10: Magic Jar of Curses In the city of Athens,
a magic jar that had once been used as a curse was recently discovered by archaeologists. The jar
dates back 2300 years and was found with the bones of a dismembered chicken inside of it. The curse
had been intended to paralyze and kill 55 people in the ancient Greek capital. Imagine being one of
the people cursed to death by a chicken! I wonder if anyone really suffered when they were put
under this mystical spell. The amazing discovery has revealed to archaeologists just how prevalent
the use of magic really was in Classical Greece. The jar was found beneath the floor of an old
building used by ancient craftspeople. The building is currently a ruin, and the jar was
found buried underneath it. Jessica Lamont from Yale University said it had the head and lower
limbs of a chicken inside. Whoever had made the curse also stabbed an iron nail through the vessel
to complete the ritual. At one time, the jar had been completely covered in text,
with 55 names inscribed on its surface. These were the names of the people who were supposed to be
killed by the magic. We don’t know if the curse worked – it probably didn’t – but it’s pretty
scary to know that the people of Athens used to run around casting curses on one another.
9: Shackled Skeletons 36 skeletons bound in iron chains were recently
found by archaeologists inside a mass grave in an ancient cemetery in Athens. This is another creepy
Greek discovery, with the mass graves dating back to around the year 625 BC. There were at least 80
skeletons in the grave, but only 36 of them were shackled. According to the Greek Culture Ministry,
these people were killed at a time of great political turmoil in Athens. They may have been
involved with an Olympic champion named Cylon, who after consulting the Oracle at Delphi in 632 BC,
was told that he should seize the Acropolis of Athens and overthrow the ruler of the city. I
guess he thought he’d become the ruler and enjoy wealth and power! But it didn’t work out that way.
It ended up being a failed coup. Cylon and his rebels were captured and killed.
These newly discovered skeletons may have been part of the rebel group.
This would explain why they were shackled and executed. Plus, archaeologists did some DNA
testing thanks to how well preserved their teeth were. They found that the men had all
been young and extremely healthy, suggesting they were soldiers who met an early death.
8: Maya Rituals We all know that ancient cultures did things
that we find unusual or disturbing today, but they thought that their bizarre methods were normal and
necessary to please their gods. Archaeologists investigating two ancient Mayan sites
deep in central Belize have found evidence of just that, strange rituals. These sites both date back
to between the years 800 and 900, at a time when prolonged drought was disrupting the life of the
Maya. The two structures found were likely part of a ritual pilgrimage circuit that the ancient
Maya traveled to give tribute to the legendary rain god, Chahk, during times of great drought.
The Maya believed that it was Chahk who brought the rains. When they had drought, they thought
that they had obviously done something wrong and that the god of rain needed to be appeased.
To make matters spookier, the structures were found along the edges of jungle pools,
which the Maya believed were portals to the underworld. These were the most popular places
for them to perform rituals. The archaeologists found evidence of mass burning events,
meaning great fires had been burned here as the Maya offered praise to the rain god.
No human remains have been found just yet, but knowing the Maya and their love of sacrifices,
there are almost guaranteed to be skeletons somewhere in the ruins.
7: Ancient Cancer People died of rare and unique diseases
over all of human history, but it’s rare that we find something as jarring as this. The skeleton of
a teenage girl was discovered in an ancient burial ground in Panama, and it has proved to be the
oldest case of cancer anywhere in Central America. Her skeleton is 700 years old. She was buried as
part of a ritual in western Panama. A new analysis of her remains has shown a tumor growing in her
arm, and yes, it was definitely cancerous. According to Live Science, the girl died
somewhere around the age of 15. She was originally discovered in 1970 buried underneath a heap
of trash at an old native settlement in Panama called Witch Hill. At the time, the settlement
of Witch Hill had already been abandoned for about 150 years. Archaeologists say the local
people had probably buried the girl at the site because it had strong ties to their ancestors.
She was discovered wrapped tightly in cloth and hugging herself in the fetal position, face down
with a shell trumpet placed beside her body. As for cancer, it’s very rare to find evidence
of this affliction in ancient teenagers. Most published cases of ancient cancer were found
in the remains of adults. It could be that the civilization she belonged to, probably
the Ngabe culture, believed her sickness was a disruption of the balance between the natural
and supernatural worlds. So, they buried her at Witch Hill as part of a ritual to restore balance.
6: Heaps of Skulls Archaeologists have uncovered 50 human skulls
inside an ancient Aztec temple in Mexico. Mexican archaeologists said it was the largest number of
skulls ever found in a single offering. They were uncovered at Templo Mayor, the most sacred temple
used by the Aztec people over 500 years ago. It was where all the most important ceremonies
took place from between 1325 until 1521 when the Spanish showed up. The 50 skulls were found at a
single sacrificial site within the temple. Five of the skulls had holes drilled on either side,
suggesting they had at one time being hung on a rack. They were like Christmas
lights suspended above the altar. The other 45 skulls had been dumped lazily on the ground.
What kind of ritual involved cutting off 50 human heads and dumping them in a temple?
Archaeologists aren't too sure. They think it probably had something to do with a sacrificial
person being killed by a shaman carving open their chest and then pulling out their heart.
This was undoubtedly to appease the Aztec gods and bring their warriors great fortune.
5: Headless Bear A mysterious headless bear
has been baffling archaeologists. In northeastern Canada, the Danish archaeologist Jorgen Meldgaard
discovered a small bear figurine without a head in the 1950s. The figurine was carved from the
tusk of a walrus, found leaning against the wall of a fireplace in an ancient settlement used by
the Inuit people. This was in the Igloolik region of the Canadian Arctic. At the time,
the discovery wasn't that interesting to researchers. It wasn't until just recently
that archaeologists were looking through Jorgen’s notes and rediscovered the figurine,
realizing that the discovery was actually quite significant. It was carved at least
1000 years before today and could reveal an interesting relationship between the
ancient humans who lived in Canada and the wild animals they found themselves in contact with.
A headless bear figurine might seem a little freaky, but the truth is quite the opposite.
The carving of the bear is like other carvings found throughout the region, often
mixing different aspects of humans and animals. Archaeologists suggest this is proof that Native
Americans, before the arrival of Europeans, saw themselves in a symbiotic existence with animals,
with neither being better than the other. It’s also believed that some animals,
specifically bears, could function as mediators between humans and the world of spirits.
Do you think animals have any qualities that make you believe that they might be
a bit more spiritually in tune than humans? Do you have a pet
who you treat as almost an equal? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below,
then subscribe to Talltanic if you haven’t already for more strange and exciting videos!
4: Bronze Age Donkey Archaeologists in Israel have discovered the
scariest donkey ever! The donkey died 3500 years ago and was carefully buried on its side in one
of the strangest burials recently uncovered. The donkey was young at the time of death,
it was buried with a copper bridle in its mouth and saddlebags on its back,
and researchers say it must have been a pretty important animal while still alive. In fact,
donkeys have been associated with royalty. We know they were treasured pack animals,
helping trade caravans transport goods across vast swaths of land in the Near East and Middle East.
This particular donkey was buried in the heart of Tel Haror, a Bronze Age city once surrounded by a
deep moat and towering ramparts. There were also the bones of sheep and goats discovered slightly
above the corpse of the donkey, suggesting whoever buried this animal enjoyed a feast afterward.
Nobody knows why the donkey was so important, but his burial was treated like that of a king.
3: Ancient Mother Even throughout the centuries, a mother’s love can
last forever, shocking researchers who uncover the evidence years later. A team of archaeologists in
Taiwan, led by the renowned scientist Chu Whei-Lee from Taiwan’s National Museum of Science, were
researching a Neolithic site in the area around Taichung City when they found the scary remains
of a mother and her baby. The mother, nothing more than a grisly skeleton, was found still cradling
her baby in her arms and looking down on it. The mother and her baby were just one set of skeletons
dug out of 48 graves, dated back 4800 years. They belonged to a group known as the Dabenkeng people,
who first farmed Taiwan over 5000 years ago. There's no evidence as to how these people died
or why the mother was buried while still looking at the baby in her arms. It looks almost as if
she died while watching the child, perhaps even trying to protect it while being buried alive!
2: Dragon Monster A group of scientists from
Australia have discovered the prehistoric remains of a massive flying dinosaur that they described
as a fearsome dragon monster. It used to fly over Australia back in the days of the dinosaurs,
boasting an incredible wingspan of 21 feet (6m). Tim Richards, the head of the team
from the University of Queensland who studied the reptile, said that it would have been a fearsome
beast. He also said this is the closest thing humans have ever discovered to an actual dragon.
In reality, this terrifying beast most likely wasn't a dragon but was a plesiosaur that
lived 145 million years ago. It fed on large fish with a mouth full of about 40 molars for
grinding flesh into mush. It had a giant skull over 3 feet long (1m) that enabled
it to wolf down just about anything it wanted. But do you think that it might be remains like
this plesiosaur that led ancient people to come up with the idea of dragons?
Flying dinosaurs did exist, and ancient people almost certainly uncovered fossils over the years.
It’s highly likely that when they discovered skeletons of massive winged reptiles that they
theorized about flying beasts that rained destruction down on their hapless prey.
Dinosaurs and dragons aren’t really all that different. Maybe someday
scientists will uncover the missing link and figure out where dragons really came from!
1: Halloween Baby The ancient skeleton
of a baby was discovered at the Hill of Ward in Ireland, dated back 3000 years. What makes this
discovery so special is that the Hill of Ward is considered to be the birthplace of Halloween. The
remains of the child were found fully intact at the bottom of a ditch. Researchers say the
infant was only 10 months old at the time of death. And although there's been no evidence
yet that the child was used as a human sacrifice in some kind of Pagan ritual, this is the very
first place that humans ever celebrated Samhain, what we celebrate today as Halloween. It's one of
the oldest continuously practiced rituals in the world, dating back to somewhere around 1000 BC
at this archaeological site. Druid priests used to gather here to offer sacrifices to their Pagan
gods on Samhain eve. They would hold bonfires, sacrifice animals, and open burial mounds so that
they could activate portals to the Otherworld. It's not clear what this dead baby had to do with
these early Halloween rituals, but chances are it wasn’t buried in this sacred place by accident.
Which of these creepy discoveries terrified you the most? Let me
know in the comments and thanks for watching! If you enjoyed the video,
don’t forget to hit subscribe and come back again for more great stuff! See you next time! Bye! :)