From an arsenal of weapons belonging to knights to a real-life cyclops princess,
here are ten shocking archaeological discoveries! 10: Viking Apocalypse
A very strange rock shaped like a boat has been discovered in an Icelandic cave. According to
the experts, the Vikings probably used this bizarre rock to ward off a potential apocalypse
1100 years ago. This mysterious rock-shaped structure was found in a cave located near a
volcano that just so happened to have erupted at around the same time, 1100 years ago when
the Vikings had just colonized Iceland. The boat made from stone was also discovered filled with
mysterious trade goods from the Middle East. And here is where things get very interesting.
This was at a time when Christianity had already become the dominant religion in Iceland, brought
over by the Vikings. The Vikings associated this particular cave with the end of times. Historical
records show the place was feared as the exact location where Satan would emerge on judgment day.
And yet Viking tradition was still going strong as well. The eruption of the nearby volcano probably
would have made the Vikings living near it scared that judgment day was coming. Researchers found
that as the lava from the eruption began to cool, the Vikings entered the cave and
constructed the 'boat-shaped structure'. Once complete they would have burned animal
bones in sacrifice, including those from sheep, goat, cattle and pigs.
The Vikings may have done this to try to ward off another eruption. Over time they filled the
boat and the cave with goods to appease the gods and stop the end of the world.
Researchers found rare minerals and trade goods that came from many different parts of the world
indicating that there were probably more trade routes that we just don’t know about.
When the world didn't end, the Vikings likely continued to use the stone boat as a place for
rituals. But within about a generation when Christianity claimed pretty much everyone,
the cave and its stone rock were both abandoned. 9: The Devil’s Corkscrews
The Devil’s Corkscrews have had scientists baffled for years!! Tall, strange structures
were found across Nebraska and parts of Wyoming in the northwestern badlands in the 20th century.
Each object is a strange spiral or a type of helix that extends roughly 7 feet down into the earth.
Then at the deepest part of the spiral, there is a tunnel which extends sideways at an
angle. But what are they? Found by geologists they are actually fossils dating back between
20 and 23 million years, during the Miocene. The Devil's Corkscrews were first discovered
by paleontologist Erwin H. Barbour. He described them as being magnificent and boasting perfect
symmetry with organization beyond comprehension. He initially thought the fossils were the remains
of massive freshwater sponges. Or they may also have once been plants with the fossilized helix
structure being a system of roots. It wasn't until later that another
paleontologist named Edward Drinker Cope said the interpretation was wrong and that the helix
spirals were probably the cast of burrows of an extinct rodent. Barbour said if this is in
truth the work of a gopher then it must stand as a lasting monument to the genius of that creature!
In the end, it turned out that these bizarre subterranean homes belonged to ancient beavers.
An extinct beaver species had its teeth matched perfectly with markings found
inside the fossilized burrows. It is an incredible feat of engineering made by an animal that is so
advanced it helps retain moisture and control the temperature! Not bad huh?
8: Ancient Milk Tooth The fossil of an ancient
milk tooth has been discovered by French and Spanish archaeologists during an excavation at
a prehistoric grotto on the French side of the Pyrenees Mountains. The milk tooth was confirmed
by a laboratory to have once been in the mouth of a sub species of human. Even more shocking – this
subspecies was likely the Homo heidelbergensis, which shares a handful of features with modern
human beings and our ancient Homo erectus cousins. According to Tony Chevalier with the University
of Perpignan, the tooth probably belonged to a child no older than six years old.
But wait until you hear how old the tooth is. Current estimates have the tooth dating back
560,000 years. It's extremely rare because very few human (or similar) remains are usually found
to be this old. If you really think about it, it's shocking to imagine that a child lost a
tooth over half a million years ago and today, somebody dug it up in a bit of French dirt.
But there are more mysteries surrounding the tooth and the cave where it was found.
There have been at least 150 ancient fossils of humans discovered at the site
and researchers still haven't figured out how they lived inside the cave. They don't know if it was
a temporary shelter or a permanent home used by some of the earliest human families in France.
7: Sunken Chest of Gold In an archaeological bombshell, a shipwreck filled
with lost gold is solving a mystery from the 16th century. It all started when a worker mining for
diamonds in the Namibian Desert stumbled upon a treasure that had been missing for a very
long time. He found bits of metal and wood all across a nearby beach, prompting archaeologists
to arrive at the scene and investigate. In 2016, they discovered something lay hidden
underneath what otherwise appeared to be a perfectly normal beach. After a bit of digging,
they realized they had found a complete shipwreck. Amazingly, archaeologists even think they know the
name of the wreck. They suggest it was a vessel known as The Bom Jesus, a Portuguese ship that had
been sailing to India when it crashed somewhere beyond the southern Atlantic. The ship had been
loaded with thousands of gold coins from Spain and Portugal, along with lots of other goods.
The ship sank between 1525 and 1538. According to historical records, the cargo recorded on the Bom
Jesus matched what was discovered at the site. The ship probably got too close to the shore,
hit a rock, then keeled over and ended up beached and broken. The ship shattered into
pieces and the chest containing thousands of pure gold coins got buried in the sand.
Amazingly, archaeologists discovered about 44,000 pounds of copper ingots. All the
copper is probably what kept the wooden pieces of the vessel from disintegrating,
which is what normally happens in the case of a shipwreck. As of right now, nobody really knows
what happened to all the gold that was found. The last we heard, a security team from the diamond
mine was protecting the remains of the wreckage. 6: Ancient Artificial Eye
Archaeologists in Iran have found the skull of a woman who died 5000 years ago. Not only is this
impressive in and of itself but this woman was a cyclops! She was found buried in her tomb with a
prosthetic eye inside of her skull crafted from tar and animal fat. Even after 5000 years, the
prosthetic eye was still snug in her eye socket. She was probably between 25 and 30 when she died.
It's not clear how she lost her eye in the first place nor why she appears to be
the only woman in all of ancient history found with this type of prosthetic eye.
She is believed to have been extremely wealthy, perhaps even a member of the royal family.
Archaeologists have also discovered ornamental beads, a bronze mirror,
and other luxury artifacts inside of her grave. Instead of wearing an eyepatch, perhaps she wore
this fake eyeball for aesthetic purposes. So far, this is the oldest evidence of real-life cyclops.
And a princess cyclops to boot! 5: The Weaponry of Knights
In 2018, archaeologists and historians conducted a research project at the site of one of the most
legendary battles in European history. This was the Battle of Grunwald.
The group of archaeologists worked with metal detectors and managed to discover
a literal arsenal of weaponry that once belonged to valiant knights. By the end of 2020, the final
set of weaponry was discovered including a sword, a belt with two knives, and the sword's scabbard.
All the items date back to between the 14th and 15th centuries. This means that after the
Battle of Grunwald, the artifacts sat in the dirt for over 600 years. But back in the day,
these weren't just dirty old artifacts. Swords and axes were considered highly valuable. You could
compare a medieval sword to a modern luxury item like a Rolex watch or an expensive sports car.
But just what exactly happened at the Battle of Grunwald? The battle occurred in 1410 and was
the largest ever fought in medieval Europe. It also had huge historical consequences, because
the Polish- Lithuanian alliance beat back the German-Prussian Teutonic Knights. The result was
a huge boost in power to Poland and a sore defeat for the Germans and Prussians – who wouldn’t
make a comeback for quite some time. The battle saw at least 50,000 soldiers fight with almost
all of the 21,000 Teutonic Knights getting wiped out. Their weapons are still being found today.
4: New Egyptian Tombs
Some new and very mysterious ancient tombs have been discovered in Egypt along the Nile Delta.
Archaeologists unearthed at least 100 tombs in the north of the country,
and some are saying they could be rewriting what we know about ancient Egypt.
The discovery was announced by Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on April 27. The tombs
have so far been linked to the predynastic era of Egypt from between roughly 6000 to 3000 BC.
There were 68 oval tombs from a time when the Nile Valley was still divided in half,
with Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. But there were some other tombs that don't quite fit with the
timeline. Five tombs date back to slightly after the unification of Egypt in 3000 BC,
and 37 rectangular tombs go back to between 1782 and 1570 BC. What makes this newly found cemetery
so shocking is that it seems to combine many early periods of Egyptian history.
The tombs were found 93 miles from Cairo. Archaeologists have also found the remains of
stoves and ovens, the crumbling foundations of old brick buildings, and remarkable scarab amulets.
According to archaeologist Ayman Ashmawi, the 68 oval tombs probably came from Lower Egypt,
as the bodies were found in fetal positions – something commonly practiced before Egypt ever
even thought of turning someone into a mummy. 3: The Viking Elite
The human remains of an elite Viking have just been recovered after over 100 years
spent misplaced in a random box in the National Museum of Denmark. Researchers at the museum
were working on a project involving textiles from the Viking Age when they rediscovered the bones.
This was quite a shock for everyone involved, especially since the bones had originally been
discovered in a burial mound in Denmark back in 1868. The skeleton of a possible Viking warrior
was found by local farmers who first shared the grave goods among themselves. But these goods were
eventually recovered by scholars, sent to the museum, and then lost inside of a wooden box.
As for the elite Viking himself, he was found with expensive wool garments, decorations of gold and
silver, and two very strong iron axes. There was even a beeswax candle found on the coffin. All
the artifacts suggest that the deceased must have been someone of great importance. He may have been
part of the ruling party that dominated Denmark at the height of the Viking age around 970 AD.
But unfortunately, nobody knows who he was or what station he held.
Even though the bones have been found after spending a century lost in the museum,
researchers still can't say much about this guy – other than that he was definitely an
elite member of Viking society. 2: The Velociraptor’s Last Meal
Scientists have made one of the most shocking dinosaur discoveries of recent memory.
They found the bone of a pterosaur, what you might know as a pterodactyl or a giant flying reptile,
inside the fossilized guts of a velociraptor. The velociraptor was a small theropod dinosaur
kind of like a miniature T. rex or a smaller Tyrannosaur. This small predatory monster lived
about 75 million years ago in what is now the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. But what's really interesting
about the discovery is that it shows velociraptors were a lot like modern hyenas. The small dinosaur
definitely didn't jump into the air and catch the pterodactyl as it flew overhead. Instead,
it probably used its sickle-shaped talons and its clever little hands to scavenge its carcass.
The discovery has also shown that small dinosaurs like velociraptors were able to eat surprisingly
large and solid bones, something that most animals can't do. One of the only
creatures today that can actually swallow a creature’s bones is the modern crocodile.
Research on this case was done by an international team from Dublin, Tokyo, and Ulaanbaatar. They
say it would have been too dangerous for the velociraptor to try and fight a pterosaur in
fair combat, since the winged creature would have definitely defeated the velociraptor.
But by finding the bones of one inside a velociraptor’s belly, we can tell that they were
scavengers and probably opportunistic savages. 1: The Dancing Figurine
A small figurine was discovered in southwestern Siberia and it has archaeologists shocked and
puzzled. The object is a bronze figurine that looks like a dancing human. But the way it was
sculpted seems to portray an individual in the midst of a movement, something that is highly
unusual in ancient figurines. What's even stranger is that the figurine appears to have been made in
India before traveling across the Silk Road to finally end its journey in Siberia,
where it was lost along the shore of the Ob River before eventually
being recovered by modern archaeologists. According to Andrey Borodovsky from the
Russian Academy of Sciences, the statue likely shows an Indian religious dancer.
It was probably crafted sometime around 100 BC. This is amazing, seeing as 2000 years ago a small
figure was able to travel over 3000 miles from India to Novosibirsk, a way only passable by going
over treacherous mountains and dangerous terrain. The figurine was found by accident during a
construction project. Nobody was even looking for the thing. Experts now say the figurine was
probably traded multiple times, suggesting it didn't make the whole journey at once. It may
have eventually been left on the bank of the river as an offering or a sacrifice. The exact
place where the figurine was found happens to be exactly where the Ob River is narrowest. An
ancient trader probably sacrificed the figurine in hopes he would make it across the river alive.
Which of these discoveries fascinated you the most? Let me know in the comments
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