Breaking news
Trench fever was first identified in 1915 when 500,000 British soldiers contracted the disease, but new evidence suggests the sickness has been running rampant for much longer and is not only associate with warfare. Traces of the bacteria that causes trench fever, called Bartonella quintana, has been discovered in teeth of 34 ancient Romans who … Read more
Archaeologists find 4,500 bodies in an ancient Islamic necropolis hidden for more than 1,000 years in Spain Experts discovered the 4,500 bodies in Tauste district near Zaragoza in Spain Andalusian Islamic era spanned from 711-1492 so the tombs are 1,000 years old Remains will be cataloged, stored for research and studied over coming years By … Read more
Floods of unimaginable magnitude once washed through Gale Crater on Mars around 4 billion years ago, raising the possibility life once existed on the Red Planet. Researchers from Jackson State University, Cornell University and the University of Hawaii worked with NASA to examine sediment data captured by the Curiosity Rover. Dubbed a ‘raging megaflood’ by … Read more
Britain at its best: Chalk up a walk along the ancient Ridgeway track, which takes in the mysterious Uffington White Horse, Iron Age hill-forts and Bronze Age burial mounds Kate Eshelby embarked on an ancient walk between Wiltshire and Buckinghamshire known as The Ridgeway For more than 5,000 years, drovers, traders and invaders have travelled … Read more
A gynaecological treatment from nearly 1,800BC has been revealed in the tomb of an ancient Egyptian noblewoman. The woman, called Sattjeni, was found interred with a fire-damaged cup between her legs – evidence of an ancient treatment whereby the vagina was fumigated. Experts speculate that roast meat, herbs or rancid milk may have been used … Read more
Secrets from within the shrouds of three ancient Egyptian mummies, first discovered in 1615, have been revealed for the first time thanks to CT scans. A man in his twenties, a woman in her thirties and a teenage girl aged between 17 and 19 were inside the plaster-covered remains, buried with jewellery, gold coins and … Read more
Ancient ‘paperclip’ squid that roamed the oceans 68 million years ago would live for centuries, strange stationary-shaped fossil reveals Remains of a 68 million-year-old squid reveals the creature lived 200 years Experts re-examined its paperclip-shaped shell to determine its age The shell had ridges from methane being released from the seafloor each year By Stacy … Read more
A Viking ship burial, feast hall and cult house have been found by archaeologists in Norway without having to dig into the soil – only using ground penetrating radar. The discovery was made by experts from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) at Gjellestad in southeastern Norway. Gjellestad is home to the Jell Mound, … Read more
The Isles of Scilly were once just a single island, before soaring sea levels submerged much of the land to create the archipelago we know today. Now, there are more than 140 chunks of land which constitute the Isles, but around 5,000 years ago they were a single land mass. Researchers, led by a team … Read more
Analysis of a meteorite found in the Sahara Desert reveals the existence of water on Mars 4.4 billion years ago, scientists report. The mineral composition of Martian meteorite NWA 7533, found in 2012, reveals chemical signatures of oxidation – which would have occurred as water formed. The 84 gram meteorite, named partly after its landing … Read more