The days of ‘cash as king’ are fading. Today, credit, debit, and digital currency have begun to slowly replace cash as the primary forms of payment, but it was not always so. For centuries, paper...
One of the key reasons that the study of history is vital is to ensure we learn from our past mistakes in order to improve. While this is true in all aspects of life, it is especially true for...
A 1,000-year-old “Boleslaw sword” (i.e., from the glorious reign of Boleslaw the Brave; lived 967-1025 AD) dated to the beginning of the 11th century and believed to have belonged to a knight working...
Hoplite comes from the Greek word “ ta hopla ,” which means “tool” or “equipment,” and was the name given to legions of citizen soldiers who were tasked with protecting their territories from outside...
Anyone interested in the history of warfare or weaponry should make sure to look at ancient Egyptian weapons and how the Egyptian armies utilized their technological superiority. Whilst most famous...
A scourge of early medieval Europe, the Vikings were a fearsome group. The very thought of a Viking sword slashing before you conjures images of fearless warriors raiding and pillaging villages,...
The medieval pike, around 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) in weight and just under 5 meters (16.4 feet) in length, was a weapon supposedly invented in Turin, Italy in 1327 AD. However, its history was...
Excavations of Bronze Age “warrior graves” throughout Europe have nearly always led to the recovery of copper alloy Bronze Age daggers. However, their function has been poorly understood. It has long...
Archaeologists have for a long time unearthed clay pots in medieval Jerusalem. But now, a new study shows that some of them were likely ‘ancient hand grenades’. Residues sampled from inside a...
In last week’s top stories; features on the magic mushrooms of the Aztecs, and their devastating weapons arsenal, a very lucky 10-year-old, a tooled-up Roman mercenary, the world’s first known...
The Aztecs were a native Mesoamerican culture that thrived in the forests, jungles, and plains of Central Mexico from 1300 until 1521, when their capital Tenochtitlan was seized by Hernán Cortés and...
If you find the term ‘bollock dagger’ too crude, you could rightfully call this weapon a ‘kidney dagger.’ But that’s how the Victorians attempted to mask the true nature of this horrendous invention...
Lake Clark National Park and Preserve in southwest Alaska is renowned for the fact that no roads lead there, quite literally! Accessible only by boat or floatplanes, this vast expanse of gorgeous...
When nations go to war, the most tragic aspect is the disruption and annihilation of civilian lives. International media has been reporting the robust resistance put up by Ukrainian citizens in many...
The University of Nottingham is leading a collaborative study that aims to identify the place of origin of iron Viking weapons, using their chemical fingerprints. For example, Viking weapons made...
Fittingly, archaeologists who explore landscapes exposed by glacial melt are known as glacial archaeologists. In 2018, a team of these specialized experts were dispatched to the ice-covered mountains...
After analyzing artifacts collected from three locations in the Saitama Prefecture, which is located just north of Tokyo, a Japanese archaeologist has announced findings that shed new light on the...
In 2005, the Southeast Asian dagger, keris , was designated as a Masterpiece of Humanity's Oral and Intangible Heritage by UNESCO. The keris is an asymmetrical dagger with a unique blade design made...
Her metal detector went crazy. Milly Hardwick, the 13-year-old English girl, had discovered ancient treasure. This September, Milly identified a rare archaeological Bronze Age hoard in a field near...
An international team of researchers has published a paper that sheds new light on how ancient military technology and the weapons industry changed through time. Their ancient military technology...
A diver in Israel has discovered a rare 900-year-old Crusader sword among a collection of ancient artifacts. This massive weapon, that was once welded by a legendary Crusader knight , was found not...
Two Bavarian graves unearthed during excavations in the southern German town of Deiningen have generated exceptional interest among archaeologists. The two graves were in excellent condition when...
Researchers have recreated and exploded a series of medieval gunpowder recipes. A new paper shows that through trial and error so-called ‘black powder’ was developed, with some economic setbacks...
Assos is a seriously pillaged and neglected ancient metropolis in Turkey. Many of the city’s greatest treasures today adorn European museums. Thus, the discovery of two ancient metal blades has made...
