A team of Australian researchers from the University of Wollongong have possibly identified 3.7-billion-year old stromatolite fossils in Greenland, and they might pertain to the earliest signs of life on Earth. Found along sedimentary rocks in the Isua Greenstone Belt (along Greenland's icecap), these stromatolite fossils predate the previously oldest known stromatolite fossils (originally found…
The unique legacy left behind by late Marcel Mazliah is something to boast about when it comes to a historical scope. Over the years, the electric company worker had made a personal collection of priceless artifacts (with one of the items being around 3,500-years old) that were salvaged from the Mediterranean Sea bordering Israel. And…
Researchers have recently discovered a new member of the now-extinct Thylacoleonidae marsupial lion family. Living during the Pleistocene epoch in Australia, the species is a close relative of and slightly smaller than Thylacoleo carnifex. Weighing only around 600 gm, the carnivorous creature was identified through fossil specimens by a team of paleontologists from the University of…
Miners working in Siberia have recently stumbled across the carcass of what seems to be an ancient, hitherto-unidentified animal. Discovered in the Mirninsky region of Sakha Republic in the northeastern corner of Russia, the mummified mammal has garnered a lot of interest from across the globe. While the miners themselves believe it could be a new…
Archaeologists have recently discovered what seems to be one of the largest royal Maya tombs found so far. Unearthed in Belize, the ancient tomb housed animal bone fragments, several pieces of obsidian as well as a male skeleton. According to the researchers, hieroglyphs along the walls of the royal tomb could help uncover valuable information…
By early 9th century, the Orkney Islands, an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, pretty much became the headquarters for pirate raids and expeditions mounted by the Vikings against both Norway and mainland Scotland. In fact, the area later became embroiled in the dynastic politics of the Norsemen, and as such was under Norse…
Little over a month after archaeologists discovered a 2,000-year-old lump of butter in the Irish peat bog, a team of divers has stumbled upon what seems to be 340-year-old cheese, while surveying a 17th-century shipwreck in the Baltic Sea. Interestingly, the leader of the expedition Lars Einarsson described the centuries-old diary product as having quite a "pleasant"…
Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa (or Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa) was the capital and the largest settlement in Roman-controlled Dacia (mainly corresponding to modern Romania and Moldova), with its name partially derived from Sarmizegetusa – the former religious and political center of Dacia. Founded during the reign of Trajan, possibly between 106-107 AD – when…
Archaeologists working in Mexico have recently discovered the skeletal remains of a woman, with ornate, stone-encased teeth and alien-like skull. Dating back around 1,600 years, the bone fragments were uncovered in the town of San Juan Evangelista, located close to the ancient Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan approximately 48 km (or 30 miles) from the country's…
Analysis of Codex Purpureus Rossanensis, by researchers at Italy's Central Institute for Restoration and Conservation of Archival and Library Heritage (ICRCPAL), has revealed that its unique purple parchments were the result of treatment with a mixture of weeds and urine. Celebrated as one of the oldest extant illuminated manuscripts of the New Testament, the 1,500-year-old…