10.
TOMB OF THE RED QUEEN
Sometime between 600 and 700 A.D., a noblewoman was laid to rest in the ancient Mayan city
of Palenque in what is now southern Mexico.
She remained there, undisturbed, until archaeologist Fanny Lopez Jiminez found her remains in 1994.
The discovery was made during some routine stabilization work on a staircase.
Lopez Jiminez noticed a crack in the structure and peered inside using her flashlight.
She was surprised when she saw what looked like a narrow passageway leading to a sealed
door.
Her team went inside and found three chambers.
Two were empty, but the third contained the noblewoman’s tomb.
On the steps leading up to the tomb were a brown ceramic plate and two orange ceramic
vases, along with some human remains.
Once inside, the researchers carefully pried the sarcophagus open.
One of the first things they noticed was that the woman and her grave goods were covered
with bright red cinnabar powder, earning her the nickname of the “Red Queen.”
In addition to the Red Queen’s sarcophagus, the undecorated chamber contained the skeleton
of an 11-year-old boy.
Experts believe that the boy was one of the Red Queen’s servants, and that he was sacrificed
upon her death so he could accompany her into the Mayan underworld Xibalba, or the “Place
of Fear.”
9.
CHILDREN’S CEMETERY
Earlier this year, archaeologists working in north-central Poland discovered dozens
of medieval skeletons in what’s become known as the region’s oldest Christian cemetery.
Located in the village of Starorypin Prywatny, the nearly 1,000-year-old burials consist
of children who died between the ages of two and five years old.
They were laid to rest shortly after Poland officially adopted Christianity in 966 A.D.
The Middle Age graves were found during routine excavations that were being performed ahead
of agricultural work on the property.
Altogether, over 30 burials were unearthed.
Experts initially believed that the cemetery dated back to the 12th century, but they have
since determined that it’s slightly older.
Based on a physical and chemical analysis of the bones, the graveyard originated as
early as the mid-11th century, according to lead archaeologist Dr. Jadwiga Lewandowska.
Most of the individuals were buried on their backs with their heads facing west.
Metal crosses found throughout the site identify the graves as Christian.
In addition to the child burials, archaeologists found the remains of men between 40 and 45
years old, as well as women who were 25 to 30 years old when they died.
The deceased were similar in appearance, indicating that they may have been related.
Everyone had bad teeth, likely due to their poor diet, which included heavily contaminated
flour.
The remains are undergoing DNA analysis in hopes that researchers can learn more about
the cemetery’s occupants.
8.
CASTRATION CLAMPS
Followers of the Greek fertility goddess Cybele consisted mainly of eunuch priests, who marked
their devotion to the deity through self-castration.
Yikes.
They got the job done using an elaborately decorated set of castration clamps with serrated
edges.
Double Yikes.
One set, discovered in the Thames River during the 1840s, shows just how fancy these devices
were.
The clamps are adorned with the heads of the gods and goddesses who presided over the 8-day
Roman week, as well as a bull’s head and a lion’s head.
They likely date back to the second or third century and were probably made in Rome or
elsewhere in Italy, according to archaeology blogger Roger Pearse.
Without going into too much detail, castration clamps were used to prevent blood loss during
the gory procedure.
Self-castration was practiced until sometime during the 4th century, when authorities began
punishing people for it amid the rise of Christianity.
In all fairness, there are arguably safer ways to worship the god of one’s choice.
7.
BEHEADED NOBLEMAN’S RING
The Isle of Man is a small island situated between Ireland and Great Britain.
While searching for treasure there last year, metal detectorist Lee Morgan found a 370-year-old
gold and crystal ring with an inscription bearing the letters “J.D.” or “I.D.”
Dating back to the late 17th century, during the Stuart period, the slender ring may have
been crafted in honor of an earl who died during the English Civil War.
If the inscription’s letters are “J.D.,” it probably belonged to James Stanley, who
signed his name as “James Derby,” hence the initials.
He held the high-ranking titles of the 7th Earl of Derby and the Lord of Man.
The ring’s high quality indicates that it was created for a wealthy person, according
to Allison Fox, a curator at Manx National Heritage.
She believes that Stanley’s widow may have had the piece made in her late husband’s
memory.
Also known as Baron Strange and the Great Earl of Derby, Stanley was a Royalist who
supported the authoritarian monarch King Charles I, who ruled over England, Scotland, and Ireland
from 1625 to 1649.
The king’s tyrannical ways did not vibe well with English Parliament, and in 1642,
tensions between the two parties erupted into civil war.
Charles I’s reign ended with his execution.
Stanley was beheaded two years later in 1651 in the town of Bolton in Manchester, England.
Many people search for treasure in the U.K., but it’s rare to actually find it, making
for a surprising discovery.
And while the ring itself may not be creepy at first glance, knowing that it may commemorate
a decapitated nobleman certainly adds eerie overtones to the artifact.
6.
HIRTA SETTLEMENT
Hirta is the largest of four islands that make up the St. Kilda archipelago of the Outer
Hebrides islands.
Located 112 miles (180 km) from the Scottish coastline, the rugged, remote island is made
up of the remnants of a dormant volcano.
There’s just one access point to Hirta, and reaching it requires a long 18-hour journey
by sea from the Scottish mainland.
Boats often have to turn back due to turbulent seas, making the island largely inaccessible
throughout the year.
Despite its wildly inconvenient location, Hirta was continuously inhabited for over
2,000 years, from prehistoric times until the last resident left in 1930.
Archaeological evidence shows that there was a Viking settlement there, as well as three
chapels and a dry stone hut called a cleit, where people stored and dried meat.
Survival was difficult on Hirta.
The island began welcoming visitors during the 19th century and became dependent on the
tourism industry.
When the Scottish potato famine hit, its residents became even more destitute.
In 1850, the Australian government sponsored an immigration program to offer the people
of Hirta a better life.
Nearly 50 people took advantage of the opportunity.
In the following years, the island’s remaining residents petitioned the Scottish government
for help resettling on the mainland.
They were facing one challenge after another, including disease brought by tourists, an
increase in infant mortality, and the establishment of a World War I base on their land.
The last 36 people living on Hirta left in 1930.
Since then, there have not been any permanent residents.
Seabirds have reclaimed the island as their breeding ground, and the decrepit homes, schoolhouse,
and other structures remain empty, falling further into disrepair as time passes.
5.
BACKYARD BURIALS
While digging a drainage hole for a patio in the English village of Heytesbury earlier
this year, a work crew stumbled upon some bones.
They initially thought they’d found animal remains, but when they dug deeper, they unearthed
a human skull.
The team immediately stopped working and notified the property owner of the gruesome discovery.
Police dispatched a crime scene crew, which included forensic officers and an archaeologist.
Speaking with the Mirror, property owner Matthew Jackson reported that the experts had determined
that the skeletons were not recent.
In fact, the remains are thought to date back to the 5th century, during the Early Medieval
period.
Found just 300 feet (91 meters) from the 12th-century St. Peter and Paul church, the bones are probably
from one of the many plague pits that are rumored to exist within the town, according
to local historian Joe Charlesworth.
The graves appear to be Christian and contain the remains of both men and women of varying
ages.
The bones were sent away for more testing to determine their age, and will be respectfully
reburied.
4.
ANCIENT CLAY HEAD (AND SKULL)
Between 900 B.C. and 200 A.D., a collection of mysterious ancient nomadic warrior cultures,
known as the Scythians, wandered the Eurasian steppe, ravaging their enemies along the way.
Researchers admittedly know very little about these tribes, but they have established, based
on the evidence left behind, that the Scythians engaged in strange and macabre death rituals.
In 1968, archaeologists discovered a creepy clay head inside an ancient Scythian burial
in the mountains of southern Siberia.
The strange artifact is estimated to be around 2,100 years old.
It was found among the charred remains of somewhere between 13 and 15 people.
At first, researchers thought the skull was human, but they began to suspect otherwise
based on its shape.
X-Ray imaging ultimately revealed that the clay head contained the skull of a ram.
The item was found at a burial ground that experts believe belonged to the Tagarsk culture,
one of the better studied Scythian tribes.
They hailed it as an exceptional discovery, despite having found other fascinating objects
in Scythian burials, including weapons and gold jewelry.
Experts are unsure what role the ram played in the Scythians’ funerary rituals, but
they’ve proposed some theories.
Noting that rams were highly regarded by the region’s ancient cultures, Russian archaeologist
Natalia Polosmak suggested that it may have represented the soul and missing body of a
man who drowned, became lost, or otherwise disappeared.
But the plain and simple truth is that researchers don’t know the story behind the strange
artifact, and they may never figure it out.
For now, all they can do is speculate.
3.
BLACK DEATH
Located in Hertfordshire, England, the Church of St. Mary the Virgin is large but modest,
and perhaps even pleasant, at first glance.
But the 14th-century structure contains evidence of the Black Death, one of the darkest chapters
in European history.
Medieval graffiti etched into the church’s walls details the suffering that England’s
residents endured during this tumultuous time.
You probably wouldn’t understand the carvings just by looking at them, but the stories behind
them are nothing short of heartbreaking.
One image, created sometime between 1340 and 1561, is thought to depict the Old St. Paul’s
Cathedral, which burned down during the Great Fire of London.
Fourteenth-century survivors of the Black Death added their own personal touch to the
church’s north wall, writing: “Wretched, terrible, destructive year, the remnants of
the people alone remain.”
The statement may not make sense to you, me, or most other people.
But experts have identified it as a reference to the bubonic plague’s “first pestilence,”
which swept through England in 1348.
It killed as much as one-third to one-half of London’s population before finally dying
out in September 1350.
Reflecting on past disease breakouts hits especially close to home as the world grapples
with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the tragedies that come along with it.
2.
SERIAL KILLER’S HEAD
During the early 20th century, a killer nicknamed the Dusseldorf Vampire committed a series
of murders in Dusseldorf, Germany.
His real name was Peter Kurten, and he was finally caught in 1929 after killing a child.
He confessed to at least 70 violent crimes, and he admitted that he enjoyed drinking his
victims’ blood, hence his nickname.
On July 1, 1931, Kurten ate his last meal of wiener schnitzel, white wine, and fried
potatoes.
The next day, he was executed by way of the guillotine.
Scientists wanted to better understand the deranged killer’s mind.
In an effort to learn more about what might drive someone to commit such heinous acts,
they bisected and mummified Kurten’s head.
Much to their surprise, they found no abnormalities in the man’s brain other than an enlarged
thymus gland, which doesn’t explain Kurten’s behavior.
His head ended up at the Ripley’s Believe it or Not!
Museum in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin sometime after World War II, where it remains on display
to this day.
1.
TOOTHED TUMORS
In 2017, archaeologists discovered an ovarian tumor with teeth in it at a gothic cemetery
in Lisbon, Portugal.
Found in a grave outside the Church and Convent of Carmo, the artifact belonged to the remains
of a 45-year-old woman.
The mass measures just 1.7 inches (4.3 cm) at its widest point, according to a study.
It bears evidence of disorganized bone formation, as well as five malformed teeth.
Researchers believe that the calcified tumor dates back to sometime between the 15th century
and 1755, when an earthquake destroyed the cemetery and the church.
At first, they didn’t know what the object was.
They speculated that it was perhaps a fetus or the remnants of an ectopic pregnancy.
The team eventually determined that it was a type of cyst called a teratoma, which is
actually quite common in today’s world.
Roughly 20 percent of all modern ovarian tumors are teratomas.
They occur when germ cells multiply abnormally and form hair, teeth, bones, and other mature
tissues.
In many cases, teratomas are benign, but they sometimes become large, painful, and cancerous.
It’s unknown whether the teratoma played a role in the woman’s death, but her skeleton
seemed unaffected by it.
This off-putting but important discovery is helping experts learn more about the history
of these tumors, and it’s just one example of archaeologists discovering teratomas.
In 2013, a 1,600-year-old teratoma was found with a woman’s remains at a Roman necropolis
in Spain.
Much like the more recent case in Portugal, it’s unknown whether the tumor was benign
or if it perhaps contributed to the woman’s death.
Thanks for watching!
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