial floor...
Maya Sacrificial Victims Were Likely Young, Foreign and Skinned Alive

Maya Sacrificial Victims Were Likely Young, Foreign and Skinned Alive

Scientists in Mexico have been studying tooth enamel from the skulls of 1,000-year-old Maya human sacrificial victims from the gloomy depths of a sacred cenote (sink hole). The new study was...
Reconstructed face of Eva of Naharon, who would have lived about 13,600 years ago.

Putting a Face to Eva of Naharon, The Oldest Human Relic Found in the Americas

Eva of Naharon, also known as the Woman of Naharon, is the name given to the oldest known human remains found in the Americas to date. She met her demise in a cenote (sinkhole) some 13,600 years ago...
Kukulkan temple pyramid is being surveyed with multiple imaging technologies

Hidden Passage Discovered Underneath Chichén Itzá

After two months of investigations using state of the art non-invasive imaging equipment, as well as the good old-fashioned technique of crawling through tight spaces on hands and knees,...
The pyramid of El Castillo, Temple of Kukulkan in Chichen Itza, Mexico.

1,000-year-old Maya pyramid might collapse into sacred ancient sinkhole in Mexico

An enormous, 1,000-year-old temple in Mexico is sitting precariously over a deep sinkhole and experts worry that the entire pyramid may eventually collapse. The famous El Castillo (the Castle) is a...
Elongated skull in Mayan cave

Elongated skulls and a mythical underwater Mayan cave

A flooded sinkhole in southern Mexico that terrifies local villagers was recently explored by underwater archaeologists , who found the submerged cavern littered with elongated skulls and human bones...