My nonprofit educational corporation, The Celtic Collection Program, exhibits the largest privately owned collection of Celtic artifacts in the United States. When we started purchasing the artifacts from private collections and ancient galleries several years ago, I observed a motif of X and interconnected X designs on some of them, including important ones likely used to perform ceremonies. As a historian and a therapist with preferences for Psychoanalytic Theory and Neo-Freudian traditions such as Analytical Psychology, a school of psychology that originated from the ideas of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, interpreting these symbols became a personal and professional challenge.

After fifteen years of identifying hundreds of linear and X patterns on artifacts and studying the symbolism of Stonehenge and Newgrange, I have discovered remarkable data, some of which has led me to consider that there may be a correlation between ancient X symbolism and what Dr. Carl Jung referred to as the "Collective Unconscious", a subconscious storehouse of buried memories inherited from our ancestral past.

Importance of the Sun in Ancient Celtic Society

According to Dr. Miranda J. Green in her book, Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend, the sun was significantly meaningful to the ancient Celts. She states that "One of the most important venerated natural phenomena was the sun, seen as a life giver, promoter of fertility and healing" and that "coins were struck with sun symbols associated with the horse".

Some of the primary symbols for the Sun in ancient Celtic times were an X or a four-spoked wheel featured on bronze axes, swords, coins, urns, pottery and jewelry since Neolithic Europe. "Hallstatt Iron Age sheet-bronze vessels were decorated with repousse crosses and solar wheels," states Dr. Green.

The X symbol was no doubt a significant astronomical representation for thousands of years; perhaps one of the most powerful ideograms valued by the Celts, which explains the X motif on our artifacts. The X artifacts range from 62 AD to 400 BC. However, to uncover the mystery of the interconnected design, a close evaluation of the symbols at Stonehenge and Newgrange needed to be conducted.

Studying foods people ate is an important step towards learning more about ancient cultures. Historians try to piece together what foods ancient people ate, preparation methods, and the foods people avoided to try to gain insight into ancient cultures as a whole. This information can help to provide a more comprehensive view of how ancient cultures lived, and how they evolved into modern times. Foods can be studied by viewing ancient texts, the discovery of bones and eating utensils from ancient meals, and studying teeth from ancient individuals.

A recent study conducted on the teeth from children living during the 11th through 16th centuries provides insight into the foods those children ate, and the impact that socio-economic status may have had on their diet. According to Daily Mail, the teeth were studied through the use of 3D microscopic imaging. The testing, known as dental microwear texture analysis, measures microscopic changes in the surface of teeth. By using this testing, scientists were able to study the enamel from children's molars without damaging the teeth.

Phnom Pen - Angkor Wat, the immense temple complex in Cambodia, might be larger and more extensive than previously thought, with new structures discovered below the ground.

Researchers used LIDAR or ground-penetrating radar and airborne light detection and ranging techniques to detect several structures that are yet to be excavated. An immense structure to the south of the complex measures 1500 by 600 meters, and researchers are still unclear as to its purpose.

One of team's lead researchers, University of Sydney's Professor Roland Fletcher, said the massive size of this structure was intriguing.

Additionally, the team also found several towers that were pulled down as the main temple was being built. While more evidence is required before the team can make conclusions about why this happened, initial hypotheses revolve around the fact that these were subsidiary shrines, used during the construction of the main temples. The number of these towers and the existence of the southern structure seem to indicate that Angkor Wat might be larger than previously thought, and much more intricate.

A separate research team also uncovered a large bronze workshop adjacent to the ancient Royal Palace of Angkor. Archaeologists have been searching for decades, for the site where Angkor's bronze statues, some as large as six meters, were cast.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of "1816 -- the year without a summer."

Although two centuries have lapsed, mention the year 1816, and most people will immediately associate it with the "year without a summer." What happened that year and what caused it?

Climatologists agree that volcanoes can cause serious, but temporary, effects on world weather. It's become an accepted theory that the 1816 weather phenomenon was caused by the April 5, 1815, eruption of the Tambora volcano on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia. The initial eruption was followed by a more intense phase of volcanic activity from April 10-12, with eruption activity continuing sporadically until mid-July.

As a result of the volcanic activity, an estimated 100 kilometers of dust ash were ejected into the atmosphere, causing complete darkness for three days on the island of Madura. An estimated 10,000 people were killed in the eruption, with an additional 82,000 who subsequently died from starvation and/or disease.

The Tambora eruption, guessed to have been 13 times more powerful than the May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens eruption in Washington, blocked out the sun's warming radiation. Increased cyclone activity was also attributed to the Tambora eruption. The effects of the volcanic activity appeared to have been abnormally concentrated near Newfoundland, with activity throughout New England, and in Europe, from central Ireland across England to the Baltic Sea.

A fragment of the world's oldest and largest unsolved jigsaw puzzle, a 2,200-year-old map of Rome made of thousands of marble fragments, has been finally reunited to the other existing pieces, according to the Rome Cultural Heritage Superintendency.

Connecting to a large piece discovered in 1562, the new fragment bears an inscription that completes the word Circus Flaminius.

The map, known as Forma Urbis Romae, was carved into marble slabs between 203 and 211 A.D., during the rule of the emperor Septimius Severus.

Only fragments remain today and most are held in the Capitoline museum. They cover just 10 percent the original map surface that once stood on a wall in the Templum Pacis (Temple of Peace).

The wall still survives today in a building near the 6th-century Church of Santi Cosma e Damiano. Rows of holes where the map was attached using bronze clamps can still be seen.

Researchers working on a project to create 3D digital models illustrating the urban development of ancient Rome have begun by reconstructing the city in 320 AD, just before Emperor Constantine chose Byzantium as the site of a new Roman capital, Constantinople.

At this time Rome had reached the peak of its population, and major Christian churches were just beginning to be built.

"Much of what survives of the ancient city dates to this period, making reconstruction less speculative than it must, perforce, be for earlier phase," say the researchers, an international team from universities in Italy and the US.

"But having started with AD 320, the Rome Reborn team intends to move both backwards and forwards in time until the entire span of time foreseen by our mission has been covered."

Alexander the Great was the ruler of one of the biggest empires in the ancient world. However, he died before his 33rd birthday, leaving behind a legend. He was careful and apparently avoided many assassination attempts during his life. Who could possibly be the person who murdered him? Was it Ptolemy, a man who had gained Alexander's trust?

Family Ties

Ptolemy I Soter was born in 367 BC. He was perhaps the half-brother of Alexander and son of Philip II of Macedon with the beautiful Arsinoe. To avoid problems, Philip may have arranged the marriage of Arsinoe with a Macedonian nobleman named Lagus.

Regardless of a certain familial link, Philip treated Ptolemy as his own son. He took him to the capital at a young age and gave him as good of an education as he offered Alexander. Ptolemy was also sent to the school of Aristotle, where he was considered a talented student. It is unlikely that Philip would have invested so much attention and invited him to live in his palace, if Ptolemy had not been his child.

Everything in Ptolemy's life suggested that he would be a very successful person, but, at least for a time, he had to stay in the shadow of Alexander.

Ptolemy was considered a great warrior and very well-educated in the art of fighting. He soon became not only the closest friend of Alexander, but also his personal guard called ''somatophylakes''. He was a few years older than Alexander, tall and fit.

The remains of an Anglo-Saxon island have been uncovered in one of the most important archaeological finds in decades.

The island which was home to a Middle Saxon settlement was found at Little Carlton near Louth, Lincolnshire by archaeologists from the University of Sheffield.

It is thought the site is a previously unknown monastic or trading centre but researchers believe their work has only revealed an enticing glimpse of the settlement so far.

The exciting discovery was made after a local metal detectorist Graham Vickers reported an intriguing item to the Lincolnshire Finds Liaison Officer (FLO), Dr Adam Daubney, from the Portable Antiquities Scheme which encourages the voluntary recording of archaeological objects found by members of the public in England and Wales.

Mr Vickers unearthed a silver stylus, which is an ornate writing tool dating back to the 8th century, from a disturbed plough field.

This was the first of many unusual items found at the site which held important clues to the significant settlement lying below.

The large number of artefacts now include a total of 21 styli, around 300 dress pins, and a huge number of 'Sceattas', coins from the 7th-8th centuries, as well as a small lead tablet bearing the faint but legible letters spelling 'Cudberg' which is a female Anglo-Saxon name.

In his Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization, Graham Hancock examines the numerous structures that have been discovered underwater around the world. Most of the sites that Hancock discusses lie less than 120 meters (395 feet) below sea level, which comes as no surprise since the sea level never fell below this mark during the time Homo sapiens walked the earth. Submerged over 700 meters (2300 feet) underwater, the Cuban city discovered by Paulina Zelitsky and Paul Weinzweig during a joint Cuban-Canadian expedition is the singular exception.

Overturning Old Theories

How can the existence of this underwater city at this great depth be reconciled with the well-established consensus that the sea level never dropped so low? In Hancock's own words: "What one would not expect to find in water anywhere near as deep as 700 meters would be a sunken city - unless it had been submerged by some colossal tectonic event rather than by rising sea levels."

However, the hypothesis that the city was originally built at a higher altitude and subsequently sunk to its present depth through tectonic activity has not stood up to the scrutiny of the experts. Grenville Draper of Florida International University considers it highly unlikely that such an event could have occurred: "Nothing of this magnitude has been reported, even from the Mediterranean..."

Supposing Draper's remarks rejecting the likelihood of the city having submerged are reliable, we are compelled to accept that the city was built at more or less the same depth that the city is located now. In other words, we are faced with the patently absurd conclusion that the structures were built underwater! Though proponents of the aquatic ape theory may beg to differ, it is clear that we have reached an impasse. Could there be an alternative theory that satisfactorily accounts for these structures at such depths?

A group of monumental megalithic tombs has been discovered in Western Pomerania in Poland. Because of the enormous character of the structures, they are often called the 'Polish pyramids.'

According to Radio Szczecin, the discovery of more than a dozen massive megalithic tombs was made during a research and conservation program carried out by Dr. Agnieszka Matuszewska of the University of Szczecin's Department of Archaeology in collaboration with Marek Schiller from Dębno. The site is located near Dolice, Western Pomerania. The researchers' goal began with entering, storing, processing and visualizing geographic data. The discovery made in Dolice appears to be greater than what the researchers hoped for.

The ground structures were made in a shape of an elongated triangle, surrounded by big stone blocks. The structures stood 3 meters (9.8 feet) tall, and were 150 meters (492.1 feet) long, and 6-15 meters (19.7-49.2 feet) wide. The place where they are located is difficult to examine. The surface is covered by an old forest. On small sites archaeologists have discovered fragments of pottery and other artifacts. The tombs were created by the Funnel Beaker Culture community which lived on the land from the 5th to the 3rd millennium BC.


The mounds contain single burials. According to the researchers, the people who were buried in the tombs were important elders of the tribe. Other information may be available after the researchers summarize more data and explore the sites further. Until now, the research has been based on non-invasive methods.