We bring you all the latest historical news and archaeological discoveries relating to ancient human history. Read more history news from around the world here at Ancient Origins.
In a significant operation against the illicit trade of antiquities, Italian police have recovered a trove of Etruscan funerary treasures in Umbria, believed to have belonged to ancient aristocratic...
In the society of Ancient Greece, the polis , or the city-state, was perhaps the most distinctive and important political innovation at the time. Emerging around the 8th century BC, this institution...
Until now, no one had ever found a sign of the zodiac encoded in Egyptian rock art. But that has all changed, as scholars from Macquarie University in Australia have identified an ancient Egyptian...
The legendary Arslan Kaya monument (i.e., lion rock), features a heavily damaged inscription that has been difficult to decipher for ages, and is 2,600 years old. Now, a professor and archaeologist...
A ship that sunk in Norway’s deepest lake several centuries ago has been identified as a føringsbåt, a type of boat that was used to haul cargo and passengers between 1300 and 1900 AD. These...
Archaeologist Alan Endacott has devoted the last two decades to searching for new stone circles in Dartmoor, a vast stretch of relatively desolate moorland in the uplands of Devon in southern England...
Just last month, after the fanfare of the inauguration of a new visitors recreational area at historic Leicester Cathedral, a rather gruesome discovery emerged from gardens located just a few meters...
One of the most remarkable ancient musical instruments ever discovered is the so-called Aztec death whistle. Newly published research seems to confirm the correctness of the ‘death whistle’ label, as...
The group of explorers that discovered the remains of an ancient city in the jungle of Honduras while hunting for the legendary lost city of La Ciudad Blanca (‘White City’), otherwise known as City...
A rare Roman knife handle, moulded in the shape of a secutor gladiator, was found in the River Tyne at Corbridge Roman Town near Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, England. Approximately 2,000-years-...
By Cassidy Delamarter A University of South Florida professor found the first-ever physical evidence of hallucinogens in an Egyptian mug, validating written records and centuries-old myths of ancient...
Talgua Cave, known also as the ‘Cave of the Glowing Skulls’, is a cave located in the Olancho Valley, which is situated in Catacamas, a municipality in northeastern Honduras. The cave’s name may be...
A unique prehistoric ceremonial site from southern Sweden dating back to the Neolithic period, or what the archaeologists are calling ‘the peasant stone age’, has been found in Hammar in Skåne. A...
The wheel, one of humanity’s most transformative inventions, remains shrouded in mystery. Historians agree it revolutionized transportation and labor efficiency, yet no one knows exactly when or...
Karen Thompson /The Conversation For more than a millennium, many Andean peoples used an object called a “khipu” (also spelled “quipu” and pronounced “key-poo”) to record and communicate information...
A section of a nearly 2,000-year-old road running from the ancient Roman port at Dover through London to the West Midlands has been found under Old Kent Road in south-east London! Considered one of...
In an exciting discovery from Israel’s Nahal-Ein Gev II archaeological site, a collection of perforated, donut-shaped stones may represent some of the earliest evidence of wheel-like technology in...
The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles is inviting visitors to explore the intersection of science, art, and mysticism in the Middle Ages with two captivating exhibitions, Lumen: The Art and Science...
In a deeply moving revelation about pre-Hispanic life and beliefs, a recent examination of archaeological data links a mass offering of children to the Mexica rain god Tlaloc to a devastating drought...
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s historic Kastel Fortress is one of the rare locations in Europe with layers dating from the early Stone Age (before 10,000 years BC) through multiple eras leading up to the...
With the help of declassified images collected by United States spy satellites, a team of researchers from Durham University in the United Kingdom and the University of al-Qadisiyyah in Iraq have...
Trevor Van Damm e /The Conversation While ancient Greece is one of the best known cultures of antiquity, there are no surviving historical narratives covering events between 1200 and 760BC. This...
Archaeologists exploring inside Wdecki Landscape Park (Wdecki Park Krajobrazowy) near the settlement of Grzybek in the village of Stara Rzeka in north-central Poland recently found a treasure trove...
From one of the oldest trading civilizations in the world comes another exciting discovery – a 4,000-year-old Bronze Age temple, uncovered on Failaka Island, linked to the early Dilmun civilization (...
