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Black Gold: Sumerian Bitumen Recipes Worked Like Asphalt, 4,000 Years Ago

Gary Manners — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 23:47:26 +0000

Black Gold: Sumerian Bitumen Recipes Worked Like Asphalt, 4,000 Years Ago

Sumerian craftspeople in Mesopotamia didn’t simply scoop up natural bitumen and slap it on boats or bricks. A new materials study suggests they followed repeatable “recipes” that controlled strength, flexibility, and waterproofing in ways that look surprisingly familiar to modern asphalt engineering.

The research focuses on Abu Tbeirah in southern Iraq and shows that additives such as plant fibers and mineral inclusions were not random contamination, but part of deliberate composite design. That finding helps explain how Sumer’s cities and trade networks functioned in a landscape of marshes, waterways, and mudbrick architecture.

A study that reads bitumen like an engineer

The underlying substance is Sumerian bitumen: a naturally occurring petroleum material (often called an asphalt-like “black goo”) long associated with waterproofing and adhesion, and even with far-reaching trade. Readers may already know how bitumen shows up in unexpected places, from Mesopotamian rivercraft to later “bitumen trade networks.”

Gary Manners 19 February, 2026 - 23:47

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Ancient Technology

Why Ghosts Haunt England at Christmas but Steer Clear of America

ancient-origins — Thu, 25 Dec 2025 10:00:28 +0000

Why Ghosts Haunt England at Christmas but Steer Clear of America

A few years ago, the Downton Abbey Christmas special featured a ouija board which communicated a message from a dead character. American reviewers were extremely puzzled by this incursion of the supernatural, while British reviewers found it unexceptional.

ancient-origins 25 December, 2025 - 10:00

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Ancient Astronomical Alignments: Reading and Mapping the Stars at Early Advanced Civilization Sites

Walter Cruttenden — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 20:42:00 +0000

Ancient Astronomical Alignments: Reading and Mapping the Stars at Early Advanced Civilization Sites

Many of the cuneiform tablets of Mesopotamia and hieroglyphs of Egypt make reference to the sun, stars, or planetary positions. Also, a number of ancient structures in many parts of the world are aligned with, or directly oriented toward, the cardinal points (East, North, South, and West) or celestial objects.

Walter Cruttenden 21 December, 2025 - 20:42

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Renaissance Gallows Unearthed in France With 32 Executed Victims

Gary Manners — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 12:03:33 +0000

Renaissance Gallows Unearthed in France With 32 Executed Victims

Archaeologists working in Grenoble, France, have made a chilling discovery that sheds light on the brutal religious persecution of the 16th century. The remains of a rare Renaissance-era gallows, along with at least 32 individuals who were executed and denied proper burial, have emerged from beneath the Boulevard de l'Esplanade. The site offers a haunting glimpse into the dark period of France's Wars of Religion, when public execution served as both punishment and warning to those who dared challenge authority.

A Gibbet Emerges from the Flood Plains

The excavation site sits on land gradually reclaimed from the flood-prone plains where the Isère and Drac rivers meet. For centuries, this marshy terrain remained on the outskirts of Grenoble, exploited for its sand and wood before eventually becoming integrated into the expanding city. Researchers from France's National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) discovered a quadrangular masonry foundation measuring 8.2 meters per side, initially puzzling over its purpose. Surrounding this stone structure lay ten burial pits containing human remains in various states of disarray - bodies thrown carelessly without orientation, funerary rites, or dignity.

Gary Manners 17 December, 2025 - 12:03

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Ancient Technology

Roman Occupation Exposed Britons to Disease and Class Divides

Gary Manners — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 12:55:00 +0000

Roman Occupation Exposed Britons to Disease and Class Divides

The Roman invasion of Britain in 43 AD brought with it dramatic social upheaval that fundamentally altered the health landscape of the island's inhabitants. While the Romans claimed to deliver "civilization" to Britannia, a groundbreaking new study reveals that urbanization under Roman rule actually exposed people to novel diseases and created class divisions that severely restricted access to vital resources. The research, published in the journal Antiquity, confirms long-held theories that the population's health declined sharply under Roman occupation, though this decline was limited almost exclusively to urban centers.

The Independent reports that archaeologists have discovered infant skeletons from the Roman period bearing significant "negative health markers," pointing to widespread suffering among urban populations. What makes this finding particularly striking is that rural communities showed no such deterioration, suggesting that pre-Roman Iron Age traditions persisted in the countryside while city dwellers endured harsh, long-lasting health consequences that spanned multiple generations.

Gary Manners 12 December, 2025 - 12:55

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Important Events

Scholars Say Many Beliefs About Vikings Are Based On Medieval Fiction

Gary Manners — Sun, 23 Nov 2025 14:50:57 +0000

Scholars Say Many Beliefs About Vikings Are Based On Medieval Fiction

Scandinavian studies scholars at the University of Münster have delivered a sobering message to enthusiasts of Viking culture: much of what modern audiences believe about Norse warriors and pagan mythology cannot be scientifically verified. The revelations emerged from research conducted at the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics," challenging centuries of assumptions about one of history's most romanticized civilizations.

Roland Scheel, a Scandinavian scholar leading the research, explained that primary sources were written by Christian scholars well over a century after the Viking period ended. Apart from brief runic inscriptions, no written texts from the original era have survived. This creates what he calls "memorialized history" rather than contemporary accounts, recounts a University of Münster release.

Gary Manners 23 November, 2025 - 14:50

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Ancient Writings

Gems That Represented Ancient Symbols of Wealth and Power

ancient origins — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 19:00:00 +0000

Gems That Represented Ancient Symbols of Wealth and Power

Throughout history, precious gemstones have gone beyond decoration, serving as powerful symbols of wealth, authority, and divine blessing. Ancient civilizations across the globe attributed mystical properties and deep significance to these rare and beautiful stones. They used them to display social status, form political alliances, and strengthen connections to the spiritual realm.

From the glittering crowns of pharaohs to the sacred amulets of priests, gemstones communicated messages of authority that needed no translation. Their captivating combination of rarity, durability, and striking beauty made them ideal repositories of value and meaning in societies.

Understanding the historical significance of these ancient gems reveals the aesthetic preferences of past cultures, along with their values and power structures. These historical insights continue to shape how we perceive precious stones today.

Cleopatra depicted wearing an emerald, by Władysław Czachórski. (Public domain)

Emeralds: The Green Fire of Egyptian Royalty

Emeralds were treasured in ancient Egypt, where they symbolized rebirth, fertility, and divine protection. famously adored them, even claiming the nation’s emerald mines as her own. She wore the vivid green Cleopatra stones to emphasize her royal power and connection to the goddess Isis.

ancient origins 18 November, 2025 - 19:00

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Other Artifacts

4,000-Year-Old Bronze Age Tree Trunk Coffin to Make Museum Debut

Gary Manners — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 15:05:00 +0000

4,000-Year-Old Bronze Age Tree Trunk Coffin to Make Museum Debut

A massive 4,000-year-old Bronze Age coffin, carved from a single oak tree and discovered by chance at a Lincolnshire golf club, has arrived at Lincoln Museum, UK, where it will be displayed to the public for the first time in the new year. The 10-foot coffin, found during routine pond maintenance work in 2018, contains the remains of a high-status individual buried with extraordinary care. Along with it was found an exceptionally rare axe that has astonished archaeologists worldwide, reports the BBC.

When workers at Tetney Golf Club near Grimsby, northern England uncovered the ancient burial, they had inadvertently stumbled upon one of Britain's most significant Bronze Age discoveries. The coffin, known as the "Tetney Coffin," is one of only about 65 tree-trunk burials known from Bronze Age Britain. What makes this find particularly remarkable is not just its exceptional preservation, but the wealth of information it provides about Bronze Age burial practices and the ritualistic treatment of elite members of society four millennia ago.

Gary Manners 18 November, 2025 - 15:05

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Other Artifacts