Ancient Origins articles related to General in the sections of history, archaeology, human origins, unexplained, artifacts, ancient places and myths and legends.
The ancient Chinese healing practice of Gua Sha (pronounced gwashah) requires scraping your face, scalp or body with a specially shaped flat piece of jade or rose quartz. Now, Gua Sha has swept...
Giant cranes were one of the most popular pets in medieval Ireland. However, the luxurious cranes all but vanished from the country over 300 years ago, until recently when a mating pair was spotted...
We like to live by moral codes such as “credit where credit is due,” but in this story about Leonardo da Vinci it seems he was given credit for a famous artwork were it definitely was not due. The...
While climbing near Sunshine Slabs north of Utah’s Arches National Park in the United States, climbers discovered illegal climbing bolts fixed into petroglyphs that are said to be 1,000 years old...
The death of Prince Philip has brought sorrow to people throughout the United Kingdom. Surprisingly, those feelings of loss and sadness are even shared by people living on the opposite side of the...
When you utter the name “Egypt,” the first thing that comes to the mind is the storied past hidden in the deep recesses of fantastical pyramids. Not to forget, unending expanses of beautiful, golden...
March 25 this year will fly by for most of us as just another day in the Gregorian calendar. But the date was far more significant in the past. For over a millennium across Europe and beyond this was...
A group of Welsh nationalists and a tourism leader have stated that if Greece is able to actively reclaim the controversial Elgin Marbles , then Wales should consider reclaiming the Stonehenge...
In May 2021, scientists made a major discovery in Ganzhou City in China’s southern Jiangxi Province. They found the remains of a dinosaur sitting on its nest of fossilized eggs. The dinosaur, an...
Researchers have sequenced the oldest known DNA in the world. Using material from the Early and Middle Pleistocene sub-epochs, the ancient DNA analysis shatters the record for the world’s oldest...
In 2016, along with a vast array of international publications, the Daily Mail picked up a story that had been published by a Norwegian-based paper prior to a conference about the confiscation of...
Desperate to jump-start a stalled economy, in 2020 Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte revived a long-dormant infrastructure project. If approved, it would lead to the construction of the longest...
In 1879 Charles Darwin wrote a letter to his close friend, the botanist and explorer named Dr. Joseph Hooker. He expressed his annoyance at the puzzling mystery of how the first flowering plants...
Since medieval times, many Muslim communities have regarded the hymen, the tiny piece of skin known as the vaginal membrane, as proof of virginity and a woman’s moral virtue. Even today in the United...
He famously raided the Lost Ark, explored the Temple of Doom and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and he even undertook a Last Crusade. Now, the legacy of Indiana Jones, our favorite silver screen...
Have you ever heard of dire wolves? You’ll probably say “Yes” if you are a fan of the TV show Game of Thrones . This canine species appears in the iconic TV series, where it is known as a ‘direwolf’...
Dry stone wall building is one of Scotland’s oldest crafts, dating back as far back as 5,000 years ago, during the Neolithic period. Unfortunately, this ancient construction technique is disappearing...
In many ways this has been a difficult year, but in the realm of archaeological research some major discoveries have been made around the world. Lost cities and tombs have come to light, the...
According to popular tradition, Christmas is celebrated on December 25th to honor the birth of Jesus. However, no records exist in the Bible or elsewhere to suggest that Jesus was actually born on...
Archaeologists in the Czech Republic have discovered a secret chamber beneath a 12th century monastery floor. In it, they discovered an ancient box with a gold plate, inscribed with “Jesus is King.”...
Christmas is a very popular holiday tradition that is celebrated by some 2 billion people worldwide. This popular celebration is of course linked closely to Christianity and is intended to honor the...
As the global fad continues, low-grade reflective monoliths have been discovered in the UK at Dartmoor, the Isle of Wight and Glastonbury Tor. The latest report grabbed by the tabloids is that...
A new study suggests a half-billion-year-old “evolutionary arms race” might have been sparked by developments in the vision of deep-sea giants called “radiodonts.” The “Cambrian explosion” occurred...
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. This old adage has now been taken to a whole new level in the northeast of England. A team of...