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Liz Leafloor

Liz Leafloor is former Art Director for Ancient Origins Magazine. She has a background as an Editor, Writer, and Graphic Designer. Having worked in news and online media for years, Liz covers exciting and interesting topics like ancient myth, history, technology, archaeological discoveries, life and death, and the unexplained.

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Crossing the Veil: The Pre-Christian Origins of Halloween and Samhain

Crossing the Veil: The Pre-Christian Origins of Halloween and Samhain

Halloween, or the ancient Samhain, is considered the time of year when the veil between our world and the spirit world is at its thinnest. As darkness falls and families light their pumpkin Jack-o'-...
Detail, the medieval Hereford Mappa Mundi, “Cloth of the World” in Hereford, England. Circa 1300.

Hereford Mappa Mundi: Legendary Cities, Monstrous Races, and Curious Medieval Beasts

A large calfskin canvas was secreted away beneath the floor of an English cathedral, featuring what, at first glance, appeared to be a map of the world. Once recovered and repaired, the map which is...
: “The First Thanksgiving 1621, oil on canvas by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1899). The painting shows common misconceptions about the event that persist to modern times: Pilgrims did not wear such outfits, and the Wampanoag are dressed in the style of Native Americans from the Great

American Thanksgiving Origins and Roots in the Old World

As the leaves turn beautiful golden and fiery red hues, the weather gets colder, and people prepare for the oncoming winter in the Northern Hemisphere, Americans enjoy the annual celebration of...
The prehistoric megalith Rujm el-Hiri.

Wheel of Giants: Prehistoric Rujm el-Hiri Puzzles Archaeologists

Sitting in plain sight but unnoticed for centuries, Rujm el-Hiri - an unusual megalith near the Sea of Galilee - has stumped experts. An ancient monument comprised of enormous stone circles dating to...
The Legendary Mongolian Death Worm

Searching for the Terrifying Mongolian Death Worm

Deep within the shifting sands of the Gobi Desert lies the elusive Olgoi-Khorkhoi, the Mongolian Death Worm – or so legend has it. The Mongolian Death Worm is a bright red worm, a mysterious cryptid...
Phaistos Disc

The Curious Phaistos Disc – Ancient Mystery or Clever Hoax?

In 1908 an Italian archaeologist ventured into the ruins of Phaistos, an ancient Minoan palace on the south coast of Crete. In an underground temple depository, among burnt bones, dust, and ashes, he...
The coffin and remains of the Egtved Girl. Researchers have discovered the high-status teen was born and raised afar from her burial site in Denmark.

The Surprising and Iconic Bronze Age Egtved Girl: Teenage Remains Tell a Story of Trade and Travel

One of the best-known Danish Bronze Age burials, the well preserved Egtved Girl was found in a barrow in 1921. Her woolen clothing, hair, and nails were perfectly preserved, but all her bones were...
Elfdalian, the Ancient Viking Forest

Elfdalian, the Ancient Viking Forest Language of Sweden, Set to be Revived

The ancient Viking language of Elfdalian has been almost entirely wiped out, with an estimate of only 3,000 people in a tiny forest community in Sweden currently keeping it alive. Now, people fight...
Thy Baphomet Aria.(Derivative)

The Satanic Temple in America: Ancient Good and Evil in an Online Battle for Followers

The great goat-headed, horned and winged beast towered over them all. Seated on a throne, with children gazing at him adoringly, as if waiting for his words of wisdom, Baphomet made his very long-...
Archaeological sites in Canada are endangered by climate change

Race Against Time as Climate Change Devours Ancient Archaeological Sites in Canada

It is now a race against time to discover and try to save historic sites that are being endangered by climate change. Can archaeologists preserve Canada’s history before it’s too late? We’ve almost...
Ancient Maya obsidian arrowhead

Human Blood Found on Ancient Maya Arrowheads, Bloodletting Rituals to Feed Life Force to the Gods

Five hundred years ago at a remote temple in Guatemala, sacrificial blood was spilled during cutting ceremonies using razor-sharp obsidian arrowheads. Archaeologists say this ritual was done to feed...
: A segment of the exquisite Bayeux Tapestry. In this scene Odo, Bishop of Bayeux (with raised club), half-brother to William the Great, rallies the troops in the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Nearly 1,000 Years Old, the Bayeux Tapestry is An Epic Tale and Medieval Masterpiece

The ancient Bayeux Tapestry, famous for its epic representation of medieval history, is a long, vividly embroidered cloth stretching hundreds of feet. Through exciting imagery it retells the events...
A mushroom ring creating a circle on the grass. These rings were believed to be portals to the fairy realm, and areas of danger.

Do you dare enter a fairy ring? The mythical mushroom portals of the supernatural

For thousands of years, the sudden appearance of a ring of mushrooms was a sure sign of otherworldly presences. These rings would seemingly appear overnight, or travel from one location to another,...
A fourteen-sided die may have been used to play the ancient game of “bo”.

Mysterious board game found in ancient Chinese tomb, along with suspected dead looter

Looters seem to have rolled the dice and lost when they plundered the tomb of an ancient aristocrat in Qingzhou City, China. When archaeologists uncovered the 2,300-year-old tomb, they found pieces...
Honduras Mayan city ruins in Copan. The picture presents detail of decorating walls of the temple.

The Maya’s Mystifying Collapse – Has the Truth Finally Been Uncovered?

Did the longstanding mystery of what caused the downfall of the Maya - of one of the ancient world's great civilizations – just get solved? Nothing is mightier than an empire at its peak. Great...
Infected tooth partially cleaned with flint tools, dating to the Late Upper Paleolithic. It is credited as the oldest found evidence of dentistry.

Paleolithic Toothache: Oldest Dentistry Revealed in 14,000-Year-Old Tooth of Young Man

Researchers were undoubtedly smiling over a 14,000-years-old tooth that revealed the oldest known dentistry techniques, dating back to the Late Upper Paleolithic (between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago...

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