Recent breakthroughs in scanning, image processing, and machine learning are helping researchers read historic documents once considered lost to time.

Raw, technical trails with surprises around every corner.
( Photos: 22, Comments: 22 )

Amateur Traveler talks to Matt Kepkes of NomadicMatt.com about his trip to the ancient capitals of Thailand: Ayutthaya, Lopburi and Sukhothai. Before the capital moved to Bangkok it was in each of these three cities as invaders came in from what is now Cambodia and Burma and then were subsequently repelled. Instead of taking the night train to Chang Mai as many tourists do, Matt and his traveling companions explored these cities on the way. In their travels they found ancient temples (some in ruins and some well preserved), wonderful night markets, troops of monkeys, friendly people and a slice of rural Thailand.

This article is by B.K. Bass, and is presented by Worldbuilding Magazine.

When we consider the history of world religions, certain images are bound to come to mind. Imposing Greek gods and heroes wrought in marble statues. Ancient Egyptian tomb walls covered with paintings of their deities. Along with these representations are the many totems, trinkets, and baubles that may grace either the neck of the devout, or a small shrine in their home. When we visit a gallery or museum in the Western world, or peruse almost any publication on the subject, we are often greeted with images from the Renaissance of figures from the Christian faith. Even today, many homes host icons of one god or another, and some people wear jewelry proclaiming an allegiance to their faith. Even for those of us who chose not to follow one of these traditions, it is undeniable that their presence not only fills our history books, but also permeates our modern world.

Looking at artwork intended to represent a people’s theology isn’t limited to places of worship. From civic projects to an idol in one’s pocket, the presence of the divine was often kept close to the people.

Continue reading Avatars of the Divine: Gods Living Among the Ancients at Mythic Scribes.

Researcher: Jackson Cothren, University of Arkansas
Moment Title: Scanning Ancient Sites
Description: Jackson Cothren talks about creating three-dimensional scans of ancient sites.

(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau) University of Illinois classics professor Clara Bosak-Schroeder writes about how the ancient Greeks thought about natural resources and how it is relevant to responding to climate change today.

(University of British Columbia) Mars had a global magnetic field much earlier -- and much later -- than previously known. Analysis of new satellite data found clear evidence of a magnetic field coming from a lava flow that formed less than 3.7 billion years ago, half a billion years after many people thought the Martian dynamo had ceased. The researchers also detected low-intensity magnetic fields over the Borealis Basin, believed to be one of the oldest features on Mars.

(University of Chicago Press Journals) A recent study confirms that Mesoamerican priests ripped the hearts out of their still-living victims in three different ways. New forensic evidence, historic witness accounts and native representations now show that the most common form of native heart extraction was from beneath the rib cage, second was forceful chest penetration between two ribs and at mid-chest level between the nipples, and thirdly, a mid-chest opening of one single blow, extracting the heart from the front.

(PLOS) The ancient cemetery of Mözs-Icsei d?l? in present-day Hungary holds clues to a unique community formation during the beginnings of Europe's Migration Period, according to a study published April 29, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Corina Knipper from the Curt-Engelhorn-Center for Archaeometry, Germany, István Koncz, Tivadar Vida from the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary and colleagues.

(Florida Museum of Natural History) More than a thousand years ago, people from across the Southeast regularly traveled to a small island on Florida's Gulf Coast to bond over oysters, likely as a means of coping with climate change and social upheaval.

(Harvard Medical School) An international research team has conducted the first in-depth, wide-scale study of the genomic history of ancient civilizations in the central Andes mountains and coast before European contact. The findings reveal early genetic distinctions between groups in nearby regions, population mixing within and beyond the Andes, surprising genetic continuity amid cultural upheaval, and ancestral cosmopolitanism among some of the region's most well-known ancient civilizations.

Civilization, Classical.

Reaction time.

Microorganisms -- History.

Hong Kong : City University of Hong Kong Press, [2013], ©2013.

Philadelphia : Barrington and Haswell, 1850.

[London] (No 69 St Paul's Churchyard) : Printed for Carington Bowles ; [London] (opposite Fetter Lane, Fleet Street) : Robt. Sayer ; [London] (in Cornhil) : Robert Wilkinson, [between 1700 and 1799]

A Paris (rue St Jacques au dessus de celle des Mathurins au Gd. St. Remy) : ches Huquier fils, graveur, [between 1700 and 1799]

The puzzling glyph, which bears some resemblance to the "squatting man" motif, suggests that insects have long held a place in human lore

A recent excavation located the first physical evidence of the capital of the Maya kingdom of Sak Tz'i', founded in 750 B.C.

The bright blue pigment that adorns the Bust of Nefertiti’s crown can now be used to study molecular biology

New research suggests the civilization used huge enclosures to trap and stockpile live fish to support its complex society

Researchers compared tree rings from around the world to determine that a volcano on Santorini probably erupted in 1560 B.C.

New research indicates that Iron Age Britons venerated brown hares and chickens long before modern Easter celebrations

The computer program can identify canine versus human feces based on DNA sequences in samples

Closed due to COVID-19, the Museum Hotel Antakya looks forward to welcoming guests with its blend of luxury and history once restrictions are lifted

Researchers tracked changes in the crocodilian creatures’ inner ears to learn how they moved into the sea

Two years before the Carthaginian general crossed the Alps, he won a decisive victory at the Battle of the Tagus

The city's residents sorted waste materials for reuse in future projects, according to new research

The carvings, which depict animals including camels, leopards, cows and mules, may date back to 3000 B.C.

Funeral parlors' enterprising staff offered burial packages to suit every social strata and budget

An idea that began when a classicist went to a brewery to sip beers and ponder the history of hops has brought to life an ancient ale.

One of the loveliest towns in Italy is the walled city of San Gimignano, an hour’s drive from Florence. When I first visited it was bleak midwinter and all but a few shops and cafes were shuttered against the sleet. Its claim to fame is a profusion of medieval towers, hence its hyperbolic label as the Manhattan of Tuscany. When I arrived these fortresses soared overhead, making shadowy streets even darker.

Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958

Ancient Monuments Preservation Act 1904

The first five books of the Murty Classical Library of India (MCLI), an initiative by the Harvard University...

Since our FM mentioned the Sindhu-Saraswati civilisation or the Harappan culture, it is prudent that we start our journey from there.

An ancient tomb has been discovered in Inner Mongolia.

Only one percent of the ancient city of Aigai in the Yunuslar district of the western Turkish province of Manisa has been unearthed so far in the excavations that started back in 2004. Click through for the story in photos...

Discoveries at Boncuklu Tarla in the southeastern province of Mardin are around 1,000 years older than those in Göbeklitepe

As 2020 was declared the Year of Patara, interest increased in the ancient city, located between the resort districts of Kaş and Fethiye

Turkey, with its abundant cultural heritage, was home to many ancient and archaic civilizations and empires. The patterns and remains of this rich history and culture are still evident in the ancient sites of Anatolian lands. Click through this photo gallery for the most mesmerizing and mystical ancient cities in Turkey, as compiled by İnci Hazal Özcan:

An excavation team in the ancient city of Patara, located in Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, unearthed an inscription in an ancient theater.

Exotic primordial black holes born in the moments after the universe began could be the key to solving some of cosmology’s biggest problems… if only we can find them.