Why Has Rongorongo Never Been Deciphered?
Why has the Rongorongo script never been deciphered? A small Rapa Nui corpus, lost context and new dating explain what researchers know—and what they cannot read.
Browse Curiosmos
Ivan Petricevic
Ivan Petricevic is an investigative journalist and researcher with more than a decade of experience covering ancient history, UAP phenomena, space, and science. He writes about space, science, and history for Večernji list and has appeared as an expert on Discovery Channel and History Channel. He founded Curiosmos, where he reports from primary sources, archaeological research, and field investigations.
Why Were Achaemenid Kings Buried High in the Rock?
Why were Achaemenid kings buried high in the rock? The tombs at Naqsh-e Rostam reveal how Persian rulers used cliffs, inscriptions and royal imagery.
What Were Poland’s 7,000-Year-Old Rondels For?
Archaeologists have found roughly twenty Neolithic rondels in Poland. Their circular ditches and palisades reveal organised communities, but their exact purpose remains open to evidence.
What Counts as Writing—and Why the “First” Script Is Hard to Name
What counts as writing? Compare Uruk tablets, Egyptian signs and Jiahu marks—and see why the earliest script is hard to name.
What Can the Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca Head Actually Prove?
A terracotta head from Calixtlahuaca has been called Roman. What do its date, style and incomplete excavation record actually show about pre-Columbian contact?
Why Did the Last Woolly Mammoths Survive on Wrangel Island?
The last woolly mammoths survived on Wrangel Island thousands of years after the mainland herds vanished. Ancient DNA reveals a severe bottleneck, a long recovery and a final extinction that remains unresolved.
How Did Prehistoric Hunters Trap Mammoths Near Mexico City?
What do the mammoth traps at Tultepec reveal? INAH and UNAM evidence shows how pits, bones and lake sediments illuminate prehistoric hunting in Mexico.
Why Were Two Viking Boat Graves Buried One Inside the Other?
Why were two Viking boat graves buried one inside the other? At Vinjeøra, a woman’s ninth-century boat was placed inside an older man’s burial, raising questions about family, memory and land.
How Did Ancient Observers Know Earth Was Round?
How did ancient observers know Earth was round? Greek, Indian and Islamic scholars used eclipses, shadows and the changing sky to test Earth’s shape long before Columbus.
Did Vikings Really Wear Arabic Script? The Birka Textile Debate
Did Viking burial clothes carry Arabic script? The Birka textile claim was disputed, while a separate ring and silver trade provide firmer evidence of Norse–Islamic contact.
Could Henbane Explain the Viking Berserker Trance?
Could henbane explain Viking berserker trance? A Fyrkat burial and toxicology offer clues, but the evidence stops short of proving a battle drug.
Why Did the “Siberian Unicorn” Survive So Long—and Then Disappear?
Why did the “Siberian unicorn” disappear? New dating places this giant Ice Age rhino alongside humans, while its specialised steppe diet offers a stronger clue than the myth.
Who Invented Zero—and How Did It Become a Number?
Who invented zero? The answer is a long history of place-value marks, Brahmagupta’s arithmetic and evidence from the Bakhshālī manuscript—not one sudden invention.
What Can Hilda’s Reconstructed Face Really Tell Us About an Iron Age Woman?
Hilda’s reconstructed face is based on a skull held by the University of Edinburgh. The method can estimate some proportions, but the image cannot prove a unique appearance or a druidic identity.
The Humayma Chess Piece: Was This Small Stone Really a 7th-Century Rook?
A small sandstone object found at Humayma in southern Jordan may be one of the earliest physical chess pieces, but its identification as a rook remains provisional.
What Makes a Meteorite a Time Capsule?
Meteorites are more than rocks from space. Their minerals, isotopes and tiny chondrules preserve a record of how the young Solar System took shape—and what they cannot tell us.
What Would Make a UAP Case Scientifically Useful?
A UAP report becomes more useful when it preserves raw data, records the sensor conditions and lets independent analysts test ordinary explanations.
Could a Seafloor Map Trace a Lost Coastline?
Bathymetry, sediments and preserved artefacts can reveal drowned landscapes, but a seafloor shape becomes archaeology only when several lines of evidence agree.
Why Do Some Galaxies Stop Making Stars?
Some galaxies stop forming stars when hot gas, black-hole energy and depleted fuel change the balance that lets new suns appear.
What Can Ancient DNA Actually Reveal About a City’s Founders?
Ancient DNA can reveal relationships and movements between populations, but it cannot by itself name a culture or explain why people moved.
Andromeda Is Full of Giant Bubbles. Supernovae May Be Driving Its Turbulence
Astronomers identified 118 expanding hydrogen superbubbles across Andromeda and found that clustered supernovae can supply enough energy to sustain the galaxy’s observed turbulence.
Morocco’s Oued Beht Holds North Africa’s Oldest Defensive System Beyond the Nile
Archaeologists dated a ditch-and-rampart system at Oued Beht in Morocco to 3,500–4,000 years ago. Here is what it reveals about a changing North African settlement.
Why Is Part of Mars Purple? A New Image Shows What the Colour Is Hiding
A Mars Express view of Thyles Rupes near the south pole reveals kilometre-high cliffs, frozen dunes and a landscape shaped by cooling, dust and frost. Mars is usually pictured in…
How Did a 222-Metre Crater Hide on the Moon Until Now?
A 222-metre crater formed on the Moon in 2024 but was found only after a routine comparison of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images. Here is what the fresh impact reveals about the lunar surface.