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Cecilia Bogaard

Cecilia Bogaard is one of the editors, researchers and writers on Ancient Origins. With an MA in Social Anthropology, and degree in Visual Communication (Photography), Cecilia has a passion for research, content creation and editing, especially as related to the ability for art to provoke social change, and the dynamics of power in public space throughout history. This has taken her around the world to far-flung places such as Cuba, Spain, Scotland, India, the United States and now southern Ecuador, where she lives with her family.

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The entrance of Mehmed II into Constantinople in 1453 AD, by Benjamin-Constant. Source: Public domain

22 June, 2022 - 01:55 Cecilia Bogaard

Did Constantinople Fall Because Someone Forgot to Lock the Gate?

For over 1,000 years, Constantinople held out against a never-ending stream of failed attacks. Capital of the Byzantine Empire, a.k.a. the Eastern Roman Empire , it was famed for its heavily...

Sigurd the Mighty is said to have been killed by a severed head. Source: Nomad_Soul / Adobe Stock

17 June, 2022 - 01:42 Cecilia Bogaard

Sigurd the Mighty Was Killed by a Severed Head

The Norse sagas are filled with astonishing death scenes. In his book Laughing Shall I Die, Lives and Deaths of the Great Vikings , Tom Shippey explains that the defiant Viking attitude to death was...

Queen Elizabeth II. Source: Open Government License

13 June, 2022 - 19:03 Cecilia Bogaard

Queen Elizabeth II Becomes Second Longest-Reigning Monarch in History

As the United Kingdom recovers from the jubilee celebrations which took place from the 2nd to the 5th June 2022, commemorating seventy years since Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne, the queen has...

Heraclitus by Abraham Janssens (Public Domain)

11 June, 2022 - 22:54 Cecilia Bogaard

Heraclitus Died When He Covered Himself in Cow Dung

History is filled with bizarre stories about death, and the ancient Greeks are no exception. While the great intellectual Empedocles is said to have jumped into a volcano, in a misguided attempt to...

A Rhynchites auratus weevil. Source: Florian / Adobe Stock

9 June, 2022 - 01:59 Cecilia Bogaard

The Trial of the Weevils: When French Winemakers Took Insects to Court

One surprising quirk about life in medieval times is that people could, and did, take animals and insects to court and try them as if they were humans. While there is scant verifiable evidence on the...

A gentleman and a moustache cup. Source: be free / Adobe Stock

3 June, 2022 - 01:59 Cecilia Bogaard

British Gentlemen Drank From Moustache Cups that Protected Their Facial Hair

The attitude to facial hair throughout history has been exceptionally fickle, and the moustache is no exception. As fashions have come and gone, so too have the tools and accessories for grooming and...

The ocellated turkey, or Meleagris ocellata, was seen as having sacred powers by the ancient Maya. Source: David Creswell / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

31 May, 2022 - 01:58 Cecilia Bogaard

Turkeys Were Worshipped by the Ancient Maya

At Thanksgiving and Christmas each year, millions of people around the world sit around the table to eat turkey. Located at the center of the table, turkey is so important that it has generated a...

The Abydos carvings are mysterious carved hieroglyphs which were found on a ceiling beam in the temple of Seti I in Abydos. Source: merlin74 / Adobe Stock

7 May, 2022 - 01:58 Cecilia Bogaard

Helicopter Hieroglyphs? Debunking the “Mystery” of the Abydos Carvings

In the ancient city of Abydos, within the famed temple of Seti I, strange hieroglyphs were discovered on the ceiling. Appearing to depict modern or extraterrestrial vehicles, some claim that the...

Photo showing replica rock art etchings by firelight. Source: Needham et al. - PLOS ONE / CC-BY 4.0

21 April, 2022 - 21:00 Cecilia Bogaard

Fiery Illusions of Rock Carvings: Prehistoric Movies

A virtual reality investigation of prehistoric rock art has concluded that flickering firelight may have been used to animate a selection of engraved rocks discovered in France. This could mean that...

The Theodoric the Great mosaic being excavated in Montorio, Verona. Source: AGSM AIM Group

20 April, 2022 - 00:10 Cecilia Bogaard

Immaculate Theodoric the Great Mosaic Unearthed in Verona

During work to replace gas pipes in the northern Italian city of Verona, archaeologists have unearthed a stunning 5th century mosaic which they now claim was part of a huge villa which could have...

Ancient Mesopotamian boat unearthed near Uruk. Source: Julia Nador - Deutsches Archäologisches Institut / CC-BY-NC-ND

8 April, 2022 - 14:58 Cecilia Bogaard

4,000-Year-Old Mesopotamian Boat Near Uruk Rescued

4,000 years ago, a boat sank onto the bed of a channel of the Euphrates River, near the ancient city of Uruk. Now, archaeologists working in modern-day southern Iraq have been forced to conduct an...

The return of the moai to Rapa Nui from Chile. Source: Paula Rossetti

10 March, 2022 - 21:52 Cecilia Bogaard

The Return of the Moai: Rapa Nui and the Fight for its Ancestors

Rapa Nui, the original name for Easter Island, is most famous for its giant monolithic moai statues. Located 3,512 km (2,182 mi) off the coast of Chile, Rapa Nui has suffered a history of constant...

Easter Island. Source: Aliaksei / Adobe Stock

6 March, 2022 - 14:00 Cecilia Bogaard

Easter Island and the Mysteries of the Moai

Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui , is a remote Chilean island a few thousand kilometers west of South America in the Pacific Ocean. Described as an archaeological Disneyland, the island has...

View of the Old Khndzoresk cave village. Source: EdNurg / Adobe Stock

11 February, 2022 - 14:00 Cecilia Bogaard

Old Khndzoresk Cave Village: Armenia’s Abandoned City of Caves

In 2016, Armenia was included in National Geographic 's list of ten places that deserve more travelers. First on the list was Armenia, and amongst the locations they recommended travelers visit was...

Illustration of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille, who feature in one of the card games. Source: Ciudades en Juego

30 January, 2022 - 14:00 Cecilia Bogaard

Spanish Card Games Bring the Kings and Queens of Spain to Life

History is naturally captivating, filled with mind-boggling plot twists and all the elements that make for fantastic fiction. Or at least, history can be captivating when, and only when, it is taught...

The Narmer Palette discovered at Nekhen. Source: Public domain

27 January, 2022 - 22:00 Cecilia Bogaard

Predynastic Site Emerges from the Sand: Nekhen, City of the Hawk

Nekhen was once a bustling city located on the western bank of the River Nile in predynastic ancient Egypt, well before the construction of the pyramids. Also known as Hierakonpolis, the Greek for “...

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