Month: December 2024
Billions in Bullion: A New Search for the Lost Gold of Atahualpa
The lost treasure of Inca Emperor Atahualpa is considered among the most important and valuable in history. And now a new team have ventured into the Ecuadorian Andes to try, once again,…
The Gold Tongues of Oxyrhynchus: How to Talk to a God
Archaeologists from the University of Barcelona excavating the ancient Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus have uncovered a cache of mummies dating to the Ptolemaic period. Some of the mummies, which seem to have…
Cannibalistic Coping Mechanism? The Bronze Age “Othering” of Fallen Foes
A gruesome discovery in the United Kingdom has thrown a shadow over Bronze Age England. The find, at the ancient site of Charterhouse Warren in Somerset, has been described as “something horrible.”…
Shahr-i Sokhta: How to Play the Oldest Board Game in the World, Iranian Edition
In 1922 the British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley discovered something unexpected during his excavation of the Royal Cemetery of Ur, in Mesopotamia. Amidst the grave goods and treasures he uncovered a rectangular…
Llhuros: The Lost Civilization that Can Never Be Found
We know a great deal about the lost civilization of Llhuros. You may not have heard of this Iron Age kingdom, but far from being obscure and forgotten it is among the…
Carved Stone Age Turtle Reveals Ancient Middle East Religion
Archaeologists working in the Manot Cave system in Galilee have found a mysterious carving deep within the darkness. The sculpture, apparently of a tortoise or turtle, is extremely unusual. For one, it…