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‘Meadow Elves’ (1850) by Nils Blommér.

The Diverse Nature of Elves in Norse Myth: Beings of Light or Darkness?

Santa Claus, Keebler cookies, and overloaded shelves. When one speaks of elves, the mind most often goes to those who work for Santa or Keebler, or those which hide from little children in the middle...
Bust of Timur ( CC BY-SA 3.0 ), and Timur defeats the Sultan of Delhi

To Plunder, Destroy and Kill: Atrocity and Terror as Tamerlane Sacks Delhi— Part II

Timur, historically known as Tamerlane (1336 - 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror and the founder of the Timurid Empire in Persia and Central Asia. After having conquered much of the Near East,...
Chullpas, Sillustani, Peru

Were the Ancient Funerary Towers of Sillustani Peru Originally Part of an Energy System?

Sillustani is a pre-Incan burial ground on the shores of Lake Umayo, about an hour’s drive from Puno in Peru, which is a large city on the shore of Lake Titicaca. The tombs, which are built above...
Part of an ancient Egyptian statue

Boats, Bowling and Moldy Bread: Curious Achievements Ancient Egypt Shared With the World

Ancient Egypt is one on the oldest civilizations in the world and it was also home to many of the ancient world’s greatest achievements. Without their creativity and innovative approach to the world...
Underwater World (Public Domain) and ruins of the Palace of Sayil, Yucatan. (Rose Vekony/CC BY-SA 3.0); Deriv

Atlantis Unearthed – Do Surprising Underwater Scans Show Lost Architecture on the Sea Floor?

In his poems of the Iliad, the Greek Philosopher Homer introduces us to the mythical city of Troy, which remained a curiosity to many until the late 1870s when Heinrich Schliemann, on a hunch, began...
Images A, C and D show incisions while B shows the hole drilled into the skull.

Evidence of the Earliest ‘Skull Cult’ Activity: Drilled and Carved Skulls Found at the World’s Oldest Temple

Just as people at the world’s oldest known temple site in Southeast Turkey began to make the transition from hunter-gatherers to a more settled lifestyle, they also started a “skull cult” in which...
Lindisfarne Castle on Holy island

Remains of Saxon Church Discovered on Viking Raided Lindisfarne Island

A team of archaeologists have recently excavated the remains of a church on Lindisfarne (Holy Island) in Northumberland. Experts describe the newly discovered church as one of the most significant...
Han Dynasty granary between Dunhuang and the Jade Gate - an important supply center for the ancient Silk Routes.

3000-Year-Old Earthworks Confirmed as Sun Worship Altar on China’s Silk Road

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a 3,000-year-old altar to the sun in North West China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Experts say that the altar resembles the heaven-worshipping...
The 5000-year-old burial chamber at Bryn Celli Ddu on Anglesey

Multiple Previously Unknown Prehistoric Burial Sites Detected Around Bryn Celli Ddu

A team of archaeologists has conducted a geophysical survey that has revealed what appears to be a cairn cemetery at the prehistoric ritual area around Bryn Celli Ddu on the Welsh island of Anglesey...
10 Innovative Medieval Weapons: You Would Not Want To Be At The Sharp End Of These!

10 Innovative Medieval Weapons: You Would Not Want To Be At The Sharp End Of These!

Long before modern warfare, there was a time of knights in shining armor atop equally armored horses fighting for the hand of a maiden or in pitched battle. However, the weapons that these knights...
Bust of Timur ( CC BY-SA 3.0 ), and Timur standing with cane (Public Domain)

When I rise, the world shall tremble! Tamerlane’s Deadly Drive into India—Part I

Timur, historically known as Tamerlane (1336 - 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror and the founder of the Timurid Empire in Persia and Central Asia. Timur rose through the ranks by gaining the...
Painting from the Ajanta Caves, India.

The Venomous Visha Kanyas Versus the Thugs: Which Would You Prefer Were Real?

Even a touch can kill. The Visha Kanyas were supposedly poisonous young women who operated as executioners in ancient India. Any contact with these toxic ladies would mean death. However, no one can...
Yamamoto Kansuke, named as author in the Sword Scroll text

Samurai Secrets Revealed: English Translation of the 500-year-old ‘Sword Scroll’ Provides Fighting Tactics Including ‘Egg Them’

A medieval samurai text recently translated into English gives many practical tips on fighting an enemy and advises all warriors to be ‘pure of heart and in balance in their spirit’. Although...
Pietro Perugino's use of perspective in this fresco at the Sistine Chapel (1481–82) helped bring the Renaissance to Rome

Do Your Eyes Fool You? Ancient Vision and a New Reality — How to See and Draw Like the Ancients

From the beginning of time, those among us we now call artists have tried to capture in two dimensions what they saw of the real, three-dimensional world in which they lived. Almost from the very...
An artistic representation of Al-Muqanna, the Veiled Prophet.

Second Moon Uprising: How Science and Skullduggery Helped an 8th Century Prophet Raise a Revolt

“The 'Moon of Nakhshab' was an artificial moon which Hakim Ibn-e 'Ata, known as Muqanna' (the Veiled One), caused to arise from the Pit of Nakhshab. This moon had been prepared by means of [magical]...
Water for Camp, depicting the everyday life of Native American women, Charles M. Russell

Could Plastic Bottles Made by Ancient Americans be the Cause of their Health Decline?

According to Wired , scientists believe that ancient Native Americans living in California made their own plastic water bottles. However, they probably didn’t know how toxic the manufacturing process...
Old Chinese coins.

When – and Why – Did People First Start Using Money?

Chapurukha Kusimba / The Conversation Sometimes you run across a grimy, tattered dollar bill that seems like it’s been around since the beginning of time. Assuredly it hasn’t, but the history of...
Inti Raymi solstice festival, Cusco, Peru

Ancient Inca Festival Celebrating Sun God, Once Practiced in Secret, is Revived in Peru

Every year on June 24, Cusco in Peru celebrates the Inti Raymi, a tribute festival to the venerated Inca Sun God Inti. As TRT World reports , the festival draws thousands of local and international...
Rafael's School of Athens, depicting Plato's Academy.

The Lost Knowledge of the Ancients: Were Humans the First? Part 2

Until documents of bygone ages are unearthed, located and recovered we are stuck with sacred texts, classical writings and myths of the past. Can these documents we know of now be considered as...
Demons in Your Toilet? Guardians of the Sewers and How They Protected Ancient Latrines

Demons in Your Toilet? Guardians of the Sewers and How They Protected Ancient Latrines

As a ritual symbol of purification, water plays a key role in the public space of hygiene and sanitary activities as well as in almost all religions past and present. From the first moment mankind...
Bartłomiej Bartecki, director of the Museum in Hrubieszów presents the sword found in the Commune of Mircze.

Medieval Sword in Excellent Condition Accidentally Found in a Peat Bog in Poland

An excavator operator who was working in a peat bog in Poland last month, accidentally discovered a magnificent 14th century longsword, which is in an extremely good condition. Experts believe that...
Ancient Bones of Mystery Creature Dug up by Children in Yakutian Village

Ancient Bones of Mystery Creature Dug up by Children in Yakutian Village

By The Siberian Times reporter Experts were called to check remains uncovered during road building excavations close to Tit-Ary in Khangalassky district. The remnants of the ancient creature were...
Detail of a modern depiction of the goddess Ishtar.

Love is a Battlefield: The Legend of Ishtar, First Goddess of Love and War

Louise Pryke / The Conversation As singer Pat Benatar once noted, love is a battlefield . Such use of military words to express intimate, affectionate emotions is likely related to love’s capacity to...
The old packhorse bridge in Carrbridge, Scotland

Bridging the Living and the Dead: Scotland's 300-Year-Old Coffin Bridge

"At the beginning of the eighteenth century, to the inconvenience of both travellers and local people, there was no point at which the River Dulnain could be crossed when it was in spate, and burials...

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