The Janissaries ( yeni-cheri , or “new troops”) were a small elite branch established by the Ottoman military sometime around the 14th century by Orhan Ghazi, second bey (chieftain), of the Ottoman...
A recent investigation of Amarna’s cemeteries in Egypt has revealed new evidence that clearly shows that a “disposable” working staff was mainly composed of children and teenagers. Experts now...
Alexander the Great has gained an immortality in his strong presence in our minds as well as in the history books. Known for a greatness of military genius and diplomatic skills, he conquered most of...
The ancient Greek city-state of Sparta is famous for being a city almost entirely dedicated to the art of war. Non-war and non-politics related tasks were left to slaves so that male citizens could...
Slaves and other lower-class residents made up a big part of the population of the city of Rome around the 1st century AD. But who were these people? Where were they from? What were their lives like...
The Cabo Verde islands, situated in the South Atlantic Ocean between Africa and South America, were an important hub in the slave trade. Archaeologists have now revealed to the public a church there...
A stepped stone pyramid about 2 meters (6 feet) tall has been excavated in the City of David, and it has archaeologists speculating about its use. They say the structure, unlike any other in...
UNESCO World Heritage sites are not only renowned for their cultural and natural importance, but are often used in the film industry. Who can forget the scene at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last...
Empires may rise and fall, but the impact they have on their conquered subjects and the future may continue beyond their passing, for better or for worse. The Spanish Empire, which began in the 15 th...
An archaeological team in France has unearthed a Gallo-Roman necropolis in Saintes, France, in which the remains of a group of adults and a child were found with iron shackles around their wrists,...
There has long been an assumption in mainstream archaeology that many of the impressive monuments and great accomplishments of ancient civilizations were built with slave labour. Perhaps it is...
Archaeologists have revealed the almost complete remains of a Roman school of gladiators on the banks of the Danube in Austria and have used sophisticated 3D reconstruction techniques to bring to...
Archaeologists sometimes face the same gruesome discoveries that forensic scientists deal with today, having to unravel the stories behind brutal murders, sacrifices and other dark rituals. Here are...
A new study which will be published in the new issues of the Journal of Archaeological Science has revealed that a set of Viking graves uncovered in Norway in the early 1980s contained the remains of...
Archaeologists have completed their analysis of a 1,000-year-old Viking man buried on an island in the Norwegian Sea, along with several other bodies buried nearby without their heads. Shockingly,...
In ancient Rome, there was no vocabulary to distinguish between homosexuality and heterosexuality. Sexuality instead was defined by behavioural mannerisms , whether active or passive, in both gay and...
