The most unusual excavations of archaeologists. Strange archaeological finds that have no explanation

Archaeologist may not be the most breathtaking profession, but it definitely has its own thrills. Of course, it's not every day that archaeologists find valuable mummies, but once in a while, you can stumble upon something truly amazing, be it ancient computers, huge underground armies, or mysterious remains. We bring to your attention the 25 most amazing archaeological finds in the history of mankind.

1. Venetian vampire

Today, every schoolboy knows that in order to kill a vampire, you need to drive an aspen stake into his heart, but hundreds of years ago this was not considered the only method. Let me introduce you to an ancient alternative - a brick in your mouth. Think for yourself. What's the best way to make a vampire stop drinking blood? Of course, fill his mouth with cement to the bone. The skull you are looking at in this photo was found by archaeologists on the outskirts of Venice in a mass grave.

2. Children dump

At the end of this post, you will probably understand that for a long time people (at least in the past) were supporters of cannibalism, sacrifice and torture. For example, not so long ago, several archaeologists were digging in the sewers under a Roman/Byzantine bathhouse in Israel and came across something truly terrifying...the bones of children. And there were a lot of them. For some reason, someone upstairs decided to get rid of a lot of baby remains by simply throwing them down the drain.

3 Aztec Sacrifices

Although historians have long known that the Aztecs held many bloody sacrificial feasts, in 2004, near the modern city of Mexico City, a terrible thing was found - a lot of dismembered and mutilated bodies of both people and animals, shedding light on the terrible rituals that were practiced by several hundreds of years ago.

4 Terracotta Army

This huge terracotta army was buried along with the body of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. Apparently, the soldiers were supposed to protect their earthly ruler in the afterlife.

5 Screaming Mummies

Sometimes the Egyptians did not take into account the fact that if you do not tie the jaw to the skull, then in the end it will open as if a person was screaming before death. Although this phenomenon is observed in many mummies, it does not become less creepy from this. From time to time, archaeologists find mummies that seem to really scream before they die for some (probably not the most pleasant) reasons. In the photo, the mummy, which was called "Unknown Man E". It was found by Gaston Masparo in 1886.

6. The first leper

Leprosy (leprosy), also called Hansen's disease, is not contagious, but the people who suffered from it often lived on the fringes of society because of their external deformity. Since corpses are cremated according to Hindu tradition, the skeleton in the photo, which is called the first leper, was buried outside the city.

7 Ancient Chemical Weapons

In 1933, archaeologist Robert du Mesnil du Buesson was excavating under the remains of an ancient Roman-Persian battlefield when he came across some siege tunnels dug under the city. In the tunnels, he found the bodies of 19 Roman soldiers who had died desperately trying to escape from something, as well as one Persian soldier clinging to his chest. Most likely, when the Romans heard that the Persians were digging a tunnel under their city, they decided to dig their own to counterattack them. The problem was that the Persians found out about this and set a trap. As soon as the Roman soldiers descended into the tunnel, they were met by burning sulfur and bitumen, and this infernal mixture, as you know, turns into poison in human lungs.

8 Rosetta Stone

Discovered in 1799 by a French soldier digging in Egyptian sand, the Rosetta Stone has become one of the greatest archaeological finds to date and a major source of modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs. The stone is a fragment of a larger stone, on which the decree of King Ptolemy V (about 200 BC) was written, translated into three languages ​​- Egyptian hieroglyphs, Demotic writing and ancient Greek.

9. Diquis balls

They are also called the stone balls of Costa Rica. Scientists believe that these petrospheres, almost perfect balls that now lie at the mouth of the Dikvis River, were carved around the turn of the millennium. But no one can say for sure what they were used for and for what purpose they were created. It can be assumed that these were symbols of heavenly bodies or designations of boundaries between the lands of different tribes. Parascientific authors often argue that these "ideal" spheres could not have been made by the hands of ancient people, and associate them with the activities of space aliens.

10 The Groball Man

Mummified bodies found in swamps are not uncommon in archeology, but this body, called the Groboll Man, is unique. Not only was he perfectly preserved with intact hair and nails, scientists were also able to determine the cause of his death from the finds collected on and around the body. Judging by the large wound on his neck from ear to ear, it looks like he was sacrificed to ask the gods for a good harvest.

11. Desert snakes

At the turn of the 20th century, pilots discovered a series of low stone walls in Israel's Negev desert, and they have baffled scientists ever since. The walls could be more than 64 km long, and they were nicknamed "kites", as they are very similar to reptiles from the air. But recently, scientists have concluded that the walls were used by hunters to drive large animals into enclosures or throw them off cliffs, where they could easily be killed several at a time.

12. Ancient Troy

Troy is a city well known for its history and legends (as well as valuable archaeological finds). It was located in the northwest of Anatolia in what is now Turkey. In 1865, the English archaeologist Frank Calvert found a trench in a field he had bought from a local farmer in Hissarlik, and in 1868 a wealthy German businessman and archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, also began excavating the area after meeting Calvert in Canakkale. As a result, they found the ruins of this ancient city, the existence of which was considered a legend for many centuries.

13. Acambaro figurines

This is a collection of over 33,000 miniature clay figurines that were discovered in 1945 in the ground near Acambaro, Mexico. The find includes many small figurines resembling both humans and dinosaurs. While most of the scientific community now agrees that these figurines were part of an elaborate scam, their discovery was initially a sensation.

Found on the wreckage of a ship off the Greek island of Antikythera at the turn of the 20th century. The 2,000-year-old instrument is considered the world's first scientific calculator. With dozens of gears, he can pinpoint the positions of the sun, moon, and planets with a simple input of data. Although debate continues over its exact application, it certainly proves that even 2,000 years ago civilization was already making huge strides towards mechanical engineering.

15. Rapa Nui

Known as Easter Island, this place is one of the most isolated places in the world. It is located thousands of kilometers from the Chilean coast. But the most amazing thing about this place is not even that people managed to get to it and settle in at all, but that they managed to erect huge stone heads all over the island.

16. Tomb of Sunken Skulls

While excavating on a dry lakebed at Motala, Swedish archaeologists came across several skulls with sticks protruding from them. But this, apparently, was not enough: in one skull, scientists found pieces of other skulls. Whatever happened to these people 8,000 years ago, it was terrible.

17. Map of Piri Reis

This map dates from the early 1500s. It shows the outlines of South America, Europe and Africa with amazing accuracy. Apparently, it was compiled by the general and cartographer Piri Reis (hence the name of the map) from fragments of dozens of other maps.

18. Geoglyphs of Nazca

For hundreds of years, these lines were practically under the feet of archaeologists, but they were discovered only in the early 1900s for the simple reason that they were impossible to see unless viewed from a bird's eye view. There were many explanations - from UFOs to a technically advanced civilization. The most plausible explanation is that the Nazca were amazing surveyors, although the reason why they drew such huge geoglyphs is still unknown.

19. Dead Sea Scrolls

Like the Rosetta Stone, the Dead Sea Scrolls are one of the most important archaeological finds of the last century. They contain the earliest copies of biblical texts (150 BC).

20. Moa of Mount Owen

In 1986, an expedition was digging deeper into the cave system of Mount Owen in New Zealand when they suddenly came across a huge part of the paw that you are now looking at. It was so well preserved that it seemed as if its owner had died recently. But later it turned out that the paw belonged to a moa - a huge prehistoric bird with a terrible set of sharp claws.

21. Voynich Manuscript

It is called the most mysterious manuscript in the world. The manuscript was created at the beginning of the 15th century in Italy. Most of the pages are occupied by recipes for herbal infusions, but none of the presented plants matches those currently known, and the language in which the manuscript is written cannot be deciphered at all.

22. Göbekli Tepe

At first it seems that these are just stones, but in fact this is an ancient settlement discovered in 1994. It was created approximately 9,000 years ago and is now one of the oldest examples of complex and monumental architecture in the world that predates the pyramids.

23. Sacsayhuaman

This walled complex near the city of Cusco in Peru is part of the so-called capital of the Inca Empire. The most incredible thing lies in the details of the construction of this wall. Stone slabs lie so close to each other that even a hair cannot be inserted between them. This speaks to how accurate the architecture of the ancient Incas was.

24. Baghdad Battery

In the mid 1930s. near Baghdad, Iraq, several unpretentious-looking jars were found. No one attached much importance to them until a German museum curator published a document stating that these jugs were used as galvanic cells, or, in simple terms, batteries. Although this opinion was criticized, even the MythBusters got involved in this case and soon concluded that such a possibility existed.

25. Headless Vikings of Dorset

While laying a railway to the English city of Dorset, workers came across a small group of Vikings buried in the ground. They were all headless. At first, archaeologists thought that perhaps one of the villagers survived the Viking raids and decided to take revenge, but after careful analysis, everything became even more vague and confusing. The decapitation looked too precise and neat, which meant that it was carried out only from behind. But scientists still cannot say with certainty what really happened.

Despite the level of technological progress and all the accumulated knowledge about the history of our planet and the civilizations that inhabited it, we still cannot figure out some mysterious discoveries.

Most of the finds allow scientists to learn something new about the past, but there are also artifacts that contradict all logic and challenge the generally accepted knowledge about the capabilities of ancient peoples. For example, how exactly was Stonehenge built? Why were the Nazca geoglyphs drawn? Who wrote the Devil's Bible?

However, if we do not understand something, this does not mean that we still cannot try to learn something new thanks to mysterious finds. As a result, researchers will definitely find all the answers. In the meantime, let's just find out what kind of puzzles modern archaeologists are struggling with. Here is a selection of 25 such secrets of the past!

25. Roman dodecahedrons

Roman dodecahedrons date back to the 2nd and 3rd century AD and are still a real mystery to the scientific community. These artifacts are usually 3 to 11 centimeters in diameter, most often made of bronze, and are a polyhedron of 12 regular pentagons with round holes and balls at the top of each corner. According to some versions, dodecahedrons were used either for ritual purposes or as a measuring instrument. These were very valuable items, and throughout Europe, archaeologists have already found several hundred of these mysterious artifacts.

24. Giant circles


Photo: Rei-artur blog

On the territory of Jordan and Syria, with the help of satellite imagery, 8 huge circles were discovered. The diameter of the figures is from 220 to 455 meters, and no one knows exactly when they appeared here, or why they were drawn. Archaeologists are still excavating at the site of the discovery of mysterious formations, but even now they are suggesting that these objects belong to the period from the beginning of the Bronze Age to the time of the Roman Empire.

23. Copper Scroll

Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com

Among other scrolls found in the Dead Sea area, there is one manuscript that is different from all the others. The find was made in 1952, and unlike parchment or papyrus artifacts, this scroll is made of a metal alloy (mainly copper). The manuscript contains approximately the following text: “Nine hundred talents are hidden in a large cistern in the courtyard of the pillared hall, in a recess opposite the door, in the corner. In the cistern under the wall on the east side are six hundred silver ingots. In the southern corner of the pillared hall near the tomb of Zadok and under the pillar in the assembly hall, there is a spruce vessel for incense and a similar vessel made of cassia wood. Yes, this is a real treasure map. Historians and ordinary treasure hunters have been trying in vain to find this treasure for many years. Some experts have even begun to suggest that the text is of a metaphorical nature, or is more of a recommendation than a description of an already realized cache.

22. Rongo-rongo writing


Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com

Rongorongo writings were found on Easter Island in the 19th century. They are a collection of wooden planks covered with mysterious hieroglyphs of unknown origin. No one has been able to decipher the meaning of these ancient letters, but some scholars believe that deciphering these texts would help shed light on the mysterious disappearance of the ancient civilization that once inhabited Easter Island.

21. Scottish Pyramids of Clava


Photo: Elliott Simpson

These mysterious stone structures are nearly 4,000 years old and have been found on the south bank of the River Nairn in Scotland. Piles of stones dilute vertically standing megaliths (stone blocks), and most of all scientists are puzzled by the question of how exactly the people of those years managed to collect all these heavy boulders in one place and set them up in the form of a ring monument. In addition, researchers do not quite understand why this ancient complex was built at all. Among most theories, the most common are related to funerary rituals, solstice observations, and even extraterrestrials.

20. Potbellied Hill or Göbekli Tepe


Photo: Teomancimit

Göbekli Tepe is the largest archaeological complex discovered in Turkey, whose age is approximately 11,000 years, that is, it is 6,000 years older than even the legendary Stonehenge. In the temple complex, many pillars were found, decorated with carved silhouettes of animals and other mystical creatures, as well as many other places of worship. Initially hidden under a 15-meter hill, the complex was mistaken for an ancient cemetery, but archaeologists later realized that they were faced with something more grandiose. Most likely, it was just a temple, but research is still ongoing.

19. American Stonehenge


Photo: (WT-shared) Jtesla16 at wts wikivoyage

American Stonehenge discovered in the town of Salem, New Hampshire (Salem, New Hampshire). This amazing monument is a system of caves and stone structures, and its origin is still unclear and causes a lot of controversy among experienced archaeologists. The area on which the complex is located belonged to the Pattees family, but the object remained unnoticed until William Goodwin bought the land in 1937. Since then, archaeological excavations have begun here. Radiocarbon analysis showed that the creation of this mysterious place was worked on as far back as 2000 BC. But who exactly lived in this American Stonehenge is still unknown to science.

18. Stone balls of Costa Rica Las Bolas


Photo: Shutterstock

The locals call them Las Bolas (balls). These spherical artifacts are scattered along the coast of the Diquis Delta, on the Nicoya Peninsula and on the island of Caño in southern Costa Rica. The giant stone spheres date back to around 600 AD and are predominantly composed of gabbro (igneous rock). The purpose of the stone balls is still a mystery, but scientists suggest that they were either used as landmarks or to study the stars.

17. Treasures and the mysterious disappearance of the people of Sanxingdui (Sanxingdui)

Photo: Nishanshaman

This archaeological mystery lies not so much in the artifacts themselves, but in the creators of the finds. In 1929 and then in 1986, a pit with jade items was discovered in the Chinese province of Sichuan. A simple peasant was the first to find it, and after several decades, full-fledged excavations were finally carried out here. Bronze and stone artifacts, elephant tusks and other amazing finds were hidden in the treasury. Apparently, the Sanxingdui culture lived in these lands on the banks of the Minjing River about 3,000 years ago, but suddenly they literally disappeared from the face of the Earth, and scientists are still wondering why. Wars and famines are mentioned among the probable causes. One of the most recent speculations is related to a large earthquake. Perhaps, during the next powerful shock, a serious landslide occurred, blocking the riverbed and changing its course, which forced the ancient settlement in a hurry to change their place of residence in search of a new source of water.

16. Geoglyphs of Nazca


Photo: Unukorno

Lines and geometric patterns in the Nazca Desert (Peru) are one of the greatest archaeological mysteries in the world. Scattered throughout the Peruvian plateau are a great many of these mysterious inscriptions, which appeared between 500 AD and 500 BC. The unusual size, huge number, plot and structure of these geoglyphs puzzled the most prominent scientists. The main version says that these lines and drawings are associated with some ancient rituals or were used by ancient scientists to observe the starry sky.

15. Baghdad Battery


Photo: Boynton / flickr

This artifact is almost 2000 years old. The Baghdad battery was found in the suburbs of the Iraqi capital. Before you is an earthenware vessel with a bitumen stopper and an iron rod passed through the stopper into the vase itself, inside of which there is also a copper cylinder. Filled with vinegar, this battery is capable of producing an electrical voltage of 1.1 volts. However, no written confirmation that these vessels were used in this way has been found. Scientists have not found any other devices that would work at the expense of these ancient galvanic cells. Skeptics believe that these were ordinary vessels for storing manuscripts.

14 Derinkuyu Underground City


Photo: Nevit Dilmen

In the Turkish province of Nevsehir (Nevsehir), a real city was hiding right under the ground for many years. There are many similar dungeons in Turkey, but Derinkuyu is the largest of them. The shelter consists of 8 levels and descends to a depth of 80 meters. The cave kingdom was built around the 8th century BC, and the first inhabitants were the ancient Phrygians, and then the early Christians, who hid here from persecution. However, the original purpose of such a grandiose underground structure is still unknown.

13. Shroud of Turin


Photo: Dianelos Georgoudis

The Shroud of Turin is a 4-meter linen cloth with the imprint of the body of a man executed on a cross. The shroud is kept in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin and is recognized as one of the most important Christian relics, since believers believe that the body of Jesus Christ was wrapped in it when he was buried in the tomb of a Jewish elder. Scientific research has not yet shed light on the age of the canvas, since some experts believe that the fabric was produced during the Middle Ages, while others attribute it to the time of Jesus Christ. The Catholic Church does not recognize the shroud as genuine, and the Orthodox Church has so far abandoned its official position on this matter.

12. Underwater cairn


Photo: Nemo

In Lake Tiberias, using the echolocation method, scientists recently discovered an entire underwater pyramid. The pile of stones stretched about 70 meters in diameter, but archaeologists have not yet been able to determine its age or purpose. There are a lot of tilapia swimming in this lake, and this has led some experts to believe that this structure was once used for fishing.

11. Stonehenge


Photo: garethwiscombe

Stonehenge is a very famous archaeological complex, which has long been considered a real mystery. The largest stone blocks weigh about 25 tons each and rise 9 meters above the ground. Some of these giant boulders were brought from West Wales, which means they were dragged as much as 225 kilometers. How exactly the ancient inhabitants of these places managed to transport such heavy stones is still. It probably took the coordinated work of several thousand people at the same time to carry them. If this was the case, then the creation of this complex should have marked the real unification of England in those years, because the construction required very serious resources and the involvement of a large number of workers.

10. Sound effects in the hypogeum (sanctuary) Hal Saflieni (Hal Saflieni)


Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com

Hal Saflieni Temple is located in Malta and this prehistoric complex is almost 5000 years old. In addition, it is one of the very few underground sanctuaries dating back to the Bronze Age. No one knows exactly why this hypogeum was built, but the main version is that it served as a refuge for the prophet, and later a burial ground was organized here. This place becomes even more mysterious due to its unusual properties, due to which sounds are perceived here in an unusual way. There is a special room in the dungeon where all the lowest sounds resonate as loudly as if you are in the center of a giant bell, but outside of this room you can hardly hear anything. Was it so conceived by ancient people during the construction of the complex, or is it an unforeseen effect?

9. Khatt Shebib


Photo: Pixabay.com

Sir Ales Kirkbride discovered Hutt Shebib in 1948. This is an ancient wall stretching for 150 kilometers through almost all of Jordan. Since its opening, the building has been shrouded in mystery and will captivate the minds of prominent archaeologists. No one still knows how ancient Hutt Shebib is, and what it was intended for. Today, only modest ruins remain of the wall, although it was presumably not too high before, which means that the wall was certainly not conceived for defensive purposes. It is possible that it was used by ancient farmers, or that it was some kind of boundary symbol.

8. Giant Codex or Devil's Bible

Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com

Codex Gigas (in Latin) is a medieval parchment manuscript, recognized as the largest and heaviest handwritten book in all of Western Europe. The arch is so heavy that only 2 people can move it at the same time, because the weight of this block is about 75 kilograms. The Giant Codex includes the Old and New Testaments, as well as several other texts - the works of Josephus Flavius, the "Etymology" of Isidore of Seville, the "Czech Chronicle" of Cosmas of Prague and other books in Latin. The author of the codex is unknown, but presumably he was a single person - a hermit monk who worked on the creation of the manuscript for several decades in a row. This collection is called the Devil's Bible because it also contains a full-page image of Satan.

7 Puma Punku


Photo: Janikorpi

Puma Punku is a Bolivian complex consisting of huge megaliths carved from stone with the finest precision. The main mystery today is not so much the purpose of some of the local objects, but their age. The opinions of experts are divided, and very different from each other. So some scientists believe that the complex appeared around 500-600 BC, while others believe that the artifacts are almost 17,000 years old. Another amazing feature of Puma Punku is the incredible precision with which the stones were processed. The blocks look like they were cut with a diamond cutter, but this technology is unlikely to have existed in such ancient times.

6. Longyu Caves


Photo: Zhangzhugang

Discovered in 1992 near the village of Longyu, the amazing Longyu Caves are a whole system of man-made dungeons that have been in a flooded state for a long time. They were discovered during the cleaning of local ponds, and in the end it turned out that the height of some of the rooms reaches 30 meters. None of the 24 has a connection with the neighboring one, but they all have common walls. The dungeons are simply huge, executed with incredible craftsmanship and require considerable effort to create them, but for some reason not a single historical document mentions their existence. The age of the structures was determined by a number of indirect signs (for example, by stalactites) and is approximately 2200 years old.

5 Superhenge


Photo: anonymous

Not far from the famous Stonehenge, archaeologists have discovered an even larger complex, hiding deep underground. It was called Superhenge, and this monument consists of 90 huge stone blocks, reminiscent of the megaliths from Stonehenge. Scientists have discovered this complex thanks to ground-based penetrating radar, and the monument has not yet been excavated. Experts find it difficult to answer the question about the purpose of the object, but they are sure that all these stones were buried here with some special intent.

4. Stone labyrinths of Bolshoi Zayatsky Island


Photo: Vitold Muratov

A small Russian island, lost in the White Sea, no more than 2.5 square kilometers in size, is an almost uninhabited piece of land that keeps many secrets. For example, did you know that stone labyrinths have been decorating this place for almost 32 thousand years? All these piles and outlandish mounds cover the main part of the island, but archaeologists still have not figured out who exactly built the mysterious labyrinths, and for what purpose. Perhaps these were religious altars or other ritual objects.

3. Stone slab Cochno


Photo: University of Glasgow

In Scotland, archaeologists have unearthed a 5,000-year-old stone slab decorated with unusual geometric patterns. The Kochno stone (from the name of the farm near which the artifact was found) is 13 meters long and 7.9 meters wide, and scientists called the drawings carved on its surface "bowls and ring marks." Similar patterns are found around the world and in other prehistoric locations. The meaning of these drawings remains unknown until now, as well as who created them. In addition, it is not clear how exactly the ancient people managed to leave these marks in places so remote from each other. The Kochno slab was transported to another place not only for further research, but also to protect it from vandal encroachments.

2Microscopic Copper Findings Almost 300,000 Years Old


Photo: Ugraland

In 1991, mysterious artifacts were discovered on the banks of the Narada, Kozhim and Balbanyu rivers in the Ural Mountains. The microscopic spiral-shaped copper and tungsten parts are amazing because experts are still arguing about their age. Some scientists suggest that these finds are somehow connected with rocket tests at the nearby Baikonur and Plesetsk cosmodromes. However, other researchers argue that the rocks in which these mysterious springs were found are too old, and analysis of these layers has shown that the finds could be about 300,000 years old.

1. Tomb with skulls from Sanken


Photo: Pixabay.com

In Sweden, archaeologists have discovered a burial site of human remains that are almost 8,000 years old. The researchers found there 11 skulls of men, women, children and babies. Probably, scientists stumbled upon a tomb, equipped here during the Stone Age, when hunters and gatherers strung the heads of the dead on one common pole and buried them in lakes. How exactly and why the ancient people came up with such a terrible ritual, no one knows.

Yet archeology is an amazing science. It is thanks to the findings of archaeologists that the veil is lifted over the most incredible mysteries that could not be unraveled for millennia. And it also happens that the found artifact, on the contrary, poses new riddles for scientists. We have collected the most incredible archaeological finds that have become a sensation in the scientific world.

1. The bodies of the Easter Island statues

There are more than a thousand moai on Easter Island - monolithic human figures carved by the Rapanui between 1250 and 1500. During recent excavations, it turned out that moai are not busts, as previously thought. These are full-fledged statues, just for the most part they are hidden underground.

2. Ancient inlay teeth

The ancient peoples inhabiting the south of North America had a tradition of carving grooves in their teeth and encrusting them with semi-precious stones. This was practiced mainly among men and was by no means a sign of belonging to a particular social class. Ancient dentists used obsidian drills and attached decorative stones to their teeth with an adhesive made from a mixture of natural resins and bone powder.

Source 3The mummy inside the 1000-year-old Buddha statue

When scanning the Buddha statue of the 11th-12th centuries, it turned out that inside it is the mummy of the Buddhist monk Liuquan. Moreover, instead of the internal organs, the mummy was stuffed with scraps of paper, covered with ancient Chinese characters.

4 Ancient Complaints

During excavations in Iraq in 1927, an ancient Babylonian complaint was unearthed from a customer who had received low-quality copper. The complaint was written on a clay tablet around 1750 BC.

5. Ancient prototypes of modern technology

Greek technology

To the surprise of scientists, an image of what looks like a laptop with USB ports was found on an ancient Greek bas-relief dating back to 100 BC.

Helicopters among hieroglyphs

Some supporters of paleocontact stubbornly argue that aliens visited the Earth thousands of years ago. At the same time, they refer to Mesopotamian artifacts, on which images of aircraft can be easily seen.

Baghdad Battery

An unusual 2000-year-old vessel was found in the vicinity of Baghdad, which may be the prototype of a modern battery. Inside a 13-cm vessel with a bitumen-filled neck through which an iron rod is passed, there is a copper cylinder, inside of which the iron rod went. If you fill the vessel with vinegar or any other electrolytic solution, then the "battery" begins to generate electricity with a voltage of about 1.1 volts.

6 Jurassic Park

Left: Fossil footprints of humans and dinosaurs that appeared to be walking side by side were discovered in the Paluxy River Valley (near Glen Rose, Texas). Kuwait.

7. Deep sea finds

Expert on lost cities at the bottom of the sea

Frenchman Franck Goddio, a pioneer of modern maritime archeology, has found traces of a lost civilization off the coast of Egypt. Surprisingly well-preserved 1,200-year-old ruins unearthed at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea have finally unraveled the mystery of Alexandria's vanished ancient eastern harbor, Portus Magnus.

Stone Age tunnels from Scotland to Turkey

Just a few years ago, archaeologists discovered a new underground network of tunnels built by Stone Age people. Some experts believe that these tunnels were built to protect people from predators, while others suggest that these separate tunnels were previously connected to each other and were used as modern travel roads.

8. Ancient Treasures

Golden treasures

While digging trenches for laying cables near one of the Black Sea resorts in Bulgaria, a huge treasure of gold objects from Mesopotamian times was found, dating back to 5000 BC.

ancient art

The path to archaeologists is reserved for the faint of heart, since not only ancient shards and historical relics can be extracted from the bowels of the earth, but also human remains buried in a very eerie way, skeletons of archaic unknown animals and other horrors covered in the haze of centuries.

Scary human remains

Centuries and millennia have passed since the death of these people. What mysteries of the past are kept by their remains?

Screaming mummies

In 1886, the country of pyramids and pharaohs threw another riddle to historians. Egyptologist Gaston Maspero came across an unusual burial: it was very modest, which is not standard for luxurious Egyptian sarcophagi and burials - clearly not royal. wrapped in sheepskin. But the ancient Egyptians considered the sheepskin a symbol of vice. The mummy's limbs were bound, and her mouth was twisted in a scream.

Among archaeologists, this terrible find was called "Unknown Man E". Many experts put forward their opinions regarding the death of the deceased: poisoning, cruel torture, burial alive.

In the 20th century, a new generation of archaeologists dispelled the pessimistic guesses of their predecessors. After the "mummy of Maspero", several more "screaming" specimens were found in various tombs around the world. In the course of their research, it turned out that if, during mummification, the dead man’s jaw was not tied up, as required by the ritual, during the decay of tissues, the jaw opened and such a “mask of horror” froze on his face. It also happened that the strap or rope slipped off the jaw or broke.

Headless vikings

Another terrible find was made by archaeologists relatively recently, in 2010, at excavations in the British county of Dorset. The researchers planned to find ancient shards, plows and other inventory of ancestors. They were in for a surprise. Under a thick layer of soil, an ancient mass grave of the Vikings was discovered. All the warriors were beheaded, the skulls lay separately from the skeletons.

After a more detailed study of the burial, archaeologists found out another terrible detail - there were 54 bodies, but there were significantly fewer heads. Scientists have come to the conclusion that a public execution or a ritual of mass sacrifice took place here, since all the heads were disconnected from the body by a sword strike in the neck from the front. Apparently, several heads were captured by the killers as souvenirs.

Estimated date of burial: 8-9 century AD, the time when the Anglo-Saxons endured the piratical raids of the Scandinavians. Therefore, the option of exemplary reprisals against offenders is not ruled out, so that others would be discouraged.

Infant Cemetery

Literally, the plot for a horror film was thrown by history to archaeologists in 1988. During the excavation of an ancient sewer from the times of the Roman Empire near the Israeli city of Ashkelon, workers stumbled upon a whole cemetery of babies - thousands of small bones.

It turned out that in this place there was a special institution created for the extermination of objectionable babies. Roman law allowed to kill a child under 2 years old if the father did not recognize him, since before this age the baby was considered the property of the father. Among the killed babies could be illegitimate children of local prostitutes.

Boys born were the most unlucky - they were killed immediately. Girls, on the other hand, could expect a less cruel fate - they were left alive so that in the future they could join the ranks of representatives of the most ancient profession.

Strange finds

What unusual finds, besides human remains, does the earth hide? Let's find out.

unknown animal

In 1986, outdoor enthusiasts were gaining experience in Kaurangi National Park, New Zealand. Near the foot of Mount Owen, amateur explorers stumbled upon a karst cave, which they decided to visit.

In one of the winding corridors of the cave, the company stumbled upon a frightening find - a mountain of strange-looking bones, sometimes covered with thick skin. The travelers failed to determine the type of animal, therefore, feeling superstitious horror, the young people decided that it was some kind of inhabitant of hell that had escaped to earth to give up the spirit here.

The panic was in vain. Travelers stumbled upon the skeleton of an ancient moa bird, which has lain in a cave for no less than 3 thousand years and is surprisingly well preserved. Rumor has it that in the deserted areas of New Zealand, this bird can still exist.

crystal skull

In the middle of the 19th century, adventurers of the Old and New Worlds were eager to get an item created by the hands of the Indians of Central America - skulls made of pure crystal, made with naturalism surprising for primitive technologies. Nobody saw these skulls, but the press stubbornly stirred up interest.

In 1889, the British antiquarian Eugène Boban went to search for skulls in the jungles of Guatemala. And I found two!

40 years later, in the jungles of Belize (Central America), the fearless explorer Frederick Mitchell Hedges (by the way, it was he who became the prototype of Indiana Jones) found a quartz skull weighing 5 kilograms.

In 2007, the mysterious skulls were analyzed using UV light and a particle accelerator. The results stunned lovers of the unknown: the finds of both Boban and Hedges turned out to be a “remake”. The crystal was from Switzerland (in the second case from Germany), and traces of a milling machine were found on the surface.

Terrible finds of our time

Barrels with embryos

In 2012, in the Sverdlovsk region, near the village of Anik, local residents found four sealed plastic barrels in an overgrown ravine. Inside lay human embryos: 50 pieces of formalin-treated preparations with a tag on each.

The police officers who arrived at the scene combed the ravine and found about two hundred more embryos and 113 tags with the names of women in labor and the names of medical institutions. Before death, all embryos were at 22-26 weeks of development.

There were several versions of what kind of embryos were kept in barrels: carelessly disposed of abortive material, material for vaccines, or preparations for research. Their origin has never been determined. The police opened a criminal case on the fact of environmental pollution, as formalin from barrels got into the soil.

Bangkok find

In 2010, a case similar to Nevyansk occurred in Bangkok, Thailand. 348 human fetuses sealed in plastic bags were found in a Buddhist temple. The culprit was found - 33-year-old Lanchakon Chantamanath performed clandestine abortions on girls (abortions are prohibited by law in Thailand) and hid the aborted material in the temple.

Not only antiquities are creepy. The editors of the website site have compiled the top most terrible killers in modern history.
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During excavations, first of all, they pay great attention to the discovered antiquities - whether they are dusty clay shards or luxuriously painted frescoes. But on the surface, sometimes there are no less interesting finds that can tell about bygone days no less than the artifacts themselves.

1. Smiling pot

It is not often that you meet an ancient potter with a sense of humor. When archaeologists dug up a 4,000-year-old pot, it "smiled" at them. In 2017, when a seven-year-old excavation near the Syrian border uncovered another broken pot in Turkey near the Syrian border, it seemed that there was nothing unusual about it. But when the restoration team collected the pieces into a large pot-bellied pot, they noticed something very familiar to modern people - a smiley face.

Around 1700 B.C. someone squeezed out a pair of eyes in the wet clay and emphasized them with a “smile”. The single-handled white vessel used to consume sherbet is today considered the oldest emoji in history. The place where it was found is called Karkamis, and it once belonged to the Hittites.

2. Paleonora

In the 2000s, Brazilian geologists began to find strange caves. Most of them were long arched tunnels with perfectly level floors that merged into complex underground networks of chambers and passages. All indications indicated that these caves were not created by any natural geological process. But what made the whole network of such huge tunnels and caves in which a person can walk in full growth.

The solution was suggested by the deep grooves found on the ceilings and walls, which, after closer examination, turned out to be ancient claw marks. But what makes it all really strange is the scale of the so-called "paleonores". They are huge, even for the extinct giant sloths or armadillos, which are considered the most likely creators of these structures.

The largest hole was discovered in the state of Rondonia. The total length of its passages was 610 meters, while the tunnels were 1.8 meters high and 1.5 meters wide. To create just this hole, it took 4,000 meters of cubic rock to be dug. There is no explanation why the animals needed such elaborate shelters, or why there are no such burrows in North America, although giant sloths and armadillos also lived there thousands of years ago.

3. Resin in the burial ground

Near the River Deben in England, a 27-meter ship was excavated, which was used as a tomb. In fact, this discovery took place as early as eight decades ago at Sutton Hoo, an ancient cemetery considered one of the most important burial sites in the UK. Scientists suggest that the ship with precious metals and stones is the tomb of King Redwald, who died in 624 or 625 AD.

Most intriguing was the black substance found all over the boat. It was originally thought to be a waterproofing agent. But, thanks to the best technologies that became available in 2016, repeated tests showed an unexpected result. The tar-like material was a rare type of bitumen found exclusively in the Middle East. But what this bitumen did on the ship is not clear. It may have been exported at the time.

4. Prints on the sarcophagus

In 2005, a restoration team was working on a sarcophagus at the Cambridge Fitzwilliam Museum. The coffin belonged to a priest named Nespavershefit, who died around 1000 BC. Unexpectedly, under the lid, they found the dirty fingerprints of an artisan who made the coffin 3,000 years ago.

For some reason, the ancient workers worked on the inner lid before the varnish dried. As a result of such impatience, their prints were preserved for posterity. They were made public only 11 years later in 2016, when the unusual "artifact" was included in the first major exhibition dedicated to Egyptian artists and how their styles have evolved over 4,000 years.

5. Chrysocolla amulet

The Egyptians took flowers seriously and gave each one its own meaning and quality. Researchers knew that the color green symbolized growth, harvest and health in Egypt. It was important enough to place scarabs carved from green stone next to the hearts of mummies. But no one suspected why the color green was also prominent when it came to Egyptian children. According to ancient records and hieroglyphs, the youth even wore green make-up.

A recent discovery shows that Egyptian parents believed that this color could protect their offspring. When examining a child's mummy, a leather pouch with a bright green chrysocolla amulet was found on the body. When a child died 4,700 years ago, in Egypt, malachite was the most widely available green mineral. Chrysocolla was a rare commodity, available only in Sinai and the East Egyptian Desert.

A similar chrysocolla figurine depicting a boy supports the theory that a certain green-colored mineral was used only by children. Several experts agree that the amulet found on a toddler who died of malaria was likely meant to ensure health and safety in the afterlife.

6. Scythian burial mounds

When archaeologist Andrey Belinsky unearthed yet another mound in Russia, he found something he had kept secret for years. It was a Scythian grave belonging to a mysterious nomadic people, after which nothing remained but thousands of mounds. Not surprisingly, any new information about their culture is highly appreciated by scientists. In 2013, Belinsky's team found a 2,400-year-old hidden underground chamber with gold jewelry and vessels. To avoid looting, the discovery was kept silent. During the study, a lot of new things were found out about the daily life of the Scythians.

A sticky black residue was found on the inside of one vessel, which was identified as cannabis and opium. This is the first confirmation of the claim of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus that nomads used drugs during rituals. Scenes of violence were depicted on the outer surface of this vessel. The other vessel depicts scenes that clearly reflect the cruel Scythian afterlife. On them, the Scythians fight each other, and also the old man kills the boy.

7. Bread of St. Francis

The monks from the monastery of Folloni faced a harsh and hungry winter. According to a 700-year-old legend, one night an angel brought bread and left it on the threshold of the monastery. The monks believed that the food was sent by Saint Francis of Assisi, who was in France at the time. The monks even considered the bag in which the bread was a shrine and kept it for seven centuries. Scientists decided to check the old legend and tested the preserved piece of the bag.

It turned out that the age of the fabric dates back to about 1220-1295, i.e. coincides perfectly with the year when the miracle happened (1224). The scientists then examined the inner surface of the textile and found ergosterol. This biomarker is commonly found in molds associated with baking, brewing and agriculture. Most likely, the medieval material came into contact with bread. These data, together with the age of the relic, confirm the myth.

8. New Testament stained with urine

Another religious artifact from Italy is an incomplete Bible called the purple Rossan Codex. The manuscript contains only the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, the 1500-year-old book is among the oldest New Testament manuscripts and has long puzzled scholars with its purple pages (dye was difficult to make in those days). Initially, it was assumed that the parchment was treated with a substance secreted by sea slugs of the genus Murex.

In 2016, when conducting X-ray fluorescence, scientists could not detect bromine on the pages (and it should be contained in substances obtained from slugs). As a result, it turned out that the manuscript was treated with orcein (a natural dye that is extracted from lichens), as well as ... fermented urine. The processing process required the presence of ammonia, and at that time there was no other source of ammonia other than urine.

9.

In 2010, the Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities experienced a real panic. Something began to happen in the tomb of Tutankhamun that scientists could not explain. Almost every surface, including frescoes, whitewash on the walls, and even silver, began to show brown spots. Worried that tourists' breath was spurring microbial growth, the council called in experts from Los Angeles. The stains did turn out to be bacteria that had been dead for thousands of years. These organisms led to another mystery.

Firstly, they could not be identified using DNA analysis, scientists could only establish that it was a fungus. Secondly, the presence of this fungus added questions about the already mysterious pharaoh. Tutankhamun died quite suddenly at the age of only 19, about 3,000 years ago. It seems that he was buried just as quickly. The most reasonable assumption is that Tutankhamun died without his own pyramid.

As you know, the pharaohs prepared places for rest long before death. In this case, the tomb was erected in the shortest possible time, hastily prepared and sealed, while the frescoes and plaster were still damp. This moisture, combined with the workers' skin cells and breath, led to the emergence of microbes. Similar stains have not been found in any other Egyptian tomb. Therefore, this is a real mystery: why the pharaoh was in such a hurry to bury.

10. archives

Another purple pigment damages scrolls all over the world. But the ancient scribes themselves never added pigment, which over the years "ate" the texts and destroyed the parchment. To get to the root of this problem, the researchers studied a damaged book from the Vatican Secret Archives. This 5 meter high goatskin scroll was a petition written in 1244 AD. Marginal notes have already disappeared under the purple color, and some pages have become completely unreadable.

Suspecting the presence of microbes, the researchers took samples from the scroll for gene sequencing. Unlike the mysterious "intruder" in Tutankhamun's tomb, this type of bacteria has been identified. However, the fact that it was marine bacteria caused bewilderment, because the history of the scroll was in no way connected with the ocean. But the damaged manuscripts had one thing in common - they were made from animal skins. This turned out to be the key that helped to find the solution.

The skins were treated with sea salt, which was contaminated with marine organisms, including those that produce a purple dye. Bacteria began to multiply in the goatskin when the temperature and humidity were right. Today, the damage done to many manuscripts is irreparable, but researchers continue to hope that one day they will be able to safely remove the remaining pigment.