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Representative image. The Eruption of Vesuvius in December 1820 by Johann Christian Dahl

Did a Brutal Volcanic Eruption Lead People to Abandon Their Pagan Gods and Embrace Christianity?

Memories of the largest lava flood in the history of Iceland, recorded in an apocalyptic medieval poem, were used to drive the island's conversion to Christianity, new research suggests. A team of...
Aerial view of Nahualac lake when dry. Image: Arturo Cruz, Terrasat Cartografía.

Has a Millennium Old ‘Floating’ Replica of the Aztec Cosmos Been Found In Mexico?

Mexican archaeologists claim to have unearthed a stone sanctuary in a small lake on the side of a volcano east of Mexico City that may have been created as a miniature model of the universe. Stone "...
Main: The rough Cullinan Diamond (public domain). Inset: One of the nine stones it was cut into (public domain)

Find of a Lifetime: 3,106-Carat Diamond Worth US $2 Billion Takes Its Place in History

Created an unimaginably distant time in the past, diamonds are the most coveted and valued of precious stones. The story of the discovery and destiny of the Cullinan diamond, to this day the largest...
Artist’s depiction of an Ancient Egyptian girl kneeling by the Nile River.

Volcanic Eruptions and Climate Change Incited Upheaval in Ancient Egypt - and Historians Warn of Repetition

The Nile river was the lifeblood of ancient Egypt. When the waterway flooded nearby lands things were good, but a lack of that precious water caused serious issues. Now, historians have found that...
Skeletons in the' Boat Houses', Herculaneum

Two Pregnant Women and their Fetuses Latest Victims of Mount Vesuvius’ Eruption

After being buried in ash for more than 1,900 years, new victims of the devastating eruption in the Pompeii area have been discovered, including two pregnant women and their newborn or late-term...
Ruins of Pompeii seen from the above with a drone, with the Vesuvius in the background

A Diet of Delicacies for the People of Pompeii Included Giraffe and Sea Urchin

Several years ago, surprising discoveries were made in a study , which drew on the findings of a sizable excavation of an area of Pompeii. The study, which was presented to the Archaeological...
Ragnarök battle

Epic Battle Equals Doom or Twilight for Norse Gods? Ragnarök: The Real Message in the Myth

In Norse mythology, Ragnarök encompasses a series of events that will come to pass. It foretells an epic battle which leads to the death of numerous gods, natural disasters, and the death of the...
Ragnarok: The Rainbow Bridge that Connects Heaven and Earth at the Caribbean Basin – Part II

Ragnarok: The Rainbow Bridge that Connects Heaven and Earth at the Caribbean Basin – Part II

According to the Old Norse philologist Rudolf Simek and religious historian Mircea Eliade, Ragnarök marks the end of a cosmic cycle that will repeat ad infinitum. I argue that the Norsemen also...
Ragnarok: Norse Account of Strange & Wonderful Land Doomed to Destruction – Part I

Ragnarok: Norse Account of Strange & Wonderful Land Doomed to Destruction – Part I

Before the rise and spread of Christianity in the first millennium of the common era, paganism was the common religion of Europeans. Just as there is not a single Christian faith, but many...
Supervolcano That May Have Wiped out Neanderthals Comes to Life Again

Supervolcano That May Have Wiped out Neanderthals Comes to Life Again

A huge area of volcanic activity near heavily populated Naples, Italy, is reaching a critical point and scientists think it could erupt. The 12-kilometer (7.46 miles) caldera or volcanic cauldron...
Deriv; Dramatic view from Mount Saint Helena, California (CC BY-SA 4.0), and photo of a Pomo native in a tule boat, circa 1924.

Ancient Age: The Coming of the Amerindians

A hundred and forty million years ago, Lake County, a part of Northern California, began with another of the ear-splitting rumbles that were a part of a continuing grand archaeological planet-wide...
Santorini Eruption: New theory Says ‘Pyroclastic Flows’ Caused Devastating Bronze Age Tsunamis

Santorini Eruption: New theory Says ‘Pyroclastic Flows’ Caused Devastating Bronze Age Tsunamis

Take the ferry to the beautiful Greek islands of Santorini and you will sail into a truly unique landscape forged by a cataclysm towards the end of the Bronze Age. From either the north or south your...
Devil’s Footprints: Who Descended the Side of an Erupting Volcano, Leaving an Ancient Trail Behind?

Devil’s Footprints: Who Descended the Side of an Erupting Volcano, Leaving an Ancient Trail Behind?

Descending the side of the Roccamonfina Volcano in northern Italy, sets of humanoid footprints had long been considered the imprint of the Devil, for the footprints were most certainly made when the...
The excavated shop. Inset: Skeletons found in a shop near the Porto Ercolano at Pompeii.

Archaeologists Find Pompeii Victims Who Perished in a Shop

Archaeologists carrying out excavations on the outskirts of the Roman city of Pompeii have discovered the remains of four people in the ruins of an ancient shop. It is believed that they had gathered...
Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl: A Tragic Romance of Aztec Legend

Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl: A Tragic Romance of Aztec Legend

Mexican natural structures are the topic of many legends and mythical stories connected with pre-Columbian tribes like the Aztecs and Mayas. Two of the many volcanoes in Mexico became the symbols of...
It’s possible Mount Tavurvur, a part of the Rabaul caldera volcano in Papua, New Guinea, played a role in the climate change beginning 536 AD. Others have theorized that dust thrown in the air by crashing meteorites played a role in the climate change.

Late Antiquity Little Ice Age Triggered Plague, Decline of Empires, and Migration

When people think of climate change, most think of rising temperatures, drought, and an increase in storms—the type of climate change Earth is undergoing now. A lot has also been written about how...
(A) A map of the cave with prehistoric representations of volcanoes, including (B) and (C) the Chauvet-Pont d’Arc megaloceros and volcanic spray (Photo by D. Genty, drawing by V. Feruglio-D Baffier).

Stone age Rock Art in Famous Cave of Forgotten Dreams May Show Oldest Human Depiction of Volcanic Eruption

A team of researchers has theorized that rock carvings in the form of spray-like flourishes from a cone shape are the earliest known depictions of a volcanic eruption. The carvings and associated...
Archaeologists have unearthed 12 buildings, including a house (left), storehouse (center) and community sauna (upper right) buried by volcanic ash at Ceren around A.D. 660.

Mayan Pompeii: Remarkable Ancient Village Preserved in Ash Emerges in El Salvador

About 1,400 years ago, the Loma Caldera volcano of El Salvador erupted, covering the small Maya village of Ceren in ash and preserving it in pristine condition to the present day. Unlike at Pompeii...
The dramatic eruption of a volcano – eyewitness accounts, ancient chronicles, and mythical tales have surrounded this terrifying and astounding natural phenomenon since the dawn of man. Vesuvius erupting, painting by Johan Christian Dahl.

Deadly Volcanoes: The Eruptions that Reshaped the World and Became Legends - Part II

Read part 1 . The ancients witnessed the awesome and raw power of erupting volcanos , and sent out warnings through time in the form of religion lessons, myths, legends and chronicles. These amazing...
The dramatic eruption of Mt Vesuvius.

Deadly Volcanoes: The Eruptions that Reshaped the World and Became Legends – Part I

When man grows overconfident and full of hubris in his accomplishments and importance, mother nature, or the gods, remind mankind who is really in charge. Or so it may have seemed to the ancients,...
Some of the victims of Pompeii were sitting, some lying when the superhot gas cloud enveloped them.

Frozen in Time: Casts of Pompeii Reveal Last Moments of Volcano Victims

The plaster casts of 86 agonized victims of the Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD near Pompeii will go on exhibit May 26, 2015, in National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Italy. People of Pompeii, a...
A volcanic eruption

New study refutes theory that a volcano wiped out the Neanderthals

A new study presented at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco refutes a previous theory that Neanderthals became extinct due to a massive volcanic eruption about 40,...
Maya volcanic ash pottery

The mystery of the Maya volcanic ash pottery

A series of Maya pottery items dating back to the Late Classic Period have long been the source of mystery among experts due to the materials from which they were made – large quantities of volcanic...
Akrotiri Greece

The ancient settlement of Akrotiri and the mass exodus of Therans

Akrotiri is a Minoan Bronze Age settlement situated on the Greek island of Santorini (classically and more recently referred to as Thera), in the southern Aegean Sea. Buried underneath ash and pumice...

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