What if Neanderthals hadn’t become extinct? This is a question the curators of a Museum in Germany must have asked themselves when they created this exhibit: A Neanderthal in a suit and tie. As many of you may know, research in Archaeogenetics has relatively recently revealed that all human beings north of the Sahara Desert… Read More A Neanderthal in Suite and Tie
The Haplogroup distribution across the German Empire prior to WW1 according to FTDNA and Robert Gabel.Haplogroup I is the oldest of them and probably resembles remnants of Hunter-Gatherer lineages whilst R1b and R1a are connected to Celto-Germanic and Slavic peoples.
The maximum expansion of the Etruscans. The Etruscans were one of the many historic peoples inhabiting the Italian Peninsula before the Rise of Rome and influencing the Empire from within after their subjugation. It is thought that the Romans incorporated some of the Etruscan deities in their own pantheon and that even the Latin language… Read More The Etruscans
The migration of the Cimbri and the Teutons from Jutland across Central and Western Europe and into Northern Italy.The Cimbri and Teutons were the first Germanic people mentioned in history, although the term Teuton itself may in fact be of Celtic origin. They left their Northern European homeland for unknown reasons and made their track… Read More The Migration of the Cimbri and Teutons
Fenrir bites off Tyr’s hand. Illustration from a 17th century Icelandic manuscript.Tyr is the god of war and justice in Norse mythology, and the etymology of his name suggests that he once was at the top of the Germanic pantheon, although he had been replaced by Odin/Wodan relatively early.Fenrir is one of the children of… Read More Fenrir and Tyr
Map showing the German Eastward Expansion, starting in the early Middle Ages at the zenith of Charlemagne’s Frankish Empire. Although first German settlements east of the river Elbe in modern Eastern Germany started relatively early, it wasn’t until the 10th and 11th centuries, that larger amounts of Germans moved eastward and assimilated most of the… Read More The German Eastward Expansion
One of the Tarim mummies from the Tarim basin in northwestern China in the province of Xinjiang, dated to 1800 BC. These mummies are frequently associated with speakers of the Indo-European Tocharian language which since has gone extinct due to assimilation into the Uyghur population at the end of the first millennium AD. It took… Read More The Loulan Beauty – A Tarim Mummy
Although the Germans were certainly less sophisticated than their contemporary Romans, Greeks, Egyptians or even the neighbouring Celts, which to the Mediterranean world were already considered barbarians, they were to some degree responsible for the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The Kingdoms which they built upon the ruins of the Imperium gave Europe a… Read More Europe ca. 476 CE
This article is a re-blog from HERITAGEDAILY (link to original article at the bottom of the page). HERITAGEDAILY is an independent publisher of the latest scientific discoveries, research, and travel news. First launched as a small archaeology blog in 2011, the platform has grown into a general science publisher with a focus on archaeology, anthropology,… Read More THE ANGLO-SAXON MIGRATION: NEW INSIGHTS FROM GENETICS
The Samnites were an Italic civilisation who lived in Samnium, a region of Southern Italy that includes the present-day Abruzzo, Molise and Campania.… Read More The Ancient Samnites
‘Barbarian’ and ‘barbaric’ are nowadays commonly used to describe somebody or something behaving in a particularly uncivilized or – to the observer – foreign way, and in this regards differs surprisingly little from it’s ancient counterpart. This article seeks to examine the meaning and history of the term in short.… Read More The Greco-Roman Concept of the Barbarian
The borders of Rome weren’t as much boundaries as they were frontiers: Areas of cultural exchange between different peoples. This article explores the relationship between Rome and the Germanic tribes living beyond the border.… Read More The Roman Border in Ancient Germany
An attempt at answering – in brief – the question of the origin of the Ancient Greeks from an archaeological, mythological and genetic approach.… Read More The Origins of the Ancient Greeks
The Second World War was the most devastating conflict in human history. All sides suffered horrendous casualties, but not all of those belonged to the dead or the wounded. Many, in fact, the vast majority, were taken captive and had to be taken care of, which put a massive administrative burden on the belligerent nations. This article seeks to examine the fate of German POWs in British hands during and beyond the War.… Read More German Prisoners Of War in Britain 1939-1948
The High German Consonant Shift gave rise to the High and Upper German dialects of the West Germanic Dialect Continuum. It’s cause is still debated, however, although a Gallo-Roman substrate seems to be the most likely explanation.… Read More The Cause of the High German Consonant Shift
Originally posted on Tattúínárdǿla saga:
A long time ago, in a North Atlantic far far away… Introduction Earlier this week I was drawn into an enlightening discussion with my colleague Ben Frey about the complicated textual tradition that lies behind George Lucas’s “Star Wars,” which few outside the scholarly community realize is…
Where did the Ancient Celts originally come from? A comparison of the linguistic, archaeological and genetic evidence.… Read More The Origins of The Ancient Celts
The myths and legends of the Proto-Indo-Europeans have influenced the world like no other be it through the great Greek Classics, the Icelandic Sagas or the Indian Vedas. But what exactly did they themselves believe in and how did they practice their faith?… Read More Proto-Indo-European Religion
Originally posted on Kristyn J. Miller:
Epic poems have incredible staying power both as literary achievements and as historical resources. The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf is one of the foremost examples of this. Despite its mythological themes, the story offers historians a rare insight into Anglo-Saxon ideals of masculinity, heroism, and society. At the same time,…
The Proto-Indo-Europeans are the hypothetical speakers of the (re-)constructed Proto-Indo-European language, the ancestor to most European and some central and south Asian languages.… Read More The prehistoric Eurasians: The Proto-Indo-Europeans
Ragnarok describes the end of the world in Norse Mythology. Or does it really? Not only the world itself is reborn after its destruction, but one of the gods as well. Could this be an indication for reincarnation in Germanic myth or perhaps even evidence for a pan-Indo-European phenomenon of rebirth?… Read More Ragnarok and Reincarnation in Norse Mythology
The Indo-European language family is the most widely spoken language family in the world today, partially due to Colonialism. But even before the European expansion Indo-European languages were spoken throughout Eurasia.… Read More The Indo-European Language Family
In Nigel M. Kennels book “The Gymnasium of Virtue” he discusses the possible influence of Proto-Indo-European customs on ancient Spartan society.… Read More Remnants of Proto-Indo-European Society in Sparta
A report about my personal experience working remotely for the Smithsonian Transcription center.… Read More Volunteering at the Smithsonian Transcription Center
The origin of the ancient Germans (not to be confused with the modern Germans) is still debated, although somewhere between Northern Germany and Southern Scandinavia seems to be the most likely place. Bu where did the people inhabiting this area come from?… Read More Origins and Culture of the Ancient Germanic Tribes
Many people are understandably intrigued by the relatively new service of personal ancestry tests to determine their own origins. But how reliable are they really?… Read More Do Ancestry DNA Tests Work?
The Celts belong to the most mysterious of Europe’s inhabitants. Today, Celtic speakers are confined to the far northwest of the continent, in the past, however, much of Continental Europe spoke Celtic. Where did they come from and how did they manage to cover such a vast area?… Read More The Origin and Expansion of the Celtic Peoples
European Origins 