Story Archive
Abydos (Troad) King List carved by Seti I omits Amarna kings
Abydos (Troad) King List carved by Seti I omits Amarna kings. The Abydos (Troad) King List is one of the most famous inscriptions in Egyptian history Lists Egyptian kings from…
Seti I's L-shaped temple at Abydos (Troad) built around 1300 BCE
Seti I's L-shaped temple at Abydos (Troad) built around 1300 BCE. Seti I ruled early in the 19th Dynasty around 1300 BCE Temple built mostly of limestone with some sandstone Seti…
Osirion at Abydos (Troad): Osiris symbolic tomb with cosmic design
Osirion at Abydos (Troad): Osiris symbolic tomb with cosmic design. The Osirion is neither a temple nor a tomb but functioned as a symbolic tomb of Osiris Located more than 12…
Homo naledi's small brain and mosaic anatomy
Homo naledi's small brain and mosaic anatomy. Homo naledi had a brain volume of 465-610 cm³, less than half a modern human brain The brain size is firmly within the range of…
Rising Star Cave discovery of 15 Homo naledi individuals
Rising Star Cave discovery of 15 Homo naledi individuals. In 2013, explorers entered the Rising Star Cave system in South Africa The fossil chamber is located 30m below surface…
Homo naledi dating challenges cognitive evolution model
Homo naledi dating challenges cognitive evolution model. Homo naledi lived roughly 236,000 to 335,000 years ago This is shockingly recent, potentially overlapping with early Homo…
Evidence for deliberate body deposition and symbolic behavior
Evidence for deliberate body deposition and symbolic behavior. The Dinaledi Chamber contains around 1,550 fossil specimens Only Homo naledi remains are present - no antelopes,…
Moai back carvings depict Birdman cult added after 1400 AD
Moai back carvings depict Birdman cult added after 1400 AD. Back carvings on Moai statues relate to the Birdman cult called Rapanui which developed around 1400 AD Carvings are NOT…
Birdman cult annual egg hunt ritual on Easter Island
Birdman cult annual egg hunt ritual on Easter Island. Sacred site of Birdman cult was a rango - narrow ridge with 1000 ft drop into ocean on one side and deep crater on other Main…
Aubrey holes as eclipse predictor: 56-pit system analyzed
Aubrey holes as eclipse predictor: 56-pit system analyzed. Gerald Hawkins and Fred Hoyle proposed the 56 Aubrey holes could predict eclipses The Aubrey hole circle contains 56…
Stonehenge solar alignments: 4,500-year-old axis verified
Stonehenge solar alignments: 4,500-year-old axis verified. William Stoley in 1760s identified the avenue aligns with summer solstice sunrise, the primary axis John Smith…
Altar stone origin traced to Scotland, once stood upright
Altar stone origin traced to Scotland, once stood upright. Altar stone provenance recently determined to be from the Orcadian basin in northeast Scotland Previously thought to…
2-million-year-old tooth proteins reveal sex and variation
2-million-year-old tooth proteins reveal sex and variation. Researchers analyzed four Paranthropus robustus teeth over 2 million years old They used amelogenin proteins to…
Future: protein analysis to map human evolution
Future: protein analysis to map human evolution. Paleoproteomics can peer into human evolution deeper than ancient DNA For fossils 100,000-300,000 years old, protein preservation…
Paranthropus robustus: anatomy, diet and tool use
Paranthropus robustus: anatomy, diet and tool use. Paranthropus lived between 2.3 and 1 million years ago Males were approximately 1.3 m tall, females approximately 1 m tall They…
Archaeological site attribution and indigenous credit debate
Archaeological site attribution and indigenous credit debate. Hadrian's Wall was built by Romans, but some argue indigenous Britons get insufficient credit Teotihuacan was not…
Archaeology as pseudoscience and carbon dating methodology critique
Archaeology as pseudoscience and carbon dating methodology critique. Archaeology uses scientific methods but draws non-scientific conclusions Carbon dating on the Great Pyramid…
Hunting wall dating critique and underwater preservation claims
Hunting wall dating critique and underwater preservation claims. Flint Dibble presented a hunting wall dated to the Younger Dryas period The wall is actually dated to a transition…
Margaret Mead Samoa study and anthropological bias history
Margaret Mead Samoa study and anthropological bias history. Margaret Mead was the most famous anthropologist of the 20th century She studied in American Samoa to support the…
1561 Nuremberg and 1566 Basel Sky Phenomena Documented in Historical Broadsheets
1561 Nuremberg and 1566 Basel Sky Phenomena Documented in Historical Broadsheets. 1561 Nuremberg broadsheet illustrated bizarre sky event witnessed by medieval citizens August 7,…
Alexander the Great's Aerial Encounters with Silver Shields During Campaigns
Alexander the Great's Aerial Encounters with Silver Shields During Campaigns. Alexander's army witnessed two enormous shining metallic discs described as silver shields Event…
Petubastis IV cartouche found at Dakhla Oasis, reinterprets lost army story
Petubastis IV cartouche found at Dakhla Oasis, reinterprets lost army story. Excavations at Haida in Dakhla Oasis uncovered a cartouche of Petubastis IV in 2005 Further digging in…
Alexander the Great's Charax Spasinu located in Iraq
Alexander the Great's Charax Spasinu located in Iraq. Charax Spasinu was founded by Alexander the Great around 330 BCE Located 2 km from Gulf Coast at confluence of Karun and…
World's oldest sewn hide found in Oregon caves, 12,900 years old
World's oldest sewn hide found in Oregon caves, 12,900 years old. Sewn hide cords and twine found in two Oregon caves originally excavated in 1958 Radiocarbon dating places them…
Pre-dynastic Egyptian copper drill identified in Cambridge museum
Pre-dynastic Egyptian copper drill identified in Cambridge museum. Pre-dynastic Egyptian copper drill bit found in museum archive at University of Cambridge The object was…
Serbian mass grave reveals 9th century BC mass execution
Serbian mass grave reveals 9th century BC mass execution. Mass grave at Galava (Ambleside, Cumbria) in Serbia contained 77 individuals: 24 adults, 12 teenagers, 4 children, 1 baby…
Elephant bone found in Spain linked to Hannibal's war elephants
Elephant bone found in Spain linked to Hannibal's war elephants. Carpal bone from elephant's right front foot found at Colina de los Quemados site in Cordoba, Spain Dated to…
Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis and Climate Change Relevance
Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis and Climate Change Relevance. 2007 hypothesis proposed Younger Dryas events were triggered by extraterrestrial impact This remains controversial…
Ewing Documents Abrupt Temperature Change 11,000 Years Ago
Ewing Documents Abrupt Temperature Change 11,000 Years Ago. Maurice Ewing and William L. Dawn published 'Theory of Ice Ages' in Science magazine summer 1956 Their data showed an…
Uniformitarianism vs Catastrophism Historical Debate Explained
Uniformitarianism vs Catastrophism Historical Debate Explained. Uniformitarianism tagline: 'the present is the key to the past' Early geologists (Buckland, Cuvier, Sedwick,…
Willard Libby Develops Radiocarbon Dating in 1952
Willard Libby Develops Radiocarbon Dating in 1952. Willard F. Libby published his radiocarbon dating paper in 1952 through University of Chicago Press Radiocarbon dating allows…
Holocene Epoch Begins 11,600 Years Ago After Younger Dryas
Holocene Epoch Begins 11,600 Years Ago After Younger Dryas. Yan Mangarod was a Norwegian geologist born in 1937 in Oslo Quaternary period covers the Pleistocene and Holocene…
1960 Study Confirms Abrupt Climate Change 11,000 Years Ago
1960 Study Confirms Abrupt Climate Change 11,000 Years Ago. 1960 paper by Maurice Ewing and Bruce Heen titled 'Evidence for an abrupt change close to 11,000 years ago' Removed…
Late Roman army divided into regular units and federates in 5th century
Late Roman army divided into regular units and federates in 5th century. The late Roman army was divided into regular military units and federates drawn from non-Roman sources…
Battle of Catalaunian Plains 451 marked shift in Roman military tactics
Battle of Catalaunian Plains 451 marked shift in Roman military tactics. The Battle of Catalaunian Plains in 451 featured Aetius commanding a coalition against Attila The…
Civil wars and Huns, not barbarian troops, caused Western Empire's fall
Civil wars and Huns, not barbarian troops, caused Western Empire's fall. The 5th century Western Roman Empire was characterized by constant civil wars and usurptions The arrival…
Historians debunk theory that barbarian recruitment caused Rome's fall
Historians debunk theory that barbarian recruitment caused Rome's fall. The 'Lieuitz thesis' proposes barbarian dominance in the late Roman military led to Rome's collapse…
Site Preservation Threats and Conservation
Site Preservation Threats and Conservation. Nazca Lines in Peru threatened by mining companies given government rights Gobekli Tepe was threatened by limestone mining for road…
The Old Stones Book: Guide to UK Megalithic Sites
The Old Stones Book: Guide to UK Megalithic Sites. Published in 2017 by Watkins Books Contributions from archaeologists Mike Parker Pearson and Vicky Cummings Contains hundreds of…
Thornborough Henges: Preservation Victory
Thornborough Henges: Preservation Victory. Three giant henges in Yorkshire joined by avenues One henge was threatened by tarmac and mining development English Heritage intervened…
Dolmens Worldwide: 19,000 in Korea Alone
Dolmens Worldwide: 19,000 in Korea Alone. Dolmens found globally: Japan, Australia, Indonesia, South America, North America South Korea has approximately 19,000 dolmens Denmark…
Global Stone Circles: 2,593 Documented Worldwide
Global Stone Circles: 2,593 Documented Worldwide. At least 1,000 stone circles in British Isles 2,593 stone circles documented on Megalithic Portal Japan has Bronze Age and later…
Dartmoor's Megalithic Complex and New Discoveries
Dartmoor's Megalithic Complex and New Discoveries. Dartmoor contains multiple stone circles, standing stones, long rows, and cairns King Arthur's Hall is a rectangular stone…
Megalithic Portal: 60,000 Ancient Sites Database
Megalithic Portal: 60,000 Ancient Sites Database. Website founded in 1996, running for 25+ years Over 60,000 megalithic sites documented worldwide Features include Google Earth…
AI Technology for Archaeological Analysis
AI Technology for Archaeological Analysis. Andy Burnham using AI to improve website features and design AI ingested entire 25-year discussion forum (94,460 posts, 8,400 topics) AI…
Barnenez Cairn: Dimensions and 1950s Rescue Discovery
Barnenez Cairn: Dimensions and 1950s Rescue Discovery. Barnenez measures 72m long, 25m wide at one end and 19m at the other, 8m high 13 to 14,000 tons of stone used in…
Barnenez Architecture: 11 Tombs and Construction Techniques
Barnenez Architecture: 11 Tombs and Construction Techniques. Barnenez is called a passage tomb but actually comprises 11 passage tombs grouped under one cairn Chambers A, B, C are…
Barnenez Dating Controversy and Chronology
Barnenez Dating Controversy and Chronology. Original dating of 4,800 BC has been questioned because the charcoal used could have come from elsewhere More reliable dates for…
Icelandic remains unchanged since Viking Age
Icelandic remains unchanged since Viking Age. Icelandic today is much as it was when Iceland was first colonized, mainly from Norway in and after 874 AD Icelandic has remained…
Old Norse textbooks and saga collections
Old Norse textbooks and saga collections. The speaker acquired 'Introduction to Old Norse' by E.V. Gordon, first published in the 1930s Scholarly Old Norse textbooks and saga…
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