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Even long before the times of Jesus and the Apostle Paul, Malta was the rocky knob at the western edge of the Roman Empire, the place where the leftovers of the Mediterranean Sea washed up and dug in. Prehistoric worshipers left mysterious stone structures. Phoenician traders planted their alphabet and Arabic-inflected language. Greeks added new words and traditions. Sailing across the water the Romans grandly called "Mare Nostrum," "Our Sea," a rich Roman governor arrived to add a mosaic-floored villa on a wind-swept hill with a view of the island curved like a pelican's beak to catch the peoples and...

A shipwreck dating to the sixth or fifth century b.c. has been discovered near Sicily along with a collection of ancient anchors, according to a report from CBS News. The wreck was found buried under sand and rock 20 feet underwater off Santa Maria del Focallo, at the southern tip of the island. The excavation was carried out by underwater archaeologists from the University of Udine in collaboration with Sicily's superintendent of the sea. Researchers determined that the ship's hull was built using a simple early shipbuilding technique known as "on the shell." Further study of the wreck may help...

Step into the world of ancient naval warfare as we bring the Athenian trireme to life. From the rhythmic sounds of 170 oars moving in unison to the overwhelming presence of this mighty warship, this video captures the sensory experience and tactical brilliance of the trireme in battle. It showcases how these vessels were not only technological marvels but also highly impactful on ancient maritime history.The Athenian Trireme in Action: Power, Precision, and Dominance at Sea | 7:41IEEE Reach | 587 subscribers | 67,904 views | November 30, 2024

My discussion with Danny Jones on the Danny Jones Podcast about the archaeological evidence behind the Phoenicians discovering the Americas 2,000 years before Columbus!Did Phoenicians Discover America 2,000 years before Columbus? [9:11]Luke Caverns | 56.2K subscribers | 9,215 views | November 11, 2023

A new study led by a University of Arizona researcher is one step closer to an answer on how Indigenous people in the Americas interacted with early dogs and wolves.The study, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances and based on archaeological remains in Alaska, shows that people and the ancestors of today's dogs began forming close relationships as early as 12,000 years ago – about 2,000 years earlier than previously recorded in the Americas..."People like me who are interested in the peopling of the Americas are very interested in knowing if those first Americans came with dogs," Lanoë added....

Could DNA findings answer long-held questions regarding a possible link between ancient Egyptians and the Emerald Isle? Legends, myths, and intriguing archaeological finds suggest ancient Egyptians once visited Ireland. Could DNA findings answer long-held questions regarding a possible link between ancient Egyptians and the Emerald Isle? To begin with, there is the legend of Scota, an Egyptian princess who fled from Egypt with a large group of followers, arriving in Ireland in 1700 BC. It is believed Scota, whose descendants are said to have become high kings of Ireland, was killed in battle by the Tuatha De Danann (the tribe...

More than 50 samples are reported, spanning more than 1000 years of history from the Iron Age to Late Antiquity. Despite cultural diversity, our analysis reveals no major differences between the Picenes and other coeval populations, suggesting a shared genetic history of the Central Italian Iron Age ethnic groups. Nevertheless, a slight genetic differentiation between populations along the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian coasts can be observed, possibly due to different population dynamics in the two sides of Italy and/or genetic contacts across the Adriatic Sea. Additionally, we identify several individuals with ancestries deviating from their general population. Lastly, in our Late...

On an island off the east coast of Maryland, a stone spearpoint sticking out of a coastal cliff stuns archaeologists. It asks a big question: Could humans have arrived in America 5,000 years earlier than we thought?The Startling Alternative Theory of How Humans Arrived in America | 2:50Smithsonian Channel | 4.2M subscribers | 64,450 views | April 17, 2018

They discovered that the Romans miscalculated their Persian-Sassanian opponents which caused their downward spiral, leaving them weak and allowing Islam to rise in a manner that essentially wiped out the once-powerful civilization.The two groups were at war from 54 BC to 628 for control of territories, but the Persians and Sassanians took over Roman trade routes that were critical to their victory.Without access to trade, the economy quickly collapsed and forced people in the Roman Empire to flee to other regions like Constantinople, the researchers discovered...The team analyzed shipwrecks throughout the Mediterranean from multiple sites, such as Marseille, Naples, Carthage,...

Artnet News reports that Satoshi Tanaka of Ritsumeikan University, Jiao Pan of the University of Science and Technology Beijing, and their colleagues developed a neural network that they used to create a detailed, digital 3-D model of an eighth- to ninth-century relief at Indonesia's Borobudur Temple. Located on the temple's ground level, the sculptural panel was photographed 134 years ago before it was covered with reinforcement walls. The nineteenth-century black-and-white photograph shows a group of people set against a backdrop of trees and buildings. Artificial intelligence was able to identify "soft edges" in the photograph and thereby recreate the sculpture's...

While digging to find an ancient settlement in southern Sweden, archaeologists made a completely unexpected discovery: an enormous Viking Age cemetery with more than 100 graves and several ship-shaped mounds...The cemetery was initially found in 2017 in the village of Tvååker, in southwestern Sweden, ahead of planned road construction. Although Tvååker is mentioned in historical sagas, the aboveground remains of this particular cemetery were lost to time until recently."The problem is that the land has been plowed and leveled to create pastures," Nordin said, "so all the occupation levels, above-ground remains, and burials have been plowed to pieces."During excavations carried...

Japan has been inhabited by people since about 35,000 years ago. Roughly 16,500 years ago a group of Neolithic hunter-gatherers, referred to as the "Jomon" culture, developed a complex society including the production of pottery and jewellery.About 3,000 years ago, rice cultivation in paddy fields was introduced to Japan. This saw the beginning of the Yayoi period which ended around the year 300 CE. After the Yayoi came the Kofun period (300–538 CE)...The authors note that the current consensus based on DNA evidence from modern Japanese people is that there was 2 or 3-way mixing between the indigenous Jomon people...

The 13-line inscription about the wrestler, which was found complete and intact measuring 120 cm (47 inches) by 50 cm (19 inches) and weighing half a ton, is believed to be 2,000 years old. The condition of the inscription makes it the first discovery of its kind for the region. The stone was found in the Harbor Bath where last year a Roman period statue was found. Tekocak said "Just like last year, the Harbor Bath has provided us with significant discoveries." The discovery suggests that the city was important as more than just a maritime trade centre.The inscription praises...

The discovery consists of three burial chambers, each accessed through a central shaft, characteristic of Punic and Roman period tombs. Remarkably, the entrance to each chamber was sealed with original slabs, and the contents inside included human remains and grave goods... The human remains and artefacts have since been carefully transferred to the SCH laboratory for further analysis.The findings, which include skeletal remains, cremation urns, and other funerary artefacts, provide a valuable insight into the ancient community that once inhabited the region.Preliminary analysis indicates a Punic timeline, although some artefacts suggest an extended period of use into the early Roman...

Despite the fact that it’s over 5,000 years old, Maeshowe, Orkney's answer to Stonehenge, is in amazing shape. But why did Neolithic Britons go to such great lengths to build it?This 5,000-Year-Old Tomb Is Spectacularly Preserved | 2:54Smithsonian Magazine | 35.3K subscribers | 29,963 views | October 15, 2024https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D026QAAuIwU

A study on earthen pots from more than 4,000 years ago sheds new light on dietary habits and cooking techniques during the Harappan era. It was conducted by a team of researchers... They examined residues discovered in black and red pottery from Surkotada, a Harappan site in Gujarat's Kutch district that was occupied for approximately 400 years...The analysis of lipid residues (fatty compounds) indicated that during the early stages of the settlement, the inhabitants most probably employed both boiling and frying techniques to prepare their food... the team discovered skeletal remains outside the fortified region of the Harappan-era settlement. The...

A 1,000-year-old Viking "wallet" containing dozens of silver coins was recently discovered by British historians on the Isle of Man, officials announced Monday.Metal detectorists John Crowe and David O'Hare discovered the "hoard" of treasure — around 36 whole and fragmented coins — while searching on private land earlier in the year, the Manx National Heritage organization said on social media...What is even more interesting is that the coins were minted under multiple different Irish and English rulers, with the majority from the reign of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066 AD), as well as English kings Aethelred II (978-1016 AD) and Canute...

According to a Reuters report, 50 well-preserved skeletons dated to between A.D. 850 and 970 have been uncovered on Denmark's island of Funen. Michael Borre Lundoe of Museum Odense said that high water levels at the site and favorable soil conditions helped to preserve the bones. "Normally when we excavate Viking graves, we'd be lucky if there were two teeth left in the grave besides the grave goods," he explained. Most of the individuals are thought to have been farmers. One woman, who was buried with a silver-ornamented knife and a piece of glass, is thought to have been of...

Microscopic granules of sweet potato starch (kūmara) have been discovered with Asia-Pacific taro and Pacific yam (uwhi) at Triangle Flat, a site located on the northern tip of New Zealand's South Island, according to an RNZ report. Researchers from the University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka determined that the Māori cultivated these crops as early as A.D. 1290 to 1385. "The first people who came here, came here to garden as well as to hunt things and they demonstrated from the outset that they were really sophisticated gardeners and they continued to be sophisticated gardeners over time," said archaeologist...

According to a Phys.org report, Guido Schreurs of the University of Bern and his colleagues suggest that rock-cut terraces and chambers at the remote archaeological site of Teniky in southern Madagascar were carved some 1,000 years ago by a Zoroastrian community. High-resolution satellite images revealed that Teniky was much larger than previously thought. Schreurs and his colleagues then identified dozens of circular and rectangular stone niches carved into the cliffs. Circular recesses in these niches may have been used to close the spaces with wooden or stone slabs, he explained. Charcoal and pottery recovered during the investigation have been dated...