skeletons

4 April, 2019 - 12:53 joannagillan

13,000-year-old Saharan Remains Tell Of First Known Homo Sapiens War In Africa

In 2014, a fresh analysis on a set of human remains dating back 13,000 years, which were found on the east bank of the Nile in northern Sudan , suggested the individuals were victims of an intergroup...

Decapitated skeleton excavated at Great Whelnetham, UK

8 January, 2019 - 18:17 Ed Whelan

Roman Burial Site Found in England Includes 52 Skeletons With 17 Bizarre After Death Decapitations

Sometimes archaeologists make grim and even shocking discoveries. In England, there has been one such find. Experts have found a cemetery, dating from the Roman era which contained a great many...

Dozens of skeletons found underneath Westminster Abbey lavatory block. Credit: Dan Kitwood

6 November, 2018 - 22:58 Ed Whelan

Fifty Ancient Skeletons Found Crammed Together under Westminster Abbey Toilet Block

Westminster Abbey, the traditional place of coronation and burial for English monarchs, is one of the most popular historic sites in England. During a recent excavation in the great Abbey, some fifty...

Human victims discovered on the sea-shore area of Herculaneum.

9 October, 2018 - 22:54 ashley cowie

An Ancient Supervolcano That “Exploded People’s Skulls and Evaporated Their Bodies” is Ready to Blow Again

In August AD 79, the somma-stratovolcano Mount Vesuvius, located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Naples, catastrophically erupted covering the towns of Pompeii...

One of two cases of healed blows to the cranium from the Playa Venado excavations. Source: Nicole Smith-Guzmán, STRI

27 September, 2018 - 13:59 ancient-origins

Famous Report of Violent Savages in pre-Columbian Panama Got It Wrong

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute via Science Daily Buried alive. Butchered. Decapitated. Hacked. Mutilated. Killed. Archaeologist Samuel K. Lothrop did not obfuscate when describing what he...

Comb with etui recovered from the Alemannic warrior burials.

7 September, 2018 - 14:01 ancient-origins

Medieval Alemannic Warriors Welcomed Foreigners into their Fold

In 1962, an Alemannic burial site containing human skeletal remains was discovered in Niederstotzingen (Baden-Württemberg, Germany). Researchers at the Eurac Research Centre in Bozen-Bolzano, Italy,...

The black sarcophagus was found to contain three skeletons and lots of sewage.

21 August, 2018 - 22:55 ashley cowie

Rotten Mummies of the Black Sarcophagus Begin the Identification Process

Dr. Mostafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt announced on Sunday that a team of researchers headed by Dr. Zeinab Hashish, Director of the Department of Studies...

Skull exhibiting evidence of cancer. Source Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities

26 June, 2018 - 13:57 Ed Whelan

Cancer Deaths Were Far Less Prevalent in Ancient Egypt

Researchers in the deserts of Egypt have made a remarkable discovery while studying the bones of ancient Egyptians. In total, they were able to identify six cases of cancer at a burial site at an...

Two graves with mutilated skeletons found

19 June, 2018 - 22:56 Ed Whelan

Archaeologists in the UK Find Two Mutilated Skeletons

According to The Guardian newspaper, archaeologists in the UK have made a grisly discovery. They have found the graves of two men who have had their lower legs detached at an archaeological site in...

Victim of Waldemar Atterdags invasion of Visby in 1361

17 June, 2018 - 19:02 dhwty

Battle of Visby: Medieval Massacre Leaves Behind Harrowing Remains of Fallen Soldiers

The Battle of Visby was a violent Medieval battle near the town of Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland, fought between the inhabitants of Gotland and the Danes, with the latter emerging victorious...

5 June, 2018 - 22:39 Mark Miller

Experts explore identities of 5,000 buried in Bedlam psychiatric hospital graveyard

Officials building a huge cross-London underground railway are starting to publish the identity of some of the thousands of people buried 400 to 500 years ago in Bedlam cemetery. After researching...

Fountain at modern domus building at Viminacium, Serbia

4 June, 2018 - 23:00 Ed Whelan

Roman Skeletons Adorned in Jewelry Found in Serbia

Reuters has reported that archaeologists in Serbia have discovered a Roman sarcophagus that was intact and had been undisturbed for almost two thousand years. The tomb contains many precious items...

Ancient remains of a Peruvian shark fisherman, who was buried with two additional left legs.

16 April, 2018 - 18:49 aprilholloway

Archaeologists are Stumped: Why were Ancient Shark Hunters in Peru Buried with Extra Limbs?

Archaeologists in Peru have unearthed a rather perplexing burial site dating back 1,900 years, in which the ancient inhabitants of a fishing village were buried with bonus body parts, including one...

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...

Skulls and bones are piled high at the charnel house Rothwell, Northamptonshire, England.

2 April, 2018 - 22:55 lizleafloor

2500 Bodies fill Rare Charnel Chapel in England - Hidden House of Bones Revealed in 3D

A hidden hall of bones containing the remains of thousands of dead was a secret kept for centuries. 3D scans of the shocking find now bring light to the dark chambers, revealing England’s best-...

20 February, 2018 - 13:57 ancient-origins

Five Surprising Things DNA has Revealed About our Ancestors

Researchers recently used DNA from the 10,000-year-old “Cheddar Man”, one of Britain’s oldest skeletons, to unveil what the first inhabitants of what now is Britain actually looked like. But this isn...

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Myths & Legends

The Epic of Gilgamesh. Source: Luca Oleastri / Adobe.

The Epic of Gilgamesh Unveiled: Searching For a Way to the Home Planet

In contrast to many theorists, this unconventional retelling of key parts of the Epic explores the idea that Gilgamesh was not searching for life eternal on Earth, as has been suggested as the theme of the Epic, but was instead searching for the means of transport to return to his goddess mother Ninsun’s home planet in the heavens.

Say the Magic Word: The Origins of Abracadabra

The Real Story of Medusa: Protective Powers from a Snake-Haired Gorgon

The Epic of Gilgamesh Unveiled: Enlightenment and Source of Religions

The Nature and Dangers of the Legendary Kobold

The Menhune of Hawaii – Ancient Race or Fictional Fairytale?

Human Origins

The Pagan Wheel of the Year: What Elaborate Rituals and Events Mark this Sacred Cycle?

Although it may be a long time (if ever) before pagans reclaim their Yule from Christmas or their Samhain from Halloween, it is worthwhile to explore these ancient religious traditions. The Wheel of the Year follows the cycle of pagan festivals.

The Epic of Gilgamesh Unveiled: Enlightenment and Source of Religions

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

Rh-Negative Blood: An Exotic Bloodline or Random Mutation?

Pharaoh Akhenaten: An Alternative View of the Heretic King

Are the Distinctive Kalash People of Pakistan Really Descendants of Alexander the Great’s Army?

Ancient Technology

An ancient Roman road at Leptis Magna, Libya

Ancient Journeys: What was Travel Like for the Romans?

It was not uncommon for the ancient Romans to travel long distances all across Europe. Actually during the Roman Empire, Rome had an incredible road network which extended from northern England all...

The incredible earthquake detector invented nearly 2,000 years ago

Secrets Behind the Creepy Plague Doctor Mask and Costume

Mummy Brown – the 16th century paint made from ground up mummies

Romans in Pompeii Repaired the Roads with Molten Iron

Why Are There 365 Days in a Year? Organizing Dates with an Ancient Egyptian Calendar

Ancient Places

Royal Palace at Ebla. Source: CC BY-SA 3.0

First Kingdoms: The Forgotten Mesopotamian Kingdom of Ebla

Spectacular things were happening in Mesopotamia in the period we call the Early Bronze Age, particularly in the southern part of it, commonly called Babylonia.

Sumer: Where Written Language, Arithmetic and Civilization Were Born

Explaining the Fall of the Great Akkadian Empire

Homer’s Iliad Casts Doubt on the Aegean Location of Troy

The Great Ziggurat of Ur

The Incredible Subterranean City of Kish

Opinion

Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms

There are many accounts of a land of immortality and eternal youth in world myths and legends, as well as shamanic and indigenous spiritual traditions. Mysterious Worlds Writing in his recent work,...

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

The Secrets of the Kabbalists Garden

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.