9. Human Skeletons
While digging a drainhole behind a house in Wiltshire, England earlier this year, building
contractor Robbie Kearney hit something he shouldn’t have! He struck some bones so he ordered
everything to a halt! He assumed they were animal bones until he dug up a human skull, at which
point the crew immediately stopped working and notified the homeowners, who called the police.
Forensic experts came in and tentatively identified one skeleton and then another,
then another! There were three adults and one child among the remains, which they think may date
as far back as the 5th century, during the early medieval period. At the last update, they were
trying to figure out the individuals’ ages and when they died, which they said could take awhile.
Found near a 12th-century church, the skeletons may have been buried in a plague pit,
according to local historian Joe Charlesworth, who told the local
papers that there are rumors of multiple plague pits existing throughout the town.
Its pretty bad luck to have one of them be right in your backyard though!! Nobody wants skeletons!
Archaeologists told the public that they plan to continue keeping an eye
on drainage work in the area in case there are more skeletons waiting to be found.
Who knows what could be buried in your garden!! Have you checked?
8. World War II Bomb
It’s not uncommon for explosives from past wars to
be found buried in terrifyingly close proximity to places where people live,
work, and socialize daily. A humongous, 550-pound (250 kg) World War II era bomb was recently
discovered during a community cleanup event in the Australian coastal town of Barwon Heads.
Antiques dealer Ian Royce came and removed it from a resident’s backyard, loaded it onto his truck,
and drove it to his shop. He told local media outlet 9 News that the bomb was a sea mine,
which would’ve been chained to the bottom of the ocean during the war.
It was jam-packed with TNT and equipped with small,
sensitive spines, which would detonate the weapon at even the slightest touch from a passing ship.
Many of the bombs were decommissioned and repurposed as backyard incinerators after the war,
which would explain how the recently discovered explosive ended up where it was found.
Back then, there were no pick-up services for organic waste, or “green rubbish,”
so people simply burned it in their backyards.
The good news is that because the bomb was decommissioned, it didn’t pose a threat to
anyone’s safety. Royce is selling the artifact for an asking price of $1,200 AUD ($867 USD).
But not all World War II explosives that turn up in populated places are safe to go near.
In Orlando, Florida, thousands of homes were built over a military
bombing range that was riddled with bombs. Residents first learned about this in 2007,
when an explosive was found near the running track at a local middle school. Since then,
over 400 live bombs and rockets have been found on the school’s property and in people’s backyards.
The Army Corps of Engineers carried out a $10 million cleanup.
There's still a chance that someone could stumble upon a live explosive,
but at this point, it’s unlikely. Still, would you want to take your chances?
7. Largest-Ever Anglo-Saxon Coin Hoard
While metal detecting outside his home in East Norfolk, England in 1990, an amateur treasure
hunter found an old coin. Over the next 30 years, he amassed 131 more pieces on his property,
amounting to what’s being described as the largest-ever Anglo-Saxon coin
hoard ever discovered. That's a lot of patient dedication to the hobby!!
It rivals the size of the famous Sutton Hoo hoard, which has more gold but fewer coins.
Most of the coins are Frankish tremisses dating between 580 and 630 A.D. The collection
also consists of nine larger Roman coins called solidi, as well as some gold jewelry and pendants.
Experts have already learned some things they didn’t know before about
early 7th-century trade in the region. For example, the hoard shows that coins
from outside the area were used before currency started being minted locally.
A specialist is examining the artifacts to determine if they qualify as treasure under the
Treasure Act. This designation would automatically hand ownership of the hoard over to the Crown,
to ensure that the items are kept off the black market and made available for the public to
enjoy. Anything that’s over 300 years old and made from more than 10 percent precious
metals usually falls into this category. A bummer for the gentleman that has amassed
the hoard if so, but it will mean many get to enjoy his collection.
6. A Forgotten Homeowner
This is a very strange true crime case. Earlier this year, someone tipped police off about some
suspicious activity at 82-year-old Lucille Payne’s home in Las Vegas.
They noticed some suspiciously disturbed dirt in her yard
which was really NOT a good sign. Police found her dismembered and buried in a shallow grave.
Officers soon learned that nobody had seen or heard from Ms. Payne since 2018.
She had no family, and nobody else had noticed that she was missing and looked for her.
Her bills were set to autopay, so none of the companies she paid every month were
after her for money, which may have alerted someone to her death sooner.
Police found squatters in Lucille’s home and initially suspected them of murder. They explained
that they had found her mummified body inside the home earlier this year. Seeing the situation
as an opportunity for financial gain, they cut up her remains and buried them in her backyard.
The shameless freeloaders lived in Lucille’s house while draining her bank account,
and they sold some of her belongings, including her car.
Neighbors told local news that the house had seemed vacant for a few years,
and that they had heard digging in the yard in recent weeks. The squatters haven’t been
charged in the case, but the possibility is still on the table. Even if they didn’t murder Lucille,
they allegedly committed fraud and disposed of her body in an unlawful way.
Detectives are still trying to find Ms. Payne’s next-of-kin while they decide what next steps to
take as far as the home intruders go. In the meantime, her estate is selling her house.
In the aftermath of the sad situation, Lieutenant Ray Spencer took the opportunity
to remind people to check on their neighbors during an interview with local papers.
He had a good point -- while Lucille’s community certainly isn’t at fault for
the disturbing events that took place at her home, the outcome may have been
much different if someone had spoken up when they noticed that her house seemed vacant.\
Do you have a good relationship with your neighbors or do you prefer really high fences??
Let me know in the comments below!
And now for number 5, but first it’s shout out time! Wanted to give a big shout out to:
Daniel Rioux and
Sarah K
I am so happy to have such nice subscribers and I hope you are all having a wonderful
day wherever you are! If you are new here be sure to subscribe to join the Origins
Explained family because we have lots more videos about amazing discoveries coming up!!
5. Buried Headstones
Seattle is a somewhat young city, so its archaeological record isn’t nearly as rich as
it might be in a place like London or Paris. But it also has its fair share of fascinating finds.
Every year, two or three headstones are found on homeowners’ properties.
Local resident Bryan Vaughn first dug up a chunk of someone’s gravemarker around
20 years ago while working in his garden. It seemed like a fairly normal discovery at first,
but Vaughn kept turning up more and more headstone fragments.
He eventually learned that they had been used as fill, and he didn’t feel right throwing them away,
so he repurposed them as door stops for his greenhouse and shed.
It turns out that the concrete chunks came from temporary grave markers, which were used until a
permanent headstone was installed at someone’s grave, according to state anthropologist Guy
Tasa. He pointed out that it was actually a bit unusual that they were used for fill.
Even more oddly, the names and details on the headstones don’t match up with the state’s vital
statistics records. There may be spelling errors or inaccurate birth or death dates on the stones,
which would explain why the information can’t be matched with official documents.
Vaughn recently found his first complete headstone while rototilling. It belonged to someone named
Andrew Olson, and he’s not quite sure what to do with it, so for now, it’s sitting in his yard. Who
knows what else Vaughn might find in his backyard? It seems like the discoveries are endless.
What would you do if you turned up a gravestone in your backyard? Tell me in the comments below.
4. New Snake Species
At the height of the Covid panini, much of the world went into lockdown,
so most people had a lot more time on their hands than usual and needed
to find ways to entertain themselves. When a stay-at-home order came to India,
a college student named Virendar Bhardwaj started paying more attention to his backyard in Chamba,
a town that sits at the foot of the Himalayas. He snapped photos of the
creatures he observed right outside his home, including snakes, lizards, frogs, and insects,
and shared the images on social media with people who were probably just as bored as he was.
A picture of a snake that Bhardwaj posted on Instagram in June of last year
caught the attention of keen-eyed herpetologist Zeeshan A. Mirza, who found himself unable to
identify the species. It was evident that the specimen belonged to the kukri group of snakes,
named for their teeth that are shaped like Nepali daggers. But it didn’t resemble the common kukri
snake of the region. So Mirza did what any diligent scientist would do; he reached out
to Bhardwaj and asked him if he could catch one of the strange-looking snakes for researchers.
Bhardwag captured two of the snakes for Mirza and his team at Veer Narmad South Gujarat University.
They confirmed through a series of tests that it was a new species of kukri snake,
which has since been named Oligodon churahensis.
The western Himalayan region is underexplored. But experts
do know that it’s home to numerous unique species,
which they’ve started to discover as they ramp up their efforts to uncover the area’s biodiversity.
3. Exploding Trailer
Police in Castleton, Vermont rushed to the Windy Hollow Mobile Home Park
recently after receiving a call that a trailer had exploded with residents
inside. They were relieved to find that the mobile home hadn’t blown up,
but they did find evidence of an explosion. There was a fire in the backyard with 13 propane tanks,
four oxygen tanks, and two gas-powered chainsaws that had been thrown into it.
Thankfully, nobody was injured in the blast, but a nurse hurt her ankle while
running toward the scene to help. Numerous fire companies showed up at the property,
but they were called off after police determined that the trailer itself wasn’t on fire.
Nearby, officers found 38-year-old Timothy Blanchard. He allegedly seemed drunk,
which is perhaps the only possible reason someone might think that it’s a good idea
to throw highly explosive materials into a fire -- because they’re not in their right mind. Whoever
committed the strange act put other people’s lives in danger, namely those who live in the
seven mobile homes that were within 200 feet (61 meters) of the blast. Several residents reported
feeling their homes shake, and one mother was so terrified, she grabbed her infant and took cover.
Blanchard allegedly admitted to the act, but the case is still making its way through the court
system. Only time will tell what consequences, if any, he’ll serve for his senseless backyard fun.
2. Return of the Barn Owl
Until recently, the last confirmed sighting of a nesting barn owl family in the state of
Wisconsin was 22 years ago. These birds are seen on every continent except Antarctica,
and while they were once endangered, their worldwide numbers have revived. Yet they
really don’t seem to favor the Badger State the way they used to. But why?
Wisconsin’s barn owl population decreased dramatically due to habitat loss,
according to Ryan Brady, a conservationist with the state’s Department of Natural Resources.
He explained that the barn owls’ preferred nesting sites, which include tree cavities and
abandoned barns and buildings, became increasingly difficult to find in the state in recent years.
The species also tends to favor warmer temperatures than you’ll often find in
America’s Dairyland, which is another reason they avoid Wisconsin. Between 1995 and 2000,
only three barn owl nests were spotted throughout the state.
I don’t think they are the only ones that avoid Wisconsin for this reason!
But it appears as though they’re finally back. In early October, a family found a
young barn owl that had fallen out of a dead tree in their backyard in LaCrosse County. A
closer look revealed that an entire family was living inside the tree. The rare bird was back!!
The family took the injured bird to get help while the rest of the owl family continued to nest,
and they were eventually reunited with each other.
It’s hard to tell whether barn owls will return to Wisconsin in large numbers, but there’s been
an uptick in unconfirmed sightings in the southern part of the state, and it’s a hopeful sign. If a
breeding population is established, the species will be reconsidered for placement on the state’s
endangered and threatened species list. For now, the DNR is waiting to see what happens.
1. “Lost” Medieval Palace
At 81 years old, Robert Pole decided to build a bungalow next to his home in the English town of
Wiveliscombe, with plans to move into it and sell the house. He hired contractors and they
got to work, only to soon be interrupted when they found the remains of wall foundations and
floors buried in Mr. Pole’s backyard. What they turned out to be was surprising.
Experts believe that the medieval ruins might be part of a lost 13th-century building called
Bishops Palace. The palace is detailed in historical records, but until the recent
discovery in Pole’s yard, experts had only managed to find a 14th-century gate, which stands nearby.
Scholars have struggled to pinpoint the exact location of the site’s various buildings.
The complex was originally thought to be located east of Pole’s property,
according to Somerset County Archaeologist Bob Croft, who spoke with BBC News.
This is the first time they’ve uncovered physical evidence of the palace, which was built
as a hunting retreat for the Bishop of Bath and Wells sometime after 1256. By the 18th century,
it had fallen into ruins. It continued to crumble, and soon enough, it wasn’t even identifiable as a
palace. Stones from the buildings were likely used in new construction projects, causing the
site to fall further into obscurity. The team is currently working to preserve the structure.
As exciting as the discovery is, Pole seemed pretty exasperated by the whole ordeal,
telling the press that the unforeseen circumstances were costing him more
money than he expected to spend and delaying the construction of his bungalow.
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