Fish: Did you mean...?

A plate made from clay with glaze traditionally attributed to the "Helgoland Painter." Campania, Italy, c. 350–325 BCE. (Pushkin Museum, Moscow)

How did fishermen record their trophy catches before the invention of photography? In 19th century Japan, fishing boats were equipped with rice paper, sumi-e ink, and brushes in order to create gyoktaku: elaborate rubbings of freshly caught...

Vishnu is one of the most important gods in the Hindu pantheon. He is considered a member of the holy trinity (trimurti) of Hinduism with Brahma and Shiva. Vishnu is the Preserver and guardian of men, he protects the order of things (dharma...

Food and drink in ancient Egypt relied on barley and wheat, the primary crops cultivated along the Nile. The Egyptian diet was based on bread, beer, and vegetables. Meat was expensive and only rarely eaten. The majority of people ate fairly...

The ancient Mediterranean diet revolved around four staples, which, even today, continue to dominate restaurant menus and kitchen tables: cereals, vegetables, olive oil and wine. Seafood, cheese, eggs, meat and many types of fruit were also...

The Coyote tales come from the Shasta people who originally inhabited the regions of modern-day northern California and southern Oregon. Coyote is a popular trickster figure among many Native peoples of North America, including the Shasta...

The Kon-Tiki expedition of 1947, led by the Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002), successfully crossed 8,000 km (5,000 miles) of the Pacific Ocean from Peru to the Tuamotu Islands on a balsa-wood raft. The aim of the expedition was to demonstrate...

The Oxus Treasure is a collection of 180 artifacts of precious metal, dated to the Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE), which were discovered on the north bank of the Oxus River near the town of Takht-i Sangin in Tajikstan between 1876-1880...

In many depictions of Vikings, whether in film or other media, a group is often seen gathered around a flaming pit while an animal of some type – usually a boar – turns on a spit above. While the people of Scandinavia certainly ate meat...

The Raven tales are stories featuring the trickster figure Raven that come from the Athabaskan (Dene)-speaking peoples of the Pacific Northwest and other First Nations of the region of modern-day Canada. Raven, like the trickster figures...