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The year has come to a close, and now it's time to look back on it. So, we're going to consider
the Greatest Archaeological Discoveries of 2021. Mind you, this is my list,
so it will most certainly be from my perspective. Kayleigh, from History with Kayleigh--she's
got a list as well, top five, I think, and it's very different from mine.
After watching this, go check it out and see what she thinks. If I recall her list contains only
one discovery that I have on my list, so there's hardly any overlap.
This list includes objects found from ancient times only. So there's nothing
medieval here or prehistoric. So, if you were looking for footprints in the Americas,
you won't find them here. I'm staying in my wheelhouse and it helps narrow things down a bit.
Some of the discoveries on my list--I think about three--concerned things found before 2021,
but it's in 2021 that a realization came as to what was actually found. Does that count
as an archaeological discovery? I think if it involves the work that archaeologists do
after something is dug up, it does. It's a discovery, right?
Archaeological discoveries are important for the study of ancient history because
with each discovery, ancient history is revised. Our understanding of the past changes,
sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. But they are always informative and transformative.
So now, I'm going to count down the 20 greatest archaeological discoveries of 2021.
Number 20: the Roman Coin Hoard, found in Germany. More than 5,500 silver coins, buried by
a river about 1,800 years ago, were discovered in Augsburg, Germany. These coins are denarii--that's
the standard silver denomination during the 1st to early 3rd century CE. The youngest coin of
the hoard was minted at the beginning of the 3rd century, thus dating the deposition of
the hoard in the early 3rd century. We don't yet know why the hoard was deposited there.
Number 19: Chinese Bronze Mirrors. Yes, archaeologists conducting excavations at
a cemetery in Northwest China have found more than 80 roughly 2,000-year-old bronze mirrors.
The ancient Chinese used to cast the mirrors using a variety of methods. They range in
diameter from three to nine inches. Many of the artifacts are very well preserved--one of them
is still able to reflect images fairly clearly. The tombs belong to the elites of that society.
Most of the mirrors were buried close to the head or upper body of the owners,
who included both men and women. The accessories held inscriptions conveying wishes for a better
life. Most of the mirrors date to between the Warring States period of 475 to 221 BCE
and the late Western Han dynasty, which ended around 9 CE. These mirrors are
great references for archaeologists to further study the material culture of the
early and middle periods of the Western Han dynasty. They are also excellent examples of
the aesthetic taste of the ancient Chinese, and they possess both historical and artistic value.
Number 18: a Gupta Temple was found in India. Yes, the Archaeological Survey of India
found the remains of an ancient temple in a village called Bilsarh
in Uttar Pradesh. A staircase of the temple has shankhalipi inscriptions--shankhalipi is
an ornate stylized script often used to write names--and they say 'Sri
Mahendraditya' on them, which is the name of the Gupta emperor Kumaragupta I, who reigned
in the 5th century CE. This is only the third temple ever found in India for the Gupta period.
Number 17: an ancient shipwreck near Sicily. Yes, a Roman vessel dating back to the 2nd century BCE
has been discovered in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Palermo.
The ship is about 92 meters deep (that's about 302 feet), which was very deep in the water.
From the first images taken by a submarine robot,
we can see that it was carrying a very copious cargo of wine and fluoride.The findings are going
to shed light on Rome's trade activity in the Mediterranean, where the Romans traded spices,
and wine, and olives, and other products in Spain, North Africa, France, and the Middle East.
Number 16: a Mesopotamian War Memorial. Yes, this one is at Tell Banat North in northern Iraq.
It's also known as the White Monument. It is the third and final construction phase of that
monument that we're talking about, dating to between 2450 and 2300 BCE. The original
appearance would have resembled the step pyramid. Kunga, which are kind of equid, a sort of donkey,
were mainly used for pulling vehicles in those days and we have these bones of this animal
in there buried with the people. Also found in there was a model of a covered wagon and a wheel
all made of clay. It seems that these remains indicate not that the people were elites, or
something like that, but this is their profession. And we know that this type of animal is associated
with warfare from this period because we see these in images like on the Standard of Ur,
where these donkey-like creatures are pulling war wagons, sometimes called battle cars.
Now, we know burial mounds full of enemy corpses are a well-known symbol of punishment and victory
in Mesopotamian inscriptions. But this is not a bunch of enemies in a pile. These are
very carefully arranged burials, and that seems to indicate that we're talking about a commemoration.
They could be victorious or defeated warriors, but they're their own warriors--the people
who buried them there were commemorating their dead, and that's why we call it a war memorial.
Number 15: the Jerubaal Inscription. What's that? For the first time, an inscription
from the pre-monarchic period of ancient Israel--this will be the time
that the book of Judges covers. It's been recovered from excavations at Khirbet el-Ra'i.
This rare inscription bears the name Jerubaal in alphabetic script,
and it dates to around 1100 BCE. It was written in ink on a pottery vessel and was found inside
a storage pit that was dug into the ground and lined with stones. The jug was just a small
personal pottery vessel that holds approximately one liter, and it may well have contained
a liquid like oil, or perfume, or medicine. Much like today, the vessel's owner wrote his name
on it to assert his ownership. Now, here's the thing. The name Jerubaal is familiar from Biblical
tradition in the book of Judges because it is an alternative name for the judge, Gideon. Now that
doesn't mean that this is Gideon's pot because the name Jerubaal was probably a fairly common name,
so there could have been lots of people who were called that.
Number 14: a Roman Boundary Stone was discovered by archaeologists. Yes--in the city of Rome--this
boundary stone delineates the city limits of the ancient city of Rome,
and this dates to the age of the emperor Claudius in 49 CE. It was found during excavations
for a new sewage system under the mausoleum of the emperor Augustus. It's what we call a pomerium,
a huge slab of travertine that was used as a sacred and military-political perimeter,
making the edge of the city--the proper city of Rome--clear. Only 10 other stones
of this kind have been found in Rome, and the last one was over a hundred years ago.
Number 13: the Basalt Blocks of Nectanebo. Yes, an Egyptian-German mission has uncovered
a collection of decorated blocks and fragments from the king Nectanebo I.
It's a temple that he built at the Matariya archaeological site in ancient Heliopolis. The
blocks and fragments are made of basalt and they belong to the western and northern facade of the
temple. The inscriptions mentioned the years 13 and 14 of Nectanebo, which would be 366-365
BCE. There are some earlier constructions from the Ramesses period also evident at the site.
Number 12: a Gladiator Arena in Turkey. Yes, archaeologists have uncovered a Roman arena
that was a lot like Rome's Colosseum, and it would have hosted gladiator fights for about
twenty thousand spectators. The find, which is a first for the country, was revealed as part of the
excavations at Mastaura, an ancient city in the Aydın province. The researchers believe that the
building dates back to about 200 CE, during the reign of the Severan dynasty in the Roman Empire.
Most of the amphitheater is under the ground and the sections that are under the ground
are very well preserved. They say it's as solid as if it were built yesterday.
Number 11: a new inscription from the Babylonian King Nabonidus. Archaeologists have discovered
a fascinating rock inscription in the Hail region of northern Saudi Arabia that depicts
the Babylonian king Nabonidus--he reigned in the 6th century BCE. The king, by the way,
had a home in Tayma, which is in Saudi Arabia; that's why this is there. The cuneiform text is
26 lines long, which makes it the longest inscription ever found in Saudi Arabia.
Number 10: an Embassy Complex in Tikal. Recent investigation of an area of the Maya city of Tikal
in northern Guatemala has uncovered a complex that resembles the citadel at Teotihuacan which is,
like, 600 miles away from there. Ceramics found within the pyramid
have been dated to around 300 CE--before Teotihuacan is thought to have invaded Tikal.
That was in 378, so this is at least 78 years earlier, which means they have an
embassy there before they ended up conquering the city. They were playing the long game.
Number 9: (number nine, number nine. . .)
A Gate of Cyrus the Great has been found at Persepolis.
there was a joint mission by Iranian and Italian archaeologists that uncovered the remains of a
massive gate at the site of ancient Persepolis in Iran. Written documents, as well as carbon dating
and the motifs that appear on the structure, indicate the gate was commissioned by Cyrus the
Great himself and put into operation by his son Cambyses. Pretty cool discovery, there.
Number 8: the Tomb of an Egyptian Treasurer. An archaeological mission from Cairo University
uncovered the tomb of Ptah-M-Wiah, head of the treasury during the reign of Ramses the Great,
during excavation work at Saqqara. At the necropolis there, he was the royal scribe
the head of the treasury, the supervisor of cattle, and he was responsible for sacrifices
to the gods at the Ramses temple in Thebes. The remains of art and writing have been found there,
so this will definitely add to our knowledge of the administration of Ramses the Great.
Number 7: a Buddhist Temple in Pakistan. The oldest Apsidal Buddhist temple found in Swat,
Pakistan--Apsidal means it had an apse a semi-circular recess. It dates the Mauryan
period--that's the 3rd century BCE. This new discovery is revolutionary because it
demonstrates the presence of Buddhists since the 3rd century BCE in Swat. A remodel in the 2nd
century BCE confirms that the indo-greek ruler Menander and his successors supported Buddhism.
Number 6: the Oldest Coin Mint. This is in the central plains of China, at the site of
Guanzhuang. This city was established in 800 BCE. It was abandoned around 450 BCE, but ceramics,
burials, and historical records suggest the site was a regional center of the Zheng state. Now,
the site was excavated between 2015 and 2019, but it's only been in this year that we've been able
to find out about this oldest mint. You see, the earliest coins are thought to have been minted in
basically three places: in China, in Lydia, which is in western Asia Minor, and in India. Of these,
the hollow handle spade coin, minted in China, is a likely candidate for the first metal coinage.
Although studies have dated Lydian electrum coins to around 630 to 600 BCE, the earliest
related archaeological site is a refinery that was probably used for refining gold to cast electrum.
That dates to between 575 and 550 BCE; this is in Lydia at Sardis. But systematic AMS radiocarbon
dating of secure context suggests that coinage production at Guanzhuang began around 640 to 550
BCE. So, this site is currently the world's oldest known, securely dated archaeological minting site.
Number 5: an Early Alphabetic Inscription.
Now, the earliest alphabetic writing so far has been found in the Sinai Peninsula. The
date is disputed, but it was somewhere between the 18th and 15th centuries BCE. There are questions
about when alphabetic writing reached the Southern Levant. This alphabetic writing was found in 2018,
during an excavation at Tel Lachish. It dates to the first half of the 15th century BCE. This
is now the earliest, securely dated example of alphabetic writing in the Southern Levant. There
is an object called the Lachish Dagger that is a little bit earlier--middle bronze age--but
there hasn't been certainty that it contains alphabetic writing. This definitely adds weight
to the conclusion that alphabetic writing reached this area by the 15th century BCE.
Okay, we are down to number 4: the Apries Stela. A farmer in northeastern Egypt stumbled
across a sandstone object in the ground. It's a stela, belonging to the 26th dynasty pharaoh
Haaibre, better known by his Greek name, Apries,
or the biblical name Hophra. He reigned between 589 and 570 BCE. There are 15 lines of hieroglyphs
on the stela. This is going to add to our knowledge and our understanding
of his reign. It has probably been translated already, but no publication has appeared just
yet as I can find, so I'll be waiting with bated breath to find out what it says.
Number 3: Bronze Age Graves at Stonehenge. Yes, these were found when workers began preliminary
work for a controversial road tunnel through the area. It includes burials from the bell beaker
culture--this is 2500 to 1700 BCE. Excavations have been ordered for these remains, and they
will last approximately 18 months, involving up to 150 archaeologists. And these remains
will shed considerable light on the people who lived around Stonehenge thousands of years ago.
Number 2: Mesoamerica Lidar. Archaeologists created 3D maps--this is lidar; this is aerial
scanning technology--of more than 30,000 square miles of pre-colonial settlements in Mexico,
revealing never-before-seen details of how sites were designed and their connections to
the ancient Mesoamerican calendar. They reported the identification of 478 formal rectangular and
square complexes, probably dating from 1050 to 400 BCE through Lidar. This survey was across the
entire Olmec region and the western Maya lowlands. Most of these sites were not known before.
And now, we get to number 1: the Golden City. Yes, known as "Pen-tjehen Aten,"
the Dazzling Aten, this was a city founded by Amenhotep III in the 14th century BCE. We
have inscriptions that speak of the city, but no one, until now, has been able to find it.
A whole city, can you imagine? This was discovered when archaeologists were looking for
a funerary temple of Tutankhamun. This is believed to be one of ancient Egypt's
largest cities. And because it was occupied only a short time, it will likely be in an
excellent state of preservation--so I can't wait to see what they find there.
So there is my list of the 20 greatest archaeological discoveries of the year.
If you know of an important one that I have unfairly left out,
please let me know in the comments below. If you got something out of this video,
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