Volcanic eruption caused Neolithic people at Vasagård, on the Danish island Bornholm, to sacrifice unique “sun stones”
The skull-shaped body of the Aztec death whistle may represent Mictlantecuhtli, and might have been used in sacrifice rituals
Evidence of hallucinogens found in an Egyptian Bes mug, validating written records and centuries-old myths of ancient Egyptian rituals and practices
Plant seed and fruit analysis from Tell es-Safi/Gath, the biblical home of Goliath, sheds unprecedented light on Philistine ritual practices
Researchers find indications of a patrilineal descent system for western Eurasian Bell Beaker communities: family relationships that link Britain to Altwies ‘Op dem Boesch’, Luxembourg
Blood, sacrifice and drunkenness: how Christmas was celebrated in the Viking Age, with the transition to the Christian era, the celebration took on a new meaning
Detailed analysis reveals rituals of mass sacrifice of horses and other animals at Casas del Turuñuelo, in Iron Age Spain
The paper Cannibalism and burial in the late upper Palaeolithic: Combining archaeological and genetic evidence has been published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews
An excavation in Boğazköy-Hattusha has brought to light a cuneiform tablet with an unknown Indo-European language the land of Kalašma
Medieval music wasn’t necessarily supposed to be something beautiful and complex, it had other practical purposes,” says Manon Louviot, a musicologist
