Oak Island, located in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, is a small 140-acre island which has been the subject of an ongoing treasure hunt since 1795.

The earliest human occupation of the region dates back several thousand years to the ancestors of the Mi'kmaq, an indigenous First Nations people of Canada's Atlantic Provinces.

Europeans established permanent settlements in the area during the mid-18th century through the Shorham grant, an edict which offered free land grants to attract settlers and generate population growth.

At the time, Oak Island was known locally as "Smith's Island" (named for Edward Smith, an early settler), but was renamed to "Gloucester Isle" in 1778, and shortly after to "Oak Island" supposedly because of the red oaks growing on the island.

The following account is neither exact nor complete, but is a rough summary of the reports and materials published in sequence.

The history of the Oak Island treasure hunt begun in 1795, when a young Daniel McInnes discovered evidence of tree felling on the island's interior and a clearing with a shallow saucer-shaped depression.

McInnes likely envisioned stumbling across a pirate cache, as the Novia Scotia region was known to be a hide-out for pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries during the Golden Age of Piracy.

The most infamous pirate to be associated with the Oak Island legend is Captain Kidd, however, there is little supporting evidence other than hearsay, and any association is merely speculative.

McInnes returned to the island with John (Jack) Smith and Anthony Vaughan, and begun excavating the depression until they discovered a layer of flagstones sourced from the Gold River several miles to the north.

Upon removing the flagstones, it is claimed that the trio found a shaft made by human hands (evidenced by pick marks in the hard clay walls), and continued to excavate the shaft interior to reveal several platforms of wooden logs at a depth of every 10 feet.

This shaft would later become known as the "Money Pit".

The possibility that Stonehenge aligns with the positions of the Moon - as well as the Sun - is being investigated by a team of experts and organisations including the Royal Astronomical Society.

Archaeoastronomers led by English Heritage will study the connection between the ancient monument and a 'major lunar standstill' — a rare astronomical phenomenon which happens every 18.6 years.

It refers to the point when Moonrise and Moonset reach their furthest points along the horizon and is next taking place from this year into next.

Academics from Oxford, Leicester and Bournemouth universities believe these once-in-a-generation lunar movements may have been noticed in the early phase of Stonehenge, and therefore influenced its later design.

Their research into the theory will begin this spring and last until the middle of 2025.

Professor Clive Ruggles, emeritus professor of archaeoastronomy at Leicester University, said: "Stonehenge's architectural connection to the Sun is well known, but its link with the Moon is less well understood.

"The four Station Stones align with the Moon's extreme positions, and researchers have debated for years whether this was deliberate, and - if so - how this was achieved and what might have been its purpose."

The mysterious monument site appears to have been occupied across multiple historical periods.
Archaeologists have discovered an unusual horseshoe-shaped monument and a collection of weapons and ornaments spanning multiple historical periods at a site in France.

Located in Marliens, a commune in eastern France, the site has a large bowtie-shaped structure, whose middle sports a circular construction measuring 36 feet (11 meters) in diameter. This center circlet is interconnected by a 26-foot-long (8 m) horseshoe-shaped structure on one side and a jug-handle-shaped feature on the other, according to a translated statement from the French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP), which carried out the excavations.

Researchers described the finding as "unprecedented," as there are no other known sites with similar shaped constructions.

Based on the plethora of artifacts found there — including a bundle containing seven flint arrowheads, two protective armbands worn by archers, a flint lighter and a copper-alloy dagger — archaeologists determined that the site was occupied during different time periods.

In an ancient Maya temple-pyramid in Guatemala, archaeologists recently discovered the scorched bones of at least four adults who were likely members of a royal lineage. The burning signaled a deliberate and potentially public desecration of their remains, according to new research.

The bones offer a rare glimpse of intentional corpse destruction in Maya culture to commemorate dramatic political change.

All of the remains belonged to adults, and scientists identified three of the individuals as male. Two were between 21 and 35 years old, and one was between 40 and 60 years old, researchers reported Thursday in the journal Antiquity. Among the bones were thousands of burned objects — whole and in pieces — including body adornments made of greenstone (green minerals, including jade), pendants made from mammal teeth, shell beads, mosaics and weapons. Their richness and abundance hinted at the royal status of the people in the tomb.

Important to understand is that there is not one single new or original idea in Klaus Schwab's so-called Great Reset agenda for the world. Nor is his Fourth Industrial Revolution agenda his or his claim to having invented the notion of Stakeholder Capitalism a product of Schwab. Klaus Schwab is little more than a slick PR agent for a global technocratic agenda, a corporatist unity of corporate power with government, including the UN, an agenda whose origins go back to the beginning of the 1970s, and even earlier. The Davos Great Reset is merely an updated blueprint for a global dystopian dictatorship under UN control that has been decades in development. The key actors were David Rockefeller and his protégé, Maurice Strong.

In the beginning of the 1970s, there was arguably no one person more influential in world politics than the late David Rockefeller, then largely known as chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank.

New research has identified over a dozen murders where women were traditionally sacrificed in Neolithic Europe across a period of 2,000 years.

The murder of sacrificial victims by "incaprettamento" — tying their neck to their legs bent behind their back, so that they effectively strangled themselves — seems to have been a tradition across much of Neolithic Europe.

The study follows a reevaluation of an old tomb found in southern France's Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, close to Avignon, more than 20 years ago. Two women who were buried there approximately 5,500 years ago are buried in a tomb that resembles a silo, or pit used to store grain.

Stunning artworks have been uncovered in a new excavation at Pompeii, the ancient Roman city buried in an eruption from Mount Vesuvius in AD79.

Archaeologists say the frescos are among the finest to be found in the ruins of the ancient site.

Mythical Greek figures such as Helen of Troy are depicted on the high black walls of a large banqueting hall.

The room's near-complete mosaic floor incorporates more than a million individual white tiles.

Astronomical simulations and ancient Egyptian texts show the Milky Way was linked to the ancient Egyptian sky goddess Nut. This fits within multicultural myths about our home galaxy.

The broad band of opalescent light and dark shadow that crosses the night sky has long fascinated humanity. Today it is known, variously, as the Milky Way, the Silver River, the Birds' Path. We see it as the celestial counterpart of major rivers, a path for departed spirits, the birthplace of angels. But how the ancient Egyptians — who left us some of the earliest records of the heavens — viewed the Milky Way has remained a mystery. Recently, I discovered some tantalizing clues that suggest a possible link between an ancient Egyptian goddess and our home galaxy.

The ancient Egyptians were keen observers of the night sky. They worked their astronomical observations into their religion, mythology and timekeeping (they invented such concepts as 365-day years and 24-hour days). The sun was the most important celestial object and was personified by the most important gods (chief among them Re). Scholars have identified the moon, planets and certain stars and constellations in Egyptian texts and tomb murals, some of which date back all the way to the age of the pyramids more than 4,000 years ago. The Milky Way, however, has not been identified conclusively.

Recent discoveries of exceptionally well-furnished 7th-century female burials - such as those from Trumpington (CA 343) and from Harpole (CA 395) - have drawn increasing attention to a phenomenon associated with the Conversion Period.

Isotope analysis of three of these elaborate burials has suggested that these women may have come from the Continent as brides, potentially to strengthen links with leading families in Britain and to help promote the conversion to Christianity. Until recently, this idea was based only on a very small number of burials - but to test whether the pattern holds true for the wider early medieval population, a project entitled 'Women of the Conversion Period - a Biomolecular Investigation' was launched, led by researchers from the University of Oxford.

The team initially analysed 86 burials (48 women and 38 men) from six cemeteries, as well as one isolated burial, over half of which were located in Kent, where cross-Channel mobility may have been particularly common. Five individuals were then excluded based on radiocarbon dates which indicated that they probably pre-dated the 7th century. This left a core group of 81 individuals, which were analysed for oxygen and strontium isotopes. By combining these results with previously published isotope data, the researchers were able to compare this core group with a larger dataset of 259 individuals spanning AD 630-800 (131 females and 128 males).

Working alongside the British Museum conservators who excavated and conserved the assemblage, staff and volunteers at Leicestershire Museums studied the helmet to produce reconstruction drawings with illustrator Debbie Miles. The resulting designs have been realised in 3D to recreate the helmet as it may have looked when it was new with the aim of reaching new audiences.

Rajesh Gogna, a Leicestershire-based silversmith and senior lecturer and practice-based researcher at De Montfort University produced a replica helmet by creating a CAD model which was 3D printed in SLA resin, electroformed, silver-plated and gilded. Rajesh hand finished at various stages including the brass elements like rivets and the pins which attach the cheekpieces to the helmet bowl. The interior of the helmet bowl and cheekpieces have been tarnished to give the impression of the helmet's iron bowl onto which the intricate decoration was applied.

Using this contemporary approach to silversmithing, Rajesh was able to make two identical helmets - one for Harborough Museum, Market Harborough and Hallaton Museum. The Association for Roman Archaeology also made a contribution to Hallaton Museum's replica.