Spanish conquerors, upon their arrival in the Americas, discovered thousands of Mayan hieroglyphs that detailed secret rites, offering a glimpse into a society that was both sophisticated and brutal...
The data books have a fantastic new entry – Europe’s oldest murder victim on record, in a cave in southwest France. Subject of a new study, this presumably assassinated individual’s battered skull...
Medieval English monasteries didn’t just passively cave in to the long-running Viking attacks on English shores that culminated in the victory of the Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great . Lyminge, a...
There are cold cases, and there a really, really, cold cases. The story of two South American mummies falls into the latter category. When researchers analyzed the remains of three pre-Columbian...
Ancient history is full of examples of violence, not only in the form of torture and killings, but also in entertainment and sports. From the bloody gladiatorial combats of ancient Rome, to the Maya...
A bone expert investigating a mass grave in Ireland has found clear evidence of hyper-violence, including smashed bones and bound limbs. Last year, beneath Nancy Spain’s Public House, Barrack Street...
In December 2019 Ancient Origins reported that Dr. Joseph Saleh, an aerospace engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States, had published a study in the online journal Nature...
Medieval warfare was a bloody and brutal affair. This was especially true during the Crusades, when warriors on each side were motivated by religious passion and a cause they deeply embraced. This...
It wouldn’t be unfair to say that human history has been a continuum of violence, bloodshed, and gore. This phenomenon has been captured today in virtual simulations, games, and other forms of...
A new archaeological study in Japan, published in the August issue of Journal of Archaeological Science , has produced evidence supporting the idea that population growth can lead to an increase in...
The image of the savage, violent barbarian is well-entrenched in Western culture and has been a part of our literary, popular culture and even our language for centuries. Most people would not...
It wouldn’t be unfair to say that the Roman Empire was a vast intercontinental territory. By 117 AD, it included all of Italy, the entire Mediterranean, and much of Europe, including England, Wales...
13,400 years ago individuals were engaged in armed conflict on the east bank of the Nile in what is now northern Sudan. A fresh analysis of human remains from the prehistoric cemetery of Jebel Sahaba...
Shocking, disturbing and wholly ungodly methods of murder in ancient Rome have been brought together in a brutally graphic new book. Dr. Emma Southon is a historian at the University of Birmingham in...
Police in Myanmar have opened fire on protesters in Bagan, the former ancient capital and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, bringing even more destruction to one of the world’s oldest religious centers...
Life in Europe during the Middle Ages was difficult and dangerous for the majority of the population. Poverty, disease, and warfare were common, and the poor and working classes bore the brunt of...