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Ashley Cowie

Ashley is a Scottish historian, author, and documentary filmmaker presenting original perspectives on historical problems in accessible and exciting ways.

He was raised in Wick, a small fishing village in the county of Caithness on the north east coast of Scotland, and he went on to study filmmaking in Glasgow. In his early-20s he began exploring ancient landscapes in the remote North Highlands and presented his archaeological findings to the Orkney International Science Festival and has since written four non-fiction books about his discoveries. Ashley became an elected member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, incorporated by Royal Charter in 1783, and became the Resident Historian on Scottish television’s The Hour Show. He presented 46 episodes of The People’s History Show while teaching filmmaking and television presenting at the University of the West of Scotland. He also markets his family restaurant, Captain’s Galley, which for almost two decades has been one of the most highly-awarded sustainable and ethical restaurants in the world. In North America Ashley wrote, presented and produced NBC's hit-adventure series Legend Quest following his global hunt for lost historical treasures and featured on PBS’s documentary series Great Estates; listed on Amazon’s 2016 top-ten most downloaded documentaries. In 2018 Ashley filmed an extreme-cyclist racing from South America to Alaska on the Pan American Highway Challenge; filmed a treasure hunt in Scotland with Discovery Channel’s Josh Gates for Expedition Unknown; searched for Inca mummies in Argentinian mountain caves with Travel Channel’s Ramy Romany on Mummies Unwrapped and he filmed a team of 12 explorers in Colombia searching for petroglyphs on sacred hills. Today, Ashley writes news and research features for various history and archaeology platforms and produces weekly short films exploring the archetypes of myths, folklore and fairytales on his Clan Mythology platform. And 2020 brings new documentaries such as Ancient Botanics exploring the lost eco-traditions of Pre-Colombian cultures and Highlander’s Gold searching for lost Jacobite war-chest in Scotland.

Website: https://historyfuzz.com/

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Posts

Ivanka Trump and family enjoying the features of the Giza Plateau . Source: Ivanka Trump/Facebook)

Ivanka Trump’s Family Is Making Egypt Great Again

U.S.- Egyptian cultural ties are strengthened as Ivanka Trump’s family explores the crumbling pyramids, temples and tombs of the Nile River. This week brought news of “hundreds” of mummies dated from...
A golden mummy from Manchester Museum. Source: Allan Gluck / CC BY-SA 4.0

Mummification Had Nothing to Do With Preservation, Claims Exhibit

For over a century archaeologists and teachers have taught students that ancient Egyptians mummified corpses to “preserve” their bodies. Now, a disruptive new museum exhibit in the UK is set to...
Mexican woman Abigail Villalobos trespassing on the sacred Kukulcán pyramid at Chichen Itza, Mexico. Source: Twitter

Attention-Seeker Treks Over Forbidden Mexican Pyramid

A Mexican woman who climbed up an ancient Maya pyramid was immediately fined by authorities. However, enraged visitors threw water and pulled the hair of the so-called “Lady Chichen Itza”. This story...
Metal detectorists have unearthed a hoard of medieval coins, like this Edward I penny. Source: Public domain

Scottish Detectorists Swoop Over 8,000 Medieval Coins

Metal detectorists in Scotland have unearthed thousands of 13th and 14th century coins. Dubbed the Dunscore hoard, this amazing find is the largest hoard of medieval coins to have been discovered in...
Lady Brook’s medieval gold ring, up for auction at Noonans Mayfair. Source: Noonans

Metal Detected Medieval ‘Love Ring’ Might Fetch Over $40K

An English metal detectorist has unearthed a medieval “love ring” made of gold and diamonds. With its noble heritage known, this rare golden artifact has been valued at a show-stopping $40,000...
Irish castle Source: Christie’s International Real Estate

10,000 Years of History Up for Sale: Fancy Your Own Irish Castle?

Southern Ireland is peppered with hundreds of historic stone castles from different time periods. While most are crumbling into the sea, Blackwater Castle has been maintained continuously for over...
Recovered in Bolivia in 1932 the “Bennet monolith” is often referred to as the “Pachamama stela” and is believed to depict the Earth Mother goddess (Pavel Špindler/ CC BY-SA 3.0)

Transformation Of Andean Earth Goddess Pachamama Into The Virgin Mary

The blessed Virgin Mary has a long and dignified reputation within the Catholic church ever since her first appearance in the Biblical narrative of the Annunciation (Luke 1:26), where she is...
A second reconstructed roundhouse has been built by University of Dublin Centre for Experimental Archaeology students, after the first was subject to arson. Dr. Aidan O’Sullivan, crouched in the entryway of the roundhouse his students built. Source: UCD Centre for Experimental Archaeology

Roundhouse Rises from the Ashes Bringing Medieval Age to Life

Three years ago, arsonists in Ireland destroyed a recreated medieval roundhouse. Now, a team of students from the University College Dublin ( UCD ) have rebuilt it on campus. During the medieval...
The team exploring the cave system found in Kyiv. Source: Dmytro Perov

Ancient “Hieroglyphs” Discovered In Ukrainian Caves

A Ukrainian explorer followed his grandmother's clues and discovered a lost cave system in the middle of Kyiv. Professors are “amazed” that such a treasure was hidden in plain sight for thousands of...
Medieval medicine understood that the placebo effect could induce self-healing. Source: GINGER_Tsukahara / Adobe Stock

Medieval Medicine Understood How the Placebo Effect Could Heal

Is it time to kill the term “placebo effect”? A researcher looking at questionable medieval medicines, that are today shunned as placebos, has shown how early physicians triggered patient’s brains...
Hand of Irulegi with engraving of early Basque language.      Source: Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi

Enigmatic Bronze Hand Holds First Basque Script Ever Discovered

A linguistic expert has decoded curious symbols on a 2,100-years-old bronze hand that was discovered last year at an Iron Age castle in Spain. The symbols represent the “earliest” text ever...
Both sides of the medieval coin found in Canada, a Henry VI quarter noble minted in London between 1422 and 1427. Source: Government of Newfoundland & Labrador

Medieval Coin in Canada Challenges Story of North American Discovery

A gold coin discovered in Newfoundland could “rewrite the history books.” Directly challenging the mainstream narrative of the discovery of North America, this coin suggests Europeans were in...
Trepanned skulls have been found worldwide, from Siberia to Turkey to Peru. Pictured: Peruvian trepanation patients. Source: University of Miami

Was this Trepanned Skull Found in Turkey the Work of Magicians or Medics?

Researchers in Turkey have unearthed yet another trepanned skull. But was this brutal operation the work of magicians or medics? While the academic disciplines of neurology and neurosurgery didn't...
The view from above shows the position of the newly discovered temple next to the Tempio Grande. Source: Mariachiara Franceschini / Vulci Cityscape

Etruscan Temple Unearthed In Shadow Of Tempio Grande, Vulci

A team of Italian archaeologists excavating at the ancient Etruscan city of Vulci has discovered a previously unknown of monumental temple near the legendary Tempio Grande sacred site. The ancient...
The Mysterious Lady of Thebes, as reconstructed in 2D by Hew Morrison. Source: Hew Morrison / Warsaw Mummy Project

Is this the Face of the First Mummy of a Pregnant Woman?

In 2016, archaeologists finally accepted that a 2,000-year-old mummy was not a male priest when CT scans revealed the embalmed corpse seemed to be carrying a baby! It was declared the ‘only known...
Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a Roman water system at Stabiae near Pompeii. Source: Pompeii Sites

High Tech Roman Water System Frozen In Time Near Pompeii

Archaeologists in Italy were “impressed” with their discovery of a hydraulic system beneath a luxury Roman villa that was covered in the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius. However, they were “shocked” when...

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