MOST RECENT DISCOVERIES IN ARCHAEOLOGY

Headless Vikings of Dorset

 

While digging a railroad in Dorset workers came across a small contingent of viking warriors buried in the ground, all missing their heads. At first archaeologists thought that maybe some villagers had survived a raid and exacted their revenge but upon closer inspection things got a little less clear. The beheadings looked too clean and seemed to have been done from the front rather than the back. They are still not sure what happened.

Baghdad Battery

In the mid 1930′s several plain looking jars were discovered near Baghdad, Iraq. No one paid any notice to them until not long after when a German museum curator published a paper claiming that the jars may have been used as galvanic cells, or batteries. Although it may seem far fetched at first even the Mythbusters got on board and confirmed that it was indeed a good possibility.

Sacsayhuaman

This walled complex just outside of Cusco, Peru is part of what used to be the capital of the Inca Empire. The crazy part about this wall, however, is in the details of its construction. The rock slabs fit together so tightly that it would be impossible to slide even a hair between them. It’s a testament to the precision of ancient Incan architecture.

Gobekli Tepe

Although at first glance it may seem like nothing more than a bunch of rocks, this ancient settlement discovered in 1994 was constructed roughly 9,000 years ago and is currently the one of the oldest examples of complex/monumental architecture in the world, predating the pyramids by thousands of years.

Voynich Manuscript

Described as the “world’s most mysterious manuscript” this piece of literature has been dated back to early 15th century Italy. With most of its pages filled with what seems to be herbal recipes, none of the plants match known species and the language remains undecipherable.

Mount Owen Moa

n 1986 an expedition was making its deeper and deeper into the cave system of Mount Owen in New Zealand when it came across the huge claw you’re now looking at. It was so well preserved that it almost seemed like whatever it belonged to had just died recently. Upon excavation and inspection, however, it was determined to belong to an Upland Moa, a large prehistoric bird that apparently came with a nasty set of claws.

Dead Sea Scrolls

Similar to the Rosetta Stone the Dead Sea Scrolls are one of the major archaeological finds of the last century. They contain the earliest known surviving copies of biblical documents that date all the way back to 150 BC.

The Tomb of Sunken Skulls

While excavating a dry lake bed in Motala, Sweden archaeologists came across several skulls that had stakes driven directly through their craniums. As if that weren’t bad enough one of the skulls even had pieces of the others skulls crammed up inside it. Whatever happened their 8,000 years ago wasn’t pretty.

The Venetian Vampire

Although these days the most surefire method used to slay vampire is a stake through the heart, hundreds of years ago that was not considered sufficient. Allow us to introduce you to the ancient alternative – the brick through the mouth. Think about it. What’s the easiest way to keep a vampire from sucking blood? Cram his face full of cement no doubt. The skull you are looking at here was found by archaeologists just outside Venice in a mass grave.

Teotihuacan Sacrifice

Although it has been known for years that the Aztecs hosted numerous bloody sacrificial festivals, in 2004 a grisly discovery was made outside of modern day Mexico City. Numerous decapitated and mutilated bodies of both humans and animals shed some light on just how horrific the rituals could get.

Terra Cotta Army

While it may not be intense in the same way as the last few discoveries, this vast terracotta army that was buried with Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, is certainly intense in its own right. Apparently the intention was for the soldiers to protect the emperor in the afterlife.

Ancient Chemical Warfare

In 1933 archaeologist Robert du Mesnil du Buisson was searching beneath the ruins of an ancient Roman/Persian battlefield when he came across some siege tunnels that had been dug under the city. In the tunnels he found the bodies of 19 Roman soldiers that seemingly died while trying to desperately escape from something and one Persian soldier clutching his chest. Apparently when the Romans heard the Persians digging under their walls they began digging a tunnel of their own with the idea of dropping in on the Persians from above. The trouble for them was that the Persians heard it and set a trap. As soon as the Roman soldiers dropped through they were met with burning sulfur and bitumen which has the unfortunate effect of turning to acid in your lungs.

Antikythera Mechanism

Discovered in a shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera around the turn of the 20th century. This 2000 year old device has often been touted as the world’s first scientific calculator. With dozens of gears it can precisely measure the position of the sun, moon, and planets simply by inputting a date. Although there is debate over its exact use it certainly shows that even 2000 years ago civilization was already accomplishing amazingly advanced feats of mechanical engineering.

Lake Ontario, New York

In June 2008, after a 35-year search, electrical engineers Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville discovered the HMS Ontario, the oldest shipwreck in the Great Lakes and the only known fully intact British warship in those waters. The vessel sank in Lake Ontario during a sudden gale on October 31, 1780, with more than 120 passengers aboard, including 30 American prisoners of war. Kennard and Scoville used side-scanning sonar to locate the wreck, which rested in an area of the lake where depths exceed 500 feet. They later explored the vessel with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV).

Min of the Desert,The Red Sea, Egypt

Nearly 3,500 years ago, the female pharaoh Hatshepsut ordered five trading ships built for a voyage over the Red Sea to the legendary Land of Punt. Now, Florida State University maritime archaeologist Cheryl Ward has plied the same waters on a similar vessel, a 66-foot-long, 30-ton reconstruction of an 18th Dynasty trading ship. Called Min of the Desert--in honor of the powerful Egyptian fertility god commemorated in stelae and shrines at the Middle Kingdom lagoon site of Mersa Gawasis--the ship was partly based on a detailed relief depicting Hatshepsut's fleet in her funerary temple. Since 2003 archaeologists have unearthed wooden ship parts, anchors, and ropes still tied in original knots, evidence that ships were dismantled at the site.