Story Archive
Great Pyramid of Cholula: world's largest pyramid by volume
Great Pyramid of Cholula: world's largest pyramid by volume. The Great Pyramid measures 450 m on each side with a height between 54 and 66 m
Olmec-Xicalanca arrival and rise to power in Central Mexico
Olmec-Xicalanca arrival and rise to power in Central Mexico. Mount Popocatepetl erupted around 500 CE, possibly forcing temporary abandonment of Cholula
Abu Simbel's solar alignment and 1960s relocation to save it from Lake Nasser
Abu Simbel's solar alignment and 1960s relocation to save it from Lake Nasser. Temple stretches more than 200 ft into the mountain, lined with Osiride pillars Originally painted…
Karnak: the largest ancient religious complex, with 134-column hypostyle hall
Karnak: the largest ancient religious complex, with 134-column hypostyle hall. Expanded by pharaohs for more than 2,000 years at Thebes (modern Luxor) Covers more than 200 acres,…
Hatshepsut's terraced temple at Deir el-Bahari, designed by Senmut
Hatshepsut's terraced temple at Deir el-Bahari, designed by Senmut. Built in the 15th century BC at Deir el-Bahari on the west bank of the Nile Designed by the architect Senmut as…
Saqqara necropolis: Djoser's Step Pyramid, 3-mile underground labyrinth, Serapeum
Saqqara necropolis: Djoser's Step Pyramid, 3-mile underground labyrinth, Serapeum. Located about 20 miles south of modern Cairo; principal burial ground of Memphis for more than…
Teotihuacan's unique goddess appears nowhere else in Mesoamerica
Teotihuacan's unique goddess appears nowhere else in Mesoamerica. A female deity appears repeatedly in Teotihuacan's murals and pottery, depicted in green, red, and yellow colors…
Teotihuacan's 15.5-degree offset orientation may relate to the 260-day calendar
Teotihuacan's 15.5-degree offset orientation may relate to the 260-day calendar. Teotihuacan's entire city layout is oriented 15.5 degrees off cardinal directions, a pattern…
Repeated burnings of Teotihuacan's center challenge the traditional fall date
Repeated burnings of Teotihuacan's center challenge the traditional fall date. Archaeologists discovered that elite compounds along the Avenue of the Dead were subjected to…
Pyrrho of Elis may have transmitted Buddhist philosophy to Greek world
Pyrrho of Elis may have transmitted Buddhist philosophy to Greek world. Pyrrho of Elis was a Greek philosopher of the 4th-3rd centuries BC who accompanied Alexander's court into…
Berenike (Preveza) Buddha and Buddhist artifacts reveal 200-year community in Roman Egypt
Berenike (Preveza) Buddha and Buddhist artifacts reveal 200-year community in Roman Egypt. Three stone Buddha statues found, including the 100 cm (3 ft) Berenike (Preveza) Buddha…
Aquiry civilization estimated at 1.25–3 million people, reshaped Amazon forest
Aquiry civilization estimated at 1.25–3 million people, reshaped Amazon forest. Civilization peaked between 100 and 300 AD with an estimated 1.25 to 3 million inhabitants Within…
LiDAR survey reveals 432 earthworks, estimate of 24,000–30,000 in Amazon
LiDAR survey reveals 432 earthworks, estimate of 24,000–30,000 in Amazon. Airborne LiDAR survey conducted in 2024 with 10 flights covering 4,497 km identified 432 earthworks 396…
'Mataha expedition' was de Cordier's branding, not the official Egyptian mission name
'Mataha expedition' was de Cordier's branding, not the official Egyptian mission name. 'Mataha' is the Arabic word for 'labyrinth' Louis de Cordier coined the name 'Mataha…
Polish mission and Cairo University ran concurrent Pyramid of Amenemhat III at Hawara project with borehole drilling
Polish mission and Cairo University ran concurrent Pyramid of Amenemhat III at Hawara project with borehole drilling. A second concurrent project at Pyramid of Amenemhat III at…
Louis de Cordier's path from art and alternative history to the Hawara project
Louis de Cordier's path from art and alternative history to the Hawara project. Louis de Cordier first became fascinated with the Egyptian labyrinth as a teenager through a…
Metallic object claim confirmed as satellite interpretation, not excavation finding
Metallic object claim confirmed as satellite interpretation, not excavation finding. Louis de Cordier confirms the metallic object claim is Tim Akers' interpretation of satellite…
Vráble excavation incomplete; head curation hypothesis raised
Vráble excavation incomplete; head curation hypothesis raised. 112 individuals identified from all depositions sitewide 77 headless bodies plus one child with skull represents…
Neolithic crisis and cultural norms breakdown in late LBK
Neolithic crisis and cultural norms breakdown in late LBK. Late LBK period around turn of 6th millennium BC shows concentrated violence described as a 'crisis' Furholt argues…
Vráble: 78 headless bodies in Neolithic LBK ditch
Vráble: 78 headless bodies in Neolithic LBK ditch. Vráble site in southwest Slovakia is one of the largest LBK settlements in Central Europe Site contains more than 300 houses…
Comparative LBK mass violence sites across Central Europe
Comparative LBK mass violence sites across Central Europe. Asparn-Schletz (Austria) contained dozens of bodies in a ditch dispatched with brutal violence; young women…
Evidence at Vráble argues against massacre interpretation
Evidence at Vráble argues against massacre interpretation. Dr. Katina Fuks (biological anthropologist) identified cut marks on cervical vertebrae consistent with careful,…
Head hunting and ancestor fragmentation as alternative interpretations
Head hunting and ancestor fragmentation as alternative interpretations. Head hunting has been proposed by some archaeologists as a possible cultural practice Treatment of the dead…
Controversies and methodology flaws in the Shroud of Turin's 1988 carbon dating
Controversies and methodology flaws in the Shroud of Turin's 1988 carbon dating. Radiocarbon dating method was invented in the 1950s and initially required a handkerchief-size…
Image formation evidence: 1898 photography, superficial imprint, and laser reproduction attempts
Image formation evidence: 1898 photography, superficial imprint, and laser reproduction attempts. In 1898, at a royal wedding of the House of Savoy, Secondo Pia photographed the…
Hoysala Temple pillars show accepted lathe machining, 900 years old
Hoysala Temple pillars show accepted lathe machining, 900 years old. The Hoysala Temple in India is at least 900 years old by standard archaeological accounts Archaeologists have…
Kailasa Temple carved from single basalt hill, 400,000+ tons removed
Kailasa Temple carved from single basalt hill, 400,000+ tons removed. Kailasa Temple was created by removing material from a single hill rather than constructing upward, a…
Mayor proposes myth-fossil connection in 'The First Fossil Hunters'
Mayor proposes myth-fossil connection in 'The First Fossil Hunters'. Adrienne Mayor's book 'The First Fossil Hunters' was published in 1999/2000 Mayor hypothesized that some…
Ancient peoples' interpretations of fossil bones across cultures
Ancient peoples' interpretations of fossil bones across cultures. Native Americans interpreted large fossil bones as remains of Thunderbirds Chinese interpreted fossils as remains…
Women's legal rights and restrictions in ancient Egypt
Women's legal rights and restrictions in ancient Egypt. Egyptian women were allowed to own businesses, divorce, and hold land Women were excluded from government decision-making…
Egyptian wigs topped with melting incense cones at festivities
Egyptian wigs topped with melting incense cones at festivities. Egyptians wore wigs with incense cones placed on top during dinners and festivities The cones were lit and the…
Historical transition from matriarchal to patriarchal societies
Historical transition from matriarchal to patriarchal societies. Transition to patriarchal societies was linked to efforts to instigate war Efforts to suppress women continued…
Catastrophism paper on 4,000 BC deluge scheduled for future discussion
Catastrophism paper on 4,000 BC deluge scheduled for future discussion. Hosts reference a catastrophism paper dated to 4,000 BC about a deluge event The paper is planned to be…
Egyptian body hair removal as spiritual practice
Egyptian body hair removal as spiritual practice. Egyptians removed all body hair as a spiritual matter to separate themselves from animals Some historians attribute the practice…
18th-19th century wealthy explorers produced surviving historical reports
18th-19th century wealthy explorers produced surviving historical reports. Young people from rich 18th and 19th century families traveled the world because they did not have to…
2008 geophysical surveys used multiple technologies to scan Pyramid of Amenemhat III at Hawara
2008 geophysical surveys used multiple technologies to scan Pyramid of Amenemhat III at Hawara. 2004 work at Pyramid of Amenemhat III at Hawara began as a preservation effort…
Herodotus described a massive 3,000-room labyrinth surpassing the pyramids
Herodotus described a massive 3,000-room labyrinth surpassing the pyramids. Herodotus visited the labyrinth around 450 BC Described 12 courtyards and 3,000 rooms, half above…
Metallic object claim traces to satellite imagery interpretation, not excavation
Metallic object claim traces to satellite imagery interpretation, not excavation. The '40-meter metallic tic-tac' claim originated from Tim Akers' interpretation of commercially…
Labyrinth structure offset 20-25 degrees from Amenemhat III pyramid
Labyrinth structure offset 20-25 degrees from Amenemhat III pyramid. The labyrinth structure is angled roughly 20-25 degrees from the pyramid at Pyramid of Amenemhat III at Hawara…
2026 Pyramid of Amenemhat III at Hawara excavation led by Ashraf Sobhy uncovers new wall
2026 Pyramid of Amenemhat III at Hawara excavation led by Ashraf Sobhy uncovers new wall. The current excavation is led by Ashraf Sobhy, director for all of the Fayum, a young…
Archaeological evidence reveals Neanderthal sophistication and interbreeding with humans
Archaeological evidence reveals Neanderthal sophistication and interbreeding with humans. Neanderthals used the Levallois technique, a sophisticated stone tool method requiring…
DNA and fossil evidence identify Denisovans, Homo floresiensis, and Homo naledi as distinct archaic humans
DNA and fossil evidence identify Denisovans, Homo floresiensis, and Homo naledi as distinct archaic humans. Denisovans identified in 2010 through DNA extracted from a child's…
San José Mogote: earliest Zapotec political center with hieroglyphic writing
San José Mogote: earliest Zapotec political center with hieroglyphic writing. San José Mogote gained prominence between 900 and 600 BCE Population reached approximately 1,000…
Atzompa: secondary Zapotec center with elite residences and craft workshops
Atzompa: secondary Zapotec center with elite residences and craft workshops. Atzompa is located 4 km north of Monte Alban on another mountaintop The site name comes from Nahuatl,…
Monte Alban founded around 500 BCE as mountaintop Zapotec capital
Monte Alban founded around 500 BCE as mountaintop Zapotec capital. Monte Alban Phase 1 dates from 500 to 100 BCE Approximately 2,000 people participated in the initial…
Danzantes of Building L: carved stone slabs depicting defeated enemies
Danzantes of Building L: carved stone slabs depicting defeated enemies. Building L is located on the main plaza's western side Approximately 300 carved stone slabs date to between…
Four rivers of paradise locate Garden of Eden in eastern Turkey
Four rivers of paradise locate Garden of Eden in eastern Turkey. Four rivers of paradise (Euphrates, Tigris, Aras/Araxes, Greater Zab) all rise in the same region of eastern…
12,000-year-old shaman woman's grave with 50+ tortoise shells at Hilazon Tachtit
12,000-year-old shaman woman's grave with 50+ tortoise shells at Hilazon Tachtit. The burial in Structure A is the oldest at the cave site and the most elaborate The grave was an…
Hilazon Tachtit burial interpreted as a Natufian shaman's grave
Hilazon Tachtit burial interpreted as a Natufian shaman's grave. The grave goods are substantially more numerous and diverse than any other Natufian grave discovered, with a…
46-room site yielded artifacts, infant mummy, and raises coverup concerns
46-room site yielded artifacts, infant mummy, and raises coverup concerns. The cave system contained 46 rooms with visible fire-blackening on ceilings and walls The site was…
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