What is known of this religion in China? What motivated Christian rulers in the west to send missionaries to China and why? The Silk Roads: Ideas and Religion, Part 5

A centuries-old coffin containing a well-preserved mummy was recently unveiled in Egypt - the latest in over a dozen ancient discoveries since the beginning of the year.

The Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus is a theatre in the Greek city of Epidaurus, located on the southeast end of the sanctuary dedicated to the ancient Greek God of medicine, Asclepius. It is built on the west side of Cynortion Mountain,...

A year after the nuclear meltdown that occurred on March 11, 2011, in Fukushima, Japan, Gregory Button, a professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is studying the scientific uncertainty surrounding that event. For more than...

How has African art influenced some of our great artists? What has been the biggest challenge but biggest highlight in Gus Casely-Hayfords career? Africa, The Unknown History of Humankind, Part 6

Mexican archaeologists have excavated more sections of the Aztec “tower of skulls” in the heart of Mexico City, according to the National Institute of Anthropology and History.

This live-action video program is about the word Archaeology. The program is designed to reinforce and support a student's comprehension and retention of the word Archaeology through use of video footage, photographs, diagrams and...

What are Gus Casely-Hayford's views of Africans in popular culture? How does "word", "symbol", and "song" work together and what makes them so powerful? Africa, The Unknown History of Humankind, Part 5

The Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus is a major theatre in Athens, built at the foot of the Athenian Acropolis. Dedicated to Dionysus, the god of plays and wine (among other things), the theatre could seat as many as 17,000 people with...

A pyramid worker explains how the Egyptians moved the immense stone blocks.

Mycenae, built between two hills, Profitis llias and Sara, dominates the Plain of Argos. According to myth, Mycenae was founded by Perseus, son of Zeus and Danae. In order to build the citadel, Perseus employed the Cyclopes, mythical...

The centre of Minoan civilisation and capital of Minoan Crete lay 5km south of Heraklion. Knossos flourished for approximately two thousand years. It had large palace buildings, extensive workshop installations and luxurious rock-cut...

What finds were found at these excavation sites? What was unique about the cemeteries found in one excavation site? The Silk Roads: Trade and Movement, Part 3

Chichen Itza was one of the largest Maya cities and it was likely to have been one of the mythical great cities, or Tollans, referred to in later Mesoamerican literature. The city may have had the most diverse population in the Maya...

Qumran is a small settlement on the west shore of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found nearby. The archaeology of this settlement sheds light on the Jewish community that lived here and how they were connected to the Dead Sea...

The villa was constructed at Tibur (modern-day Tivoli) as a retreat from Rome for Roman Emperor Hadrian during the second and third decades of the 2nd century AD. Hadrian is said to have disliked the palace on the Palatine Hill in Rome,...

The first Temple of Hera, built around 550 BC by the Greek colonists, is the oldest surviving temple in Paestum. Eighteenth-century archaeologists named it "The Basilica" because some mistakenly believed it to be a Roman building. (The...

Emperor Constantine the Great famously converted to Christianity in the early 4th century CE. But how did this happen? What did Constantine really believe?

Archaeologists have discovered at least 35 ancient pyramids and graves thought to be about 2,000 years old at a site called Sedeinga in Sudan. The dense concentration is surprising to researchers, who in 2011 found 13 pyramids clustered...

Toby Green has been fascinated by the history of West Africa for decades after he visited as a student and heard whispers of history that didn’t appear in text books. Years later he wrote ‘Fistful of Shells,’ a survey of West Africa and...

While excavating the Hohle Fels cave in southwestern Germany in 2008, scientists discovered a bone flute that turned out to be one of the oldest music instruments in the world. In this episode we take a closer look at the flute itself...

The theatre of Assos in Asia Minor in Turkey, It was discovered that the theatre which had been set up on the south slope of the ancient city across Lesbos was destroyed during an earthquake. The theatre with 2500 people capacity had...

Among the passes on the Great Wall, Jiayuguan is the most intact surviving ancient military building. The pass is also known by the name the "First and Greatest Pass Under Heaven", which is not to be confused with the "First Pass Under...

Among the earliest settlers of this area are the Indo-European speaking Tocharians,who had populated the Tarim and Turfan basins no later than 1800 BC. From the years 108 BC to 450 AD the city of Jiaohe was the capital of the Anterior...