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Mark Miller

Mark Miller has a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and is a former newspaper and magazine writer and copy editor who's long been interested in anthropology, mythology and ancient history. His hobbies are writing and drawing.

History

Member for: 9 years 9 months

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Posts

Comanche Feats of Horsemanship (1834-1835) by George Catlin. Source: Public Domain

5 May, 2024 - 17:50 Mark Miller

The History of the Comanche Tribe is One of Conquest

The history of the Native American Comanche tribe includes their move from ancestral homelands in Wyoming to more southerly parts - and conquering new lands. They were then in turn conquered, after...

An 1845 painting of a group of people from the Sioux tribe by Charles Deas. Source: Public domain

15 March, 2024 - 21:51 Mark Miller

The Ancient Sioux Tribe, A Ghost Dance, and a Savior That Never Came

“ In the old, old days, before Columbus ‘discovered’ us, as they say, we [the people of the Sioux tribe] were even closer to the animals than we are now. Many people could understand the animal...

The 5,000-year-old rock painting in this photo, may depict a Nativity-type scene like the 2,000-year-old scenes of Jesus’ birth. Dr. Morelli came across the cave painting in Egypt in 2005 but went public with it in 2016. Source: Marco Morelli, via Seeker.com

20 December, 2023 - 17:52 Mark Miller

5,000-Year-Old Rock Art Suggests a Nativity Scene 3,000 Years Before Jesus’ Birth

About 5,000 years ago an artist in Egypt painted an apparent nativity scene onto the rocks of a small cave—a tableau similar to crèche scenes that depict Jesus being laid in a manager in a cave or...

A volvelle from a 14th century English manuscript is on display at the J. Paul Getty Museum. Source: The J. Paul Getty Museum/Getty

29 November, 2023 - 13:53 Mark Miller

The Volvelle: The Medieval Equivalent of a Smartphone App?

Did you know that the ancestor of smartphone apps can be traced back to the Middle Ages? The volvelle, a paper-based interactive device, had a multifaceted role during its historical use. It...

Detail from an old Egyptian postage stamp depicting Jean-François Champollion. Source: Silvio / Adobe Stock

19 May, 2023 - 17:00 Mark Miller

The Legacy and Tragic Death of Egyptology's Father, Champollion

Remembered as the father of Egyptology, the 19th-century Frenchman Jean-François Champollion prematurely and tragically passed away in 1832 shortly after visiting Egypt. In 1822, Champollion...

31 December, 2020 - 20:16 Mark Miller

The Fall of Constantinople: Relentless Ottoman Fire Power Finally Pulverizes the Last Vestiges of the Roman Empire

Constantinople stood against sieges and attacks for many centuries, until finally new technology—the big cannons of the Ottoman Empire —brought down the Byzantine Empire’s capital. The fall of...

Ancient Egyptian eye makeup was protective and poisonous

24 December, 2019 - 12:23 Mark Miller

Ancient Egyptian Makeup: Beauty and Protection with Poison

It’s sort of like the evil eye , but in reverse: the good eye, brought on by an application of lead-based kohl makeup that was unknowingly poisonous to ancient Egyptians but also had anti-microbial...

December 21, the longest night and shortest day of the year, is a special event at Newgrange in County Meath, Ireland. This photo was shot August 24, 2014.

21 December, 2019 - 19:11 Mark Miller

Winter Solstice: Stone Age People in Ireland built a Fantastic Monument to the New Year

Tomorrow, 22 December, the Irish will celebrate the Winter Solstice as they did thousands of years ago – at Newgrange, a 5,000-year-old megalithic monument into which the sun shines at sunrise on the...

Artist's representation of a scene during the Justinianic plague.

5 December, 2019 - 17:34 Mark Miller

The Justinianic Plague Wasn’t as Bad as Many Scholars Think

Researchers say that claims of the Justinianic plague as a “mass killer” are wrong. It certainly had some impact, but they assert that plague outbreak, which began in the 6th century, didn’t bring...

Medieval Ring Found in Robin Hood’s Forest Hideout May Net Finder a Small Fortune

16 November, 2019 - 22:11 Mark Miller

Medieval Ring Found in Robin Hood’s Forest May Net a Small Fortune

In 2016, an amateur treasure hunter with a metal detector turned up a medieval gold ring that was set with a sapphire stone in Sherwood Forest—haunt of the legendary (or real) Robin Hood. Experts...

Almendres cromlech megaliths. Evora, Portugal.

28 September, 2019 - 01:53 Mark Miller

Legends say Mysterious Women Built the Megaliths of Portugal

Prehistoric Europeans told legends about powerful, mysterious female makers of European stone tombs called dolmens and cromlechs. On the one hand, they were said to bestow riches and fertility on...

Ruins of Anavarza (Anazarbus), Adana, Turkey.

17 July, 2019 - 18:23 Mark Miller

Amazing Anazarbus: Digs Uncover Gladiatorial Ring, Triumphal Arch, and More in Ancient Anatolian City

The long reach of the Roman Empire was felt in southern Turkey , where in the town of Anazarbus the Romans erected a triumphal arch after defeating a Parthian force in the first century BC. And...

A piece of animal bone used for fortune-telling excavated at the Makimuku ruins in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture. It has three burn marks in the middle.

17 May, 2019 - 20:27 Mark Miller

Ancient Japanese Queen Himiko may have Burned Animal Bones to Tell the Future

Archaeologists believe that a burnt boar scapula found in the ruins of Makimuku in Japan in 2015 may tie the ancient shaman Queen Himiko and leaders of the Yamataikoku ruling establishment with the...

Zultepec-Tecoaque archaeological site in Tlaxcala, Mexico

9 May, 2019 - 18:21 Mark Miller

Archaeological site in Mexico reveals sacrifice and cannibalization of Spanish conquistadors

Excavations at the Zultepec-Tecoaque archaeological site in Tlaxcala, Mexico, have revealed that indigenous Acolhuas peoples captured a caravan of 550 conquistadors and their allies in 1520, kept...

Analysis of the remains of the Bronze Age teen Skrydstrup woman shows she traveled from elsewhere in Europe to Denmark around age 13 or 14 and died there a few years later. She was an important, physically attractive figure and was accorded an elite burial.

21 March, 2019 - 20:24 Mark Miller

Doubt Cast on Bronze Age Teen Priestess and ‘Queen-like’ Woman’s Traveling Ways

Over the last few years, studies have suggested that a Bronze Age teen ‘priestess’ and an elite ‘queen-like’ woman found in Jutland, Denmark were travelers who journeyed to their final resting places...

Three key players in the Battle of Towton, the Earl of Warwick, Edward IV and Richard III are depicted in a painting by John Augustus Atkinson (1775-18833).

27 February, 2019 - 02:57 Mark Miller

England's Bloodiest Battlefield: The Battle of Towton and the Battered Remains of a Medieval Knight

The Battle of Towton was the largest, longest battle on English soil. Thousands of people died in the Wars of the Roses, but this10-hour battle was particularly deadly. It’s believed the day of...