The vast majority of historical cultures have been lost over time. However, the finds of archaeologists and ordinary people show that it is possible to find something that could be lost forever.
1. Gold of Varna, Bulgaria
During excavations at an ancient cemetery in the Bulgarian Varna from 1972 to 1991, about 6 kg of gold items and artifacts were found. These treasures represent one of the most impressive archaeological finds in Europe, being around 6,500 years old. They are also the first evidence of social hierarchy in the past, as gold has been found in only a few graves - 75 percent of the gold was found in just four graves.
Men were buried in all the graves with gold items, which disproved the theory that prehistoric European civilizations were ruled by women. Within 15 years, only 312 graves were excavated in Varna, which date back to the years from 4600 to 4200 BC. The artifacts were found completely different - from jewelry and badges to the golden shell of the penis.
2. Mahendraparvata
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In 2012, an extensive survey of Phnom Kulen National Park in Cambodia showed that there are traces of an ancient disappeared civilization - pyramids, temples and even a complex water supply system. The remains of the ancient city are located 40 km north of the famous and mysterious Angkor Wat complex. They were first discovered in the 19th century by French archaeologists. According to the inscriptions on the destroyed walls, the city was called Mahendraparvata, and it was built in the 9th century by the warrior-king Jayavarman II.
The city was actively explored in the 30s, but later it was abandoned due to the wars in the Asian region. And now, decades later, it has been reopened, and work has begun in it to study its secrets and features.
3. Mona Island graffiti
Mona Island, located in the Caribbean Sea, was inhabited by the Taino people in the 16th century. The island has an extensive system of caves. Recently, scientists have discovered that the Taino and the Spanish conquistadors carried on "stormy correspondence" on the walls of these caves, carrying out a kind of cultural exchange. The caves contain both Taino drawings, Christian symbols and religious mottos.
These data suggest that the Spaniards may have been less violent than previously thought. The graffiti shows that the Spaniards tried to convert Taino to Christianity and tell them about European culture, while Taino shared their own culture and beliefs with the conquistadors.
4. Clovis tips
Clovis tips were first found in 1932 in the American city of Clovis, in the state of New Mexico (USA). In fact, the archaeologist Edgar B. Howard who discovered them was looking for fossil mammoths. However, interspersed with the bones of fossil animals in the ground were fine hand-made arrowheads. Howard dug deeper and stumbled upon traces of an ancient American culture named for the town of Clovis. The earliest clovis arrowheads are 13,500 years old, and similar ones were later found in 1,500 locations throughout North America, as well as in Venezuela. The Clovis people were among the earliest inhabitants of the Americas.
5. Lynx remains
It is believed that the first domestication of felines occurred in ancient Egypt, but this finding in the United States suggests that it may have occurred in North America as well. In the 1980s, a road was laid in Illinois and a 2,000-year-old mound was excavated as a result. Human remains were found in it, as well as the bones of an animal that was buried next to people.
For several years it was believed that these were the bones of a dog, but then it turned out that they belonged to a young lynx. Her skeleton showed no signs of damage or trauma, which means that she was not sacrificed. Perhaps they tried to tame her - this is also evidenced by her decorated collar.
6. Ship of the XVIII century at the World Trade Center
Several years after the twin towers in New York were destroyed, the remains of a centuries-old ship were discovered in their place. The wooden hull of the vessel was 6 to 9 meters below street level. This discovery was the first large-scale historical discovery in Manhattan. Apparently, when the World Trade Center was being built, the ship was not noticed, but surprisingly, it was not destroyed.
The ship was most likely built in the mid or late 1700s, but this is not known for certain. After the discovery, the ship began to collapse in the air, since for many years the earth served as its preservative, protecting it from decay.
7. Pasargadae
Pasargadae, located in northern Iran, was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, built by Cyrus the Great. Pasargadae was once the most important city in the world and the Achaemenid Empire served as the inspiration for the empires of Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire. However, the Pasargadae were left on the sidelines of history and were eventually lost. Cyrus's tomb was still standing, but its great inhabitant was forgotten. Over time, the locals began to consider the tomb belonging to the mother of King Solomon.
The city was discovered in 1928 by the German archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld. In it were found ruins, a complex irrigation system, as well as the palaces and tomb of Cyrus, which are being investigated by scientists today.
8. The castle under the prison
In 2015, work began on a proposed redevelopment at a men's prison in Gloucester, England. And soon the workers made a shocking discovery - under the prison are the ruins of a 1000-year-old castle. According to the BBC, its walls "have not been seen for the past 200 years." The castle had a huge tower, comparable in size to the White Tower of the Tower of London. In 1791, two years after the castle was destroyed, the first prisoners ended up in Gloucester Prison, who did not know that they were living on the ruins of a great structure.
9. White City, Honduras
The White City was considered a legend in Honduras. According to indigenous people, when the Spanish conquistadors first arrived in America and began robbing the locals, they fled to the White City deep in the jungles of Honduras. These days, strange objects have been found in a remote area of Honduras that indicate the presence of some kind of civilization there. In 2012, when surveyed from an airplane in the jungle, the remains of an entire city were discovered, with pyramids, squares and various artifacts of a forgotten civilization. It is possible that these are traces of the mythical White City.
10. Homo ice
In 2013, paleoanthropologist Lee Berger put together a team to explore the Rising Star Cave in South Africa. The search team consisted of six very slender women - for the reason that the researchers had to squeeze into a narrow groove only 18 centimeters wide.
In the cave, 1,500 bones were found from approximately 15 skeletons. This find turned out to be very important, because these bones turned out to be the remains of a previously unknown species of man, who was named Gomo Naledi.
When Berger first explored the cave, he didn't expect to find anything so impressive here. It turned out that Homo Naledi performed some kind of funeral rituals in the cave and were even quite intelligent.
Natalia Trubinovskaya