General ancient history

Chinese terracotta soldiers

Terracotta Army: secrets from the grave

A combo picture of two images taken 13 August 2002 at Cairo Museum shows a foot of a mummy missing its big toe and beside it a prosthetic toe of leather and wood to replace the amputated real one. (Photo by Marwan Naamani/AFP/Getty Images)

Q&AHow long have people used prosthetic limbs?

16th century engraving depicting a man with leprosy

Q&AHow did doctors treat leprosy?

Clay soldier statues of the Chinese Qin dynasty. (Photo by Getty Images)

The six ages of China

Making of Blodeuwedd, the false flower-woman of Welsh myth. (Photo by Ivy Close Images/Alamy)

Celtic myths: the tales that might have inspired Star Wars and Harry Potter

White horse of Uffington

Who were the Celts?

19th-century men in traditional dress, Marken Island, Netherlands.

General ancient history

Q&AWhen were trousers first worn?

Photo of ancient public toilets

General ancient history

Q&AHow old is the toilet seat?

Photo of Derinkuyu Underground City

Q&AHave people ever lived underground?

The many lives of India

The stretch of the Great Wall at Mutianyu, China

General ancient history

My favourite place: The Great Wall of China

Photo of pipe and tobacco

Q&ADid people smoke anything before tobacco was discovered?

Engraving of a brewery

General ancient history

Q&AWho made the first booze?

Photo of archaeologist revealing a skull

General ancient history

Q&AWho was the first archaeologist?

Photo of a salt cellar

Q&AWho do we say 'with a pinch of salt'?

Q&AWere the pagan English gods the same as the Viking gods?

Illustration of the Zodiac Man

General ancient history

Q&AWhy did physicians ‘bleed’ their patients?

A noisy history of the world

The call for the First Crusade was initially made by Pope Urban (pictured) in 1095. (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Britain and Islam: a matter of faith

Ye olde travel guide: Aksum AD 537

Ptolemy World map. Artist: Germanus, Donnus Nicolaus (ca. 1420-ca. 1490)

Ptolemy's maps: the father of modern Geography

An illustration of Nikephoros II. (Photo by INTERFOTO/Alamy Stock Photo)

A big day in history: the all-conquering Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II loses his head

Illustration by Jonty Clark

Ye olde travel guide: Kiev 978 AD

Bluestones, like these in the Preseli hills, were used to build Stonehenge. (Photo by Paula Connelly via Getty Images)

Britain’s buried secrets

A stone relief depicting men bringing gifts to the king, c500 BC. (Getty Images)

The Persian empire: myth vs reality

Jerusalem: blood and gold

The Alfred Jewel: gold, rock, crystal and enamel

Objects of affection

Historical objects - toilets and medicines

Lewis Chessmen found on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, probably made in Norway, about AD 1150-1200. (Photo by RDImages/Epics/Getty Images)

The LibraryObjects with meanings: How artefacts can give us a new take on global history

Ancient civilisations and Victorian shopping