Incredible archaeological discoveries! These are some of the most intense ancient archaeological discoveries ever in human history.
Today we look at 8 incredible archaeological discoveries. See what unexpected things scientists have found underground.
In a dry prehistoric lake bed located near the shore of
Lake Vättern in
Motala,
Sweden lies the Tomb of Sunken
Skulls. Discovered in 2009 while excavating in preparation for a new railway to be built, a collection of skulls from 11 individuals were found. Two of these were mounted on stakes.
The skulls are 8000 years old.
Scientists speculate that the skulls may have been displayed in a kind of burial ritual or alternatively may have been the skulls of enemies that had been killed. Amazingly archaeologists were able to tell that fish was a big part of their diet by analyzing their bone composition. Just think in another 8000 years somebody will be saying wow they ate a lot of big macs.
The
Grauballe Man, so named because he was found near the village of Grauballe in
Denmark, is what’s called a bog body.
Bog bodies are human bodies that have been preserved in a peat bog and Peat is dead plant material. Discovered in
1952 the Grauballe Man is one of the most well preserved bog bodies ever with his skin and even his hair and fingernails still intact. Through
Radiocarbon dating we know he is over
2000 years old and lived around
300 B.C.
Researches believe he may have been the victim of a human sacrifice as his throat looks like it was slit
This is the
Terracotta Army
The army was discovered in
1974 east of the city
Xian (shee-ann)
China and consists of more than 8000 life-sized
Terracotta soldiers. In case you’re wondering what
Terracotta is,
it’s clay-based and is used for stuff like those brownish orange plant pots.
The soldiers were created to protect the first emperor of China,
Qin Shi Huang (
Chin shee whuang), in the afterlife
.
In the 1920s two human skull cups were found and then another in
1987 in
Gough’s Cave
in
Cheddar UK which interestingly is the village that
Cheddar cheese is named after, which may permanently change your view of cheddar bowls.
The skulls are 14,700 years old. Researchers believe they are skull cups based on what they describe as careful percussional banging with stones all around the edges of the skull.
The practice of creating
Skull cups is a worldwide phenomenon with accounts of skulls cups used in
China, Japan,
India, and by
Vikings.
Is this
a new backscratcher from Bed Bath &
Beyond finally living up to the last part of their name? In
1986 a team exploring caves at
Mount Owen, New Zealand found a mysterious claw while excavating. The claw belonged to a
3000 year old
Upland Moa which was a flightless bird.
There were 9 known species of Moa birds and unfortunately all Moa’s are now extinct. The upland moa was the last of the Moa to become extinct in the 1500’s from hunting by humans. When humans first came in contact with the moa’s around 1250 the moa population was 58,
000, it only took humans 250 years to wipe out a species.
Humans can be such dicks sometimes.
Is this an alien skull?
Perhaps, but scientists believe this skull found in
Mexico is a human skull that is the result of a process called artificial cranial deformation.
It’s usually done
when a child is an infant and the skull is softest and they bind the skull with either wood or cloth for about 6 months. Why they do this, no one really knows, but it is thought that it was a means of signifying status. Even more surprising is the fact that the practice still continues to this day in some places such as
Vanuatu which is an island near fiji. However some researchers believed that the elongated skulls actually belong to a race of humans which no longer exists.
This is a
Chachapoya Mummy. The
Chachapoyas were known as the
Warriors of the Clouds and lived in what is now
Peru. It looks like this person died a truly horrifying death as if screaming and covering their face. However the hands are actually tied to the face and archaeologist suspect that the putting the hands in this configuration was just the easiest way to make the mummy compact and easy to transport. The open mouth is a common phenomenon where unless the jaw is restrained the mouth will slowly open as the body decomposes. Researchers believe that the Chachapoya did not just leave their dead but instead cared for them and possibly re-wrapped them and put them on display.
Meet La Doncella (don-saya), which translates to “
The Maiden”, who is one of the
Children of Llullaillaco (you-ya-yaco).
The Children of Llullaillaco are three of the best preserved
Inca mummies ever found. They were found by Dr
Johan Rienhard and his team in
1999 at the peak of
Mount Llullaillaco which is 22,
100 feet (6,700 meters) high and located on the border of
Chile and
Argentina.
- published: 22 Feb 2015
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