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Content written by ashley cowie

ashley cowie's pictureAshley is a Scottish historian, author and documentary filmmaker presenting original perspectives on historical problems, in accessible and exciting ways. His books, articles and television shows explore lost cultures and kingdoms, ancient crafts and artefacts, symbols and architecture, myths and legends telling thought-provoking stories which together offer insights into our shared social history.

In his 20's Ashley was based in Caithness on the north east coast of Scotland and walked thousands of miles across ancient Neolithic landscapes collecting flint artefacts, which led to the discovery of significant Neolithic settlements. Having delivered a series of highly acclaimed lectures on the international Science Festival Circuit about his discoveries, he has since written four bestselling non-fiction books. Elected as a member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, incorporated by Royal Charter in 1783, Ashley has been involved in a wide range of historical and scientific research projects which are detailed on this website – www.ashleycowie.com. Read More...

Prehistoric well and steps recently uncovered at Mither Tap Hillfort, Scotland Source: Northern Picts /University of Aberdeen
19 June, 2019 - 23:02 ashley cowie

Prehistoric Well Uncovered At Ancient Hillfort Might Be A Time Capsule Of Archaeological Gold

An ancient fresh water well with elaborate spiraling stone steps has been re-discovered on one of Scotland’s most mythologized mountain peaks near Aberdeen, and archaeologists were keen to peer into...
Tjuyu was discovered in 1905 with blond hair.
17 June, 2019 - 18:59 ashley cowie

Were These Ancient Egyptian Mummies Chemical Or Natural Blondes?

Egyptian noblewoman Tjuyu and her husband Yuya were important figures in Amenhotep III’s court and she is believed to have died in 1375 BC. Most widely known as being the great-grandmother of...
Illustration of an old tavern. Credit: Chorazin / Adobe Stock
16 June, 2019 - 16:37 ashley cowie

Burned Down Colonial Tavern that May Have Doubled as a Brothel Found in North Carolina

Archaeologists examining a recently discovered colonial tavern in eastern North Carolina were stunned to discover that when the 18th Century building burned to the ground a “treasure trove of...
The head of a Buddha statue. Credit: Richard / Adobe Stock. Inset: Fragments of a birch bark manuscript from ancient Gandhara. Credit: British Library (public domain)
16 June, 2019 - 11:04 ashley cowie

Scholars Get Closer to Words of Buddha as They Unravel Oldest Buddhist Scrolls in the World

The oldest Buddhist scrolls ever discovered were made on birch bark and spent two millennia folded in clay pots, in a cave, situated along the northern border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and now...
Granite sphinx of Rameses II, moved from Memphis Egypt to Philadelphia USA in 1913 Source: Penn Museum Archive.
14 June, 2019 - 23:03 ashley cowie

Hi-Tech Levitation Devices Used To “Float” Ancient Egyptian Sphinx

In 1913, archaeologists working with the Egyptian Antiquities Service, the Egypt Exploration Fund and the British School of Archaeology, excavated an enormous red-granite sphinx representing the...
Wooden brazier used for recreational cannabis use. Source: Xinhua Wu / Science Advances
13 June, 2019 - 13:58 ashley cowie

Ancient Chinese Death Rituals Involved Smoking Cannabis Specifically “To Get High”

Archaeological evidence gathered at the excavation of ‘eight ancient Chinese tombs’ has finally determined that people were indeed smoking cannabis 2,500 years ago, just to “ get high ”. The eight...
A diver holds a Neolithic ca. 3,500 BC Ustan vessel found near a crannog in Loch Arnish, Scotland. Source: C Murray/ Antiquity
12 June, 2019 - 18:49 ashley cowie

Diver’s 5,500-Year-Old Discovery Hauls History of Scottish Crannogs Into Question

Archaeologists in Scotland have made “astounding discoveries” in a murky loch which finally determines when ancient homes known as crannogs were first used, and it’s thousands of years earlier than...
: Sacking of Rome by the Vandals dramatically changed the diet of Portus inhabitants
12 June, 2019 - 10:58 ashley cowie

Portus Study Reveals Vandal's Invasion Destroyed Roman's Luxury Diets, And Class System

The diets and geographic origins of people living in Portus, the main maritime port of Imperial Rome, have been determined through analysis of human, plant and animal remains, revealing that after...
The coast of the 1847 Carricks shipwreck at Cap-Des-Rosiers beach in Quebec. Source: Amqui / CC BY-SA 2.0.
10 June, 2019 - 18:29 ashley cowie

Child Remains From Tragic Irish Shipwreck Washed Up On Canadian Beach

The Canadian government has confirmed that a collection of human remains has been washed up on a beach, belonging to victims of a ship that sunk with a boatload of people fleeing the ravages of the...
Scientists examining the inside of a 1,000-year-old sarcophagus in Mainz, Germany, after lifting the lid. Source: Print screen, CNN video.
8 June, 2019 - 22:58 ashley cowie

1000-Year-Old Sarcophagus Discovered Beneath One of Germany’s Oldest Churches – Who’s Inside?

A 1,000-year-old sarcophagus discovered beneath a church floor in Mainz, Germany, is thought to hold the remains of a former 11th century Archbishop. Getting to the almost 1000-year-old skeleton took...
Detail of a portrait of Vlad Ţepeş, the Impaler, Prince of Wallachia (1456-1462) (died 1477). Weapons of this man who inspired the vampire Dracula have been found in Bulgaria. Source: Public Domain
8 June, 2019 - 18:58 ashley cowie

Dracula’s Balls: Weapons of Hyper-Violence Used by Vlad III Discovered Under Bulgarian Fortress

Archaeologists excavating at the medieval Bulgarian ‘Zishtova Fortress’ have unearthed ‘stone cannonballs’ which are thought to have been used by Vlad III [Tepes], the historical inspiration for Bram...
Witch in witches prison known as ‘The Cage’. Source: diter / Adobe Stock.
6 June, 2019 - 23:01 ashley cowie

Satanic Panic Freezes Sale of Witches' Prison

Once a prison for people (mostly women) accused of witchcraft , what is held to be Britain’s most haunted house is up for sale - again. Known as “ The Cage ” in St Osyth, England, this historic...
Two men found at the Yana Rhinoceros Horn Site in northern Siberia in Russia date to about 32,000 years ago, providing the earliest direct evidence of humans in the region. Source: Elena Pavlova
6 June, 2019 - 14:05 ashley cowie

Ancient Origins Of North Americans Settled - And Hard Evidence Of “Russian” Collusion Unearthed

For at least the last century archaeologists and anthropologists have generally agreed that the first humans arrived in North America having struggled across the icy wastes of Beringia, a vast land...
Antikythera Mechanism - National Archaeological Museum, Athens by Joy of Museum (CC BY-SA 4.0)
6 June, 2019 - 00:16 ashley cowie

The Antikythera Mechanism: Who Designed the World’s Oldest Astronomical Computer?

Since its discovery in a shipwreck near Greece in 1900, an ancient metallic astronomical clock, called the ‘Antikythera Mechanism’ still baffles scientists. Research articles on the clock offer loose...
Christina Calderón, last native speaker of the Yaghan language. Source: SIGPA
3 June, 2019 - 22:44 ashley cowie

Chile’s SuperGran Is Last Living Keeper Of A 10,000-Year-Old Language and Culture

The 10,000-year-old Yaghan language of Chile' s remote Tierra del Fuego has ‘one’ remaining fluent speaker left, and the entire ancient culture is on the very edge of dying out altogether. So what is...
Trove of ancient Viking coins recovered. Source: bukhta79 / Adobe.
2 June, 2019 - 15:16 ashley cowie

Illegal Viking Coin Hoard Worth £500,000 Threatens To Rewrite English History

A hoard of Viking coins worth at least half a million British pounds has been recovered by police investigating the illegal trade of historic treasures and they tell a completely different story of...

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