Hidden within the charming town of Tomar, Portugal, lies a hidden gem of historical significance - the tiny church of Santa Maria do Olival. Dating back to the 13th century, this Gothic church holds...
A one-of-a-kind golden sword pommel was discovered by a metal detectorist in Scotland in 2019. Depicting a rare mix of Christian symbols with mythological creatures, the treasure has just been valued...
Awareness of Nan Madol as a world class archaeological site has grown exponentially over the last decade, especially since achieving World Heritage Site status in 1996. Constructed upon an offshore...
The next time you’re looking through an illuminated manuscript, keep an eye out for images of medieval knights fighting off snails. Of all the villains in the world, these may not have been the first...
In early medieval art and literature fluffy white rabbits, bunnies, and hares were typically motifs of innocence, venerability, and purity. However, more in sync with these animals’ rate of...
Humans have always styled their hair in a multitude of creative and symbolic ways, and the various cuts, colors, and presentations reflected across the ages are nearly unlimited. But does hair serve...
Totem poles are a type of monumental structure carved from the trunks of huge trees, especially the Western Red Cedar. These monuments are found in North America, specifically along its north-western...
Between the 18th and 19th century in Poland, a child was given an unusual burial involving bird skulls within the Tunel Wielki Cave. A ritualistic burial like this surely would have been a spectacle...
Throughout history the dark of the night has always brought fear. The quiet forests, roads or paths were a place where imagination would run wild as to what goes bump in the night. In the West,...
Ancient legend paints a picture of a magical bird, radiant and shimmering, which lives for several hundred years before it dies by bursting into flames. It is then reborn from the ashes, to start a...
“Magic preceded art, art served magic, and art was then liberated from magic.” This was among a number of sometimes controversial assertions made by Scottish anthropologist James Frazer in his 19 th...
For thousands of years, an art form has existed that includes works in a wide range of media, including bark painting, ceremonial clothing, painting on leaves, rock carving, watercolor painting, and...
Kings and queens, monarchs, emperors and rulers all over the world, through time immemorial, have had the responsibility of leading their people and defending their kingdoms. Monarchs are viewed as...
Two large carved stone monuments found in an archaeological park in the Central American country of Guatemala have proven to be more significant than originally believed. The finds were made in the...
By Aarhus University Symbolic behavior - such as language , account keeping, music , art, and narrative - constitutes a milestone in human cognitive evolution. But how, where and when did these...
The Unicorn Tapestries (known also as The Hunt of the Unicorn ) is a set of seven tapestries housed today at the Cloisters, in Fort Tryon Park, northern Manhattan, New York. Incidentally, the...