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Leaving an Impression: Revealing the Intricate Story of Sumerian Cylinder Seals

Leaving an Impression: Revealing the Intricate Story of Sumerian Cylinder Seals

A cylinder seal is a small cylindrical object with images, words, or both, engraved onto it. Sumerian cylinder seals would be rolled over wet clay to make an impression. When the clay dried, a seal...
Sword in a Stone and Fairy Tale forest

Who Pulled the Sword from the Stone? The Truth of the Swords of King Arthur

This spring a new movie, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword , is to hit the big screens. Staring Charlie Hunnam as the fabled warrior, the film title suggests that the central theme is Arthur’s...
3,500-Year-Old Gemstones from Kuwait Shed Light on One of the Oldest Civilizations in the Middle East

3,500-Year-Old Gemstones from Kuwait Shed Light on One of the Oldest Civilizations in the Middle East

A group of Danish archaeologists from Moesgaard Museum discovered some fascinating 3,500-year-old gemstones and the remains of a jewelry workshop in Kuwait. They hope that this discovery will provide...
The Chalice of Magdalene – Is this the Holy Grail?

The Chalice of Magdalene – Is this the Holy Grail?

On January 12th this year BBC News ran a story concerning Mary Magdalene, the woman depicted as a close companion of Jesus in the New Testament. The Vatican has elevated her status amongst the saints...
Are you a Righty or Lefty? Ancient Teeth and Tools May Explain the Evolution of Handedness

Are you a Righty or Lefty? Ancient Teeth and Tools May Explain the Evolution of Handedness

Caroline Spry/ The Conversation Roughly 90% of humans are right-handed and this is one of the traits that separates us from most other primates who don’t really show any overall preference for left...
Top 10 Archaeological Discoveries of 2016: From Lost Cities to Ancient Tombs, Shrines, Maps and Unknown Species

Top 10 Archaeological Discoveries of 2016: From Lost Cities to Ancient Tombs, Shrines, Maps and Unknown Species

This year has provided an array of exciting, and sometimes puzzling, discoveries for archaeologists and ancient history enthusiasts. Looking back to our most ancient ancestors, a few of the...
Looking to Elders to Discover the Amazing Burial Mounds and Forgotten Woodland Traditions of Canada

Looking to Elders to Discover the Amazing Burial Mounds and Forgotten Woodland Traditions of Canada

While the burial mounds and earthworks of the Adena and Hopewell Cultures are usually associated with the Ohio River Valley, there are lesser-known—but equally as fantastic—manifestations of these...
Shedding Light on Newgrange: 5,000-Year-Old Sun Trap May Not Be All That it Seems

Shedding Light on Newgrange: 5,000-Year-Old Sun Trap May Not Be All That it Seems

Maybe the solstice sunlight-trapping “roof box” in Ireland’s ancient Newgrange stone monument is not a 5,000-year-old astronomical feature but rather a construct that is just 50 years old. The box on...
Immense 1,900-Year-Old Slab Found Underwater Names Forgotten Roman Ruler During Bloody Jewish Revolt

Immense 1,900-Year-Old Slab Found Underwater Names Forgotten Roman Ruler During Bloody Jewish Revolt

A team of researchers from the University of Haifa have recently discovered a rare inscription from the period prior to the Bar Kochba revolt. The enlightening discovery allows historians to finally...
Birds, Stones, and Jaguars: Piecing Together the Multifaceted Ancient Olmec Religion

Birds, Stones, and Jaguars: Piecing Together the Multifaceted Ancient Olmec Religion

The Bilingual-Mayan inscription of Comalcalco and decipherment of the La Venta celts and Olmec iconography allows one to understand much about the ancient Olmec religion and its cult associations...
Ancient Travelers or Local Artists? Who Made the Enigmatic Hemet Maze Stone?

Ancient Travelers or Local Artists? Who Made the Enigmatic Hemet Maze Stone?

Near the town of Hemet in the Reinhardt canyon of southern California there is a curious petroglyph known as the Hemet maze stone. It is a figure made of interconnected rectilinear shapes that form a...
Deriv; Inset – Cusco founder Manco Capac, First Inca, 1 of 14 Portraits of Inca Kings (Public Domain), and the incredible stone masonry of the walls of Sacsayhuamán, Cusco, Peru. (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The Golden Stick: Cuzco’s Divine Foundation Myth and The Scientific Connections

Tahuantinsuyo, in ancient Quechua language, is the name indicating the Inca Empire, one of the largest of the South American continent, much more than the Aztec and Maya Empire. In 1532 BC, the Inca...
Mysterious 1,500-Year-Old Stone Complex Unearthed in Kazakhstan

Mysterious 1,500-Year-Old Stone Complex Unearthed in Kazakhstan

A mysterious stone complex which may have been built by the Huns has been discovered in Kazakhstan. It contains some stones which look exactly like ones found at Stonehenge in the UK. The site also...
Upcycling Ancient Beauty – How Precious Stones, Monuments, and Jewels Have Been Re-Used

Upcycling Ancient Beauty – How Precious Stones, Monuments, and Jewels Have Been Re-Used

Sculptures, monuments, jewels, and even floors of churches and palaces… Impressive artifacts, outstanding pieces of art, and treasures which could satisfy even the most demanding person... Many of...
Recently Discovered Scratched Stone in Denmark Could be One of The Earliest Maps in History

Recently Discovered Scratched Stone in Denmark Could be One of The Earliest Maps in History

Reports of existing archaeological discoveries are pouring in lately from Scandinavia. A puzzling stone found in a ditch on Bornholm, a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of...
Striking Pictish Dragon Carving Discovered During Storms in Orkney

Striking Pictish Dragon Carving Discovered During Storms in Orkney

An 8th century carving of a Pictish dragon (also called a Pictish beast) has been discovered on an eroding cliff face in Orkney, Scotland. The stone decoration is one of the most beautiful Pictish...
Ancient Observatory

Scientists Discover that Megalithic Site in India is Oldest Ancient Observatory in South Asia

A remarkable 7,000-year-old megalithic site that served as an astronomical observatory has been found in Muduma village in Telangana, India. The discovery has been hailed as one of the most...
Why Did 2,400-Year-Old Stone Idol in Siberia Undergo Racial Realignment to Look Less European?

Why Did 2,400-Year-Old Stone Idol in Siberia Undergo Racial Realignment to Look Less European?

By Tamara Zubchuk / Siberian Times The 2,400-year-old Ust-Taseyevsky idol 'underwent racial realignment early in Middle Ages', losing his European looks. But why this medieval plastic surgery? And...
Are Stone Circles Ancient Pregnancy Calendars?

Are Stone Circles Ancient Pregnancy Calendars?

Even today, giving birth can be one of the most dangerous moments in a woman's life. In ancient times it would have been even more so. Matriarchal societies would have tried to ensure the safest...
A Polish Stonehenge? Discovery of New Burial Mounds May Rewrite History

A Polish Stonehenge? Discovery of New Burial Mounds May Rewrite History

A group of previously unknown burial mounds has been discovered near Czaplinek in north-western Poland. The most interesting feature found so far is a stone ring, which is shaped similar to the world...
Another Venus? Rare Neolithic Female Figurine Discovered in Turkey

Another Venus? Rare Neolithic Female Figurine Discovered in Turkey

Researchers excavating at the site of Catalhoyok in Turkey have unearthed a rare Neolithic figurine in the shape of a woman. The statue is considered unique for its fine craftsmanship, material, and...
Has a Legendary Gem from a Sacred Jewish Breastplate Been Rediscovered?

Has a Legendary Gem from a Sacred Jewish Breastplate Been Rediscovered?

After being lost from the pages of history for about a thousand years, a legendary gemstone may find its way back home. An anonymous owner of what may be a very important religious artifact is ready...
Hidden Fourth Circle at Mysterious 4,000-Year-Old Standing Stones in Cornwall to be Investigated

Hidden Fourth Circle at Mysterious 4,000-Year-Old Standing Stones in Cornwall to be Investigated

Archaeologists are set to undertake an investigation of a hidden fourth circle identified by geophysics at an ancient megalithic site in Cornwall known as ‘The Hurlers’. The Plymouth Herald reports...
Kungagraven – A Grave Fit for a Nordic Bronze Age King, But Who Was Buried Inside?

Kungagraven – A Grave Fit for a Nordic Bronze Age King, But Who Was Buried Inside?

The number of mysterious stone constructions and burials left by ancient Nordic people is impressive. However, the King's Grave near Kivik has a special place in history. It's one of the most...

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