New evidence has emerged that Neanderthals were more advanced hunters and gatherers than previously thought. A study published in Science Advances reveals that these ancient humans hunted and...
The daily life of a medieval peasant in England and elsewhere was extremely difficult, long, and busy. They faced endless days of manual labor working on farmland starting as early as three in the...
The Iliad is one of the most famous epic poems created by the Greek poet Homer and the piece recounts the last weeks of the Trojan War. In book 18 of the series, Homer writes about Achilles’ shield...
Ancient Rome was both a class-conscious state as well as strictly hierarchical. However, this did not rule out the opportunity for people to move between ancient Roman social classes. Before the 2nd...
A new anthropological study provides a strong message about what happens when social contracts are broken by a previously good government – the government and the society collapses – hard...
While martial suicide is a practice found in a lot of cultures, the act of seppuku , or ritual self-disembowelment, is peculiar to Japan. The earliest known acts of seppuku were the deaths of samurai...
The European Neolithic era was a time of change. The first agricultural revolution saw people take a stronger interest in farming, small-scale communities grew, polished stone axes cleared forests,...
Along with a lust for building enigmatic and long lasting structures, trade was an important feature of Ancient Egypt . The ancient Egyptians traded with many lands that bordered their country,...
When we think about the life in medieval Europe, we tend to conjure up grim and dismal images of war, poverty, sickness, and the Dark Ages . But was it truly so dark? Is there more to it, or are we...
In medieval societies , it was always quite important to preserve law and order, and to rightfully dispense justice. A just ruler secured himself an obedient populace, and often enough, justice was...
As the leaves turn beautiful golden and fiery red hues, the weather gets colder, and people prepare for the oncoming winter in the Northern Hemisphere, Americans enjoy the annual celebration of...
The new Penn Museum will include six new 'Global Guides’ from Africa , Mexico , and Central America . Our technology driven world allows us instant access to documentaries, blogs, and Twitter feeds...
Archaeogenetic analyses have provided new insights into social structures of Bronze age households in ‘Europe’ 4000 years ago. Nuclear families lived together with foreign women and unrelated...
It is no surprise that the medieval period was filled with all kinds of undesirable jobs. There were leech collectors, cesspool cleaners, serfs, and gong farmers, to name a few. But one vocation that...
Inequality became rooted in ancient societies with the rise of ox-drawn plows. Ancient societies across Eurasia as far back as 7000 years ago experienced the rise of an upper class. And according to...
The White Lotus Society / Sect (written in Chinese as 白莲教, and Romanized as ‘Bai Lian Jiao’) was a millenarian movement that existed in imperial China. As a religious movement, the teachings of the...
The Norte Chico Civilization was an ancient civilization/complex society belonging to the Pre-Columbian era. This civilization flourished in Peru about 5000 years ago, and is believed to be the...
The Hwarang were an extraordinary group of ancient knights from Silla – one of 3 kingdoms in the region of the Korean peninsula . They were an elite sect, chosen from high society families whilst...
A theme common amongst the mythology of ancient cultures is a belief in the existence of a Golden Age , when humans lived uncorrupted, in peace and harmony, experiencing prosperity and societal...
Megaliths, stone circles, and cairns flank the 30 meter (100 foot) platform mound; its mortuary cavity contains an estimated several hundred individuals, tightly arranged. Most burials had highly...
The archaeological understanding of the Neolithic Revolution (or First Agricultural Revolution) has changed significantly since research on the subject first began in the early 20th century. This...
About 34,000 years ago, two physically challenged boys were buried head to head, with tens of thousands of animal bone offerings, according to a Cambridge Journal of Antiquity paper published last...
Guachimontones (known alternatively as Huachimontones) is an archaeological site located in the western Mexican state of Jalisco. This is an important site of the Teuchitlan tradition, which was a...
Healed over fractured skulls and limbs and a dislocated elbow – these are signs that archaeologists are interpreting as evidence of ritual violence having taken place in Peru about 3,200 years ago...