The relics left behind by ancient people are usually broken, buried and difficult to identify, but there are still some artifacts that can make us completely rethink our place in history. Meet thirteen interesting finds.
The Sandy Borg Murder
When Swedish archaeologists found a human skeleton lying on the floor of a house, they wondered why no one had buried it. Then they found other remains. All signs indicated that they were executed with swords and axes and then thrown to the floor until the walls of the house collapsed onto the bodies.
The remains of 26 people, coins and jewelry were found, but it was not established who the attackers were and what the reason for the execution was.
78,000 years of human activity
Promotional video:
A cave network in Kenya called Panga-i-Saidi contains human artifacts from the Middle Stone Age. Michael Petraglia of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Humanity told Haaretz that the cave could house hundreds of people and that the tropical forested area had a relatively stable climate, while other parts of Africa experienced drought.
A team of scientists discovered interesting finds - large stone tools that belonged to the earliest inhabitants. It was found that improved arrowheads and blades began to appear about 67,000 years ago.
Injured animals from the zoo in ancient Egypt
Hierakonpolis was one of the most important cities along the Nile River 5000 years ago (hundreds of years before the pyramids were built). Its wealthy residents demonstrated their status by keeping exotic pets.
Excavation of the cemetery led to the discovery of two elephants, several baboons and a hippopotamus. But these were not complete fragments. The hippopotamus showed signs of bone fracture, which healed.
Researchers believe the animals were harmed during capture or from being tied down. The restoration of the bones indicates that the animals were cared for, although they are known to be kept in captivity.
Children with disabilities are buried as members of the royal family
Hunter-gatherers buried several people, including two teenage boys, at a site called Sangir, east of present-day Moscow, 34,000 years ago.
The researchers found that boys who died around the age of 10 and 12 showed signs of disability. They are buried with 10,000 matte ivory beads, 20 headbands, 300 punctured fox teeth, 16 ivory spears, carvings, horns and human figurines resting on each child's chest.
The adults were buried on the other side. Some of the tombs contained no treasures, and some contained only a few treasures.
Stone Age tools in India
More than 90% of modern humans are from the small Homo sapiens population that left Africa about 60,000 years ago. Researchers believe that the group could have been quite advanced because they possessed superior stone tools.
But a recent find in South India, where ancient human objects have not been well studied, shows that humans had improved instruments over 200,000 years ago.
Hidden treasures
For 50 years, a man named Waldo Wilcox guarded the treasure at his ranch in Utah. The artifacts were left behind by a mysterious tribe called the Fremont Indians who lived in the area 1,000 years ago. The site is now home to the Utah Museum of Natural History.
Terracotta Warriors
When workers digging a well in China in 1974 discovered a life-size statue of a soldier, they realized that this find was something special. But they had no idea that there were many figures in the depths. Archaeologists have excavated and 8,000 clay statues have now been found. The complex was created as a mausoleum for the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang Di. History shows that he ascended the throne in 246 BC. e.
Tiny Human or Alien?
In 2003, a 15 cm long mummy with a pointed head was found in the Atacama Desert in Chile.
As it turned out, the mummy belonged to a woman whose origin the researchers associated with the indigenous population of Chile. But the skeleton also contained elements of the Caucasian race. Scientists have found seven different mutations in genes associated with growth, but they are not sure what caused such an anomaly.
Antikythera Mechanism
A Greek ship sank off the coast of Antikythera Island about 2,000 years ago. It was discovered in 1900. When archaeologists dismantled the artifacts recovered from the wreckage, they came across a strange object that caused complete bewilderment. The mechanism featured multiple layers of brass gears that were precisely connected and embedded in a wooden box.
The engine could predict the position of planets and stars in the sky by date, eclipses and moon phases, and countdowns to sporting events, including the Olympic Games.
Burial of dogs
Peruvian anthropologist Sonia Guillen has unearthed a 1,000-year-old cemetery south of Lima. The team of scientists found not only people, but also 43 dogs that were buried by representatives of the Chiribaya culture, which preceded the Inca empire.
Many of the dogs were buried with treats and blankets. Because the desert climate has preserved the bodies of the animals, Guillen was able to determine that the remains were similar to a popular modern breed called the Chiribaya shepherd, and the team is now trying to prove genetic commonality.
Medieval motherhood
About 1,300 years ago, a woman in the Italian city of Imola died just a couple of weeks before her baby was born. Archaeologists found a fetal skeleton between the legs, which was pushed out by gases accumulated inside the pregnant woman's body.
But scientists are more interested in another fact: someone made a small hole in the mother's skull before her death. This action was called trepanation. It has been carried out throughout history and around the world to treat head injuries, headaches and exorcise evil spirits. Researchers wonder if the woman had eclampsia associated with high blood pressure and possibly seizures during pregnancy?
Gebekli Tepe in Turkey
This archaeological site in Turkey has large pillars with carvings of animals, stone rings and many rectangular rooms. It may be the oldest known architecture in the world and is believed by many researchers to be a religious complex.
Surprises in Egypt
Peter E. Manuelyan, professor of Egyptology and director of the Semitic Museum at Harvard, says one of his predecessors, Dawes Dunham, tried to trick his boss, the renowned Egyptologist George Reisner, who led many of the most successful pyramid excavations.
In 1914, Dunham threw a bronze Roman coin he had just bought from a Cairo antique shop into a burial chamber to see if Reisner was puzzled. But his ruse didn't work.
Interestingly, Manuelyan claims that one of Reisner's metric sticks was found in early 2018 in a tomb in Middle Egypt, 103 years after he first worked there.
Maya Muzashvili