When we move through the world with our smartphones, heated homes, grocery stores and fancy cars, it’s easy to forget that our world has been around for literally billions of years. And while Homo sapiens, or humans, have only been here for about 300,000 years, that still leaves us with an incredible amount of history. It’s impossible to know and understand everything that humanity has been through, but thankfully, there are people out there who live for discovering more about our world’s past, and some who are even willing to share that information online.

The Ancient Explorers Facebook page writes that their mission is to “explore the history of our ancient past to make an impact on today’s and tomorrow’s,” and they certainly do a great job of that. The account, which was created on New Year’s Day in 2013, has amassed an impressive 833k followers and has posted over 10k photos. One quick scroll through the page’s feed can teach you more about fossils, ancient architecture, ancient jewelry, ancient temples and anything else that you might not have learned in history class.         

To learn more about why it’s so important to study our world’s past, we reached out to ancient history expert David Lee. David runs the Roman History Blog, which also has accompanying Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages, and was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda about what inspired him to start studying Roman history. 

“I got into Roman History as I was fascinated with Hadrian's wall as a child, and I liked visiting York, also known to the Romans as Eboracum in the North of England,” he shared. “I like the intrigue, the politics, the way the Republic changed into the rule of one man with a series of emperors. Rome expanded to encompass the Mediterranean and beyond.”

We were also curious if David could share any fun facts about Roman history that you pandas might not know, and he noted how important their legacy has been. “We still have their laws, culture, theatre, comedy, literature,  buildings, military tactics and influence on the modern world."

And as far as why we should still value studying ancient history today, the history enthusiast says, “It's important to study the past so we can have a better understanding of who we are and what has happened to us and how it has influenced us in modern times.”

If you’d like to expand your knowledge of the ancient world but just aren’t sure where to start, David says, “There are plenty of documentaries on Youtube and other streaming sites. Also, books are a good source for learning, and we have the internet with plenty of websites with great content, including social media. I post Roman history on Twitter on a regular basis.”

“Ancient history is a fascinating subject, and you can learn so much from it. Do take the time to find out more,” he added.

If you’d like to learn more from David about the amazing history of ancient Rome, be sure to visit his blog right here!

We also reached out to the ancient history experts at the website Ancient Origins to gain more insight on the topic, and we were lucky enough to get in touch with Co-Founder and Chief Editor Joanna Gillan. She explained that the site came about a decade ago when she and Dr. Ioannis Syrigos “[wanted] a project that would free [them] from the constraints of nine-to-five jobs and give [them] the flexibility to operate an online business from anywhere in the world.” They tossed around their top 10 topics, and ancient history emerged as the clear winner.

When it comes to what Joanna loves most about running Ancient Origins, she shared with Bored Panda, “I love that we’ve taken a really fun approach to ancient history, selecting the most captivating, weird, surprising, strange, shocking, or lesser-known facts from our ancient world - things like lost cities, bizarre artifacts, historical enigmas, ancient cold cases, hidden treasures, and more. By doing so, we've transformed a subject often studied in universities – which can sometimes be dry and dull – into something accessible and engaging for everyone, reigniting the public's enthusiasm for the mysteries and fascination of our distant past.”

Joanna also shared that her absolute favorite topic to study in ancient history is the Sumerians, whose amazingly advanced civilization seemed to just spring up out of nowhere in what is now Iraq. “Suddenly, around 6,000 years ago, they jumped from being hunter gatherers and then simple agricultural communities to establishing one of the world’s first civilizations," she explained. "They developed intricate writing systems, an advanced justice system, a complex social structure, well-organized cities, incredible art, literature, and architecture, sophisticated timekeeping and mathematics, and a rich mythology and religion. It is quite mind-boggling!”

Joanna was also kind enough to share some fascinating fun facts about ancient history with us. “The earliest dentures were made with teeth scavenged from dead soldiers. In ancient China, they used armor made from layers and layers of paper, and in some instances, it was deemed superior to metal armor. Romans wore red-crested helmets in battle to prevent them killing people on their side,” she noted. 

“In 16th-17th Britain, pineapples were a status symbol and people would pay thousands for one pineapple. They could even rent them by the hour to display at a dinner party. For 1,000 years, monks of Mt Athos in Greece have not only banned women, but also female animals,” Joanna continued. “Mary, Queen of Scots, washed with white wine to ensure a smooth complexion. Queen Elizabeth I may have died from wearing toxic lead-based makeup. Ketchup originated in ancient China. Eels were sometimes used to pay rent in the Middle Ages. Tutankhamun’s parents were brother and sister.”

When it comes to why it’s so important that we study ancient history, Joanna says, “[It] offers a window into our very origins – unraveling the birth of mankind and our evolution through the development of civilization, culture, society, and religion. Delving into the history of ancient societies gives us the opportunity to glean wisdom from their successes and failures, thus informing our modern lives. As the renowned Spanish philosopher George Santayana aptly noted, ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’ While historical lessons may not always ward off doom and disaster, learning about them can help us better understand our present and also anticipate our future.”

And if you’d like to learn more about ancient history, Joanna says it’s best to get out in the field. “Visit ancient sites, talk to locals who know lesser-known facts, folklore and historical tidbits, visit museums, join tours and expeditions. You can even volunteer to participate in archaeological digs to gain hands-on experience. These adventures can help you nurture your passion and identify your specific areas of interest.”

Joanna also shared a fascinating story detailing how exciting studying ancient history can be. “In 2015, Ioannis and I were in Ecuador investigating the lost artifacts of Father Crespi, an Italian missionary who had spent 60 years there since the 1930s. He had done a lot of good work, and in return, the indigenous people brought him artifacts from all over the country, ranging from 200 to 2,000 years old and covering various cultures and ages,” she explained. 

“Among these artifacts, there was a controversial subset depicting Sumerian writing, gods, and figurines. If authentic, it would imply contact between Sumer (now Iraq) and South America thousands of years ago, which is not mentioned in history books.”

“However, the controversial artifacts went missing, and we wanted to find out where they went,” Joanna continued. “We gained exclusive access to Crespi’s artifact collection in Ecuador's central bank vaults, but the Sumerian ones were missing. Upon inquiring about them, we received threats and were told not to ask about the missing artifacts and to take our investigations elsewhere. Later, we were threatened with legal action if we were to write an article about the missing artifacts.”

“In 2016, Ioannis and a colleague, Gary, were investigating a story for Ancient Origins on the Tayos Caves in Ecuador, a vast underground network where several ancient artifacts have been recovered in the past, but many parts of the cave remain untouched and unexplored,” Joanna shared. “Like something out of an Indiana Jones episode, they were captured by a machete-wielding tribe in the Amazon jungle for accidentally straying into their territory. They were taken back to the village and put on trial. The villagers voted that they were guilty, but Ioannis and Gary managed to talk and pay their way out of it, before being left in the jungle in the middle of the night. So, a website on ancient history is not all dusty academic articles and artifacts!”

If you’d like to learn more about ancient history, be sure to visit AncientOrigins.net right here!

We hope you’re enjoying this virtual trip to an ancient history museum, pandas. Whether you’ve studied archeology yourself or you didn’t realize that dinosaurs and humans never coexisted, we hope you’ve been able to learn something new here today. Feel free to share any other fun facts about ancient history that you know down below, and keep upvoting the images you find most captivating! Then, if you’re interested in reading another Bored Panda article featuring artifacts that have been preserved for many years, check out this story next!