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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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The bird plaquette.

Rare Ritual Artifacts Reveal Details on Life at the Cusp of the Agricultural Revolution

A remarkable collection of etched limestone pebbles may change our knowledge of prehistory in the Levant. Moreover, a beautiful head of a bird, which was carved into a limestone plaque 16,500 years...
Longest Ancient Etruscan Inscription Reveals Name of Virtually Unknown Goddess

Longest Ancient Etruscan Inscription Reveals Name of Virtually Unknown Goddess

Researchers working in Poggio Colla, a key ancient Etruscan settlement in Italy, have found a 120-character inscription, described as one of the most significant Etruscan discoveries in decades. The...
Ale's Stones at Kåseberga, around ten kilometers southeast of Ystad.

Sailing into the Unknown: The Search for the Story Behind Stone Ships

Strange sequences of stones discovered in the Baltic Sea region are one of the most mysterious remains left by pre-Christian civilizations. They are shaped in a pattern that resembles ships, but...
Ring of Brodgar, a Neolithic stone circle and henge monument, with the Loch of Harray in the background. Detail: Aerial view of the newly-uncovered structure.

5,000-Year-Old Mystery Structure Discovered Near Stone Age Temple in Scotland

A mysterious Stone Age building has been unearthed at the Ness of Brodgar in Orkney, Scotland. Researchers discovered it while excavating a Neolithic midden (rubbish dump.) It is located near one of...
Mythical Benben Stone: The Landing Site of Egyptian God Atum

Mythical Benben Stone: The Landing Site of Egyptian God Atum

The Benben stone is an object that is found in the mythology of ancient Egypt. This mythical stone is said to have once been housed in a shrine within the compounds of the temple dedicated to the...
Callanish stones at sunset.

Stone-Hard Evidence: Researchers Prove British Megaliths Are Connected to the Sun and Moon

A team of researchers from the University of Adelaide has revealed an explanation to one of the greatest mysteries of the British standing stone monuments. According to them, the great stone circles...
Foissac Cave. Inset: The newly-discovered Paleolithic figurine

Remarkable Paleolithic Sculpture Discovered in the Famous Cave of Foissac

A fascinating and unique Paleolithic sculpture of a figurine carved from a large bovine bone and with unusual designs engraved in it was discovered in the well-known cave of Foissac in Aveyron,...
Excavations at British sites are Revolutionizing Prehistoric Studies and Revealing Secrets of the Past

Excavations at British sites are Revolutionizing Prehistoric Studies and Revealing Secrets of the Past

You might say British archaeology is in a golden age, especially with excavations and discoveries at two sites that are adding great knowledge of the prehistory of the islands. One site, from about...
The rare pottery kiln that was used to fire jars in the ancient workshop. Photographic credit: Royee Liran, Israel Antiquities Authority.

1,600-Year-Old Pottery Workshop Has First Known Rock-Hewn Kiln in Israel

During the construction of a new residential quarter, north of the new Yaʽarit neighborhood, a team of archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered a Roman era pottery workshop,...
 Detail of the Codex runicus, a vellum manuscript from c. 1300 containing one of the oldest and best preserved texts of the Scanian law (Skånske lov), written entirely in runes.

Runes of Power and Destruction: Reading the Cursed Runestones of Sweden

Runes are often associated with magic and sometimes curses too. For many centuries, they were used as magical symbols to guide people to the knowledge which they believed was created by their gods...
10,000-Year-Old Telescopes? Ancient Tombs May Have Enhanced Visibility of Astronomical Phenomena

10,000-Year-Old Telescopes? Ancient Tombs May Have Enhanced Visibility of Astronomical Phenomena

Could ancient megalithic passage graves in Portugal dating as far back as 8000 BC have doubled as astronomical observatories? A team of researchers studying the ancient tombs thinks so, and have even...
A leftover from Jurassic Times.

Dinosaur Eggs, Meteorites, Signs of an Ancient Civilization: What are these Giant Balls?

Found 30 metres underground at a coal mine, they are dubbed Jurassic pearls or the marbles of a Siberian colossus. The ten spheres are around half the size of a human, a metre or so in diameter, and...
Odry stone circles, Poland.

The Nazi Temple of Pomerania: Exploring the Mysterious Odry Stone Circles

Odry is a small village in Pomerania in the north of Poland. This location became famous with the discovery of the second biggest site of stone circles in Europe. It is also known to be the home of...
Medusa and the Gorgons: The Origins of the Legendary Tale

Medusa and the Gorgons: The Origins of the Legendary Tale

In the middle is the Gorgon Medusa, an enormous monster about whom snaky locks twist their hissing mouths; her eyes stare malevolently, and under the base of her chin the tail-ends of serpents have...
Secrets of Stone Age Jade Axes Revealed in Scotland

Secrets of Stone Age Jade Axes Revealed in Scotland

A new exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland showcases a rarely seen collection of Stone Age jade axeheads. Most of them were brought to Scotland around 4,000 years BC. In those times they...
The True Origins of the Legend of Brutus of Troy and the London Stone

The True Origins of the Legend of Brutus of Troy and the London Stone

Until very recently, the London Stone was set into a shop wall in Cannon Street, nearly opposite the entrance to the railway station, but a few weeks ago it was removed and on 13 May this year [2016...
Deep in a Cave in France Neanderthals Constructed Mysterious Ring Structures 176,000 Years Ago

Deep in a Cave in France Neanderthals Constructed Mysterious Ring Structures 176,000 Years Ago

Not a lot is known about the Neanderthals, but researchers say circular arrangements of 176,000-year-old stalagmites in a cave in France shows they were carrying out some kind of cultural or...
Hermas as Guidance and Protection for Travelers in Ancient Greece.

Herma as Guidance and Protection for Travelers in Ancient Greece

The herma (more commonly written in English as herm; plural as hermae or hermai) was a form of statuary that originated in ancient Greece. In general, these statues were stone columns that...
Unravelling the Spellbinding Story of the Inuksuit – Mysterious Structures from the Prehistoric Arctic

Unravelling the Spellbinding Story of the Inuksuit – Mysterious Structures from the Prehistoric Arctic

While the first pyramids were being built on the sands of the desert in Egypt, people in the cold north were creating a very different civilization. They produced a mysterious system of communication...
New Interpretation of the Rok Runestone Inscription Changes View of Viking Age

New Interpretation of the Rok Runestone Inscription Changes View of Viking Age

The Rök Runestone, erected in the late 800s in the Swedish province of Östergötland, is the world's most well-known runestone. Its long inscription has seemed impossible to understand, despite the...
Serpent Stones: The Vishap Steles of Armenia as a Symbol of Rock Art and Rich Heritage

Serpent Stones: The Vishap Steles of Armenia as a Symbol of Rock Art and Rich Heritage

A vishap stele (known also as vishapakar and vishap stone) is a type of stone monument that can be found in Armenia. These steles may be identified by the carvings on them, usually of fishes or...
The London Stone, seen through its protective grille.

The Forgotten History of the London Stone, an Artifact Linked to Aeneas, King Arthur, and John Dee

The London Stone is a historic artifact that can be found on London’s Cannon Street. This mysterious relic is basically a block of limestone. This type of limestone does not occur naturally in or...
Was This Giant Stone Sphere Crafted by an Advanced Civilization of the Past or the Forces of Nature?

Was This Giant Stone Sphere Crafted by an Advanced Civilization of the Past or the Forces of Nature?

The Bosnian Indiana Jones has come into contact with a giant stone sphere. Like the famous movie counterpart, this large object is also bringing excitement along with it. The stone sphere discovered...
Detail of the Laxe dos Carballos  at Campo Lameiro, Galicia, Spain

A Walk Amongst the Petroglyphs of Galicia: Prehistoric Designs Trace Life and Times of Bronze Age Europeans

From the Upper Palaeolithic and down through the Neolithic, the Chalcolithic and into the Bronze Age, our ancestors in western Europe left behind traces of their thoughts and beliefs through rock art...

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