Tag: archaeology

Hidden Inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, a Tantalizing Discovery May Soon “Write a New Chapter in the History of the Pharaohs”

A remarkable discovery within the Great Pyramid of Giza could potentially reshape our understanding of ancient Egypt, one of the country’s most renowned Egyptologists has said.

The claims were made by Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass, who recently hinted at a tantalizing discovery that will come to light sometime in 2026, adding that he expects it will “rewrite history” and offer new insights into the ancient history of Egypt and its rulers.

The 78-year-old Egyptologist made comments during an appearance at the 44th Sharjah International Book Fair, where he described the mysterious discovery as one that will “write a new chapter in the history of the Pharaohs.”

A New Discovery at Giza’s Great Pyramid

Hawass, Egypt’s former Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, has conducted work at many of the country’s most renowned archaeological sites in the Western Desert and Nile Delta, among other locations.

During the recent event, Hawass offered additional clues about the forthcoming revelation, stating that “This great discovery is a new 30-meter-long passageway,” which he said had been “detected using advanced equipment,” and appears to lead to a concealed doorway within the Great Pyramid.

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The Rise and Mysterious Fall of Cahokia: Researchers Unearth New Secrets of America’s Greatest ‘Lost’ Ancient Megacity

For centuries, the sprawling earth mounds of Cahokia have stood as silent remnants of a massive, lost American city. Once the largest and most influential urban settlement north of Mexico, this pre-Columbian metropolis near modern-day St. Louis mysteriously flourished, and then vanished, hundreds of years before European colonists arrived. 

Now, a team of researchers has uncovered new clues about Cahokia’s rise and decline, thanks to a single massive wooden monument that once towered over the landscape.

In a study published in PLOS ONE, scientists from the University of Arizona and the University of Illinois used advanced tree-ring dating and isotope analysis to determine that a monumental wooden post known as the “Mitchell Log” was cut around 1124 CE, at the height of Cahokia’s power. 

The analysis also revealed something unexpected and fascinating. The enormous bald cypress tree was not local. It had been transported at least 110 miles (180 kilometers) to the site, likely from southern Illinois or even farther south along the Mississippi River.

This finding reshapes our understanding of Cahokia’s reach and organization. The massive log, originally part of a towering 60-foot (18-meter) ceremonial post, offers a rare and significant timestamp for when the city’s influence stretched across the Midwest and South.

“The date, provenance, and context of the Mitchell Log establish a historical datum for the peak influence of the Cahokia polity,” the researchers write. “[It also] prompts new questions about the long-distance transport of thousands of other such marker posts.”

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Subsurface Structures Detected at Göbekli Tepe

Archaeological investigations at Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Türkiye have revealed rectangular architectural features, possibly used as dwellings. These were found beside the site’s well-known circular enclosures. The discovery offers fresh insight into how ritual and daily life coexisted in one of the world’s earliest Neolithic settlements.

Survey Methods and Discovery

Under the umbrella of the Heritage for the Future and Stone Mounds (Taş Tepeler) initiatives, researchers from Istanbul University, the German Archaeological Institute, and Freie Universität Berlin carried out integrated geophysical surveys, including geomagnetic mapping, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), and lidar scanning.
These subsurface investigations have identified not only the well-known circular pillars and enclosures but also rectangular structural traces that could represent early dwellings.

From Monumental to Domestic: Interpreting the New Structures

Project director Prof. Necmi Karul explained that the rectangular formations are concentrated primarily on the eastern and southern slopes of the mound. He described this phase as a shift toward documenting previously undisturbed zones.

Earlier this year, the removal of olive trees allowed full-scale measurements for the first time. This helped clarify the site’s boundaries and guide future excavations.

Geoarchaeology Reveals New Insights

Led by Prof. Barbara Horejs of the Austrian Archaeological Institute, geoarchaeological studies used high-resolution scans to identify a large building and several smaller house-like structures. Her team emphasized the importance of ongoing analysis in guiding future excavation strategies.

Highlights of the 2025 Excavation Season

  • Life-size human statue: Discovered between Enclosures B and D, the sculpture features a clearly defined head and torso. It complements earlier finds such as the wild boar statue.
  • Restoration of Enclosure C: Conservation teams stabilized the walls, repaired erosion damage, and re-erected columns to protect the monumental complex.

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The oldest mummies in the world may hail from southeastern Asia and date back 12,000 years

Scientists have discovered what’s thought to be the oldest known mummies in the world in southeastern Asia dating back up to 12,000 years.

Mummification prevents decay by preserving dead bodies. The process can happen naturally in places like the sands of Chile’s Atacama Desert or the bogs of Ireland where conditions can fend off decomposition. Humans across various cultures also mummified their ancestors through embalming to honor them or send their souls to the afterlife.

Egypt’s mummies may be the most well-known, but until now some of the oldest mummies were prepared by a fishing people called the Chinchorro about 7,000 years ago in what’s now Peru and Chile.

A new study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences pushes that timeline back.

Researchers found human remains that were buried in crouched or squatted positions with some cuts and burn marks in various archaeological sites across China and Vietnam and to a lesser extent, from the Philippines, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Studying the bones further, scientists discovered the bodies were likely exposed to heat. That suggested the bodies had been smoke-dried over a fire and mummified by hunter-gatherer communities in the area.

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Archaeologist says his team has finally discovered lost city of Atlantis as they unveil compelling evidence

Joe Rogan was left speechless when his guest discussed the possible discovery of the lost city of Atlantis.

Plato’s writings describe an advanced civilization that built grand temples and massive harbor walls before being swallowed by the sea more than 11,000 years ago. 

Independent researcher Ben van Kerkwyk was a recent guest on the Joe Rogan Experience, where he discussed a discovery off the coast of Spain that could be the mythical city.

‘There’s a guy named Michael Donnellan…And he thinks he’s found, at least, if not Atlantis, a part of Atlantis off the coast of Spain. And they 100 percent found some s*** in the waters,’ van Kerkwyk said.

Rogan, looking stunned, could only respond with ‘Wow,’ mentioning Donnellan’s upcoming documentary ‘Atlantica’ that reveals massive linear structures and enormous concentric circular walls littering the seafloor. 

Donnellan, an independent archaeologist, told the Daily Mail that descriptions in Plato’s writings, which perfectly match their findings of ruins, prehistoric settlements and ancient mines in the region of Gades, are the strongest evidence for an Atlantic civilization. 

These discoveries, including underwater structures and sediment-covered sites indicating sudden destruction, align with Plato’s accounts of climate, societal structures, and ancient mythologies, providing a comprehensive context for their claims.

‘All those details align perfectly with the region we’re studying, as our investigations reflect Plato’s texts with extraordinary precision, truly to a perfect degree,’ Donnellan said.

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Archeologists discover 1.8 million-year-old human jawbone — possibly the oldest artifact of early humans outside Africa

A jaw-dropping discovery.

A 1.8 million-year-old human jawbone has been unearthed in the hills of Georgia — and scientists say the fossil could offer major clues into some of the earliest prehistoric human settlements in Eurasia.

The ancient mandible was uncovered by archaeologists at the Orozmoni site, roughly 62 miles southwest of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, in a prehistoric goldmine smaller than two parking spaces.

Experts believe the bone may be one of the oldest remains of early humans excavated outside of Africa, offering clues to the patterns of Homo erectus, a hunter-gatherer species that scientists believe began migrating roughly two million years ago.

“The study of the early human and fossil animal remains from Orozmani will allow us to determine the lifestyle of the first colonizers of Eurasia,” said Giorgi Bidzinashvili, a professor of stone age archaeology at Ilia State University in Tbilisi.

“We think Orozmani can give us big information about humankind.”

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80,000-year-old stones in Uzbekistan may be the world’s oldest arrowheads — and they might have been made by Neanderthals

Tiny stone artifacts discovered in Uzbekistan may be the oldest known arrowheads, a new study suggests.

It remains unclear whether these stone tools were created by modern humans, Neanderthals or some other group.

Archaeologists found the tools at the site of Obi-Rakhmat in northeastern Uzbekistan. Previous excavations uncovered a variety of stone tools at the site, such as thin and wide blades, and smaller “bladelets.” But numerous small, triangular points — called “microliths” — were overlooked in prior work because they were broken.

Now, in a study published Aug. 11 in the journal PLOS One, the researchers argue that these “micropoints” are too narrow to have fit onto anything other than arrow-like shafts. The stones also display the kind of damage that would be expected from used arrowheads, study co-author Hugues Plisson, an associate scientist at the University of Bordeaux in France, told Live Science.

These micropoints, which are about 80,000 years old, may therefore be the oldest arrowheads in the world — around 6,000 years older than 74,000-year-old artifacts unearthed in Ethiopia, the researchers say.

The scientists expect their work to raise doubts.

“The bows themselves and the arrow shafts have not been preserved, so some skepticism from colleagues is expected,” study co-author Andrey Krivoshapkin, director of the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, told Live Science.

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Burial Pits in France Reveal Grisly Evidence of Brutality During Warfare and Captivity in Neolithic Europe

Archaeologists working in France have discovered new evidence for the antiquity of human brutality in war, discovering Neolithic prisoner abuse dating back to between 4300 and 4150 BCE.

Described in a new paper in Science Advances, the sites at the center of the study were two burial pits in Achenheim and Bergheim, located in northwest France. The signs of brutality discovered in some of the human remains align with other archaeological evidence for military invasions between communities in the Upper Rhine Valley at the time.

The Violence of Neolithic Europe

Life in ancient Europe was harsh, and often made so by humans themselves. Previous studies have revealed massacres of entire communities, raids aimed at abducting young women, and even evidence of ritualized killings or mutilation, practices considered rare among the relatively egalitarian societies of the region.

Beyond isolated acts of violence, the Upper Rhine Valley also shows signs of major cultural upheaval, suggesting a broader war of conquest. The area’s original inhabitants followed Bruebach-Oberbergen cultural traditions, but sometime between 4295 and 4165 BCE, these were supplanted by Western Bischheim practices brought by groups from the Paris Basin.

Investigating the Burial Pits

Until recently, the identities of those buried in Achenheim and Bergheim were unclear. Researchers sought to determine whether the dead were locals or foreigners, and whether they showed evidence of being prisoners of war. Their analysis included 82 sets of remains, yielding a wide spectrum of findings.

In each location, one pit contained clear victims of violence, including individuals with severed upper limbs and unhealed skull fractures. Other pits, by contrast, showed orderly burials with no signs of violent injury, suggesting natural deaths among local residents. Isotopic analysis confirmed significant differences between those with violent injuries and those without, leading researchers to conclude that the violent burials contained members of rival groups. Intriguingly, these victims appeared to come not from a single enemy community, but from several distinct groups.

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Shocking Discovery: Neolithic Farmers Cannibalized Enemy Families

A gruesome archaeological discovery in Spain has revealed that 5,700 years ago, Neolithic farmers engaged in systematic cannibalism against entire families, challenging the peaceful image of early agricultural societies. The disturbing evidence from El Mirador cave in the Sierra de Atapuerca suggests that violent inter-group warfare, not survival or ritual, drove these acts of human consumption according to a new study.

Researchers led by Francesc Marginedas from the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution have uncovered the butchered remains of at least 11 individuals – including children as young as seven – showing unmistakable signs of cannibalistic processing. The comprehensive study published in Scientific Reports provides the most detailed evidence yet of warfare-driven cannibalism among Europe’s earliest farming communities.

The victims, ranging from infants to elderly adults, were systematically skinned, dismembered, cooked, and consumed in what researchers describe as an act of “ultimate elimination” by a rival group. This horrifying discovery adds to mounting evidence that the Neolithic period was far more violent than previously imagined.

Systematic Butchery Reveals Horrific Details

The analysis of over 650 bone fragments revealed extensive evidence of deliberate processing. Cut marks, percussion fractures, and boiling traces indicate that the victims were methodically butchered for consumption over several days. Microscopic examination showed that skin and muscle were sliced off, bones were cracked open for marrow extraction, and some remains were translucent from boiling.

“The pattern of modifications found on the modified Neolithic human bones of El Mirador cave is inconsistent with ritual or survival scenarios,” the researchers explain in their study. “Instead, the evidence supports a comprehensive butchering process involving meat, viscera, bone marrow, and brain extraction.”

Human tooth marks found on smaller bones provide particularly disturbing evidence that the perpetrators chewed on their victims’ remains. The extensive nature of the processing suggests this was not an opportunistic act of desperation but a deliberate and systematic consumption of defeated enemies.

The victims included three children, two juveniles, and six adults, representing what appears to be an entire extended family wiped out in a single violent episode. Significantly, the age distribution doesn’t match what researchers would expect from famine-driven cannibalism, which typically affects the most vulnerable populations.

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Million-Year-Old Tools Reveal Mystery Human Species

Archaeological excavations on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi have uncovered seven stone tools dating back at least 1.04 million years, potentially extending to 1.48 million years ago. This groundbreaking discovery, published in the journal Nature, represents the oldest evidence of hominin occupation in the Wallacean archipelago and suggests that unknown human relatives were capable of oceanic crossings far earlier than previously imagined. The identity of these ancient toolmakers remains one of archaeology’s most tantalizing mysteries.

The Calio Site Discovery

The seven chert stone artifacts were excavated between 2019 and 2022 at Calio, located in a modern corn field in southern Sulawesi. These simple yet sophisticated tools were manufactured using hard-hammer percussion techniques, where ancient toolmakers struck larger pebbles from nearby riverbeds to create sharp-edged flakes suitable for cutting and scraping tasks. Professor Adam Brumm from Griffith University’s Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, who co-led the international research team, described the artifacts as “simple, sharp-edged flakes of stone that would have been useful as general-purpose cutting and scraping implements.”

The tools demonstrate remarkable technical knowledge despite their straightforward appearance. Evidence suggests a two-step reduction process was sometimes employed, where large flakes were further reduced into smaller, more manageable tools. Some artifacts even showed retouching – deliberate trimming of edges to enhance sharpness. This level of sophistication indicates that the toolmakers possessed expert understanding of fracture mechanics within a pragmatic, “least effort” approach to tool manufacturing.

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