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Ancient-Origins Ancient-Origins

This is the Ancient Origins team, and here is our mission: “To inspire open-minded learning about our past for the betterment of our future through the sharing of research, education, and knowledge”.

At Ancient Origins we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exists countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained .

Our goal is to highlight the very latest archaeological findings, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe.

We’re the only Pop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives.

By bringing together top experts and authors, we explore lost civilizations, examine sacred writings, tour ancient places, and question mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings.

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Representation of a quarantine zone.           Source: James Thew / Adobe stock

Where Did the Ancient Measure of Quarantine Start?

The recent global spread of a deadly coronavirus originating in Wuhan, China, has led world leaders to invoke an ancient tradition to control the spread of illness: quarantine. The practice is first...
Siberian river; inset, some of the pottery shards selected for the research.      Source: anton_shoshin / Adobe Stock; inset, Shoda et al./Science Direct

Culinary Innovations Helped Hunter-Gatherers Survive the Ice Age

By The Siberian Times reporter Ancient pottery started to appear in the Amur region in the Russian Far East between roughly 16,000 and 12,000 years ago, as the Ice Age slightly eased. But what was...
Computer science graduate student and project manager Cameron Merrill explores a virtual archaeology cave excavation experience he helped create. Source: Fred Zwicky / University of Illinois

Virtual Reality Game Redefines Archaeology Education

Before they can get started at their field site -- a giant cave studded with stalactites, stalagmites and human artifacts -- 15 undergraduate students must figure out how to use their virtual hands...
Neanderthal ancestry found in Africans.        Source: procy_ab / Adobe Stock

Neanderthal Ancestry Detected in Africans For the First Time

When the first Neanderthal genome was sequenced, using DNA collected from ancient bones, it was accompanied by the discovery that modern humans in Asia, Europe and America inherited approximately 2%...
Excavation of archaeological deposits in Chagyrskaya Cave indicate long distance  nomadic Neanderthals traveled from Europe.

Stone Tools Reveal Epic Trek of Nomadic Neanderthals

Kseniya Kolobova et al / The Conversation Neanderthal ( Homo neanderthalensis ) fossils were first discovered in western Europe in the mid nineteenth century. That was just the first in a long line...
Ancient Poop Busts Myth of Lost Cahokia Tribe

Ancient Poop Busts Myth of Lost Cahokia Tribe

A University of California, Berkeley, archaeologist has dug up ancient human feces, among other demographic clues, to challenge the narrative around the legendary demise of Cahokia , North America's...
Camille Flammarion engraving, 188

Religion Isn’t The Enemy of Science: It’s Been Inspiring Scientists for Centuries

Take notice of any debate in the media and you’ll see that science and religion are, and always were, at loggerheads. Science is about evidence-based fact, religion is about faith-based belief. But...
An example of a Sheela na gig, a carving of a naked woman with an exaggerated vulva.

Viva La Vulva! When Did Female Genitalia Become Obscene?

In September 2019, a French ad for feminine hygiene products featuring taboo-breaking representations of vulvas and menstruation sparked controversy . Yet in a cultural context in France, phallic...
The Shum Laka rock shelter in Cameroon, home to an ancient population that bears little genetic resemblance to most people who live in the region today.    Source: Pierre de Maret

Ancient DNA From West Africa Reveals ‘Ghost’ Lineage

Saint Louis University Africa is the homeland of our species and harbors greater human genetic diversity than any other part of the planet. Studies of ancient DNA from African archaeological sites...
Neanderthal tools included shell scrapers. Source: procy_ab & Comugnero Silvana / Adobe Stock

Coastal Neanderthals Went Diving For Tools

Neanderthals are known to have used tools, but the extent to which they were able to exploit coastal resources has been questioned. New research shows they collected clam shells and volcanic rock...
Illustration of meteor entering Earth's atmosphere    Source: lassedesignen / Adobe Stock

Oldest Material On Earth Discovered To Be Older Than The Sun

Stars have life cycles. They're born when bits of dust and gas floating through space find each other and collapse in on each other and heat up. They burn for millions to billions of years, and then...
A capuchin monkey in Brazil hoists a stone tool to crack open nuts.    Source: Luca Antonio Marino / CC BY-ND 4.0

Monkeys Smashing Nuts Hint at How Human Toolmaking Evolved

Kristen S. Morrow / The Conversation Human beings used to be defined as “the tool-maker” species. But the uniqueness of this description was challenged in the 1960s when Dr. Jane Goodall discovered...
Deceased mammoth

Did Ice Age Extinctions Force Us to Invent Civilization?

Nick Longrich / The Conversation Why did we take so long to invent civilization? Modern Homo sapiens first evolved roughly 250,000 to 350,000 years ago. But initial steps towards civilization –...
Four Iranian heritage sites: The ruins of Persepolis. (F. Couin/ CC BY SA 4.0 ), Pasargadae Tomb in Shiraz (CC BY SA 3.0), Ancient ruins in Susa, Iran (UNESCO), Elaborate decoration in Golestan Palace, Tehran, Iran. (Diego Delso/CC BY SA).

Iran’s Heritage Sites Remain Under Threat. What Could We Lose?

A country’s heritage is arguably vital to its lifeblood. It connects the present to the past and also unites humanity in the appreciation and love for history and archaeology. Ancient cultural sites...
There were two main goals to the Tayos expedition 2019 – exploring cave entrances and discovering more about the rock formations. Source: All images are copyright Ancient Origins.

Cueva de los Tayos Expedition 2019: Finding Answers in Amazonia

The Cueva de Los Tayos Expedition 2019 was an adventure no one will forget! Our expedition had two main goals – to find more cave entrances and to solve the mystery of the rock formations we called...
Walrus carving from medieval Trondheim. Viking colonies in Greenland relied on walrus ivory for trade. Source: Credit: Åge Hojem NTNU University Museum

Viking Colonies Collapsed Through Over Hunting Walruses

The mysterious disappearance of Greenland's Norse colonies sometime in the 15th century may have been down to the overexploitation of walrus populations for their tusks, according to a study of...

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