The Middle Neolithic circular enclosure at Goseck has been characterized as both a holy site and an observatory

Approximately 150 so-called circular enclosures, which are circular or elliptical roughly concentric constructions of ditches and palisades with a diameter between 40 and up to 250 m, are known from the Central and Eastern European Middle Neolithic (first part of the 5th millennium BCE). Few have undergone thorough and organized archaeological examination. The purpose of these substantial structures is still the subject of heated debate. There have been other potential interpretations, including primary meeting locations, livestock enclosures, protective constructions, astronomical observatories, or areas for religious activity.

Aerial view of the Middle Neolithic circular enclosure of Goseck. Credit: State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt

Dr. Norma Henkel has published the research findings from the fully excavated circular enclosure at Goseck, Burgenlandkreis, Saxony-Anhalt, which adds new information to the understanding of these still-mysterious structures. The title of the item is "The Middle Neolithic circular ditch complex of Goseck, Burgenlandkreis," and it can be found in the publications of the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archaeology—State Museum of Prehistory (in German only).

Otto Braasch made the discovery of the Goseck Middle Neolithic circular ditch (Stichbandkeramik culture, roughly 4900 to 4600/4550 BCE) in 1991 while conducting aerial archaeological research. It was fully excavated between 2002 and 2004 as part of a collaboration effort between the Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt (LDA).

The complex was totally rebuilt on the spot and has been accessible to the public since 2005 as a result of the excavations' outstanding results. Between 2005 and 2013, a sizable project directed by Prof. Dr. François Bertemes (MLU) that examined the circular enclosure's location within the contemporary settlement environment was carried out.

A ditch, maybe a rampart in front of it, and two concentric palisade wreaths that define the complex's interior make up the Goseck circular perimeter. The north, southeast, and southwest were its three entrances. Both within and outside the building, several pits were discovered, the majority of which were filled with pottery and animal bones. Numerous data suggest that the structure serves a religious purpose.

About 30 cow horn cores were also discovered in the vicinity of the circular ditch, together with a startlingly high frequency of cattle skull fragments. Additionally, cattle are by far the most prevalent species in the circular enclosure's animal bone spectrum. It is clear that cattle have a specific significance and symbolic meaning for many Neolithic communities.

The outer palisade creates a pit that is roughly 1.6 m by 1.3 m in size in the southeast. There are various strange things about the pit. Its walls have suffered significant burns. In Goseck, the system of circular ditches contains numerous pits with signs of fire. In addition to flame markings, this hole held an adult person's bones. Only fragments of the extremities, as well as no skull or torso bones, were discovered. It can be presumed that the bones were placed in a largely skeletonized form because they were no longer in an anatomical composition. Five phalanges and metacarpal bones from a human right hand were found in another hole. The bones belonged to a male youngster or adult and were laid in anatomical order.

In addition to these discoveries, astrological evidence suggests that the circular enclosure served a religious purpose. The dawn and sunset of significant astronomical events may be accurately anticipated and witnessed from a spot roughly in the center of the building to within a few days. The two culverts in the south-east and south-west are where the most crucial lines of sight cross. The circular ditch only reflects the gaps in the fence here. They line up with the sun's rising and setting positions on December 21, the winter solstice. Other passages in the palisade make reference to Beltaine (April 30) and the summer solstice (June 21).

Source: https://phys.org/news/2023-08-sacred-astro...

In a 2,000-year-old Han era tomb, Chinese archaeologists discover the first full panda burial

Chinese researchers have discovered what they claim to be the first full skeleton of a gigantic panda in an emperor's tomb from the more than 2,000-year-old Han era.

The discovery is the first complete panda skeleton found in an imperial tomb. Photo: Shutterstock

According to legend, the huge panda was sacrificed so that Emperor Wen, who ruled from 180 to 157 BCE, may travel to the afterlife with it.

The animal's head was pointing in the direction of the tomb as its body lay in a satellite hole.

The tomb is located in Shaanxi province's contemporary city of Xian, which was once the capital of China.

An whole panda skeleton was discovered in an emperor's tomb for the first time, according to Hu Songmei, an archaeologist at the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology.

She claimed that although a huge panda's corpse had been missing since 1975, archaeologists had discovered its skull in the tomb of Emperor Wen's mother Consort Bo.

The animal was found in the tomb of the Han Emperor Wen. Photo: Wikipedia

In the royal tombs of Shaanxi, archaeologists have discovered a wide range of wild animals, which they think were a prestige symbol for the Han emperors.

The Asian tapir, which went extinct in China around 1,000 years ago and is currently recognized as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, was also discovered in the tomb, according to Hu.

The emperor was also interred with tigers and yaks, and the tomb of his mother included the remains of a red-crowned crane, a peacock, a snub-nosed monkey, and a tortoise.

Hu claimed that only the emperor, empress, and the emperor's mother's graves had the uncommon, wild animals, and that some of them might have been gifts from southern China.

The skeleton was found in a satellite burial chamber. Photo: Shaanxi TV

She said that it was possible that there were more pandas in Shaanxi during the Han era, implying that the province's environment was warmer and wetter than it is now and that bamboo may have grown there.

Hu added that to determine what the animals ate and their origins, archaeologists will analyze the creatures' DNA.

A new, extinct species of gibbon was previously discovered in Lady Xia's tomb, the grandmother of China's first emperor Qin Shihuang.

Source: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/ar...

The "solved" mystery of how Egyptians moved the stones for the pyramids does not include extraterrestrials

The origins of the Egyptian pyramids may now be understood, according to scientists.

The pyramids have left scientists scratching their heads for centuries

A whopping 2.3 million slabs of limestone and granite, each weighing about two tonnes, make construct the Great Pyramid alone, a puzzle that has confounded historians for centuries.

Without modern tools like cranes, scholars were left perplexed as to how the prehistoric civilization was able to move and stack the gigantic slabs; some conspiracy theorists even proposed that aliens might be responsible.

Archaeologists from around the world now think they may have found the solution and that the Egyptians may have exploited a River Nile tributary to move enormous rocks to Giza.

Some people think the pyramids were placed in Giza by aliens

The scientists searched for evidence of pollen and plants typically seen surrounding Africa's longest river in a lab in France using five fossilized soil samples sent from the Giza floodplain.

Scientists had to dig up to nine meters into the ground to retrieve the samples, which was a laborious operation.

The Khufu Branch, a channel off the river that allowed the ancient builders to move the slabs, was eventually confirmed to exist, proving that their efforts were worthwhile.

An engraving of ancient Egyptians building one of the pyramids

“I was quite fascinated because this proves that the building components for the pyramid were transported through water”, environmental geographer Hader Sheisha told the New York Times.

She continued that without the tributary, it would have been "impossible" to construct the spectacular ancient structures.

Approximately 2,000 years after the construction of the pyramids, the Khufu Branch dried up approximately 600 BC.

Sheisha believes that despite being long gone, this discovery may inspire researchers to learn more about the ancient Egyptians.

The construction of the pyramids can be partially explained by learning more about the surroundings, she continued.

Even a fragment of papyrus discovered in the adjacent Red Sea served as inspiration for the discovery.

An engraving of ancient Egyptians building one of the pyramids

The antiquated text described how one official, known as "Merer," sent limestone up the Nile to Giza.

The three pyramids of Giza were built as grandiose tombs for the Egyptian pharaohs between around 2550 and 2490 BC.

Pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, is buried in the Great Pyramid, the tallest pyramid in Egypt, while his son Khafre and his grandson Menkaure are interred in the other two significant pyramids.

For the monarchs' mothers and wives, smaller buildings were built.

Source: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-new...

The finding of the underworld calls into question our notion of human evolution

Did a'small-brained ape-man' species that went extinct create a complex society thousands of years before we did?

The species has been named Homo naledi by the scientists

One of the greatest archaeological riddles in the world will be resolved by scientists.

Experts are examining if a group of 'ape-men' were able to develop a complex human-like civilisation, possibly thousands of years before our own species, Homo sapiens, was able to do so. They are doing this using an unmatched range of tests.

According to the scientists' evidence, a sophisticated "ape-man" civilisation with some beliefs and behaviours that are typically only linked with modern humanity first appeared in southern Africa some 300,000 years ago.

The fact that the now long-extinct species functioned in a number of crucial ways similar to current humans while also appearing to have been able to do so with brains barely a third the size of ours adds to the enigma.

The discovery has been met with excitement by some scientists but with scepticism from others

Key concepts of how the scientific community perceives human evolution are in danger of being overturned by the discovery and current research.

These "ape-men" with little brains may have been able to achieve seven amazing feats, according to the evidence so far:

-Consider the possibility of an afterlife, or the idea that life exists in some way after death.

-An afterlife is said to take place in some form of "underworld" that is situated below (rather than on or above) the world of the living. That suggests that they may have created an extremely primitive understanding of cosmology.

-Imagine the possibility of them really burying their dead in the "underworld."

-Give burial goods to deceased community members, an apparent conduct that suggests they may have thought the dead would be able to use them in some way in the afterlife.

-Conduct possible rites, including funeral feasts, within their "underworld."

-Create primitive artwork (abstract designs) to surround at least one of the burial chambers' entrances in the "underworld."

-Construct a rather sophisticated lighting system (either a series of little fires or torches) to allow them to access their "underworld" and transport their deceased there.

Despite its small brain size, the creature had very well-developed human-like frontal lobes

In what is now the north-east of South Africa, their "underworld" was situated deep underground in the elaborate subterranean structure known as Rising Star Cave. It took 130 meters of underground travel to get to the main room, which contained what appeared to be tombs.

Some scientists have responded to the revelation with delight, while others have expressed skepticism.

"We are aware that the information we are uncovering is contentious since it is completely fresh. The leader of the Rising Star Cave investigation, Professor Lee Berger of the University of Witwatersrand and palaeoanthropologist for National Geographic, recently released a detailed National Geographic book on the discoveries, entitled Cave of Bones. "We are deploying every type of investigative technology available to ensure that the maximum amount of additional evidence can be found," Professor Berger said.

Although preliminary scientific studies have already been conducted, numerous additional tests are currently being planned to either confirm or modify original findings.

The creature's brain size, which is only slightly larger than that of a chimpanzee, is the most contentious feature of the species, which scientists have given the moniker Homo naledi.

In order to better comprehend the anatomy and organization of the species' brains, a major component of the current inquiry will be a more in-depth examination of the species' skull fragments discovered in the cave complex. At least 30 people's remains have so far been discovered there, and it's possible that many more will be recovered over the following months and years.

The team lays out fossils of H. naledi at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Evolutionary Studies Institute

The creature had highly well-developed frontal lobes that resembled those of a human, which is the specific region of the brain known to be involved with planning and language, despite having a modest brain size.

The researchers will need to present further proof that brain size is not necessarily important in terms of cognitive capacity in order to make the discovery less contentious. That would mean destroying literally centuries' worth of scientific knowledge.

The evidence at this point in the inquiry is compelling enough to conclude that Homo naledi bodies were intentionally carried into the cave system and buried there. The data thus far indicates that living individuals of that species are accountable for achieving it.

One Homo naledi person, a child, appears to have been purposefully interred with a burial good—possibly a tool—in his or her right hand.

There are currently further excavations planned that could uncover more grave goods in other Homo naledi graves.

Any such findings would support the hypothesis that Homo naledi had an understanding of life beyond death.

The investigation's main focus will be dating the hearths that were used to prepare food, including antelope, in the underground complex's total darkness. To conclusively prove that the hearths were created during the Homo naledi epoch, dating them is essential. The enamel on the teeth of those antelopes and other animals may be dated using a technique called electron spin resonance. In addition, the archaeologists will attempt to utilize a different method of dating to establish the age of a layer of solidified lime that covers some of the hearths.

A reconstruction of Homo naledi’s head by paleoartist John Gurche, who spent some 700 hours recreating the head from bone scans

The people who cooked the antelope and other meats also appeared to have purposefully shattered the lengthy bones of those animals, maybe to obtain the very nutritious marrow from within. The breaks in the bones will be subjected to microscopic examination in an effort to establish that they were intentionally shattered with a stone tool rather than occurring accidently.

In-depth geomorphological and other examinations of the cave rock walls where engravings have most likely been found will play a significant role in the inquiry as well. First, the archaeologists must establish beyond a shadow of a doubt that the patterns that appeared to be engraved on those walls were not produced by erosion or other natural processes.

They will next need to provide evidence that they were created using tools.

Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, the researchers hope to determine the age of the calcite patches that formed inside the apparent carvings after they were carved using uranium series dating.

Additionally, researchers will be searching for any Homo naledi DNA remnants connected to the carvings or any other objects stuck to the cave walls. This is due to the fact that it is known that occasionally pigment and spit that may have contained DNA was used to produce other, albeit much less ancient, Stone Age artwork.

"We are currently preparing to conduct the most extensive and ambitious scientific examination on alleged prehistoric engravings. According to rock art expert Genevieve von Petzinger, co-leader of the Spanish-based archaeology team, the First Art Team, which is examining the engravings in Rising Star Cave, "if we can confirm that the patterns on the rock face were most likely made by Homo naledi, they will overturn scientific thinking on the evolution of symbolic thought."

The find was announced by the University of the Witwatersrand, the National Geographic Society and the South African National Research Foundation and published in the journal eLife

The Homo naledi 'underworld's' challenging accessibility is one of its most outstanding features. Today, getting there requires traveling 130 meters below in 30 minutes, crawling through spaces that are only 15 to 20 centimeters high for about 12 meters, and then descending an almost vertical 12-meter-long "chimney" with an average width of 20 centimeters.

The cave complex's geomorphological investigations indicate that Homo naledi's time would have found it to be almost as difficult. Therefore, it would have required great resolve and perhaps even ideological vision for them to embark on such a difficult underground expedition with corpses, firewood, firebrands, and possibly antelope and other meat.

There is no obvious alternative above ground entry to the main burial chamber, which has a 10 meter high ceiling and is located about 35 meters below the surface of the earth.

Many scientists will find it very difficult to accept the discovery's probable implications—that "ape-men" may have held religious and even cosmological beliefs on life after death—because they are so revolutionary.

The line separating our species, Homo sapiens, from our 'ape-man' antecedents and forebears is very significantly blurred.

However, if the forthcoming studies support those revolutionary implications, they might also offer interesting new light on the fundamental causes of the thoughts and beliefs that modern humans still hold today.

The majority of people on earth still hold the belief in an afterlife, and historical and ethnographic data clearly demonstrate that many ancient human cultures held the cosmological belief that the afterlife was situated beneath the world of the living (rather than on it or, in the manner of heaven, above it). The fact that it is a worldwide notion may be telling.

Ancient Sumerians from southern Iraq believed in an underworld named Kur, which means "earth/ground" or "mountain," from at least the fourth millennium BC. The Duat was the name of the underworld in ancient Egypt, and the Diyu and Difu, which are Chinese terms that literally translate to "Earth Prison" and "Earth Mansion," respectively, had a similar connotation. While the ancient Maya, Aztecs, and Incas in the Americas, as well as the ancient Celts, Greeks, and Romans in Europe, the Polynesians of the Pacific, the Inuit of the Arctic, and the peoples of Japan and Korea, all had an understanding of the underworld, there is the ancient Hindu concept of the Patala (literally, "that which is below the feet"). Hell is still a notion in Christianity.

The apparently complex funerary culture of Homo naledi is remarkable because it is the first instance in which archaeologists have found proof of such behavior being used by a species other than ourselves, Homo sapiens.

It's interesting to note that many modern human (Homo sapiens) tribes, from the Stone Age to the present, buried or left their dead in caves, as did several Neanderthal and Homo heidelbergensis communities. If there were no natural caves nearby, people even built artificial ones in numerous ancient civilizations all across the planet.

Rising Star Cave's secrets are still being investigated, and this will probably reveal some exciting new information about the distant beginnings of human cognition and belief.

National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Lee Berger and leader of the excavation expedition, inside the Rising Star cave in South Africa where fossil elements belonging to H. naledi, a new species of human relative, were discovered

Since Homo naledi was probably certainly not a direct predecessor of ours, the final consequence may change how we perceive prehistory dating back several million years.

The parallels in belief could be accidental or inherited from even earlier prehistory because Homo sapiens and Homo naledi were likely descended from a common parent species long before either species existed.

Recent zoological research has started to show that a number of high intelligence animal species (elephants, chimpanzees, monkeys, magpies, dolphins, and others) appear to have death-related 'rituals', such as standing guard over the dead and, in some cases, covering the dead with leaves and other material. Future studies on this type of animal behavior may reveal further information about the extremely remote origins of contemporary human and pre-modern human funeral behavior.

The Rising Star Cave investigation is multidisciplinary and international, involving archaeologists, physical anthropologists, geomorphologists, and other scientists from South Africa, the United States, Canada, China, Nigeria, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. It is currently the focus of a one and a half hour Netflix documentary called Unknown: Cave of Bones.

In a series of trips over the past ten years, many hundreds of Homo naledi bones have been discovered in the cave network. The engravings and the evidence for the intentional interment of Homo naledi people in the cave have just recently been made public. Today, Tuesday, September 9, 2023, the in-depth book Cave of Bones, which is available on the website, was released.

Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science...

Naples's underground chapel from the 16th century was discovered

Naples is home to a wealth of Catholic artworks, including the "Veiled Christ" sculpture and St. Clare's monastery. Even structures that now house nonreligious events frequently had a Catholic origin. This is true of the State Archive building, which is housed on the grounds of a former Benedictine monastery honoring two local saints, St. Severinus of Noricum and St. Sosius.

A fresco depicting a Pietas scene with Mary holding the corpse of Christ was found beneath a wall inside Naples’ State Archive building.

An active community of Benedictine monks lived in the monastery, which was founded in 846 in the heart of ancient Naples. Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo, who presided over Naples at the close of the 18th century, issued an order for the expulsion of the monks and the conversion of the monastery into a weapons storage facility in 1799.

By order of Joachim Murat, a French general who commanded Naples under Napoleonic occupation, the newly established States Archive, housing thousands of public papers dating from medieval medical treatises to 15th-century notary deeds, was relocated inside the former Benedictine abbey in 1848.

Workers performing regular maintenance on Naples State Archive building discovered a previously unknown 16th-century chapel.

The State Archive is now a government structure, but its stunning cloister and extensive collection of artwork, notably a set of murals by Renaissance artist Antonio Solario depicting significant events in St. Benedict's life, reflect the building's former monastery use. Restoration efforts to restore sections of the building's walls began a few months ago.

A fresco depicting a Pieta scene with Mary holding the corpse of Christ was found beneath a wall inside Naples’ State Archive building.

Workers discovered something strange was growing beneath a wall in one of the archive rooms during a routine clean up. A superbly maintained fresco from the 16th century was discovered to be what at first glance appeared to be some old paint. The fresco, which shows Mary bearing the body of Christ in a Pieta tableau, once decorated a wall in an unidentified chapel. other work revealed two other murals of St. Severinus of Noricum and St. Sosius that were painted on the two neighboring walls.

The artistic director of the State Archive posted images of the recently discovered frescoes and the discovery's news on Facebook. Luigi La Rocca, a state archeologist who works at the Naples municipality, remarked, "It was a real discovery; we had no idea that the chapel was there." We shall now do research on the frescoes to more precisely date the church.

Further works unveiled two other frescoes, decorating the two adjacent walls, featuring St. Severinus of Noricum and St. Sosius.

The chapel, which is said to have been built in the sixteenth century, is likely to be added to the list of Catholic visitors' destinations. In an interview, Naples mayor Gaetano Manfredi commented, "This extraordinary discovery gives us a glimpse of Naples during the Aragon Kingdom and will become a new gem for the many tourists who come to our city."

Source: https://aleteia.org/2023/08/08/a-16th-cent...

The Children and Family of Zeus | Greek Mythology Family Tree

Today's video is about the Children and Family Tree of the King of the Gods Zeus, the God of Lightning, Thunder, Law, Justice, and the Sky. We're going to be talking about his parents Cronus and Rhea and his siblings Hestia, Hades, Demeter, Poseidon, and Hera, as well as his numerous wives and famous children. Famous children including Heracles, Perseus, Athena, Artemis, Hellen of Troy and famous wives such as Hera, Leto, Europa, and Alcmene. Come learn about Zeus's huge family tree.

Why Were Medieval Armies So Small?

In today’s video we will talk about the armies of the Middle Ages, as we try to deduce why they were smaller than their ancient and modern counterparts, how the fall of the Roman empire and the rise of feudalism affected the armies of the period. Enjoy!

12 Most Incredible Recent Archaeological Finds

Archaeology is a process that starts with digging into the ground to discover more about our ancestors, but it never ends. We’ll never find out everything there is to know about the places and people that came before us, but that doesn’t stop us from trying. There’s always an amazing archaeological discovery happening somewhere on the planet, and we like to bring the best of them to you on this channel. Here are some of the most impressive finds we’ve seen recently!

Megalithic Dolmens Discovered At The La Lentejuela Teba Necropolis

Archaeologists excavating in the southern area of the La Lentejuela Teba necropolis have discovered two Megalithic dolmens.

The La Lentejuela Teba necropolis is a concentration of burial structures located near Málaga, Spain. Previous excavations have identified 13 structures since the site was first studied in 2005, with recent excavations by the University of Cádiz (UCA) uncovering two new Megalithic dolmens.

This season has focused on a dolmen identified as Funeral Structure 1. The dolmen has a bent corridor that gives access to an antechamber, differentiated from the corridor by the presence of two vertical orthostats.

Preliminary dating suggests that the structure was constructed during the end of the 4th millennium BC, however, the dolmen was reused during the 3rd millennium BC by the Bronze Age people living nearby to deposit their dead inside small spaces built into the structure.

Serafín Becerra from UCA said: The Bronze Age populations deposit their deceased in this tomb and even built small spaces inside the dolmen to bury them individually, or at most with two individuals.”

The researchers have also applied new technologies to record all the structures at the necropolis by using aerial photography with a drone, 3D digital scanning, photogrammetry, precision topography through the use of total stations and differential GNSS.

Archaeological samples have also been taken to further date and build a chronology of the site, in addition to further understand the funerary practices of the people that inhabited the region during prehistory.

Ancient Greek City of Bathonea: Underwater Ruins of a Lighthouse Were Found

The excavations in the ancient Greek city of Bathonea, located in the Küçükçekmece Lake basin in the Avcılar district of Istanbul, with the discovery of underwater architectural remains of the second ancient lighthouse in Turkey after the ancient city of Patara.

The excavations in Bathonea, are being done by the Culture and Tourism Ministry and Kocaeli University under the supervision of Professor Şengül Aydıngün, aiming to reveal and preserve the historical and archaeological heritage.

The early Hittite traces found in the excavations of the Ancient City of Bathonea, where many unknown important structures of Istanbul and issues waiting to be enlightened, are brought to light, are described as the biggest discovery in the studies. With this discovery in the excavations, Hittite traces were found for the first time on the European continent.

The Bathonea ancient city also bore traces of the Thracian/Phrygian tribes, the existence of which was contested until these findings proved they migrated from the Bosporus to Anatolia 3,000 years ago.

When did Sanskrit appear in India? | The Genetic Evidence

A topic that stirs up controversy in India is the development of Indo-Aryan languages, and specifically the idea that speakers of an early form of Sanskrit arrived in India between 2000 and 1500 BCE. While the linguistic argument is probably the strongest for the theory of an Indo-Aryan migration into South Asia, genetic evidence gathered so far supports it. In this video, other theories like the Aryan Invasion Theory and the Out of India Theory will be examined, along with the claims of Abhijit Chavda concerning the genetic evidence for or against migration of this language group into India.

Is There Archeological Evidence For The 10 Plagues Of The Exodus?

After six years of research, working with archeologists, Egyptologists, geologists, and theologians, Simcha Jacobovici came to the groundbreaking conclusion that the Exodus took place hundreds of years earlier than previously thought. With this new timetable in hand, Jacobovici and his colleagues re-examined long-ignored archeological artifacts and uncovered the truth about the Exodus and the Egyptian dynasty that ruled at the time.

Viking Berserker and their animalistic qualities - Documentary

In this history documentary we explore one of the most famous units of Viking History, the berserkers. We begin by describing the main traits of a Viking berserker. The first is their animalistic qualities. This is actually tied to the broad trend of animal-human hybrids which appear in civilizations across the world. The Berserkers appear to have emerged from the norse version of this tradition with their sagas being filled with many instances of norse gods, legendary figures, and mortals transforming into all kinds of animals. The berserkers were just a subset of this group.

One of the next qualities of a Berserker was their rage, known as the berserkergang. This involved the viking warrior devolving into a rage filled state which might see them begin to bite their teeth and howl. The norse saga tradition has many tales of how this berserker rage led to much bloodletting of friend and foe. This leads us to the next quality of the berserker, their rejection by the community. This is a result of the way their violence threatened cultural taboos of loyalty and honor.

With this established we then talk about the viking weapons and armor which would have been used by the berserkers. Berserker armor is usually described as consisting of nothing but a shield however we speculate that they likely wore better gear, especially if they served in a noble's retinue. We then talk about training, initiation rights, and battle tactics. Finally we conclude by looking at their service history in viking warfare across the years.

The Economy of Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was amongst the first major human civilizations in existence.

Outside of being genuinely fascinating the economy of ancient Egypt is enlightening to really pull apart because it represents an economy in it’s most basic form.

Targeted inflation, debt cycles, derivatives contracts, and even the financial sector are all crucial components of our modern and hyper-advanced economies. Egypt, had none of these...

mtDNA shows how humans migrated across the World

It has been over 20 years since DNA analysis technology began to be used in the field of archaeology. In many countries, scientists are analyzing genes from ancient human fossils and making them into a database so that they can be used for research.

Genes extracted from more than 10,000 fossils were extracted, analyzed, and compared.As a result, humans are said to have originated from a woman in Africa about 200,000 years ago.

And as a result of genetic analysis of her descendants who lived scattered around the globe, their migration routes were revealed.

In this video, their movement paths by era were mapped.