All  

Store Banner Mobile

Store Banner Mobile

Neolithic

Bronze Age skull in situ in the Tollense valley Source: ©: Stefan Sauer / Tollense Valley Project

Ancient Warriors Show Europeans Were Late Adopters of Dairy Produce

Research undertaken on Bronze Age warriors who died in a battle in Germany has revealed something remarkable about the evolution of human digestion. It established that it is only in the past few...
An archaeology student has made an incredible discovery within the architecture of the 5000-year-old Maeshowe burial chamber on mainland Orkney. Source: Mo_Ali / Adobe Stock

Functioning Portal To The Otherworld Discovered at Maeshowe

Maeshowe is a Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave situated on mainland Orkney , the world-renowned, ancient monument-peppered archipelago located off the north east coast of Scotland...
A team from the University of Salford has built a scale model of Stonehenge to test the acoustics of the famous Neolithic structure. Source: Acoustics Research Centre / University of Salford

“Stonehenge Lego” Proves The Original Had Awesome Acoustics

A mini model of Stonehenge has been built in the UK by researchers using the latest technologies. They were interested in the acoustics of the structure that dates to the Neolithic period (2200 BC)...
View along the length of a mustatil structure, note researchers at far end for scale. The image shows the character of these structures as two platforms connected by low walls.         Source: Huw Groucutt / Max Planck Institute

More Ancient Mysterious Stone Structures Found in Saudi Arabia

The pre-Islamic history of Saudi Arabia has been little researched, and it is only in recent years that archaeologists have begun to investigate the country’s vast deserts . Experts have found over...
The Danish mummified bishop, Peder Pedersen Winstrup, whose body has provided the latest evidence for the ancient origins of tuberculosis.             Source: Lund University / YouTube screenshot

Mummified Bishop Reveals the Ancient Origins Of Tuberculosis

The ancient origins of tuberculosis have finally been identified after a team of scientists followed a trail of molecular breadcrumbs through the lung of a Danish mummified bishop . Peder Pedersen...
From the archaeological site of the oldest known cremation in the Middle East found in Israel Source:

Oldest Known Cremation in The Near East, From 7000 BC

Archaeologists have unearthed parts of a nine thousand-year-old individual’s body in Israel who was burned or cremated in a ritualistic way. This discovery has established a new milestone for the...
Aerial view of the Shimao archaeological site. (dfdaily) Insert: A pit of skulls unearthed at Shimao. (Zhouyong Sun et al. 2017)

Pits of Skulls Found in Shimao: China’s Neolithic City of Mystery

Shimao is an ancient Chinese city that was lost for a long time. But in recent years it has yielded many of its secrets to archaeologists. Among the most astonishing finds are a step-pyramid and...
Trethevy Quoit, portal dolmen in Cornwall	Source: Andy Chisholm / Adobe Stock

The Many Legends Accounting for the Mysterious Trethevy Quoit

Cornwall, a truly beautiful region in the British Isles, has a distinct regional identity. It is also home to many remarkable stone age monuments, of which Trethevy Quoit is one of the most famous...
Left) A grave from Osłonki with valuable artifacts, visible near the hands; right) a drawing of the artifacts. Source: Peter Bogucki

Neolithic Wealth Gap Wasn’t Just for the Living

An international team of archaeologists in Poland have been working to answer a very interesting question. Were the people buried with rich grave goods necessarily as wealthy in life as they were in...
Origins of the sarsen stones is finally pinpointed.       Source: Alexey Fedorenko / Adobe Stock

Origin of Stonehenge’s Sarsen Stones is Finally Pinpointed

After years of uncertainty, experts have now solved the mystery of exactly where most of the Stonehenge sarsen stones came from, made possible through the return of a missing fragment of one of the...
Front of the main piece of the Stone Age Venus of Egerszeg Statuette recently unearthed in Hungary. Source: Göcsej Museum

Stone Age ‘Venus of Egerszeg’ Statuette Unearthed in Hungary

In Hungary , archaeologists have found a 6500-year-old idol . The incomplete figure is a female form and has been named the Venus of Egerszeg. The team who discovered the Venus of Egerszeg say the...
Devetashka – Bulgarian Cave

Devetashka - the Bulgarian Cave with 70,000 Years of Human Habitation

Devetashka cave is an enormous cave in Bulgaria, which has provided shelter for groups of humans since the late Paleolithic era, and continuously for tens of thousands of years since then. Now...
Goseck Circle

Goseck Circle: The Oldest Known Solar Observatory

In 1991, inspectors from the German government took aerial photographs of a small German town called Goseck and saw something strange. On the ground, there appeared to be a giant circular ridge...
Skeletal evidence of an Iron Age murder victim

Iron Age Murder Victim Discovered at Ceremonial Monument

Archaeologists in England have discovered evidence of a large ceremonial structure and a potentially brutal human sacrifice. While excavating a 4000-year-old Iron Age site at Wellwick Farm near...
Maps of the extensive Neolithic structures show the new Durrington Shafts feature dwarfing all other ancient developments. Source: © University of Bradford

Durrington Shafts: Is Britain’s Largest Prehistoric Monument a Sonic Temple?

The recent discovery of an enormous ring of cylinder-like pits, each approximately five meters deep and 10 meters in diameter (16.5 by 33 ft), found to surround the henge enclosure of Durrington...
Bladelets and flakes with two pairs of notches interpreted as Neolithic figurines. Source: Kharaysin archaeological team / Antiquity Publications Ltd

10,000-Year-Old Neolithic Figurines Discovered in Jordan Burials

The historical time period for the mid-9th millennium BC onwards is known as the early Neolithic . At this time in the Near East human iconography began expanding, but archaeological theories to...
Statuette of a woman from predynastic Egypt, 4th millennium BC (CC by SA 2.0)

Predynastic Egypt: Life Before the Pyramids

The history of Ancient Egypt spans several millennia and is filled with wonders and achievements which are veiled in mystery and the enigmatic secrets of distant times. For decades, the...
Beeston Castle entrance       Source: Dunja / Adobe Stock

Could the King Richard II’s Gold Still Be Hidden at Beeston Castle?

Perched on a large crag, Beeston Castle is one of the most dramatically situated medieval castles in England. Although what remains today represents the feats of medieval builders, much of what is...
Inside the majestic chamber of Newgrange, one of the most iconic Irish megalith sites. Source: Cassidy et al./Ken Williams, shadowsandstone.com

Signs of Dynastic Incest at Newgrange Reveal Secrets Behind Irish Megaliths

The European Neolithic era was a time of change. The first agricultural revolution saw people take a stronger interest in farming, small-scale communities grew, polished stone axes cleared forests,...
The Bridestones, several large stones            Source: Peel, M / CC BY-SA 4.0

Unveiling the Bridestones Cairn of Cheshire

The British landscape is dotted with the remains of its Stone Age past. We are all familiar with Stonehenge , one of the most famous prehistoric monuments in the world, but few people are familiar...
European standing stones: Rudston Monolith (CC0), Maen Llia (Tony Martin Long /Adobe Stock), Maen Madoc (Alan Bowring/CC BY SA 2.0), Kerloas Menhir (mariof /Adobe Stock), Riesenstein (Tecty/CC BY SA 4.0), Menir da Meada. (StockPhotosArt /Adobe Stock)

European Standing Stones: The Mute Witnesses of Forgotten Times

If we reach far back into the distant past of our ancestors, as far back as the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, we can get a critical glimpse into the lives and traditions of Europe’s ancient...
Archaeologists investigating the German burial site.  Source: Antiquity Publications Ltd

6000-Year-Old German Burial Chamber Destroys Egalitarian Ideologies

Archaeologists in Germany have discovered a 6,000-year-old hilltop burial mound that indicates Neolithic societies were much more hierarchically organized than previously thought. The story of the...
DNA analysis will be conducted on the remains of the woman who lived during the Neolithic period. Source: Twitter/ Robert Ide

Neolithic Skeleton “Lovingly Buried” in Fetal Position

A “lovingly” buried Neolithic skeleton is offering archaeologists new insights on burial practices 4,500-years ago. The gravesite is located in the idyllic German countryside at Uckermark, a rural...
Fossils of almost 70 mammoths have been found at the future site of a Mexican airport. Source: INAH

Here Come the Mammoths, 60 of Them, Unearthed at Mexican Airport

Bones of more than 60 mammoths have been unearthed at the location of a new Mexican international airport. Last November I wrote an Ancient Origins news article about anthropologists from Mexico ’ s...

Pages