The greatest invention of mankind is, of course, writing.
About the life of some pharaohs, thanks to papyruses and records on the walls of temples,
we sometimes know the smallest details.
And about the formidable army that took place in the middle of the II millennium BC all
of Russia from right to left - almost nothing.
Not a single letter has survived, only burial grounds along the banks of great rivers, filled
with weapon of extraordinary beauty.
Watch the video to the end to learn more about these burial grounds and other recent archaeological
finds.
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Ancient description of a 20th century invention Scientists from University College London
have published a somewhat sensational study proving that chromium steel was invented 1000
years earlier than previously thought.
It is believed that chromium-doped corrosion-resistant stainless steel was invented just over 100
years ago.
Chromium steel is called one of the main innovations of the 20th century.
However, British archaeologists in their work claim that in fact the invention was made
at least 1000 years earlier.
As part of their research, they examined a variety of medieval Persian manuscripts.
They were looking for a description of the "recipes" for making steel.
Particular attention was drawn to the manuscript "al-Jamahir fi Marifa al-Javahir", dating
from the 10th-11th centuries and written by the Persian scholar Abu-Raikhan Biruni.
It describes the only known "recipe" for making crucible steel.
The manuscript tells the story of a mysterious ingredient that modern scientists have recognized
as chromium.
Guided by the instructions of ancient written sources, archaeologists reached the Chahak
monument in southern Iran.
From the 12th to the 19th century AD, it was a well-known center for the production of
steel.
It is also the only archaeological site within Iranian borders where evidence of crucible
steel production has been found.
By the way, it was not easy to find it, since many villages in Iran bear the name Chahak.
Having arrived at the right place, the researchers found waste from steel production dating back
to the 11th-12th centuries AD.
From the slag, they extracted the remains of charcoal, which they subjected to the procedure
of radiocarbon dating.
Remains of vessels from the Stone Age in Murmansk Archaeologists have found artifacts of the
Stone Age in the Murmansk region - the remains of ceramic vessels, which are similar to finds
in Karelia.
Last summer, the expedition staff continued to survey one of several rectangular stone
hearths in the Kovdor region, near Chalmozero.
Presumably, the discovered hearth dates back to the 12th century; a more accurate answer
to this question will be given by the forthcoming radiocarbon analysis of charcoal found in
the hearth.
Completing their research, archaeologists suddenly made an interesting discovery.
Due to the high water level that was observed in the Arctic waters this year, the banks
and some trees in the study area were washed away.
In the opened layer of soil, remains of pottery vessels from the Neolithic period were found,
which date back to about the fourth millennium BC.
The shards found are poorly preserved and easily crumble into small particles, turning
into sand.
However, they can be considered a reliable confirmation of the fact that people lived
in the territory of the present Kovdor region in the late Stone Age.
We do not yet know who these people were, whose sites we found, and where they came
from on the Kola Peninsula, although there are some assumptions on this score.
The ceramics we found are similar to those found in Karelia and Finland.
But paleogenetic studies have shown that the people who lived here in the Stone Age are
not the ancestors of the Sami, who are considered today the indigenous inhabitants of the Kola
Peninsula.
The origin of the Sami remains unclear.
$ 22 billion cache The Indian temple of Padmanabhaswamy gained
worldwide fame in July 2011, when caches with countless treasures were uncovered in its
basements - totaling more than $ 20 billion.
These findings can only be compared with the values ​​of the tombs of the Egyptian
pharaoh Tutankhamun, discovered in 1922.
The temple was built back in 1750.
The history of the appearance of treasures in the temple is rooted in the culture and
customs of ancient India, when the rajahs, upon accession to the throne, gave the ancient
sanctuary as much gold as their own weight.
At all times, merchants who visited the city made generous offerings to the deity of the
Padmanabhaswamy temple in order not only to receive a blessing for successful trade from
higher powers, but also to enlist the favor of the local authorities.
For centuries, riches have been accumulating in the temple, which the believers brought
as gifts.
The priests of the temple collected all these gifts and took them to storage in six underground
caches.
In six chambers, two of which were sealed about 130 years ago, gold bars with a total
weight of 1 ton and bags of precious stones: rubies, sapphires and diamonds were found.
It is noted that among the most amazing items in the hiding places were: a full-size throne
made of pure gold, studded with diamonds and other precious stones, 536 kilograms of gold
and silver coins, a golden sheaf weighing more than 500 kilograms, dishes and crowns
inlaid with rubies, golden figurines and a gold chain 5.5 meters and weighing 36 kilograms.
And also a golden statue of Vishnu 1.2 meters high.
"Ring of Death" Treasure hunters in Wales have unearthed nine
valuable medieval artifacts in the kingdoms of Powys and Vail.
One of the most valuable finds was a gold ring found in Powys with the inscription Memento
Mori ("Remember death") and a skull.
In addition, they found gold and silver coins and a medieval double hook clasp.
All values ​​belonged, according to historians, to the Welsh nobility and were made in the
period from the 9th to the 17th century.
The treasure hunters donated their finds to the National Museum of Wales.
As the authorities of Wales said, it will become part of the national treasury.
"This is an early example of the late Tudor-early Stuart death ring," said Dr. Mark Redknapp,
National Museum's deputy director for collections and research.
The popularity of these rings was associated with the high mortality rate in that era,
their main idea was to remind of the transience and futility of life.
These findings allowed us to learn more about the attitude towards death in that period.
" Finds also included a medieval silver ring fibula, Tudor coins and a silver hook clasp.
Ancient inkwell in Israel During excavations at Gush Etzion, a historical
area south of Jerusalem, archaeologists have unearthed an inkwell some 2,000 years old.
The find dates back to the end of the Second Temple period, which was destroyed in 70 AD.
The discovered inkwell testifies to the high level of literacy among the Jewish population
of Judea during this period.
This earthenware inkwell rests on a flat stand and is equipped with two small handles.
It also has a narrow hole through which ink was poured and a nib was inserted.
According to archaeologists, such finds do not often fall into their hands.
Similar artifacts on the territory of Israel were previously found only a few times.
The inkwell probably belonged to a scribe or merchant who lived in the area in the years
leading up to the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple.
The issue of literacy among the Jewish population of Judea has long agitated scholars, since
it is directly related to the emergence of biblical texts.
However, until recently, experts could only assume that more than two millennia ago, many
Jews could read and write.
The find of an ancient inkwell confirms this hypothesis to some extent.
Who lived on the sunken eighth continent 50 - 35 million years ago, the eighth continent
of the Earth, Zealand, plunged into the ocean and disappeared.
Today, a person can see only a tiny part of this land - New Zealand.
But who inhabited the lost continent of 5.18 million square kilometers?
In a new study, scientists were able to find the answer to this question.
As it turned out, about 60 million years ago, penguins lived on Zealand!
True, they are not at all the ones we know today.
However, scientists say the discovered fossils of an extinct species of penguin may be the
missing link between ancient and modern animals.
Last month, researchers uncovered an entire treasure trove of well-preserved 3 million-year-old
fossils, including a skull and wing bone, on New Zealand's North Island.
After careful analysis, the authors of the new work came to the conclusion that these
bones belong to a previously unknown species of crested penguins, which was named Eudyptes
atatu.
Fossils of the penguin Eudyptes atatu were found in a rock near the coastal region of
Taranaki.
Local residents were the first to find them, after which researchers from the Te Papa Tongareva
Museum of New Zealand became interested in the find.
Once scientists realized that the remains were 3 million years old, they compared the
fossils to the bones of other living species of crested penguins.
So it was found that the ancient penguin was similar to modern penguins, although its beak
was thinner.
This indicates a different diet for the animal.
Experts also think that the ancient penguins that lived on the continent were gigantic.
In 2017, researchers found that prehistoric "mega-penguins" reached about two meters in
height and weighed 100 kilograms.
Much of Zealand, which is roughly half the size of Australia, is currently 1,066 meters
underwater.
The continent was once home to dinosaurs and was covered in lush rainforest.
"Mask of death" of an ancient nomad The tattooed man discovered in the Oglakhty
burial ground in the mountainous region of Khakassia died at the age of 25 to 30 about
1700 years ago.
A computer scan of his death plaster mask revealed the face of an ancient tashtyk with
brown pigtailed hair and a scar on his face that had been stitched up after his death.
Scientists believe that in this way those who buried the deceased sought to correct
his face, disfigured with a fatal blow, in order to improve his appearance before he
was "sent to the afterlife."
The bearers of the Tashtyk culture were pastoralists and farmers who lived between the 1st and
7th centuries.
AD in the Minusinsk basin of the Yenisei River in central Russia, one of the longest rivers
in Asia.
Scientists used computed tomography techniques to scan the mask, the unmasked face, and the
skull itself.
As a result, Dr. Pankova, curator of the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg and curator of
the Siberian collection of the archeology department, discovered that the scar on the
man's face was not the only evidence of the posthumous work of ancient surgeons.
His skull was also trepanned on the left side with a 6 by 7 centimeters diameter hole made
with a series of blows with a chisel or hammer.
The death mask has black stripes on a reddish background, crossing the eyes and bridge of
the nose of the deceased, just like the tattoo on his face during life.
Now, the faces of a woman and a child found in the same burial chamber will also be recreated
using a similar CT scan to determine if the three people were related.
As scientists have found out, male and female masks are colored differently: the faces of
women were decorated with red spirals and scrolls, men - red with black stripes.
Russian scientists revived ancient rotifers Move over, tardigrades ˈtärdəˌɡrād ! Rotifers
- new contenders for the title of the toughest creatures in the world!
Researchers from the Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science managed
to "resurrect" and multiply microorganisms found in frozen soil at a depth of 3.5 meters
in Yakutia.
Rotifers from the genus Adineta spent 24,000 years in the permafrost pərməˌfrôst , but
did not die.
They thawed out and began to multiply.
Further, scientists conducted a series of experiments with ancient rotifers - they were
frozen again, and at the same time modern rotifers were subjected to the same freezing.
It turned out that microorganisms are no different and react in the same way to the same conditions,
that is, prehistoric rotifers did not have any increased frost resistance.
Consequently, they survived because the freezing process in the soil was "correct" - slow,
and microorganisms plunged into suspended animation with minimal ˈminəməl damage.
The information gathered from these tiny animals can help to understand how best to cryopreserve
the cells, tissues and organs of other animals, including humans.
Despite their size, bdelloid rotifers are known for their toughness, their ability to
survive drying, freezing, starvation, and low oxygen content.
In this sense, they are like tardigrades - tiny animals that are practically invulnerable
and can survive even in outer space.
It is not yet clear what a rotifer needs to survive on ice for at least a few years, and
how the methods of this change if this period is extended to thousands of years.
The researchers say they will continue to study Arctic specimens in search of other
organisms capable of such long-term cryptobiosis - and may be able to find answers.
The flooded area of ​​the Amber Room Polish divers plan to work off the coast of
Gdansk for ten days.
During this period, divers plan to thoroughly explore the interior of the sunken ship "Karlsruhe",
which is believed to have kept the Amber Room on board in the last months of World War II.
The steamer was sunk in mid-April 1945.
Expert Tomasz Stachura, who has devoted several years to the search for the Amber Room, has
no doubts that the artifact will be found at the site of the sinking of the ship "Karlsruhe".
Preliminary research showed that there were boxes of weapons on board the vessel, as well
as objects of art - this was indicated by canvases and picture frames found at the bottom
of the Baltic ˈbôltik . Apparently, the ship was carrying a lot of values.
The Nazis removed the Amber Room from the Catherine Palace (St. Petersburg) in September
1941.
The legendary artifact was last seen in Konigsberg (Kaliningrad), and then it disappeared without
a trace, giving rise to many conspiracy kənˈspirəsē theories.
Enthusiasts around the world, however, are hoping to discover the Amber Room.
Ghost warriors of ancient Russia Somewhere in the XVI-XV centuries BC in the
strip between the steppe and forest zones of Eurasia, as if from nowhere appeared a
community of warriors who possessed the highest metallurgical skills for those times.
They used arsenic as an alloying component for bronze, knew the technology of thin-walled
casting, and decorated spears, daggers and axes with ornaments and cast figurines of
people and animals.
They left behind military graves on a vast territory, from Mongolia to the Baltic Sea.
All these burial grounds are "tied" to large waterways: the Volga and Oka, Kama and Chusovaya,
Irtysh and Omi.
But they have nothing to do with the surrounding settlements of that era - no ceramics and
other household items, only murder weapons.
This is so unusual that historians could not even call the totality of found objects of
the same type of this community "archaeological culture", as is customary - but called it
"a transcultural phenomenon."
More precisely, the Seima-Turbino phenomenon - in two large retinue necropolises.
Judging by the finds in the burial grounds, these warriors used uniaxial chariots and
armor made of plates made of deer and elk antlers and sewn onto a leather base.
An amazing discovery: apparently, in winter they moved along the frozen river beds on
skis, holding on to the reins of a horse galloping in front!
It was a formidable and impetuous army that fought with no one knows who.
And how they looked is also unclear, the remains in the burials were poorly preserved (in some
of the deceased only tooth enamel remained).
Some of the scholars consider them Finno-Ugric, some are proto-Turks, Tungus-Manchus, or Samoyedians.
Apparently, somewhere in Altai or in the Baikal region about 3.5 thousand years ago (or maybe
even earlier - it’s difficult to say for sure) a kind of military alliance was formed,
which moved to the West.
Perhaps it was led by the unknown to us Alexander the Great of those times, consumed with a
thirst for glory.
Anything can be - there is no written evidence left.
The more archaeological finds, the more questions that are so difficult to get answers to!
But only on our channel you can learn in more detail about various finds and our history.
Thanks for your views, bye everyone!