Ancient-Origins.net

The Battle of Lake Poyang stands as one of the largest naval engagements in recorded history, showcasing the might and strategic prowess of warring factions

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Zhoukoudian, home to the renowned Peking Man, serves as a pivotal site for understanding the enigma of Homo erectus and its place in human evolution. 

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Diodorus Siculus’ Library of History is a mine of information about the ancient world, its peoples, histories, legends, and myths. Most interesting in Book 3. 52. is the narration of the myth of Myrina, an Amazon Queen, who conquered a city in the marsh Tritonis, called Cherronesus. 

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The world’s most expansive and complex Etruscan necropolis continues to produce surprises, revealing more details about the powerful civilization that preceded the Romans as the dominant force in ancient Italy.

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Across the ancient world, a mosaic of burial practices unveils the diversity of human cultures and their beliefs. Chambered cairns, scattered throughout the UK,

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David B. Hollander/The Conversation

This silver denarius, minted over 2,000 years ago, is hardly the most attractive Roman coin. And yet, the coin is vital evidence for the early stages of a political struggle that culminated in Caesar’s assassination and the fall of the Roman Republic.

I first encountered this coin while studying Roman history in graduate school. Its unusual design gave me pause – this one depicted figures walking across a narrow bridge and dropping something into a box. I moved on after learning it depicted voting, reasoning that Roman mint officials occasionally made idiosyncratic choices.

But as voting access evolves in the U.S., the political importance of this centuries-old coin seems more compelling. It turns out that efforts to regulate voting access go way back.

Voting was a core feature of the Roman Republic and a regular activity for politically active citizens. Men, and only men, could vote in multiple elections and legislative assemblies each year. So why would P. Licinius Nerva, the official responsible for this coin, choose to depict such a banal activity?

The answer lies in voting procedures that sometimes heavily favored elites.

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Something unexpected from the early Neolithic has been found in Turkey. During excavations in an ancient cemetery, a team of archaeologists from several institutions unearthed more than 100 small ornaments that were apparently used to fill piercings of the ear and lip.

At the early Neolithic site of Boncuklu Tarla, a lost settlement discovered during excavations in Turkey’s southeastern territory that began in 2008, researchers found the miniature jewelry pieces in the graves of adult men and women who may have lived and died as long as 11,000 years ago. The researchers believe the jewelry would have been awarded to young adults going through coming-of-age ceremonies, with their piercings representing a sign that they’d reached full maturity.

“The combination of contextual and physical anthropological evidence at Boncuklu Tarla confirms, for the first time, that personal ornamentation using body perforation was practiced early in the Neolithic period,” the Turkish archaeologists wrote in a new article just published in Antiquity.  “Typological comparison of ornaments between sites shows that these practices were widespread as early as the PPNA.”

The PPNA referenced here refers to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A, a stage of the early Neolithic period that lasted in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) from 10,000 to 8,800 BC.

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At the remote, ancient mountain fortress of Rabana-Merquly in Iraqi Kurdistan, German archaeologists have made a surprising discovery. Evidence has emerged that suggests the site had been used as a religious sanctuary

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The ancient monarchies of Asia left an indelible mark on history, shaping economies, cultures, and trade routes that endured for centuries. Among these, the Han Dynasty

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Remnants of the world’s oldest fossilized forests and trees, dating back 390 million years, have been uncovered along the Devon and Somerset coast among high sandstone cliffs.

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The Vikings stand as legendary figures, their exploits on the seas and battlefields shrouded in myth and mystery. Yet beyond their tales of conquest and exploration lies a lesser-known aspect

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Excavations at the Anciens Arsenaux site in Sion, Switzerland, have changed the way we understand prehistoric agriculture in Europe forever. Compelling evidence has emerged

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Archaeology serves as a key to unlock the mysteries of our past, offering glimpses into ancient civilizations that challenge conventional historical narratives.

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A new find in China has potentially rewritten the course of prehistory. Did our hominid ancestors use sophisticated tools in East Asia 300,000 years earlier than thought?

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Researchers have mapped the ancient dispersal of the cacao or cocoa plant from South America to Central America. Not only did they discover the plant

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Imagine a time when the fear of vampires wasn't just the stuff of horror movies, but a genuine epidemic that swept across Europe.

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Featuring a rich and diverse mix of ethnicities and cultures, the people of South Asia have always been a source of fascination for scientists interested in studying human evolution and genetics.

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The founding of the Delian League in 478 BC moved the Athenians closer to the idea of democracy. 

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In the medieval period, medical science was still dominated by the ancient writings of Hippocrates from the fifth century and Galen of Pergamon from the second century.

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Within the realm of pirate lore depicted in media, there exists a delicate balance between fiction and historical accuracy. Notably, Howard Pyle's evocative paintings stand as vivid portrayals

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