From lungs in perfect condition hundreds of years later, to the fall of entire kingdoms,
here are 8 archaeological secrets that have been uncovered.
8.
The Queen's Lungs One of the most common finds in archaeology
is burial sites and tombs with people who are long gone.
And yet, sometimes these bodies reveal mysteries all their own.
For example, there's Queen Arnegunde, who was a Merovingian royal and the mother of
King Chilperic I.
Her body was found in Basilica of St Denis in Paris, France.
Nothing out of the ordinary so far, right?
So, as archaeologist Michel Fleury continued to examine where the body of the Queen was,
he found something very odd.
Her lungs.
To be clear, the lungs of Queen Arnegunde were still in her body...but were perfectly
preserved, while the rest of her body was, in fact, completely skeletal.
So, how could the lungs be intact, when the rest of the body was a mess?
This puzzled many a scientist for years, until one group decided to look inside the lungs
to see if any chemical were present.
Turns out, there were, there was copper oxide and traces of benzoic acid, which is found
in plants.
Copper Oxide is actually a preservative, and can be used on jewelry to keep it shiny and
other such things.
Turns out, Queen Arnegunde was given a concoction to drink after she died.
Mummification was a thing back in 6th century France when she passed, and this drink went
into her lungs in some capacity, and when it did, the chemicals mixed, and it perfectly
preserved the lungs.
Cool, but creepy.
7.
Puquios In Peru, near the Nazca Lines (which are another
archaeological mystery that will likely never be solved), there are odd formations in the
ground known as Puquios.
They're odd because they're holes that go into the ground, have a spiral pattern, and
are lined with rock.
A very odd combination.
What's more, the usual tactics to try and figure out what was the purpose of these holes
were ineffective, not the least of which was because if the Nazca made them (which was
the theory), they didn't make records of it.
In fact, the Nazca didn't make records of anything of theirs.
So, what was the purpose of the Puquios?
Well, it turns out, it had to do with water.
In 2016, an analysis of the area, the holes, and history itself showed that it was part
of a hydraulic system that was made so that water could go from the underwater canals
to various points in the lands.
Including to areas where crops were, or, to where populations were that needed water.
The scientists who discovered this were actually really impressed by these Puquios, as it took
a lot of work to make them functional.
And apparently, they could still work today if they wanted to try and use them in Peru.
But most importantly of all, this might have been the way that the Nazca people survived
the harsh terrain that they found themselves.
Proving that even back then, necessity is the mother of invention.
6.
The Death of Irtyersenu Life and death are two very important parts
of archaeology.
You want to know how a person or society lived so you can understand them better.
But only through their death, burial, and discovery can we truly learn about them.
And yet, sometimes, the cause of death is the most interesting part of all.
Take, for example, the Egyptian woman known as Irtyersenu.
Don't worry if you don't know the name, she wasn't a Pharaoh or anything like that, but
she was mummified, and she had a very curious cause of death.
She died at around 50 years old, which is young for an Egyptian in 600 BC, and when
her corpse was examined, it was believed that had died of a tumor that was found on her
ovaries.
However, as other scientists came in to examine the body, they found that the tumor was benign.
Which raised the question, how did she die?
A further examination took place, and what they found was quite ironic.
Apparently, Irtyersenu died from Pulmonary Tuberculosis, a disease which affects many
people to this day, and was indeed a terror in Egypt back in 600 BC.
Just goes to show that sometimes you need to dig a little deeper to get a mystery solved.
And now for number 7, but first make sure you are subscribed to WL and click the notification
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5.
Phaistos Disc Language is one of the building blocks of
our world, and the desire to learn the languages of other people throughout all time has been
a driving force in archaeology.
In fact, a later entry was a monumental achievement in that field.
But focusing on this entry, there was a longtime mystery about an object found on the island
of Crete that became known as the Phaistos Disc.
The disc itself was a mystery in many ways.
It was six inches long.
What's more, it was made out of clay, and had language written into it on both sides.
A language that was not known at the time.
Their best guess was that the disc came from 1700 BC, which was known as the Bronze Age,
but it wasn't certain.
Despite the disc being found in 1908, it wasn't until 2014 when its true purpose was discovered.
Interestingly enough, it was meant as a type of prayer.
It was meant to give tribute to the Minoan goddess of fertility.
This was realized after a man named Gareth Owens spend six years translating certain
words, one of which was quite frequent, "Mother".
Turns out, one side of the coin is dedicated to a woman who is pregnant, and the other
is for a woman who has given birth.
Both things to pray to a goddess to for sure.
4.
The Bodies In Masada It's interesting the discoveries we make in
the most unlikely of places, and then when the truth is discovered, it changes how we
perceive things.
A great example of this is the Masada desert fortress that is found in Israel.
This fortress was once home to a massive suicide by a group known as Zealots, which is where
we get the name for religious radicals.
Over 2000 years ago, the group wanted to overthrow the Roman government, but couldn't, and so
they decided to kill themselves rather than live with the shame.
Fast forward to the 1960's and some archaeologists went into Masada and discovered some bodies
in there that weren't there before.
They could tell that two were male, and one was female via strand of hair that they found.
Believed to be members of the Zealot family, the state gave them honorable burials.
Yet, this is just the start of things.
For an examination of the bodies revealed that these three weren't Jewish, at all.
Which begs the question, who were they?
Well, the Bible actually helped solve that mystery.
For in the book Deuteronomy, it's noted that if a non-Jewish woman is captured during a
battle, her hair must be cut off in order to make herself "less attractive" to men.
Studying the strand of hair that the archaeologists found revealed that the hair was cut by a
sharp object, likely a sword.
So the woman was non-Jewish, and the men were apparently Roman soldiers.
Makes you think that Israel regretted giving them those burials huh?
3.
The Soldiers At Durham I've noted before that graves and burial sites
are a key part of archaeology, but they can be as baffling as they are important, especially
when it comes to mass graves.
Most times, it's not clear why a bunch of people were buried in one area.
Hence the mystery.
One such case happened not even 5 years ago, when two mass graves were found near Durham
Cathedral in England.
What made these graves so weird?
Well, the people in them were young, only 13-25 years old, so how did they die, and
why were they buried there?
After some literal digging and research, it was found out that these graves belonged to
Scottish soldiers.
They were captured by Oliver Cromwell during the Battle of Dunbar in 1650.
Once captured, they were marched from Dunbar to Durham Cathedral, which was 100 miles away
for the record.
If that's not unnerving enough, archaeologists believe that there are actually more bodies
hidden underneath the cathedral and its surrounding areas.
The Battle of Dunbar was documented as fierce and bloody, and some 1700 soldiers were said
to have been captured during the battle.
Those two mass graves didn't have anything close to that.
Oh, and one of the spots they believe the bodies are buried at?
Is underneath Durham University.
Class project anyone?
2.
The Fall of Angor A sad fact of life is that all kingdoms will
fall, no matter whether they call themselves kingdoms or not.
the Greeks, Romans, Soviets, Egyptians, and more have all seen mighty kingdoms and empires
rise and fall.
But sometimes the mystery is in how they fall, which brings us the Khmer Empire, who once
held the beautiful city of Angor in its name.
Angor was a massive city, over 400 square miles long, and actually very advanced.
It was so big that it was considered the biggest metropolis of the ancient world, long before
massive cities could be built with technology.
Yet, though it lasted over 500 years, Angor, and the Khmer Empire, soon vanished from the
face of the Earth.
The city remained, but the people were killed.
And it was a mystery as to why.
How could such a kingdom fall?
Some felt it was the overuse of resources that doomed them.
Others blamed wars with their neighbors, but the truth came from some new experts who decided
not to look out, but within.
Specifically, with the ground they were on.
For it was soon revealed that the land that Angor was on suffered from extreme droughts.
The people had built great devices to help fix this, but apparently, it wasn't enough.
Observing tree rings, soil samples, and aquatic devices throughout the city, they discovered
that Angor fell because they couldn't maintain the water supply, not even with their great
advances.
Without water, the people couldn't survive, and another kingdom fell.
1.
Rosetta Stone Hands down, one of the greatest and most important
archaeological finds in the history of the world is the Rosetta Stone.
If for no other reason than this stone allowed the world to translate the ancient Egyptian
hieroglyphs that were a mystery to so many for so long.
It helped break down barriers and began a legacy of discovery into the kingdom, a legacy
that continues to this day.
So, what made the Rosetta Stone so amazing?
Well, it took the hieroglyphs of Egypt, and then translated them into different languages,
including Greek, which was a much more common language in the region.
The stone itself was carved in 196 B.C., and was found in a small village called Rosetta
(also known as Rashid) in 1799.
French soldiers were doing some rebuilding when one stumbled upon it and instantly took
notice.
Now, despite common belief, the Rosetta Stone didn't "instantly" let people read hieroglyphs,
that's not how it works.
It would be the same as if you read a script in English, and then in Spanish, without knowing
the Spanish dialect.
You could read the words per se, but you wouldn't know what they mean.
Eventually, Jean-François Champollion figured out how to read the Rosetta Stone in 1822.
Once he did, the ancient Egyptian language was open for business.
Through this, the walls of pyramids and other long-standing Egyptian structures could be
translated.
And some things are even being translated to this day, and it's all because of the Rosetta
Stone.
Oh, and the popularity of the stone grew to such heights that it became a key part of
the worlds' culture, being included in television shows, anime, and is the name of a language
learning program.
How ironic.
Thanks for watching!
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