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...
Nomad Women Have Hunted with Eagles since Antiquity The ancient practice of eagle hunting is carried on today by a few hundred nomadic Kazakhs in Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Xinjiang (...
Evidence that Nomad Women Hunted with Eagles since Antiquity "A fast horse and a soaring eagle are the wings of a nomad." --Kazakh proverb Falconry, training raptors to hunt for game, is particularly...
Funerary cones are a type of funereal object from ancient Egypt. It is well known that the ancient Egyptians were extremely concerned about the afterlife, and that they did all they could to provide...
A traditional stringed gourd instrument of the Tuareg people in Africa, played only by women because of the threat of a curse upon men who play it, is making a comeback. Only two women were known to...
Many writers have speculated on the origin, antiquity and meaning of fairy tales. These fantastical stories often involve magic; strange, archaic situations; speaking animals; kings, masters and...
A cluster of 113 hanging coffins dating back 1,200 years have been discovered on cliff-faces and in caves in Zigui county, Hubei province, close to the site of the Three Gorges Dam in China. The...
A medieval Buddhist tradition started by a Buddhist monk centuries ago has people this month in Thailand exhuming and painstakingly cleaning the remains of 3,890 people who were buried without their...
Many ancient civilizations had beliefs surrounding the hauntings of ghosts and malevolent spirits, and so they relied on careful rituals and exorcisms to keep the supernatural at bay. Read Part I...
Ghosts and malevolent spirits haunted the ancients, and so they relied on careful rituals and exorcisms to keep the supernatural at bay. The concept of a spiritual afterlife connects cultures across...
The image of a couple exchanging rings during a wedding ceremony is instantly recognizable, and is held as an ancient tradition. A ring on a certain finger indicates that the wearer is married, but...
Ife is an ancient city of the Yoruba located in the south-western part of modern day Nigeria. Based on the archaeological evidence, the urbanization of the site may be dated back to around 500 AD...
Bad luck is sure to befall a US company if it builds a new factory over a fairyfort in Ireland, warns a traditional Irish lore keeper. West Pharmaceutical Services is building a new factory in...
In a quest to repeat the traditions of ancient merchants, more than 100 tea traders are making an epic journey, crossing 15,000 kilometers on camelback and retracing the steps of the Silk Road...
The modern Western world is familiar with the concept of wishing wells, or bodies of water in which currency, most commonly in the form of coin, is tossed with the intention of making a wish. Some...
On March 21, residents of three indigenous communities in Saraguro, a remote Andean municipality in Ecuador, celebrated the Pawkar Raymi (ceremony of blossoming) to honor the Pachamama (Mother Earth...
Every year, rural communities in Peru carry out an ancient tradition that stems back to the age of the Incan Civilization. Considered a sacred expression of ritual, history and renewal, Peruvians...
Japan is known for having its fair share of unique and unusual ancient shrines and associated festivals, from the Mama Kannon temple dedicated to breasts to the Kanamara Matsuri (Festival of the...
New research published this month in the journal Neurosurgical Focus , has sought to unravel the history, origin, and ethnic context of elongated skulls found in the Carpathian Basin, a large basin...