Laima is a Baltic goddess of fate. Often part of a goddess triad, she relates to childbirth, marriage and destiny. She's patron of...

Curonian Lagoon is a freshwater body beside the Baltic Sea at western Lithuania, separated from the sea by the narrow Curonian Spit....

Portrimpo is a pagan Baltic sea god. Also known as Autrimpo he rules the sea, earth, grain and crops. One of the Old Prussian gods,...

Baltic mythology has a faraway ancestor in Proto-Indo-European mythology. Lore of the Baltic region has deep roots, reflecting the fierce...

Alum is an ingredient in processes such as dyeing fabric, tanning hides and water purification. Alum is ubiquitous in ancient and...

Tanning hides is practiced in the ancient world since c. 7000 BCE, in the Indus Valley site of Mehgarh. By 2500 BCE, Sumerians of...

Sträggele is the wife of the Dread Huntsman, der Türst of Lucerne canton in Switzerland. In Lucerne the huntsman, Sträggele and their...

The Elp culture spreads through the Netherlands, Northern Germania and just south of the Baltic coast. Bronze and Iron Age cattle people,...

Verdigris is the green rust or patina on copper, created as the metal reacts with oxygen in the environment. Copper corrodes green to...

Neolithic farmers in Britain and northern Europe are the first to drink milk. Early humans are lactose intolerant but consume dairy...

Woad ( Isatis tinctoria ) is a plant yielding a blue pigment used in dyes, paint and medicine. A member of the mustard family, it's also...

Salt is an essential mineral of life. In food it stimulates taste and is among the oldest preservation methods. Part of the human taste...

Cinnamon ( Cinnamomum ) is the oldest known spice in the world. The fragrant bark comes into popular use by c. 2000 BCE, when Egyptians...

Ornithomancy is first recorded during the Hittite Empire (c. 1450 - 1180). From ancient Greek "take omens from the flight and cries of...

In the mid Bronze Age the Minoan Greeks come under fire in more ways than one. A series of volcanic eruptions by the Cyclades island of...

In the European Bronze Age, the North is a wild place, populated by nomadic tribes, great bears and howling spirits on endless nights....

A prehistoric species of cattle, Aurochs (Bos primigenius) rules Europe and much of Asia in the ancient world. The last known Aurochs is...

Early prehistoric use of gold is for religious purposes, ornament or decor. In 1500 BCE, Thutmose of Egypt decrees gold to be used for...

In the Bronze Age, the Trzciniec culture (2400 - 1300 BCE) occupies areas of Central-East Europe in Poland and parts of Lithuania....

During the late Bronze Age 2000 - 1200 BCE and after, the Amber Roads form passage for trade, merchants, craftspeople, criminals,...