Deep within the heart of the Amazon rainforest, amidst the dense foliage and winding rivers, lies a creature of legend that has captivated the imaginations of indigenous peoples for generations...
In September 2022, beneath the surface of Mexico City and amidst the tremors of an earthquake, a massive stone-carved snake head emerged, believed to hail from the ancient Tenochtitlan era. Over a...
Accepted historical accounts claim that Cleopatra, the last active pharaoh of ancient Egypt, committed suicide. Cleopatra assumed the throne of Egypt after the demise of Alexander the Great during...
Everyone has heard of Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster, but what about the Giant Anaconda? The Giant Anaconda is a fascinating creature first described by 19 th century explorer Percy H. Fawcett,...
The story of human evolution is one peppered with the acquisition of a variety of adaptive traits that have been acquired over thousands of years. While we take many of these for granted today, each...
Shahmaran is the name given to a mythical creature found in the various cultures of the Middle East, in particular, those of the eastern Anatolian region of Turkey. According to the folklore of these...
In the ancient world, many cultures built elaborate temple complexes dedicated to their healer gods - Imhotep in Egypt and Asklepios in Greece for example. These gods were recognized as having the...
While excavating a site in southwest Finland , archaeologists came across something extraordinary. Hidden in the muddy soil in the wetland site of Järvensuo-I they unearthed a delicately carved snake...
You may not want to read about this frightening creature if you suffer to any degree from ophidiophobia, or even if you are about to embark on a camping trip. Titanoboa fossils show it was the...
Ancient Egypt is famous for its mummies of pharaohs, however, the ancient Egyptians mummified animals as well as people. In 2020, new non-invasive technology was used to digitally unwrap three animal...
Contrary to what is happening today, humans of the past had close relationships to nature and wild animals. These bonds did not concern only utilitarian aspects, but also involved the sphere of the...
The coiled snake headdress is a significant artifact connected with Maya women, both ancient and modern. Images of ancient Maya women wearing this distinctive headdress have been found carved on...
3,800 years ago, the people living in what is now called Vichama, Peru carved snakes and human heads into their walls alongside depictions of emaciated people. They were starving and dying and hoped...
Animals far outnumber us on the planet. And while humans have domesticated some of them for work or food, others have been observed, admired, feared, and revered from afar. For many ancient cultures...
Deep within the shifting sands of the Gobi Desert lies the elusive Olgoi-Khorkhoi, the Mongolian Death Worm – or so legend has it. The Mongolian Death Worm is a bright red worm, a mysterious cryptid...
Irish and Celtic symbols reflect ancient beliefs and traditions and were believed to influence lives. The meanings of symbols such as the Claddagh, Crann Bethadh, Triquetra, and Triskelion have lived...
Two curiously shaped ‘ophidian sculptured stones’ discovered in what is now Ukraine were crafted by Stone Age sculptors. The artifacts resemble ‘beady-eyed’ serpent heads, according to the team of...
We had all better get ourselves prepared for a very big day in next year’s calendar, if a snake seen scaring away a pigeon between the ancient stones of Israel’s Western Wall is indeed, as some are...
Taking political control is often a violent affair, but tactics, knowledge of local customs and beliefs, and trickery can also be used to get an ambitious leader’s foot in the door. New research on...
The day prior to the final Snake Dance performance in the plaza, before sunrise with Orion and Sirius rising, two warriors of the Snake society make several circuits around the Snake and Antelope...
For thousands of years the Hopi tribe of northern Arizona has performed a secretive, sacred ceremony that embodies the manifold and richly evocative archetypal nature of the serpent. In modern times...
For centuries, rice has been a staple diet and plays an important role in Asian culture. Although rice farmers have found their lives becoming more difficult due to climate change, Bloomberg states...
The Gate to Hell, also known as Pluto’s Gate, was the Greco-Roman entrance to the Underworld. When archaeologists found an example of this sacred site in Turkey they also discovered two guardians who...
The Plumed (or Feathered) Serpent is a Mesoamerican myth that has fascinated modern people for quite some time. Among the Aztecs and Toltecs this divinity went by the name of Quetzalcoatl and to the...