Did you know archaeologists are extremely organized and they always dig square holes
on a grid system to better keep track of everything they find.
I'm Bob from W5L and I'm here to show you 10 amazing recent archaeological discoveries:
10.
Robinson Terminal If there’s one thing the city of Alexandria,
Virginia is known for it’s the history of this important American city.
Basically, most of its history lies in the shipping industry as well as the tobacco planting
which made up a large portion of Alexandria’s economy.
There was much dispute about whether or not trade should be allowed on the Potomac river
and whether or not the ships should be allowed passage in the late 1700’s.
During this time, the War of 1812 had begun and in 1814 the Raid on Alexandria would take
place by a British fleet.
This raid was successful allowing the British to raid stores and warehouses of flour, tobacco,
cotton, wine and sugar.
A new discovery of three Revolutionary War-era ships found by archaeologists in Virgina is
an important discovery for analyzing American history.
It not only allows people to see what a ship from this period would have looked like, but
it also gives them a glimpse of early building foundations and techniques, as well as showing
them some important artifacts which may have been used during the time Robinson Landing
was an important asset to the community and the country for exporting and importing trade
goods.
9.
Lost Dark Age Kingdom of Galloway Oh, there’s nothing quite as exciting as
the Medieval Times, and no I’m not talking about the Dinner Theater show which features
chivalry, rivalry and revelry!
Although, I wouldn’t say no to a Dragon’s Wing and an adult beverage.
Perchance another morrow because now it’s time to tell you about a cool archaeological
discovery.
An excavation was conducted around Trusty’s Hill Fort at Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries
and Galloway, which has revealed that around AD 600, the summit of the hill was used as
a fort which proves it was part of high status settlements during the early medieval period.
There were Pictish carvings normally found in south carved along the bedrock of the walls,
and so, archaeologists decide to dig a bit more (no pun intended) into the history of
the area.
The excavation also uncovered a workshop producing high quality metalwork of gold, silver, bronze
and iron which linked this area in a trade network with western Britain with Ireland
and Continental Europe.
It shows that merchants were actually coming toward the Galloway coast because of materials
like copper and lead being common in the area.
Trusty’s Hill is the only place in recent years which has strong evidence to support
there was a place for royal inauguration as well as there was a sit where a local social
hierarchy existed in Medieval Scotland and on the Galloway Coast.
8.
Giant Colossus Unearthed Everyone makes mistakes and this includes
archaeologists and historians.
It’s just a part of human nature, you’ve got to fall off that horse and get back on
again.
Or however that old saying goes.
A major archaeological discovery was found in the slums of Cairo buried in a river was
a 26-foot statue believed to be Pharoah Ramses the Second who had ruled more than 3,000 years
ago.
It turned out the statue may have actually been of Pharoah Psamtek who had ruled 400
years after Ramses II.
It was originally believed to be Ramses II’s because of its close proximity to Ramses II’s
temple in the ancient city of Heliopolis.
So here's a question for you: how did archaeologists discover they had made a mistake in identification?
Well, as it turns out in the past it was part of royal protocol that each pharaoh have five
titles followed by five names.
Upon discovery of the second title, the Nepti title, there was a picture of a vulture and
a cobra along with the name Neb Aa.
The only pharaoh to be referred as Neb Aa was Pharaoh Psamtek who ruled Egypt for 54
years.
7.
Ancient Prenup
Upon first glance this document might look like some romantic Egyptian poetry or some
kind of perfectly complex ancient code of law.
Turns out this eight-foot long scroll written 2,480 years ago was a form of hieroglyphic
shorthand which came from an ancient prenup.
Not the most romantic sort of thing, but here I thought prenups were fairly modern pieces
of document.
Well, turns out I was incorrect.
The document promises 1.2 pieces of silver as well as 36 bags of grain every year for
the rest of your ex-wife’s life.
Prenups were created well before we thought they were and they were made so wives would
always be provided for even if their marriage failed.
It was an interesting archaeological discovery as people though ancient Egyptian women were
no granted rights.
And in certain ways they weren’t since they couldn’t enter into contracts, bright about
legal cases, serve on juries, own property or act as a witness.
They were allowed a few rights like filing for divorce, being granted alimony as long
as they had a prenup first.
We’re curious how they went about asking their husbands for a prenup during this time
though?
It’s not exactly a light subject in conversation, and it probably was much less so when all
you really owned were some bags of grain and a few pieces of silver to rub together.
The ancient Egyptian government also didn’t care if your marriage was a success or failure,
in fact, if you wanted to you could remarry as soon as you wished following a seperation--no
couples counseling in this time period.
6.
Easter Island Did Not Destroy Itself Through Ecocide
For quite some time historians, archaeologists and science came together as a community believing
the Rapa Nui, the native Polynesian inhabitants of Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean had
committed Ecocide destroying their forests and devastating their food supply and soil
to basically starve themselves.
It turns out this may not be factual as it was just a hypothesis of what happened to
the people of Easter Island.
In fact, Binghamton University Professor of Anthropology, Carl Lipo said that his team
of researchers found the people had consumed a significant amount of marine life in their
diet.
Throughout history, people were turning toward food found in the water as well as on land.
These people had the tools to enrich their soil by adding bedrock, which they discovered
acted as natural fertilizer and could support their crops.
So, it turns out the Rapa Nui people were much more intelligent than we gave them credit
and they were even able to change their soil by adding fertilizer allowing it to be useful.
This new information gives way to many more questions than answers about how the Rapa
Nui may have conducted their day-to-day lives and where and how they stopped existing, but
I now know they didn’t commit ecocide.
5.
Long Lost Temple of Artemis Discovery Sometimes researchers and archaeologists go
by their instincts and in this case it turns out they would be pretty on the spot when
searching for a mysterious hidden temple dedicated to an ancient deity.
They knew this temple to Artemis must be on the Greek island of Euboe because it had such
a long association with the deity.
The open air shrine turned out to be one of the most important holy sites in central Greece
at the time of its existence.
The modern town retained the name of its past, which was derived from a local man, Amarynthos,
whose reverence for Artemis was famous.
The town even held a festival in honor of Artemis which attracted worshippers from all
across the region.
Sadly, only the foundations of the sanctuary remain intact as it was finally destroyed
in 401 A.D. and hidden for quite some time.
The temple to Artemis at Ephesus, near Selcuk in Turkey was at one time one of the seven
wonders of the ancient world--it joined the ranks of the Great Pyramid of Giza, Hanging
Gardens of Babylon, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Colossus of Rhodes,
Lighthouse of Alexandria as parts of remarkable constructions of classical antiquity.
That’s pretty impressive for something that only has the foundation left of what it once
was.
4.
World’s Largest Dinosaur Footprint Who would have guessed that Australia was
actually a real-life Jurassic Park at one time.
If you didn’t guess it, mate, well I don’t blame you.
It was around 130 million years ago when dinosaurs decided to get a bit cozy on the river delta
of what is now the remote Kimberley region of western Australia.
And you can find the evidence at the low tides along the beaches of the Dampier Peninsula.
It comes in the form of thousands of fossil footprints dating back at least one hundred
million years ago.
Some of the tracks are the only evidence of particular dinosaurs even ever living in Australia--dinosaurs
like the stegosaurus and the sauropods.There was one sauropod print measuring nearly 5
feet 9 inches long, and believed to be the largest dino track ever recorded.
The former record was at about 3 feet long and discovered in Bolivia.
So not only did I discover dinosaurs may have made their home in other places, but they
may have also been larger than previously believed!
3.
Long Lost Declaration of Independence with Different Signature Placement
Listen, there’s very rarely any drama that occurs when it comes to archival documents
but when it does it should most certainly make headlines.
A piece of the Declaration of Independence had been stashed away in a West Sussex Record
Office in England.
Not only was this document extremely important to American history, but it also proves that
the signatures were changed up a bit in a copy of the original government document.
The document was merely a copy and not a legitimate government form created and so a dispute has
risen about the heart of American Politics: Was the country founded by a unitary national
people or a collection of states and representatives?
2.
Pyramid Fit for a Princess Have you heard the saying a castle fit for
a princess… but what about a pyramid?
At the site of Dahshur in Egypt, a 3,8000 year-old pyramid with an alabaster block and
the name of pharaoh Ameny Qemau was discovered.
The first one bearing his name was found in 1957.
So why all the fuss about a second pyramid with this ancient pharoah’s name?
It turns out most pharaohs don’t get two pyramids.
This second pyramid most likely was used as a tomb for the pharaoh’s daughter as a new
discovery points to this being the most likely conclusion.
1.
Renaissance Couple Buried with Their Hearts Oh, it sounds like some weirdly romantic Romeo
and Juliet story but it’s something only a Renaissance couple could have conceived
as remotely suitable as a way to reciprocate one’s love.
So what am I talking about?
One wife wanted the heart of her husband buried with her so she had it removed even though
both their coffins would be buried 125 miles apart… they say distance makes the heart
grow fonder.
What better way to show your love than this, or at least that’s what they thought.
This couple’s interesting burial methods prove to researchers that people were still
using old practices at a time when they thought burial rights had become much more secularized.
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