When it comes to archaeological secrets, the focus is usually on popular cases that have been known for decades. Stonehenge, Sphinx, and Nazca geoglyphs remain fairly readable topics. Sometimes a new mystery emerges in the media, but most of it goes unnoticed, reinforcing the notion that great mysteries do not appear as often as they used to. However, modern technology and research methods reveal great secrets with unprecedented frequency. Ruins and mysteries, strange migrations and "superfluous" artifacts, even massive megaliths that neglect all knowledge, are just a small part of the best new archaeological puzzles.
Royal necklace
In southern Belize, a jade artifact was unearthed during excavations at Nim Li Punit. This 2015 find turned out to be extremely rare. The 18.8 x 10.4 cm necklace was T-shaped and, remarkably, was found inside a platform of the same shape. Thirty hieroglyphs describe its purpose and owner, making it the only chronological pendant.
It belonged to King Janaab Ol Kinich and was worn on his chest during important rituals to change the weather. The fact that it did in a settlement far from all Mayan cities remains a great mystery. In addition, his parents and possible connections with the distant Karakol, a powerful city, were indicated on it. The jade itself was mined in Guatemala, revealing the previously unknown political and trade relations of Nim-Li-Punit. The presence of the king there was unusual. Even more unusual is the presence of a pendant there and its strange burial - not with its royal owner, but with other objects (dating from about 800) - which seems like a desperate sacrifice to the Mayan wind god during the collapse of their civilization.
Construction at Monmouth
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The Welsh city of Monmouth is famous for its archaeological discoveries. In 2012, researchers found something that puzzled them. Near the edge of the ancient lake lay the foundation of a huge structure. The imprints of the three giant beams - whole trees cut longitudinally in two halves - remained in the clay long after they decomposed. They were originally over three feet wide and 50 feet long (1x15 meters). They were too large for the crossbeams of the base of the house and were located in the center of the lake. This indicates that they once served as the pillar of a giant bridge that led to the crane, an artificial island.
Nothing like this existed anywhere in Europe. Also no one is sure when it was built. The only clue was what was found in the older archaeological layers under the beams. A preliminary dating of this mysterious foundation was given by a Bronze Age center, which was about 4000 years old. Unfortunately, this only gives a rough estimate of his earliest age. Despite speculation that this strange structure was a bridge, archaeologists do not really know what was near the lake before.
Structures without history
While it is not unusual to find an ancient architectural structure with no history, one find came as a surprise. Several other mysterious foundations have been discovered in Somerset. Only this time, the scale was breathtaking. In the Middle Ages, this site could have been an impressive group of structures. This complex, which existed for 200 years between the 12th and 14th centuries, consisted of a huge square with courtyards surrounded by stone structures.
The structures themselves must have been imposing, with exquisitely crafted floors and tiled roofs. Some of the tiles found resembled those from Glastonbury Abbey. Since these ruins are nearby and richly decorated, it was probably also some kind of religious center. Thousands of monasteries were disbanded and materials were used for other building projects, but the Somerset complex, discovered in 2013, disappeared long before that era. It is extremely rare that a monument of this size and significance has been erased from the face of the earth, from the history and memory of people.
Kinokephal-imitator
The amulet, found in Cyprus in 2011, once reassured its owner, who believed in its protective powers. This artifact measuring 34.9 x 41.2 mm is about 1500 years old. On one of its sides there is a palindrome written in Greek.
On the other side there are several Egyptian figures. The boat mummy is most likely the god Osiris. The god of silence, Harpocrates, sits on a chair. As you might expect, his right hand is raised to his lips in a perpetual gesture of silence. Before him is Kinocephalus with the head of a dog. This is a famous scene in Egyptian art. However, the images do not quite correspond to conventions. Usually the paws of Kinocephalus are raised in a gesture of worship of Harpocrates, but on the amulet it imitates the gesture of the hand of God, signifying silence. Both figures show bandage-like lines, as if they were mummies too. This is unheard of for Harpocrates, who also has to sit on a lotus and not on a chair. Aside from the suggestion that the creator of the amulet had little knowledge of Egyptian mythology, this remains a mysterious scene.
Women of gray brothers
The medieval church of the Gray Brothers was reopened in 2012, along with the skeleton of the missing King Richard III, under a parking lot in Leicester, England. A year later, four more graves were discovered. Since this was a monastery, everyone expected to find several monks or knights.
Instead, a woman was found in an ornate lead coffin a few meters from the king. She was an elderly woman with signs of high status who died between the 13th and 14th centuries. Her coffin was inside a stone sarcophagus near the high altar. Two middle-aged women rested in wooden coffins that stood on the site of the choir of the ruins of the church where the king himself was buried. The fourth woman was found in the pit. None of them have been identified. The gender ratio is also surprising. The number of burials for men exceeds the number of women buried in most monastic cemeteries in England, up to 20 men for every woman. It is assumed that there are many more graves, but a clear answer to this question will not be available in the near future.as most of them are under modern houses.
Amazonian geoglyphs
In one area of the Amazonian rainforest, deforestation revealed what was hidden under a thick canopy of trees. Over 450 giant geoglyphs were scattered over an area of 33,670 square kilometers. These geometric structures are confusing. Their very number suggests that their construction had an important purpose. However, it is difficult to even guess what exactly they were used for.
Located in the Amazon region of western Brazil, they do not meet the requirements of villages or primitive forts. More artifacts would remain in the place of the villages, and only a small number of artifacts were found in the place of geoglyphs. The fortifications would have a different layout. The study revealed the strange behavior of the native builders. It seems that 2,000 years ago they were temporarily engaged in deforestation to create their unusual earthworks. In contrast to the present time, local residents did not cut down all trees in a row to create clearings, but took only valuable trees, in this case, palm trees. The geoglyphs show signs of periodic visits, indicating that they may have been used as collection points by the ancients.
Neanderthals La Cott de Saint Brelade
For thousands of years and countless generations, Neanderthals have returned to one place. La Cotte de Saint Brelade is located on the Jersey shore. For 140,000 years, Neanderthals have made epic migrations to this cave, and archaeologists don't know exactly why. Recent exploration of the granite cave has not revealed what attracted them for millennia.
However, a team of researchers was able to recreate the migration paths of the Neanderthals, and it was then that it became clear how much the ancient hominids wanted to get to La Cotta. They traveled long distances, in changing times, across changing landscapes and in changing climates, including the Ice Age. This was determined by examining the mammoth tools and bones found in the cave and comparing them, especially stone artifacts, with the places where they were made and from where they were brought from. Many of these routes are now under the English Channel. While hiding likely had something to do with the constant returns, it couldn't be the only reason. However, this unclear reason remains to be seen.
Middle Eastern dolmen artWhen archaeologists examined a dolmen field in Israel, they discovered something amazing. Dolmens are stone tombs that look like a table. At Kibbutz Shamir in the Galilee, over 400 dolmens dot the landscape. Recently, one unique dolmen was identified from among them. Like the others, this 4,000-year-old wonder is shaped like a table, but that's where the similarities end. It is huge. A person can stand comfortably inside it, and the top stone weighs about fifty tons, making it one of the largest dolmen lids in the Middle East.
The most interesting part is the one carved into the ceiling of the inner chamber. To say that the researchers were shocked by the find of rock art would mean almost nothing. No dolmen in the Middle East can boast of this. On its surface, there are fifteen images drawn in straight lines. This dolmen is also not a stand-alone structure. At its base there are four smaller dolmens, which is also unusual for the Middle East, and all five structures are enclosed in a stone ring with a diameter of 18 meters and a weight of at least 400 tons. How such a monumental dolmen was built, as well as the purpose of the megaliths in Israel, remains generally one of the country's greatest mysteries.
Numic riddleThe 800-year-old settlement in Oregon does not match what is known about the people who speak Numic languages. These early groups influenced the modern Northern Payutes and Shoshone. Some of the artifacts discovered in 2014 in the Skull Creek dunes were recognizable but unexpected. The pottery, which was considered to be Shoshone, was too young for this monument. These distinctively patterned ceramics were believed to have originated between the 15th and 19th centuries. Using the method of radiocarbon dating, the age of three samples was determined - 847 years, 927 years and 1242 years. This predates the time of the appearance of Shoshone products in the given settlement and surrounding areas.
It is generally accepted that the first people to speak Numic languages settled in eastern Oregon about 600 years ago, two centuries after the artifacts were used at Skull Creek. Usually, in the ancient settlements of the Shoshone, they also find "branded" arrowheads, which are absent on this unusual monument. One possible option is that the characteristic projectiles were not their invention, but were taken from another group of Indians at a later stage. There is no valid theory to explain the discovery of the pottery. This contradiction may mean that anthropologists still do not know everything about prehistoric people who spoke numic languages.
Complex in SigchosHistorian Tamara Estupinya's fascination with ancient economic texts led her to discover a 400-year-old book. Examining 4,000 pages of it, she discovered the will of Atahualpa's son. The last Inca ruler was strangled in 1532 by the Spaniards before the ransom was paid. Atahualpa's body and the ransom, a priceless treasure, are gone.
Over the years, her research, involving one of Atahualpa's generals, Ruminyavi, clarified everything. He was reportedly involved with hiding the treasure and meeting with other Inca authorities in Sigchos. Surprised that important people were gathering in remote Ecuador, she returned to the will. Significantly, it showed that Sigchos was once the property of Atahualpa. More revealing was a monument called Malqui, which means "mummy of the Inca ruler." Another name for this place, Machay, means "final resting place". In 2010, she went to look at the remains of Atahualpa and found new Inca ruins instead. This discovery did not completely convince scientists that Atahualpa's body rests there. To understand the purpose of the impressive Inca complex, which was probably a religious or government center,more research will be required.
Amazonian geoglyphs