true stories of strange historic mysteries are among the most intriguing
since they've left not only members of the public but even experts baffled for decades and
in some cases for even centuries try as they might some historic mysteries cannot be explained
and in many cases they likely never will be
number five
the historic mystery of the plane of jars still needs solving as it has stumped experts since its
discovery by french archaeologist madame colony in the 1930s they were found throughout the lao
highlands and their true purpose has been the subject of much speculation the jars which are
made from stone are scattered in clusters ranging from 100 to 400 jars and stand between 3 and 10
feet high they are cylindrical in shape though the bottoms of the jars are always wider than the tops
and they are believed to be between 1500 and 2000 years old though there are hundreds of
the mysterious containers only one has been decorated it contains a depiction of a frog man
on its exterior and similarities have been noted between it and the cave painting found nearby
most of the jars showed that they were fitted with lids though not many of these have been found it's
speculated that most of the lids were made from perishable materials such as wood the stone lids
that have been found also contain animal carvings that are thought to be of monkeys tigers and frogs
as for the manufacturing of the jars it's believed that they were fashioned with chisels
though no evidence has been found to support this theory most of the jars can be found on
this plane though it's been discovered that they form a linear path that stretch as far north
as india the jar's purpose has been debated for decades some people believe that they were used
by a race of giants that inhabited the area and that their king used them to brew his rice wine
in celebration of a victory over one of his enemies others believed that they were used
in burial ceremonies or they mark grave sites the latter seems to be the most plausible theory
though this is merely speculation and the true purpose of the jars still needs solving
number four
the candelabra of the andes is a prehistoric geoglyph that has been etched into the side
of a seaside hill in peru after its discovery carbon dating was carried out on artifacts that
were found near the site and it's believed that it was created around 200 bce though its creators
and purpose remain an archaeological mystery the design of the mysterious find resembles that of
a candelabra or a three-pronged fork it has been etched two feet deep into the hillside which is
made up of petrified soil and from top to bottom it measures nearly 600 feet in length despite it
being called the candelabra of the andes it was never thought to actually depict such an item
but a number of theories have arisen as to what it was meant to portray one hypothesis suggests that
it was meant to represent the trident of a god and that it was created in order to gain his favor
others suggested that it's a representation of the jimson weed that grows in the area
since it has hallucinogenic properties it's believed that it was used during certain rituals
and the carving would serve as a type of beacon for those who are under its effect
to find their way home another far less interesting but more plausible explanation
is that it simply served as a sign for passing sailors who were looking to find the coast it's
also been suggested that it may be a masonic symbol that represents a mesoamerican world tree
but none of these theories have been proven outright and we're left with
very few answers as to who created the etching and what it was truly intended for
number three
linear a a writing system that was used by the minoans between 800 and 1450 bc was discovered
by archaeologist sir arthur evans the script was mainly used in royal and religious writings and
it was seceded by another writing system called linear b which was used to form an early type of
greek linear a however remains a historic mystery as none of the texts have ever been deciphered
it's referred to as linear due to the fact that it's written with a stylus which was used to cut
words into a clay tablet as opposed to the use of wedges that were pressed into clay as can be found
in cuneiform writing in the 1950s a breakthrough was made when linear b was finally deciphered and
found to be mycenaean greek it has many symbols in common with linear a but despite their similarity
the symbols seemingly have different meanings in linear a and scholars remain at a loss
as to what they actually mean most of the script has been written from right to left
though some examples have been found where it's been written from left to right
adding to the mystery there are four categories of writing in linear a
these are numerals and metric signs phonetic signs ligatures and composite signs and ideograms
numbers have been found to follow a decimal system similar to ours though the largest known number
in linear a is 3 000. there are however special symbols that represent fractions and weight the
symbols for one half a quarter and an eighth have been agreed upon by scholars but other fractions
have left experts baffled tablets containing linear a have mostly been found in crete
but some examples have been unearthed in other parts of greece and also in turkey and israel
the 1427 specimens contain a total of about 7 390 symbols that if converted to standard type would
fit on just two sheets of paper the earliest examples were found in south central crete
and date back to 1700 bc at the latest analysis of the inscriptions found outside of crete shows that
a writing system was used which combined elements from linear a and linear b it's believed that
linear a was derived from creighton hieroglyphs and served as a predecessor to linear b scholars
believe that linear b was developed around 1450 bce and gradually replaced the use of linear a
which became obsolete by 1400 but despite intense scrutiny and constant effort no one has been able
to decipher the now dead writing system and at present it remains a historical mystery
number two
dogu are small figures that depict human as well as animal forms that were created during the
later part of the german period which lasted from 14000 bc to 400 bc they were created exclusively
during this period as there are no known examples preceding the yayoi period the figures are made of
clay and typically stand between 4 and 11 inches high most of the small statues depict females with
small waists wide hips and large eyes many people believe that they are representative of goddesses
as some of the examples have large abdomens associated with pregnancy suggesting that they
depict mother goddesses the metropolitan museum of art suggests that they show an association with
fertility and shamanistic rites the faces arms and hands are usually tiny with compact bodies
some examples seem to show the figures wearing goggles and include marks on the body that are
thought to possibly represent tattoos four types of dogu have been found including heart-shaped
horned owl goggle-eyed and pregnant woman figures it's rare for an unbroken specimen to be unearthed
with most of the figurines having lost an arm leg or other body part though this is not always
due to age and decay but in some cases due to them being intentionally removed or excluded
some of the figures have patterns included on the abdomen many of which were painted
on using vermilion and many of the larger figures were found to be completely hollow
many theories have been put forward to explain the purpose of the figures
with some speculating that they were used as birthing aids or fertility symbols
they have also been found at some burial sites suggesting that they served some type
of ceremonial function a more outlandish theory claims that due to their similarity and appearance
they depict the suits and equipment used by modern day astronauts ancient alien theorists
often cite the goggle-eyed type of dogu as proof that earth was visited by extraterrestrial beings
and that the statues were created as a representation of those beings these are all
just theories however and only time will tell if we ever discover their true meaning and function
number one
is considered to be one of the most astonishing unexplained archaeological complexes that has ever
been discovered and due to its sheer beauty and grandeur it's regarded as a must-see destination
for those visiting peru the site is located just over a mile north of the main square of the city
of cusco it sits about 32 000 feet above sea level and covers an area of around 3 000 hectares
the complex which is made up of dry stone walls constructed of massive stones was created by the
inca in the 15th century the stones were carefully cut in order to fit together and contain no mortar
or any other binding material it includes a large plaza that was possibly used in
communal and ceremonial activities and other large structures at the site are believed to
have been used during certain rituals the stones found in the construction of the plaza and the
three terrace walls adjacent to it are among the largest used in any prehispanic american buildings
the stones have been placed so close to each other that it's impossible to even fit a single
sheet of paper between them the longest of these three walls stands about 19 and a half feet high
measures around 430 yards and the approximate volume of the stone is thought to be around
212 000 cubic feet due to the interlocking nature of the blocks their rounded corners and the fact
that the walls lean inwards they have survived many devastating earthquakes in the cusco area
it's estimated that the largest of the rocks weighs between 128 and 200 tons
at the end of the siege of cusco sakse hawamen was seen as a reliable source of stone for other
building structures and within a few years much of the complex had been taken apart or demolished the
stones were primarily used to build governmental or religious buildings as well as the houses
belonging to the wealthiest spaniards with only the largest and most cumbersome stones remaining
in place in march of 2008 archaeologists found more ruins in the outlying regions of saxe huamen
it's believed that they date from 900 to 1200 a.d while it's speculated that it was also used for
ceremonial purposes it remains unknown what its true function was today a large field within the
walls is used by locals for jogging and practicing tai chi as well as other athletic activities many
people believe the site was used as a fortress or that it may have been used in religious ceremonies
but despite much speculation and theorizing the strange history remains a mystery that may
very well have died out with the ancient incas who created the awe-inspiring site
thank you guys so much for watching if you liked this video be sure to hit that
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with all of our future uploads but i've been ty knotts and i'll catch you guys in the next video