8,000 years ago, an eruption of the Sicilian volcano Etna caused a gigantic collapse of its eastern slope. The landslide was so large, it is estimated at more than 24 million cubic meters, that when it hit the sea at more than 300 kilometers per hour it caused an enormous tsunami with waves up to 40
One of the most sensational discoveries in archeology and art occurred on April 8, 1820 on the island of Melos. Or at least thats the official version. Because the truth is that the discovery of the statue of Aphrodite, which would go down in history with the name of Venus de Milo , and his subseque
In the current Turkish province of Manisa is the site of the ancient city of Sardes, founded by the Lydian king Gyges around 660 BC. It is one of the most profuse archaeological zones in the country in material remains, among which are a gym, a synagogue, a Greek theater and a stadium, as well as se
It is very common to find images of birds in the art of Ancient Egypt. We see them in paintings and sculptures with species of all kinds, from the ducks that were hunted in the Nile to the ibis that contributed its head to the god Toth, to the vulture that finished off the white crown of the high ki
Although archaeologists have found written music texts older than the Greek Epitaph of Sicilus, such as the Hurrian Songs dating from 1400 BC, these are incomplete. Only one Hurrian song, the one designated with the number h.6 and called Hymn of cult Hurrita is almost complete. The oldest surviving
Archaeologists from the University of Leicester discovered the first material evidence of the invasion of Britannia (the name by which the Romans knew the island of Great Britain) by Julius Caesar in 54 BC Based on this evidence, they suggest that the initial landing of the Roman troops was at Pegw
The Nebra sky disk is a unique prehistoric bronze and gold object that some interpret as an astronomical tool, but whose actual function is not entirely clear. It was discovered by two treasure hunters in 1999, on a hill (Mt. Mittelberg) in the Ziegelroda Forest near the town of Nebra (Saxony-Anhal
Excavations carried out on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea have discovered some 300 small stones decorated with different motifs, dating from the Stone Age, some 5,000 years ago. Many of them are sun stones , round in shape and with circular motifs, already known to researchers sinc
Researchers from the Lumière University of Lyon together with experts from the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums of Syria found at the end of 2017, thanks to the analysis of aerial and satellite images, a large network of fortresses intended for surveillance and communication dating fro
Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico (INAH) discovered a few days ago a structure in the Nahualac Pond, at the foot of the Iztaccihuatl volcano. It would be a tetzacualco or stone altar located in the middle of the pond, visible when the water level drops
In present-day Iran there are numerous ancient inscriptions from the Achaemenid period, for only one outside the country located in the Fortress of Van in Turkey, and commissioned by Xerxes I in the 5th century BC. The Persians of the time of Darius I and his son Xerxes I used a type of cuneiform w
Previously we have given an account here of the excavations in the area of the Palace of Nestor in Pylos, and some of the spectacular discoveries that it is bringing. The director of the project himself, archaeologist Michael Cosmopoulos, from the University of Missouri-San Luis, has recently affi
In February 2017 we reviewed the new finds that then confirmed Keros as the oldest known island sanctuary in the world. Keros, is today a small uninhabited island in the middle of the Cyclades, in the Aegean, but between the years 2750 and 2550 BC. it housed a populous community, whose secrets are n
Known since the 1970s, the petroglyphs of the Asphendou cave in the west of the island of Crete constitute the oldest figurative art in all of Greece. The motifs represented are mostly abstract and geometric, but there are also up to 37 images of quadrupeds. At first it was thought that they could
A complete jawbone with teeth found in the Misliya excavations in Israel and dated between 177,000 and 194,000 years ago, provides the clearest evidence yet that our ancestors migrated from Africa much earlier than we thought , at least 50,000 years earlier than previously established. The discover
Archaeologists from the universities of York, Chester and Manchester discovered what they consider to be one of the earliest artistic tools used by our ancestors some 10,000 years ago, a pencil prehistoric used for drawing. The object, which is 22 millimeters long by 7 millimeters wide, was found i
When did men start making weapons? Probably millions of years ago if we include all species considered human, from Homo sapiens to Homo habilis , dating back about 2.5 million years. Throughout our prehistory, passing through Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Modern Age, we have created objects cap
To the east of China, in what is now the province of Henan, more than 100 prehistoric sites have been found, collectively called Peiligang Culture . This culture developed in the area between 7,000 and 5,000 BC, and is one of the oldest in China to produce pottery. The name comes from the first sett
In 1947, two Bedouin shepherds who were trying to rescue one of their goats, which had fallen into a chasm in the Qumran Valley (present-day Israel), found some ceramic pots containing seven parchment scrolls. They sold them in pieces to a couple of antique dealers in Bethlehem and, as usually happe
A few days ago, in the article dedicated to Neolithic protowriting found in tortoise shells, we reviewed its resemblance to the oracular bones of Shang China. But it is possible that some reader has been left with the doubt and the corresponding questions arise:what exactly were those objects? What
Every history and archeology buff knows who the Nabataeans were, the builders of the spectacular Petra in present-day Jordan, whose kingdom was conquered by the Romans in 106 AD. A little further south, already in the Arabian Peninsula, there was another powerful and older kingdom that, curiously,
A new examination of skeletons found in southern Egypt indicates that the first episodes of violence would not have been exceptional events. For specialists, the sharing of the same environment between several cultural groups would have favored conflicts. Archival photograph illustrating the doubl
During the 17th and 18th centuries many pirates took over Ile Sainte-Marie (Santa Maria Island), off the coast eastern Africa and near Madagascar, as a home and even as a place for “eternal rest”, as there is still an incredible pirate cemetery there. The location attracted pirates because it was no
As with most burial mounds scattered throughout much of Europe, the two that are still preserved in the Polish city of Krakow hold more questions than answers. They are known by the name of Krakus (in Polish Krakusa) and Wanda (in Polish Wandy), and they were originally accompanied by four other sma