Free Republic

Zartonk Media reports that an international team of researchers conducted a comprehensive study of Armenia's "dragon stones" that has finally cracked the mystery surrounding these enigmatic ancient stone steles. Known as vishaps after the Armenia word for dragon, the monoliths can stand 18 feet high. They were typically decorated with animal imagery often depicting fish, and were erected in high altitude summer pastures. Archaeologists have been unsure exactly when or why they were created. Led by Vahe Gurzadyan and Arsen Bobokhyan of Yerevan State University, the team analyzed 115 known vishaps and determined they were often located near springs, streams,...

According to a statement released by The University of South Florida (USF), a new study has upended previous assumptions about when horses first arrived on the island of Sicily. Until recently, archaeologists had thought that the animals were not present there until the early first millennium b.c. New research led by USF archaeological scientist Davide Tanasi indicates that not only did horses live there at least 1,000 years earlier, they were also an integral part of Early Bronze Age Sicilian ceremonies. The evidence comes from a site near Polizzello Mountain where Tanasi and his colleagues recovered a large assemblage of...

Three centuries after horse-drawn chariots were introduced to Scandinavia, a Bronze Age artisan crafted the Sun Chariot, a stunningly detailed object that may represent an ancient mythological scene or even a rare calendar.The Sun Chariot was discovered in 1902 by a peat farmer who was working on the Trundholm moor in Denmark, about 42 miles (67 kilometers) northwest of Copenhagen. It was found in numerous pieces and has since been reconstructed by experts at the National Museum of Denmark, where it is on display.Taken as a whole, the bronze object is about 21 inches (54 centimeters) long and 14 inches...

A rare example of a ritual Bronze Age monument has been discovered on Oileán Acla in Co Mayo.The stone alignment had been hidden by ancient trees which were flattened by Storm Éowyn earlier this year.The discovery was made during an archaeological field trip with US students from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.It is part of their semester at the University of Galway and Kylemore Abbey."The site in question is a stunning Bronze Age stone alignment in Cloghmore townland, overlooking Achill Sound opposite the mountains of the Corraun Peninsula. The site consists of two upright standing stones with a...

Someone's lunch was full of whole grains.Up in the high passes of the Bernese Alps, a team of researchers found a box. It was about 8 inches in diameter and made of pine, willow, and larch. It was 4,000 years old.Now, the scientists report in a new paper, published in Scientific Reports, they have discovered traces of what was once held in the box -- someone's lunch (or dinner or breakfast).The team thought that the box might have held porridge and looked for traces of milk. But they found nothing. Instead, using a newly developed technique, they were able to...

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced that archaeologists uncovered rare 4,000-year-old wicks that are among the oldest known examples that have been found anywhere in the world. The discovery came as a team was excavating a set of Bronze Age tombs at the site of Newe Efraim near Yehud. Among the burial offerings, which also included pottery, jewelry, and metal weapons, were three clay oil lamps that still contained wicks inside. These objects rarely survive, not only because they were made from natural material that decays easily, but because by design they are intended to be lit and burnt, eventually...

...Excavations at the site of Vounous-Bellapais in the 1930s revealed dozens of tombs from a large prehistoric cemetery. Although many of the tombs had previously been looted, archaeologists recovered a large number of intricately decorated ceramics, including the Vounous Bowl, which had broken into many pieces over the ages.The Vounous Bowl, which is now in the Cyprus Museum, is shallow with a flat base measuring 14.6 inches (37 centimeters) in diameter and 3.1 inches (8 cm) tall, Louise Steel, an archaeologist at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, wrote in a 2013 study.One side of the bowl has a...

The Herald Scotland reports that prior to the construction of a new housing development in Guardbridge, Fife, archaeological excavations uncovered traces of some 10,000 years of local history. The historic village takes its name from a sixteenth-century bridge that led pilgrims across the River Eden to St. Andrews, but a team from GUARD Archaeology recently unearthed evidence that the site was a hotspot of human occupation far earlier than that. During the Upper Paleolithic period, some of Scotland's first inhabitants made flint tools at the site. Later, early Neolithic farmers left many pits across the area, which contained burnt cereal...

Ever wondered why this Church (knowlton) was plonked into a Henge? Whilst you might think the answer is obvious, what was found 2 miles away could reveal all! Knowlton Church... Explained by a discovery 2 miles away! | 9:45 Paul Whitewick | 197K subscribers | 132,486 views | July 20, 2025

Join us as we tackle one of archaeology's most persistent puzzles: the origins of the Elamites, the Bronze-Age powerhouses of southwestern Iran. Where Did the Elamites Come From? Ancient DNA & the Dravidian Mystery | 11:28 World of Antiquity | 293K subscribers | 78,800 views | June 22, 2025

In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists have found chemical traces of betel nut chewing in 4,000-year-old teeth from a Bronze Age burial in Thailand -- the earliest direct evidence of psychoactive plant use in Southeast Asia.By analyzing hardened dental plaque, researchers uncovered compounds linked to betel nut, a stimulant that boosts alertness and euphoria...One common side effect of regular chewing is teeth stained a deep reddish-brown or black.However, the absence of these stains does not necessarily mean the habit was avoided. A recent investigation by an international team used a cutting-edge technique to study ancient dental plaque from Bronze Age Thailand,...

Children are always picking stuff up off the ground -- dirt, bugs, rocks, anything shiny. And usually, it's just junk. However, 3-year-old Ziv Nitzan made the discovery of her young life when, on a walk with her family, she picked up a small stone that wound up being a scarab amulet more than one thousand times her age."We were walking along the path, and then Ziv bent down and out of all the stones around her, she picked up this particular stone," Omer Nitzan, Ziv's sister, said in a translated statement from the Israel Antiquities Authority...The family brought in the...

In a groundbreaking archaeological discovery, Israeli researchers have unearthed a 5,500-year-old flint blade workshop near Kiryat Gat, southern Israel—the first of its kind ever found in the region. Announced by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), the Early Bronze Age site sheds new light on the technological ingenuity and social complexity of ancient Canaanite civilization.The excavation, carried out at the Naḥal Qomem site—also referred to as Gat-Govrin or Zeita—revealed a full-scale production center where highly skilled craftsmen manufactured long, razor-sharp flint blades. This prehistoric workshop marks a major milestone in understanding the early development of urban society and professional specialization in...

New research in northwest Saudi Arabia has identified the existence of a network of previously unknown fortified enclosures, La Brújula Verde reports. Known as Walled Oasis Complexes, these settlements consisted of large defensive walls encircling desert oases that helped shelter and protect crops, water sources, and herds of goats and sheep. Relying on satellite imagery and ground reconnaissance, the study located four previously unknown complexes at Dumat al-Jandal, Hait, Huwayyit, and Khaybar dating back thousands of years. The discovery changes the perception of Arabia as a desert dominated by Bedouins and demonstrates that there were complex sedentary societies as many...

Aze.Media reports that a team of researchers from several Azerbaijani institutions unearthed a remarkable [3,800]-year-old tomb belonging to a high-status Bronze Age warrior. The archaeologists were investigating an area of Keshikchidagh State Historical and Cultural Reserve when they located the kurgan, or burial mound, which measured 90 feet in diameter and stood 6 feet high. When the archaeologists began excavating this feature, they revealed a large central interior chamber that was covered with 14 large stone blocks, each weighing approximately one ton. The tomb within this passage was divided into three sections: one containing the body and personal equipment, another...

Archaeologists from the Brno City Museum have made a rare and precious discovery in South Moravia: a 3,200-year-old fragment of bronze armor dating back to the Late Bronze Age. The find, excavated at a confidential location in 2023, includes not only a fragment of a warrior's breastplate but also a spearhead, a sickle, a bronze pin, and copper fragments -- all of which had been buried together in what researchers believe was a ritual deposit.The fragment originally appeared to be a folded piece of metal, but under closer examination, it was revealed to be a fragment of body armor. "Thanks...

For thousands of years, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey were the oldest epic stories that Europeans know of. But is it possible that Homer was, in turn, influenced by the stories of other civilizations to the east of Greece? We are joined by Mary Bachvarova, an expert on both the ancient Greek and Hittite traditions, to explore this fascinating question. This is episode 42 of the "Ancient Greece Declassified" podcast. A Hittite Version of the Trojan War?! | 1:03:07 Lantern Jack | 10.2K subscribers | 329,200 views | November 28, 2021

Our study explored the evolutionary trajectory of grapevine cultivation in Italy through the analysis of archaeological grape pips spanning approximately 7,000 years...During the Early Neolithic and Early Bronze Age periods, the absence of morphologically domestic grapes suggests a reliance on wild grape gathering, possibly with some experiment of proto-cultivation of wild grape.Despite previous research showing the presence of domestic grapes in Middle Bronze Age sites such as Pertosa Cave in southern Italy and Sa Osa in Sardinia, our study of grape pips from several other sites do not reveal robust evidence for domestic grapes in Middle Bronze Age sites in...

This week we pop across to the Mendips and explore the heart of Somerset with a rather unsettling Mystery. Deep in mining country a discovery was made, 20m below the surface, to this day we have yet to fully explain what happened here. The Most Unsettling MYSTERY, No one can Explain... | 14:25 Paul Whitewick | 191K subscribers | 12,833 views | July 13, 2025

Over the past several years, excavations beneath Cardiff's Trelai Park, a popular spot for sports and recreation, have unveiled thousands of years of local history. The site is close to the Iron Age Caerau hillfort as well as an extensive Roman-era villa. Last year, archaeological work in the park uncovered traces of a Bronze Age roundhouse dating back to 1500 b.c., believed to be the oldest recorded dwelling in Cardiff. BBC News reports that archaeologists from Caerau and Ely Rediscovering Heritage Project (CAER) recently discovered another Bronze Age structure, a timber circle, and burial ground containing pits with cremated human...