A. Sutherland– AncientPages.com – In Norse mythology, Vafthrudnir is recognized as a wise frost giant, Jötunn, renowned for his vast knowledge and profound wisdom. Odin, the chief of the Norse gods, voluntarily hanged himself for… Read More "Norse Frost Giant Vafthrudnir Who Was A Mastermind Of Riddles"
Ancient Romans reportedly ingested the brains of a bream called the dreamfish to get high, and modern scholarly studies have confirmed the toxicity and hallucination-inducing qualities of the Sarpa salpa bream. Hallucinogenic fish live in… Read More "Romans Are Said to Have Ingested Fish Brains That Caused Hallucinations"
The Affair of the Sausages
The Reformation in Switzerland began quietly. On the evening of 9 March 1522, the first Sunday in Lent, what one historian has called ‘the ostentatious eating of sausages’ took place in the parlour of Zurich… Read More "The Affair of the Sausages"
Conny Waters – AncientPages.com – Over a century after the Villa of the Mysteries was discovered, a significant fresco has been uncovered, offering new insights into the mysteries of Dionysus in classical antiquity. This discovery… Read More "Large Fresco Depicting The Procession Of The Wine God Dionysus Found In Pompeii"
Scattered over 700,000 square kilometers (270, 271 sq mi) in the southern Pacific Ocean are the Tonga islands. On one of the 176 islands that make up Tonga, there stands one of the strangest megalithic… Read More "The Megalithic Gate of Ha-amonga a Maui"
‘The Crowd in the Early Middle Ages’ by Shane Bobrycki review
Early medieval history is a crowded field. Despite the small source base, which only grows meaningfully in terms of archaeological data, the period has enjoyed the sustained interest of a large (and, until recently, growing)… Read More "‘The Crowd in the Early Middle Ages’ by Shane Bobrycki review"
A. Sutherland – AncientPages.com – The role of the cupbearer has a rich history that dates back thousands of years, with many notable individuals having served in this position. Traditionally, the cupbearer was responsible for… Read More "Cupbearer Was Privy To Conversations And Political Secrets Hidden Behind Closed Doors"
Anna K. Behrensmeyer, Kevin Hatala & Purity Kiura/The Conversation Human footprints stir the imagination. They invite you to follow, to guess what someone was doing and where they were going. Fossilized footprints preserved in rock… Read More "Footprints Reveal 2 Extinct Hominin Species Living Side By Side"
When, in 1816, John Keats began reading an Elizabethan translation of Homer, he became so enthralled that he stayed up all night. By morning, he had written the famous sonnet that includes the couplet: Then… Read More "What Counts as a Planet?"
Conny Waters – AncientPages.com – Early humans in the Ethiopian highlands selected specific rocks for tool-making purposes as far back as 1.5 million years. Now, an international team of researchers focuses on this important subject of… Read More "Acheulian Culture Of Ethiopian Highlands And Their Prehistoric Tool Selection To Make Society’s Life Easier"