surgery

Jean Baptiste Marc Bourgery and Nicholas Henri Jacob, ‘Iconografia d'anatomia chirurgica e di medicina operatoria,’ Florence, 1841.

6 January, 2019 - 14:04 ancient-origins

The Ugly History of Cosmetic Surgery

Reality television shows based on surgical transformations, such as The Swan and Extreme Makeover , were not the first public spectacles to offer women the ability to compete for the chance to be...

Human skulls have been found with evidence of craniotomy.

12 November, 2018 - 22:58 Ed Whelan

Skulls Show Evidence Ancient Chinese Brain Surgeons Operated 3,000 Years Ago

Chinese experts have determined that two skulls found in a historic site show evidence of ancient craniotomy. The finds are being taken to demonstrate that craniotomy, along with other advanced...

5 August, 2017 - 23:02 mariaw

Secret Stonehenge: Mounds, Artifacts, and Intrigue

Stonehenge stands within a vast ritual landscape. Encircling the towering stones was once over 800 round mounds adding to the temple’s splendour. From within these enigmatic mounds some of the finest...

21 May, 2017 - 01:59 ancient-origins

Five Bloodcurdling Medical Procedures That are No Longer Performed … Thankfully

Surgeries and treatments come and go. A new BMJ guideline, for example, makes “strong recommendations” against the use of arthroscopic surgery for certain knee conditions. But while this key-hole...

Relief of a seated poet (Menander) with masks of New Comedy, 1st century B.C. – early 1st century AD.

1 May, 2017 - 15:21 MartiniF

Decapitation? No Problem. The Magic of Restoration: Ancient Myths and Practices of Plastic Surgery

Plastic surgery, not just a modern practice, has always existed and was shrouded in mystery, magic, and eroticism. An Indian physician named Sushruta, who was widely regarded in India as the “father...

19 April, 2017 - 15:34 MartiniF

Woman, Healer, Goddess? Famous (and Forbidden) Female Physicians in the Ancient World

Throughout history, women have always been healers. They were pharmacists, cultivating healing herbs and exchanging the secrets of their uses. They were also nurses, counselors, midwives who traveled...

9 December, 2016 - 00:51 Mark Miller

Evidence Emerges of Cranial Surgery in China Dating Back More than 3,500 Years

New evidence has emerged that suggests ancient surgeons in China were drilling or scraping holes in people’s heads more than 3,500 years ago. The process, known as trepanation, was used in various...

The famous Ica Stones in the collection of Professor Cabrera.

12 September, 2016 - 21:50 WalterJoergLangbein

Library in Stone: The Ica Stones of Professor Cabrera – Part II

I came to the realization that the dismissive attitude of orthodox science annoyed and aggrieved Professor Cabrera. He frequently voiced his outrage at the refusal of mainstream scientists to...

12 September, 2016 - 14:48 WalterJoergLangbein

Library in Stone: The Ica Stones of Professor Cabrera – Part I

In 1961, the Rio Ica burst its banks and flooded parts of the Ocucaje Desert. Was an earthquake responsible for the flood? When the water had retreated, the local farmers inspected the damage. Their...

Hundreds and Hundreds of objects in the once-secret collection of Professor Cabrera.

10 September, 2016 - 21:51 WalterJoergLangbein

Professor Cabrera’s Cabinet of Horrors: Secret Chambers and Shocking Artifacts with Controversial Origins

In Ica, Peru, I visited the most mysterious museum on our planet. It is the Museo de Piedras Grabadas de Ica , (Museum of the Engraved Stones of Ica). Professor Javier Cabrera Darquea (1924-2001)...

26 August, 2016 - 00:57 dhwty

By the Cut of a Tumi: An Iconic Ceremonial Artifact of Ancient Peru

The tumi was a ceremonial knife used by several pre-Columbian cultures that inhabited the Peruvian coast, including the Moche, Sicán, Chimu, and Inca cultures, to carry out blood sacrifice and...

16 August, 2016 - 22:46 ancient-origins

Reconstructing Brain Surgery as It Was Conducted Around 3,000 Years Ago

A step by step academic investigation into how Bronze Age medics conducted trepanation operations in Siberia has been conducted based on a male skull found last year in the Nefteprovod II burial...

Representational image showing trepanation. A trepanated skull of a girl from the Neolithic period (3500 BC); the patient survived. Natural History Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland.

6 July, 2016 - 00:49 Natalia Klimczak

7,000-Year-Old Head Surgery: One of the Oldest Trepanned Skulls Discovered in Sudan

A remarkable discovery was made during excavations in a Neolithic settlement in Omdurman in Sudan – an ancient skeleton with signs of trepanation (drilling a hole in the skull), dating back around 7,...

6 May, 2016 - 21:52 Mark Miller

Ritually Motivated Traditions May Be Behind Holes Drilled into Skulls in Prehistoric Russia

Researchers believe holes cut in people’s skulls more than 4,000 years ago in Russia involved some kind of rite rather than medical surgery. Amazingly, some of the people, who were apparently very...

Painting entitled ‘Abulcasis blistering a patient in the hospital at Cordova.’

26 November, 2015 - 14:50 dhwty

Al-Zahrawi: The Legacy of the Father of Modern Surgery

The period from the 8th century until the 13th century AD is commonly referred to as the Islamic Golden Age. During this era, the Islamic world produced numerous scholars who contributed greatly to...

The mummified remains of Usermontu, Rosicrucian San Jose Museum

20 July, 2015 - 14:35 aprilholloway

Medical Mystery of Usermontu: Why the Discovery of 2,600-Year-Old Knee Screw Left Experts Dumbfounded

In 1971, the Rosicrucian Museum in California acquired a sealed ancient Egyptian coffin containing the well-preserved mummy of a high status Egyptian male. More than two decades later, a team of...

Pages

Myths & Legends

Baphomet: Was the Diabolical Demon Really Worshipped by Knights Templars?

Baphomet is the demonic entity allegedly worshipped by the Knights Templars who later became a symbol for Satanic worship. During the Inquisition of the Templars in the 14th century, the knights were falsely accused of worshipping this figure.

The Disturbing True Story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin

The Real Story of Medusa: Protective Powers from a Snake-Haired Gorgon

The Powerful Symbol of the Swastika and its 12,000 Year History

Lilith: Ancient Demon, Dark Deity or Sensual Goddess?

The Sumerian King List still puzzles historians after more than a century of research

Human Origins

The human skull that challenges the Out of Africa theory

This is the account of the discovery of a skull that has the potential to change what we know about human evolution, and a suppression and cover-up which followed. In 1959, in an area called...

Rh-Negative Blood: An Exotic Bloodline or Random Mutation?

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

The Outstanding Story of Osiris: His Myth, Symbols, and Significance in Ancient Egypt

Asherah: God’s Forgotten Wife

Ancient Infant DNA Rewrites the History of Humans Entering North America

Ancient Technology

Secrets Behind the Creepy Plague Doctor Mask and Costume

The plague doctor mask is one of the most recognizable symbols of the Black Death. Though the image is iconic the relationship may be a little anachronistic. While plague doctors have been plying their trade since the Middle Ages, it was only after this period, during the 17th century, that they acquired their creepy trademark costume. But what does it mean?

Taking a ‘Knapp’ With Our Ancient Ancestors - Stone Tools Through the Ages

Ten amazing inventions from ancient times

Han Purple: A 2,800-year-old artificial pigment that quantum physicists are trying to understand

The revolutionary invention of the wheel

Wootz Steel: The Mysterious Metal that Was Used in Deadly Damascus Blades

Ancient Places

The Bosnian Pyramids: One of the Greatest Finds Ever?

In 2020, as we begin a new decade, Dr Sam Osmanagich and The Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation is celebrating its 15th year since multidisciplinary investigations of the Bosnian Pyramids began.

The Rarely Told Story of Pre-Colonial Philippines

Why Isn’t This Map in the History Books?

Greby Grave Field: Final Resting Place of Scottish Warriors Theory Debunked

L'Anse aux Meadows: Discovery of Norse settlement in Canada Proved Viking Sagas Contain Real History

Anglo-Saxon Abbey where Lusty King Edgar was Crowned, Found!

Opinion

Naupa Iglesia: An Egyptian Portal in the Andes?

Halfway up a near-vertical ravine in the Andes, someone carved an inverted V-shaped entrance into the mountainside. Then they sliced the bedrock with great precision to create a shallow door that...

The Nephilim: Giant Offspring of the Sons of God and the Daughters of Man?

Mount Shasta: Spirits and Danger on a Sacred California Mountain

Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms

Pharaoh Akhenaten: An Alternative View of the Heretic King

Changing Colors and Scampering Across the Night Sky: What Did the Ancients Say about Sirius?

Our Mission

At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exists countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained.

The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe.

We’re the only Pop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives.

By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings.