Owen Jarus

Owen Jarus

Live Science Contributor

Owen Jarus is a regular contributor to Live Science who writes about archaeology and humans' past. He has also written for The Independent (UK), The Canadian Press (CP) and The Associated Press (AP), among others. Owen has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Toronto and a journalism degree from Ryerson University. 

Articles by: Owen Jarus

An aerial view of the hexagonal-shaped pyramid in Kazakhstan. Notice how the inner stone walls form a maze-like path that leads toward the burial site at its center.

Bronze Age hexagonal 'pyramid' not like anything 'found before in the Eurasian steppe'

By Owen Jarus published

Archaeologists in Kazakhstan have discovered a hexagonal pyramid that served as a burial site in the Bronze Age.

The foreground of an unearthed palace-like Mayan building.

Palatial 1,500-year-old Maya structure unearthed in Mexico

By Owen Jarus published

Archaeologists discovered the palace-like building ahead of railway construction in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.

We see a grayish head and torso of an "alien" in a pillow-like box

'This is complete nonsense': Scientists rail against 'alien' bodies shown before Mexican congress

By Owen Jarus published

Scientists blast claims of two 'alien' bodies that a journalist presented to Mexico's congress.

Photographs of animal horns from a variety of animals, including cattle and caprines, or animals in the goat family, discovered at at the mustatil archaeological site.

7,000-year-old animal bones, human remains found in enigmatic stone structure in Arabia

By Owen Jarus published

Researchers have discovered human bones and animal remains dating to around 7,000 years ago in Arabian stone structures known as mustatils.

An aerial view of an ancient temple with square rooms and stone walls.

2,800-year-old figurines unearthed at Greek temple may be offerings to Poseidon

By Owen Jarus published

Excavation of an ancient Greek temple has yielded a variety of figurines, possibly offerings to Poseidon.

Archaeologists excavate the remain of a priest or shaman who lived about 3,000 years ago in Peru.

3,000-year-old tomb of shaman who may have mediated 'between spiritual and earthly worlds' found in Peru

By Owen Jarus published

Archaeologists have unearthed the tomb and grave goods of a shaman who lived 3,000 years ago in what is now Peru.

The Pyramids of Giza, seen here with the Milky Way in the background, are not Egypt's oldest pyramids.

How old are the Egyptian pyramids?

By Owen Jarus published

And why did the ancient Egyptians build pyramids in the first place?

Here we see the entrance to at ancient Egyptian temple at Abu Simbel. There are four giant seated pharaohs, two on either side of the entrance.

Did the ancient Egyptians really marry their siblings and children?

By Owen Jarus published

Ramesses II married his daughter and Cleopatra VII married her brother, but how common was marriage within royal and commoner families?

Remains of five of the 13 individuals found at Structure 18 at the Moral-Reforma Archaeological Zone.

Deformed skulls and ritual beheadings found at Maya pyramid in Mexico

By Owen Jarus published

Archaeologists announced that some individuals buried at a Maya pyramid more than 1,000 years ago had deformed skulls and had been killed in ritual beheadings.

The excavation site of the mausoleum of Emperor Wendi of the Han Dynasty.

2,200-year-old remains of sacrificed giant panda and tapir discovered near Chinese emperor's tomb

By Owen Jarus published

The discovery of an ancient tapir's skeletal remains near an emperor's tomb indicates that these animals once roamed China.

Bas relief fragment portraying Cleopatra.

What did Cleopatra, Egypt's last pharaoh, really look like?

By Owen Jarus published

"Cleopatra's skin color has nothing to do with her accomplishments, which are immense."

We see a close up of a portrait of Ramesses II wearing a blue and gold hat.

X-ray scans reveal 'hidden mysteries' in ancient Egyptian necropolis paintings

By Owen Jarus published

New scans reveal that Ancient Egyptian artists flubbed a tomb painting depicting royalty.

We see the famous mosaic from Pompeii of Alexander the Great riding his horse in battle.

Did Alexander the Great have any children?

By Owen Jarus published

Alexander the Great died at age 32, leaving behind a vast empire. Did he have any heirs to rule in the power vacuum that followed his death?

Harrison Ford wears his iconic Indiana Jones hat and an open jacket missing a sleeve.

What do (real) archaeologists think of the legacy of 'Indiana Jones'?

By Owen Jarus published

Is Indiana Jones an archaeologist or a looter? Archaeologists dish on the adventurer before the movie premiere of "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny."

We see stones piled up near the grass along the Nile River.

Evidence of ancient hydraulic engineering discovered along Nile

By Owen Jarus published

A 600-mile-long network of stone walls along the Nile served as an ancient water management system.

We see an archaeological site with different levels of dirt and stone. There are five people excavating at the site, which has a stone wall in the background.

1st-century coins from Jewish revolt against the Romans discovered near the Black Sea

By Owen Jarus published

Roman soldiers took coins minted by Jewish rebels in the Holy Land with them to a military camp in Georgia.

A painted human-shaped sarcophagus on a table under a tent.

2,300-year-old Egyptian mummification workshops found at Saqqara

By Owen Jarus published

Archaeologists in Egypt found ancient mummification workshops — one for humans and one for animals — at Saqqara.

The newly found petroglyphs from Sweden include depictions of humans. Here we see one tall human with their arms throw up in the air.

2,700-year-old petroglyphs depicting people, ships and animals discovered in Sweden

By Owen Jarus published

About 40 ancient rock carvings have been found on a former rocky island in Sweden.

We see a horizontal finger-shaped lead piece with writing inscribed on it against a white background.

1,100-year-old breastplate to ward off evil may contain the oldest Cyrillic writing ever found

By Owen Jarus published

An inscription on an 1,100-year-old breastplate found in a ruined fortress in Bulgaria may contain one of the earliest known examples of Cyrillic text, researchers claim.

Here we see the image of a human skeleton on its side, arms drawn up to the chest and knees bent.

Perfectly preserved 7,000-year-old skeleton unearthed during renovation in Poland

By Owen Jarus published

A well-preserved 7,000-year-old skeleton discovered near Kraków may have belonged to a Neolithic farmer.

A drone shot of the area to the north of the watchtower. There is a wide river running from the top left to the bottom right of the image. On the bank closest to us are lots of trees (without their leaves). On the far side of the bank there is a small town.

1,700-year-old Roman watchtower ruins discovered in Switzerland

By Owen Jarus published

Archaeologists in Switzerland have unearthed the remains of a fourth century A.D. watchtower built to protect the edge of the Roman Empire.

Two views of a broken standing Buddha statue carved out of white stone. One view is the profile. The other is a frontal image, showing Buddha dressed in robes with halo-like circle behind his head.

1st-century Buddha statue from ancient Egypt indicates Buddhists lived there in Roman times

By Owen Jarus published

Buddhists lived in Egypt during Roman times, a 1st-century Buddha statue found in Berenike suggests.

A white limestone statue showing two individuals. One is a statue of a pharaoh and the other is a man holding the statue in his lap.

Mystery of 'impossible' ancient Egyptian statue may be solved

By Owen Jarus published

The identities of a pharaoh and a nonroyal person in an "impossible" statue may have finally been deciphered.

This is the largest relief found at the tomb of Panehsy in Saqqara.

3,300-year-old ancient Egyptian tombs and chapel with 'amazing' decorations unearthed at Saqqara

By Owen Jarus published

Newfound tombs from ancient Egypt at Saqqara include the burials of a temple overseer, royal treasury artist and an unknown individual.

The Stone of Destiny is a large rectangular stone. The "Stone of Destiny" was used in the coronation of the kings of Scotland in the 13th century. Today it is used in the coronation of the United Kingdom's monarch.

Hidden symbols and 'anomalies' discovered in 800-year-old 'Stone of Destiny' to be used in Charles III's coronation

By Owen Jarus published

A new look at the 13th-century Stone of Destiny reveals mysterious markings and other 'anomalies' that previously went unnoticed.

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