10: Ancient Cemetery Construction workers were
building a new baseball stadium in Nicaragua’s capital when they accidentally stumbled upon a
mysterious ancient graveyard from roughly 1000 years ago. The graveyard contained at least
30 pre-Columbian urns with remains inside. According to National Geographic,
the cemetery belonged to a society that was never touched by the Spanish conquistadors.
Workers with the National Electric Transmission Company were digging a
ditch to create a substation which would be the support for the new baseball stadium.
They noticed that some of the debris they were sifting through looked an awful lot
like archaeological remnants. So, they stopped and called in the archaeologists.
Now it was the Institute of Culture that moved in to investigate. They say that the archaeological
site was made sometime between the year 800 and 1350, during a period known as Sapoa.
One of the issues with Nicaragua and archeology is that the country has not been studied as much
as places like Mexico and Peru. The Spanish only arrived in Nicaragua in the 16th century,
at a time when there were three very distinct tribes with their own languages and customs.
But with the arrival of the Spanish came disease and pestilence, which wiped out pretty much all
the indigenous people in Nicaragua. The people who were killed by the Spanish and their diseases had
civilizations on par with the Maya and the Inca. It’s just that they were systematically erased and
then no one ever really went looking for them. This graveyard is an excellent example of an
old Nicaraguan tribe, perhaps the Chorotega, that scientists still don't know much about.
Finds like this one are awesome opportunities for researchers to learn more about these cultures.
9: Iron Age Settlement Archaeological experts excavating Hirta,
far in the north of an isolated part of Scotland, uncovered a settlement from the Iron Age.
According to the evidence, what today is nothing but an empty chunk of grass and rock,
far from society, was once a major social hub
with a population even higher than it is today. And I'm talking about 2400 years ago.
Archaeologists found pieces of pottery left behind by the ancient people who lived here.
By doing radiocarbon dating of the food traces found inside the pottery vessels,
researchers dated the site to between 400 and 100 BC. This was about a century and a half before
the Romans figured out how to get to Britain and began to take over the island in 43 AD.
If you’re wondering how the experts knew there was a settlement here when all they found were
pottery shards, it's because they found a lot of pottery shards! Plus, back in 2011 there
was another Iron Age settlement found on the small island of Boreray. Researchers deduced
that there were several settlements set up here, a small grouping of villages, and that all remnants
of their housing structures are gone. And to give you an idea of just how barren this place is now,
nobody has lived in the area in over 90 years. Yet back in 100 BC,
Hirta and the rest of the St. Kilda islands in Scotland were crowded with Iron Age folk.
8: Ancient Desert Tomb In Egypt, a mysterious tomb has been opened
to reveal over 50 mummies. 12 of the mummies were found to be children, while the rest were adults.
They were all uncovered inside a burial chamber that goes over 27 feet (8.2 m) into the ground.
This amazing discovery was made in the middle of the desert, way south of Cairo and the Great
Pyramid. The archaeological site is called Tuna el-Gebel, one of the lesser-known in Egypt. The
underground burial chambers were carved out of rock, and they were likely made for a family
that lived around the year 305 BC, during what is known as the Ptolemaic period. The tomb was
definitely not used for royalty, but for a normal, middle-class family whose identities are unknown.
Only the mummification process shows just how important they really were.
To make a bit more sense of this, keep in mind that around 2500 years ago, having your loved
ones buried inside an underground tomb was the same as being buried in the family cemetery today.
If you could afford to be mummified, you could probably afford to have someone carve a tomb for
you in the middle of the desert. 7: The Maya Train Project
In Mexico, over 100 previously unknown archaeological sites have been unearthed
during the construction of a controversial train project on the Yucatan peninsula. The reason the
project is so controversial is that the train runs through an area that was once densely populated by
the Maya, who as you probably know built massive cities throughout their empire between 2000 BC
and 900 AD. Their descendants are still living in the Yucatan to this very day.
The train project has so far led to the discovery of over
2500 structures, 80 burial sites, and hundreds of potential gold mines for archaeologists.
This shouldn't be any big surprise though considering the train is actually running
right beside some of the most important archaeological sites in the country,
such as Calakmul and Palenque. It has the potential to damage sites that are already there,
while uncovering and then immediately damaging new sites that are nearby but previously haven’t been
discovered. And all of this within the first 140 miles (225 km) of the train line, which is
supposed to be 950 miles (1528 km) in total. Unfortunately, the National Institute of
Anthropology and History in Mexico have not said exactly what’s been found. We know that there
are hundreds of archaeological sites exposed, but there seems to be a disturbing amount of silence
on what’s going on. We don’t know whether these sites are being excavated, covered up,
or potentially even destroyed. 6: The Phanagoria Site
The site of Phanagoria in the south of Russia contains the remnants of an ancient Greek city.
The city is located on the edge of the Black Sea, on the Taman Peninsula.
The area was initially conquered by Russia back in 1828, but its history goes all the
way back to the time of classical Greece, over 2000 years ago. Scholars have been trying to
unlock its secrets ever since it was found. They believe it could have thrived for at least two
millennia before the Greek colonists living in Phanagoria suddenly vanished and never came back.
Here's where archaeology gets weird in Russia. Expert Vladimir Kuznetsov has been working at the
site since 1978 but has never had the financing to get very much done except for poke at the ground.
In 2004, a local billionaire living close to Phanagoria decided it would be fun to fund the
excavations. His name is Oleg Deripaska, and he donated somewhere around $16 million to the
project. It turned into one of the most popular digs in the country overnight. We now know that
a Greek colony founded the city in the year 543 BC. These colonists were likely refugees from
Anatolia, from the time when the Persians attacked the area. Phanagoria developed into a city state,
they traded closely with the Scythian tribes, and they grew extremely wealthy and powerful.
But then something changed. Around the year 1000, the city suddenly went extinct. Greeks who had
been living there for thousands of years abruptly abandoned their homes and left. And even with
millions spent to excavate and study Phanagoria, researchers still can't figure out why.
5: Slave Family in Pompeii Historians and archaeologists
have been obsessed with Pompeii for centuries. It's one of the most popular and mysterious
archaeological sites in the world, with more and more discoveries being made all the time.
But the most recent discovery casts a bit of a shadow across the old Roman town.
Archaeologists have uncovered a perfectly preserved room where a slave family once lived.
For those who were unaware, Romans practiced some of the harshest slave tactics out of
any civilization ever. And because history is typically written by the rich and the powerful,
there aren't that many examples in ancient literature about the lives of slaves.
Finding an intact room where an entire family of slaves once lived and toiled
is an exclusive look into the past, to something we couldn't have possibly known about otherwise.
The room was preserved because of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
It looks like a storage closet, cramped with three wooden beds, a single wooden chest containing
traces of fabric and metal, and some personal objects like ceramic jugs and a chamber pot. The
room was not only an entire house for a family, each with their very own small and cramped bed,
it also doubled as a storage closet. 4: Karahantepe
In Turkey, archaeologists found evidence that a prehistoric site from 11,000 years ago was
the scene of a bizarre parade. The parade was part of a ceremony, which involved a
procession through a building that contained pillars shaped like male private parts and
a single, gigantic carving of a human head. The archaeological site is called Karahantepe.
The buildings here date back to before writing was even invented. Archaeologists have found
the carvings of snakes and foxes inside the remnants of the buildings, as well as the rather
inappropriate pillars. They found 11 such pillars, all of them erected in the shape of a phallus.
According to Necmi Karul from Istanbul University, the building with the pillars was connected
to a complex of other buildings, where ancient people held their ceremonial parades. However,
Karul did not speculate as to what type of ceremonies were held here.
The truth is that archaeologists don't know what kind of rituals and ceremonies these ancient
people were doing. It was simply too long ago and they left behind no written records.
However they did leave behind lots of sexy imagery so that's probably a huge clue!!
3: The Chief Treasurer’s Tomb In Egypt, archaeologists have uncovered
the mysterious tomb of a man named Ptah-M-Wia. In the days of King Ramses II, he was the chief
treasurer. Back then this was an extremely important role in the Egyptian government.
The tomb was found in Saqqara, a massive necropolis just to the south of the city of Cairo.
Saqqara itself has been in the spotlight in recent years because of a huge number of amazing finds,
from tombs to mummies, ancient temples, and so much more. But the tomb of the treasurer
is unique in that it shows somebody who wasn't royalty, but a simple government
official who worked closely with the pharaoh. The tomb was uncovered by researchers from Cairo
University. They say that Ptah-M-Wia was the sole person in charge of Ramses II’s treasury
during his rule in the 19th dynasty, between 1279 and 1213 BC. Not only that, but he also served as
the royal scribe and he was the supervisor of cattle. He may have also presided over all the
important sacrifices made at Ramses II’s temple in Thebes. We’re always so busy focusing on the
major players in ancient history like the kings and the pharaohs, the queens and the princesses,
we often don’t take time to investigate the normal people. That’s what makes finding Ptah-M-Wia’s
tomb so extraordinary. 2: Ancient Battlefield
In Switzerland, researchers have uncovered an ancient battlefield that goes back over 2000
years. It was found in the southeast of the country – not by professional archaeologists,
but by a regular guy with a metal detector. This individual, who had just been out waving
his metal detector across the ground for fun, discovered the remains of what could have been
an epic battle between the Romans and what they would have described as a tribe of savages.
The metal detectorist found an old dagger, some stones that were used in slingshots,
ancient coins, bent nails, and even a fragmented shield. It was enough evidence
to get archaeologists with the University of Basel involved. When the professionals
from the university came to investigate, they found even more objects. In fact, they found
hundreds of pieces of old weaponry that indicate a battle between the Romans and a local Rhaetian
tribe. The archaeologists were also able to date the objects back to the year 15 BC.
According to archaeologist Peter-Andrew Schwarz, the Romans attacked the tribespeople,
who fired back at them with slingshots and makeshift catapults. It wasn't enough to
keep back the fierce Roman offensive, and the tribespeople were subsequently wiped out.
1: Canadian Vikings The archaeological site of L’Anse aux Meadows
in Newfoundland, Canada, is direct evidence that Christopher Columbus was not the first European
to find the New World. Anyone who still believes Christopher Columbus was the first needs to look
at this mysterious ancient place, one out of only two remaining settlements constructed
by the Vikings approximately 1000 years ago. A new article in a reputable scientific journal
has pinpointed the first Viking landing in Canada back to 1021.
As you're watching this video, 1000 years ago, a Viking was stepping foot on Canadian soil - 500
years before Christopher Columbus was even born. This amazing discovery was made by scientists with
the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. They examined pieces of wood found at the site
and then carbon dated them. They were also able to tell that the cut marks matched axes made by
Vikings and not indigenous inhabitants of Canada. Back then, indigenous people did not yet have
metal tools, but the Vikings absolutely did. Still, L’Anse aux Meadows is a mystery because
nobody knows why the Vikings didn't stay in Newfoundland. It could be that they hated
the weather, that it was simply too far from the motherland, or something else entirely.
After they established their settlement here, they vanished and never ended up spreading
throughout North America. If they had, it would have certainly changed history as we know it.
How do you feel knowing that the first Europeans in the New World were actually
the Vikings in Canada 1000 years ago? Let me know your thoughts in the comments and thanks
for watching. Remember to subscribe and come back again for more amazing videos!