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‘Light and Structure’ - Reconstruction of Viking Longhouse: Central Jutland, Denmark.

Why Would You Cremate and Bury Your Home? A Bizarre Viking Ritual Explained

The Vikings had a very bizarre tradition that might be totally unique: they buried their own homes. From the Bronze Age until the Viking Age, historians have noted that burial mounds were placed on...
A reconstruction of Homo naledi’s head by paleoartist John Gurche, who spent some 700 hours recreating the head from bone scans.

Pre-human Species with Orange-Sized Brains May Have Used Teamwork and Buried Their Dead

Which came first in pre-human species’ communication and teamwork—larger brains or the folds and ridges of the brain that fostered language and empathy? Some scientists studying a possible human...
Bison from Magdalenian occupation of Altamira Cave. In black charcoal, c. 16500 – 14000 years ago.

A Pearl of Prehistoric Spain in Danger of Disappearing: Can the 35,600-year-old Art of Altamira Cave be both Witnessed and Preserved?

The cave located at Altamira was inhabited thousands of years ago and contains remarkable examples of sophisticated art from Prehistory. The first paintings appeared there most probably around 35600...
Remains of the Apadana, the Audience Palace

Alexander the Great’s Capital Punishment? The Building of Persepolis and its Flaming Demise

Persepolis is an ancient city that once served as the capital of the mighty Achaemenid Empire. Persepolis is the Greek name for ‘Parsa’, and both these names mean ‘Persian City’ or ‘City of the...
The Knight’s Tombstone in Jamestown.

One of Jamestown’s Greatest Mysteries – Who Lies Beneath the Knight’s Tombstone?

A team of archaeologists at Historic Jamestown is attempting to solve one of the biggest mysteries of the first English settlements in America: a knight’s gravestone that has been embedded into the...
Warrior Model, and an ominous Dark Sky

Ignoring Omens and Seeking Vengeance: The Greco-Persian ‘War of the Ages’ Was a Disaster for All

The Greco-Persian wars lasted for more than half a century in some respects. Some date the war as being from 499-448 BCE while others date the conflict from 492-448 BCE. Either or, the war itself was...
Saint Margaret and Olybrius. Margaret herds sheep when Olybrius arrives by Fouquet 15th Century.

She Met the Devil, Escaped a Dragon, and Survived Several Attempts on Her Life: The Remarkable Story of St. Margaret of Antioch

St. Margaret of Antioch is a Christian saint venerated in both the Churches of the West and of the East. In the latter, she is known as Saint Marina the Great Martyr. Little is known for certain...
Ponferrada Castle, ‘Castle of the Templars, Leon, Northern Spain. 12th century Castle of Ponferrada by night.

The Mysterious Stories of Castle Ponferrada: Knights Templar, the Camino de Santiago and the lost Sword of Jacques de Molay

Every pilgrim who is traveling along the French route of the Camino de Santiago, going to Santiago de Compostela, will pass through the Ponferrada in the Spanish section. Most of them have no idea...
Prayer Flags on Tomb of Songtsen. View of Chongye Valley to the South from the Tomb.

Tibet's Valley of the Kings: What Hidden Treasures Lie Within This Imperial Tibetan Graveyard?

Chongye Valley is known also as Tibet’s Valley of the Kings. This site adjoins the Yarlung Valley (about 180 km (111.85 miles)) to the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. The Chongye Valley is famed for its...
‘Die Amazonenschlacht’ by Anselm Feuerbach, 1873.

Who was the Powerful Amazon Queen Orithyia and What Drove Her to Launch a Fated Attack on Athens?

Orithyia was one of those dangerous women whose beauty was so often described by terrified and excited men that it became legendary. For centuries, the Amazons were believed to be nothing more than a...
Georgian (Colchis) fortress of Surami, built in the 2nd-3rd centuries, heavily fortified in the 12th century

The Ancient Kingdom of Colchis: A Legendary Land of Plenty, Conflict, and the Golden Fleece

Anyone familiar with Greek legends has heard of the Colchis Kingdom. It was to here that the band of heroes known as the Argonauts ventured in order to obtain the Golden Fleece, a symbol of authority...
The ‘Vulture-Stone’ at Gȍbekli Tepe.

Was a Comet Swarm Memorialized on an Obelisk at Prehistoric Gȍbekli Tepe?

It’s entered modern lore as a nightmare scenario for planet Earth: A huge asteroid or comet or a swarm of smaller comet fragments hits Earth and causes a major catastrophe. Now, scientists think they...
Artist's impression of Homo floresiensis.

Origins of Indonesian Hobbits Finally Revealed

The most comprehensive study on the bones of Homo floresiensis, a species of tiny human discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003, has found that they most likely evolved from an ancestor...
Kepler and part of his heliocentric Solar System,

How Did the Skeptical Astrology of Johannes Kepler Contribute to Our View of the Cosmos?

Johannes Kepler, a key figure in the scientific revolution and keen astrologer, paid the bills by writing horoscopes for the rich and famous. The namesake of NASA’s space observatory was a German...
Reenactment of Mongol battle

How Did They Do It? Masters of the Steppe: Battlefield Medicine and Gruesome Cures—Part III

Much is known about the ancient Mongol military and their incredible victories on the battlefield, but little is ever discussed about their arms, armor, horses, and logistics. What gear did they use...
A representation of Leonardo da Vinci. (Deriv.) Background: Structure of DNA.

Can Researchers Crack da Vinci’s DNA Code? Recently Discovered Relics Attributed to the Legendary Renaissance Man May Help

A team of Italian researchers claim that they have discovered two relics belonging to Leonardo da Vinci, which could them help in tracing the DNA of the legendary polymath whose work epitomized the...
Doctors giving medicine.

Medieval Medical Books Could Hold the Recipe for New Antibiotics

For a long time, medieval medicine has been dismissed as irrelevant. This time period is popularly referred to as the “Dark Ages,” which erroneously suggests that it was unenlightened by science or...
he evolution of wolf to domestic pet

From Mighty Bear Dogs to Breathless Bulldogs: How Human Manipulation Has Changed the Shape of Canines Forever

Dogs in Prehistory The early ancestors of Gray Wolves were a group of carnivores named the creodonts that roamed the northern hemisphere between 100 and 120 million years ago. About 55 million years...
Pasargadae Tomb in Shiraz, Iran.

Was the Magnificent Monumental Tomb of Pasargadae Really Built for Cyrus the Great?

The tomb of Cyrus the Great is the name given to a monument located in the ancient Persian city of Pasargadae. This city was founded by Cyrus, and served as the capital of the Achaemenid Empire until...
Back view of the recently discovered ‘Venus’ figurine.

Stunning 23,000-year-old Venus With Derriere Like Kim Kardashian's Unearthed in Russia

By The Siberian Times reporter The Paleolithic beauty carved in woolly mammoth tusk has similarities to those uncovered in Siberia, but was found thousands of kilometres away. The 5-centimetre-tall...
A well-preserved wooden coffin found inside the tomb of an ancient noble in Luxor, Egypt.

Egyptian Archaeologists Reveal Massive 3500-Year-Old Tomb Contains Mummies and Thousands of Artifacts

Egyptian archaeologists in Luxor have discovered a massive ancient tomb in the city's west bank area dating back to the 18th Dynasty. The 3,500-year-old tomb contains thousands of valuable artifacts...
The Lion Attacking a Dromedary diorama.

Grisly Find of Human Remains in a Famous Museum Diorama: Whose Skull is on Display?

The Lion Attacking a Dromedary , formerly known as the Arab Courier Attacked by Lions , has attracted thousands of museum-goers for over a hundred years. Now it is at the Carnegie Museum of Natural...

Woman, Healer, Goddess? Famous (and Forbidden) Female Physicians in the Ancient World

Throughout history, women have always been healers. They were pharmacists, cultivating healing herbs and exchanging the secrets of their uses. They were also nurses, counselors, midwives who traveled...
The Fool’s Cap Map of the World.

Cartographic Comedy in the 16th century: The Fool’s Cap Map of the World

The Fool’s Cap Map of the World is an engraving of a map of the world, and is thought to have been made towards the end of the 16th century. This map is peculiar as it is framed within the hood /...

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