The Christmas tree is an iconic feature of the holiday season. You can find this symbol on greeting cards, in advertisements, shaped into cookies, plastered across wrapping paper, and in the homes of...
The Medieval period is usually perceived as a time in Europe during which the greater part of the continent was in decline. In many aspects of Medieval society, the quality of life was inferior as...
There used to be a fable, commonly imposed as fact on schoolchildren in the United States, that in Columbus' time nearly everyone believed the Earth was flat. Fortunately, this untruth has been...
‘Roman emperor conquers new lands !’ ‘Five new ways to use your fish paste .’ ‘When do the stars say you will marry ?’ ‘ Viae militares expand our reach to foreign lands.’ These may have been some of...
Analysis of these giant stone hats found on Rapa Nui, Chile (Easter Island) provides evidence contrary to the widely held belief that the ancient civilization had a warrior culture. According to a...
2017 proved to be a fruitful excavation season at the archaeological site of Tell es-Sultan on the West Bank. A collection of unique Egyptian artifacts unearthed at the site shows that the ancient...
Harald Hardrada of Norway used cunning and surprising tactics to bring down foes. Although he was wounded in the face during one of his campaigns, he continued to see victory after victory. [Read...
Assyria, like Mesopotamia in general, has always excited the Western imagination. Assyrian beliefs about the spiritual world are no exception. The Assyrians believed that ghosts could return from the...
With over 26,000 relics seized from smugglers, Turkish authorities have made he largest haul of recovered artifacts in the country’s history. The precious pieces were created by the Anatolian, Greek...
The British and Irish countryside is often celebrated for its wealth of unique places of heritage, significance and interest. But not many people know that this heritage includes thousands of ancient...
“As Priscus and Verus each drew out the contest and the struggle between the pair long stood equal, shouts loud and often sought discharge for the combatants. But Titus obeyed his own law (the law...
From pigments to printing presses, symbols have been part of human communication from the very first day of mankind’s existence. The imperfection of speech, which undoubtedly allowed the sharing of...
An astronomical observatory, massive Inca stone walls, ruins of a huge temple, and artifacts left by elite members of the Wari culture are some of the fascinating elements found at a Pre-Hispanic...
The ancestors of modern humans (Homo sapiens) were not the grunting, drooling, primitive, brutes that you see depicted in cartoons or movies. Decades of research and countless studies have shown that...
A total of 300 small stones believed to have been engraved with designs almost 5,000 years ago, have been discovered during an archaeological excavation on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic...
In 1015, Harald Sigurdsson was born. He was the youngest of three sons born to Sigurd Syr, who ruled over a petty kingdom in Ringerike, located in the region of Buskerud. Harald’s upbringing is not...
A joint excavation team from Osaka University and the Institute of History and Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences discovered the ruins of a unique monument surrounded by 14 large stone...
Archaeologists in Japan have discovered what appears to be the first piece of stone painted that depicts a human face dating from the mid-Jomon Pottery Culture (2500–1500 BC). Experts describe the...
On the island of Torcello there exists an ancient white chair that local legend names as the throne of Attila the Hun. The chair is large, of solid stone and certainly has the air of unyielding...
Aristotle spoke thoughtfully as he strolled along the natural pathways of the Lyceum and his companions were entranced by their teacher’s words. His philosophical musings seemed to intertwine...
Like the anxious men who began excavations at Pompeii in the 18th century and discovered more about the ancient Italians than they had bargained for – such as phallic-shaped lamps – historians of sex...
A group of archaeologists digging at the site of Ziyaret Tepe in southeastern Turkey, has uncovered a unique cuneiform tablet that narrates a tale of exasperation and disappointment reported by an...
The discovery of the Pylos Combat Agate in a Mycenaean shaft-grave tomb dating to 1500 BC may be one of the most significant archaeological and artistic finds in decades, perhaps in centuries. The...
For centuries, rice has been a staple diet and plays an important role in Asian culture. Although rice farmers have found their lives becoming more difficult due to climate change, Bloomberg states...
