10: The Keeladi Civilization Archaeologists in southern India came upon
a rusted old iron dagger that might not seem like much, but it may just provide clues about
a lost civilization!
Found near Tamil Nadu, the area was once home to the ancient Keeladi civilization.
The dagger was found inside a burial urn right next to some very ancient skeletons.
The dagger measures about 16 inches long and even though it was broken in half, the wooden
handle was still intact which is almost even more important!!
Preserved wood can actually provide a lot of information!
According to the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology, this type of dagger was used
by warriors for about 600 years, between the 3rd century BC and the 3rd century AD.
But this wasn't the only interesting thing found inside of a burial urn by the archaeologists.
They discovered 25 other burial urns, some filled with weapons, some with random pieces
of bone, and some with items long-since decayed beyond recognition.
Researchers believe the burial urns were left behind by the Keeladi civilization, and that
they were part of a much larger cemetery.
Some of the artifacts date back to about 580 BC, which fits in nicely with the time the
civilization was active.
Archaeologists currently know about three other sites linked to these mysterious people,
where they left behind structures with clay floors, brick walls, board games and a mysterious
script.
It’s believed that these people descended from the Harappan civilizations, and when
it declined, some people may have moved south to start fresh.
Not much is known about the Keeladi but thanks to the wooden handle left behind by an ancient
dagger, the dates are now much more clear.
But what happened to these people that seemed to have it all together?
They had a well-developed city for the time, agriculture, all kinds of industry and a population
who could read!
Maybe it was some unknown disaster that forced them to leave.
9: Akrotiri: The Real Atlantis The ancient city of Akrotiri may just be the
real-life Atlantis.
The city dates back 3600 years, located on the Greek island of Santorini.
It was a busy place until a volcanic eruption in the year 1650 BC wiped it off the map.
Or rather, simply buried it, much like the Italian city of Pompeii.
The eruption devastated all life on the island and erased the powerful city-state, which
archaeologists believe was probably part of the larger Minoan civilization.
The ash spewed out of the volcano was so thick that it circled the planet for two years,
leading to an unexpected spell of global cooling.
Oddly enough, Akrotiri fits the description of the city of Atlantis, first described by
Plato thousands of years ago.
The citizens living in the great city were indeed powerful, and were extremely wealthy
– just like the citizens of Atlantis.
Thanks to the ash that covered the city, archaeologists have discovered impressive artwork, the remains
of frescoes, and the remnants of a very prosperous civilization.
In fact, every single discovery since the mysterious city was first found in the middle
of the 19th century by accident has pointed to extreme wealth.
It could be that Plato and other Greeks knew about what happened to Akrotiri, perhaps thanks
to stories passed down through the years or even written accounts of the devastation.
Plato then maybe based the city of Atlantis off the real city of Akrotiri.
What do you think?
Let me know in the comments below!
8: The Nuragic Civilization It's a miracle we know anything about the
Nuragic civilization at all.
They left almost no evidence of themselves behind, meaning the only information we have
about them has been received by accident.
We don't know what the people called themselves, we don't know how they lived, and we don't
know what they believed in.
The only proof we have that the Nuragic civilization ever existed comes from testimonies written
by other ancient civilizations who visited them during the Bronze Age, before they vanished
without a trace.
The Nuragic civilization prospered in what is today Sardinia.
The Romans wrote of their existence, saying the civilization had already been extinct
for several hundred years before they came around.
But nobody knows if they developed on the island or came from a foreign land.
Some experts believe the Nuragic civilization developed in complete isolation, allowing
them to develop their very own unique culture that wasn't influenced by any other civilizations
of the time.
The only physical evidence of the culture’s existence are towers spread across the island.
There are over 7000 of them on Sardinia, dating back to the Bronze Age.
Researchers believe they may have been used as an ancient communication system.
The towers were probably manned by watchers, who would then light a fire when they witnessed
a threat coming near their shores.
The fire would then be picked up by other towers until the whole island was lit up and
the soldiers were able to be mobilized for defense.
But as for where these people went or why their civilization suddenly collapsed, experts
don't have a clue.
7: Cradle of Civilization Back in 2001, a flood in Iran exposed the
ancient ruins of a necropolis built by a previously forgotten Bronze Age culture.
According to National Geographic, this culture flourished at the same time as Mesopotamia,
in the cradle of civilization.
The discovery of the ruins was a complete accident!!
The thing is that in 2001, a slew of mysterious archaeological objects showed up online and
through local antiquity markets.
There were weapons, pieces of ceramics, drinking vessels, jewelry, and even ancient board games.
All these artifacts were decorated with unusual images in a style that archaeologists didn't
quite recognize.
There were also mini reproductions of temples and palaces that didn't look familiar.
It turned out the exposed ruins were found by locals way before the archaeologists caught
wind of it.
This meant they were stealing all the artifacts they could find from the site, literally beating
the experts to the punch.
By the time the Iranian police finally figured out what was happening later on in 2002, the
site had already been pillaged.
Artifacts were getting shipped out of Tehran to secret buyers all over the world.
Now, even though the ruins have been found by archaeologists, many artifacts are lost
and will probably never be recovered.
They also have no idea who built the ancient necropolis – though they say it was definitely
a culture uniquely different from Mesopotamia, yet not far from the more famous kingdom’s
borders.
6: Civilizations in Space In a shocking new study, scientists say they've
made a discovery of ancient civilizations in our very own galaxy.
Scientists used astronomy and statistical modeling to map the emergence and death of
intelligent life in our galaxy.
As part of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, the team from Cal Tech was trying
to create a model of possible life spread throughout time and space.
What they didn’t anticipate was to accidentally learn that whatever civilizations existed
on other planets have probably already annihilated themselves.
The authors of the study looked at a few key factors, such as stars like our own sun and
planets like our Earth, as well as the frequency of deadly galactic occurrences, such as supernovas.
They then factored in the probability that intelligent life would evolve under the right
conditions over a certain amount of time, then added the unfortunate tendency of advanced
civilizations to implode upon themselves.
It turns out the probability of civilizations emerging peaks about 13,000 light-years from
the galactic center of our galaxy, at a time 8 billion years after it was formed.
To compare, our planet is 25,000 light-years from the center.
To put this in simple terms, the scientists concluded that other civilizations probably
did exist in our Galaxy, but they’ve already shot themselves in the foot and vanished.
They say other civilizations could still exist, but they’re likely very young.
Our Galaxy reached its civilizational peak billions of years ago – so, those hoping
for a Star Wars-like future have actually missed it.
What do you think about civilizations being found in space?
Do you think other societies really did emerge and then destroy themselves far away in the
galaxy?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!!
And I wanted to give a big shout out to Captain America and Jennifer Balesteri!!
Hi guys and thanks so much for watching!!
Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already and join us!
5: Urartu Castle While on an expedition in Eastern Turkey,
a team of archaeologists stumbled upon the remains of an ancient castle completely by
accident.
This amazing discovery took place at an altitude of 8200 feet, high up in the Turkish mountains.
The archaeologists couldn't believe it when they found ancient walls, ceramic fragments,
and pieces of loose stone.
The castle is far from intact, with almost nothing of it left except its foundations.
It dates back at least 2800 years, first occupied by the Urartu civilization.
This civilization, known both as the Kingdom of Urartu and the Kingdom of Van, had a pretty
short lifespan.
They emerged somewhere around 860 BC and were already gone by 590 BC.
Experts have no idea how or why they vanished, with their only sources of knowledge about
them being ancient scripts written by their enemies, such as the nearby Assyrians.
The best guess that archaeologists have is that Urartu, as it was on its way to developing
itself as a sophisticated culture, got wiped out by some other unknown civilization.
The castle in the mountains may very well have been their last stronghold before annihilation.
4: The Land of Punt The Land of Punt has been a mystery to archaeologists
for over 150 years.
Not many people know about this ancient culture, but it's equally as mysterious as Eden or
Atlantis.
Until just recently, the Land of Punt was nothing more than a legend.
It wasn't until archaeologists took a look at some mummified baboons that they were able
to pinpoint the location of Punt on a map, thereby verifying its actual existence.
The mummified baboons were found in Egypt, but their DNA actually came from the exotic
land known as Punt.
Historians know about the land because of references to it written in ancient Egypt,
with the Egyptians describing it as an exotic place of great wealth and power, and one of
their main trading partners.
As for the baboons, they were actually worshipped by the ancient Egyptians.
Nobody knows why, seeing as they didn't even live anywhere near Egypt.
But nonetheless, they acquired the baboons from the mysterious Land of Punt, then occasionally
sacrificed them and turned them into mummies.
By checking out the strontium isotopes in the mummies, archaeologists accidentally found
out that the baboons came from somewhere around modern Ethiopia.
This was likely the location for the civilization of Punt, somewhere around 2480 BC.
No physical evidence of the civilization has been uncovered, but the DNA from the baboons
said it almost certainly existed.
3: Entirely New Species Researchers looking through an isolated cave
system in the country of South Africa made the most unexpected discovery imaginable.
Not only did they accidentally find a new civilization, they found an entirely new species
of human!
As you may already know, modern humans evolved in what is today East Africa, sometime between
200,000 and 300,000 years ago.
Archaeologists can't quite agree on the exact date.
Before this time, there were plenty of human-like species known as hominins.
In fact, there were hominins living alongside modern humans not more than a few thousand
years ago.
Nonetheless, it’s still astounding when a new species is discovered.
It was Dr. Lee Berger, a paleoanthropologist, who was exploring the Rising Star cave system
when she accidentally came across the skeletal remains of the species she has named Homo
Naledi.
In her very own words, she was speechless.
Lying on the floor of the cave, not even covered in dirt, was a primitive human-like ancestor.
What did this ancient human look like?
The experts say it would have appeared much like us from a distance, but close would have
been very obviously different.
This human alternative was short, it had a very small head, narrow shoulders, and facial
features that would be unrecognizable to us.
Even more amazing is the fact that the Homo Naledi existed 300,000 years ago at the same
time as Homo sapiens.
2: Ancient Colombian Tribes A team of archaeologists from both England
and Colombia made an astounding discovery in the depths of the Amazon rainforest.
They found tens of thousands of paintings while bushwhacking through the jungle, with
the paintings covering about 8 miles of cliff faces.
They date back to the Ice Age and have revealed a glimpse into a civilization that has been
lost for thousands of years.
Mark Robinson was one of the researchers who made the accidental discovery.
He says there had been rumors of artwork existing in the rainforest but social unrest had made
the area off-limits.
But finally, the team got together and decided to go into the jungle anyway.
They were not disappointed.
So far, experts say that based on the radiocarbon dating, the paintings were made at least 12,500
years ago.
They were likely left on the cliff faces by the very first culture of humans to ever step
foot in the Colombian Amazon forest.
They had migrated through the Americas over thousands of years to end up in the jungle.
Nobody has a name for these people, no trace of them has been left behind other than their
paintings, and scientists are now saying it will take years to fully study and decode
the paintings.
Only then will we have a better idea of who these people were.
1: Civilization Under the Ice A shocking claim says that there’s a lost
city hiding under the frozen ice of Antarctica!
According to mainstream scientists, the only people currently living on the icy continent
are scientific researchers.
But conspiracy theories have come forth with the claim that ancient people not only once
lived in Antarctica, but that there could still be a civilization thriving under the
ice.
One of the prompts for the theory was an image taken from Google Earth, in which Internet
sleuths accidentally discovered a pyramid sticking out of the tundra.
They say the pyramid is direct evidence that humans definitely lived in Antarctica and
built megalithic structures.
These structures just so happen to be hidden today by the snow and ice.
While no respected scientist will even comment on these claims, it hasn't stopped the rumor
mill from churning out all kinds of theories.
One of the theories says that as Antarctica began to freeze, the inhabitants started building
underground cities and retreating below the surface of the continent.
These people are now trapped down there living a subterranean life like a bunch of ghouls,
waiting for the day the ice finally melts before they remerge like a pack of wild mole
people!
Do you really believe there’s a civilization hidden underneath the Antarctic ice?
Let me know in the comments and thank you for watching.
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