12 Most Amazing Archaeological Finds

archaeologists will make a lot of discoveries over the course of their careers but only a few that truly amaze them ask any archaeologist about the most spectacular thing they've ever seen and they'll have a list of perhaps two or three incredible discoveries that stand out more than all the rest this video is about those discoveries they were career highlights for the people who found them and they'll amaze you too of all of the places for a lost city to turn up in egypt luxor is among the least likely the area has been almost entirely dug up by archaeologists in the past and is visited by millions of tourists every year the whole city has been extensively explored and yet an astonishing discovery was made there in early 2021 the country's ministry of tourism and antiquities released a statement in april 2021 confirming the discovery of a lost golden city and went on to call it a mind-blowing find historians say that this long-lost city buried under sand for thousands of years might have been the country's biggest industrial settlement during the time it was occupied it was founded by amenhotep iii who ruled the region almost 3 400 years ago egyptologist betsy bryan of john hopkins university usa says that this is the most significant egyptian discovery since the day howard carter opened the tomb of tootin common so far researchers have found ovens spinning and weaving tools clay seals amulets scarabs and rings this is only the start of what's likely to be found here though unspoiled treasure-laden tombs are expected to be discovered shortly [Music] there's still a great deal we don't know about the nature of the relationship between early humans and neanderthals but we're learning more every day discoveries like this one in bachchokiro bulgaria are helping us along the way a team of researchers working in the cave in 2020 identified the remains of humans who passed away around 46 000 years ago according to those experts that makes them the earliest known human beings anywhere in europe genetically their genomes are similar to those of east asians today more interestingly though the humans also share dna with neanderthals scientists say that these people are only a maximum of seven generations removed from neanderthal parentage although we already know there was at least some interbreeding between humans and neanderthals it's long been assumed that this was the exception rather than the rule now it seems it may have been more commonplace than we once thought in fact it might finally explain where the neanderthals disappeared to rather than becoming extinct they may simply have been assimilated into the human race there could even be a little neanderthal in all of us [Music] italica was the first city to be founded in hispania by the roman empire it was also one of its most impressive and eventually became its most important the ancient roman settlement was rediscovered by archaeologists in the 17th century although it wasn't until 1912 that the spanish government had it declared a national monument the city was first founded in the year 206 bce by general publius cornelius scipio africanus best known for defeating hannibal at the battle of zama italica was built as a permanent home for the veterans of that war word of italica spread and so romans traveled from their home country to see what it has to offer emperor trajan was born in italica during the first century his successor hadrian was born here too it eventually became abandoned during the islamic period but no new buildings were ever created over the top of it that left it in a state of excellent preservation allowing us to enjoy sites like these stunning mosaics today the amphitheater with its cross design is a place of outstanding beauty the fact that our ancient ancestors knew so much about how to manipulate and manage the flow of water never fails to impress us here we see an ancient system of aqueducts that's recently been discovered in boragerd iran the entire elaborate system was built as a part of a castle and was found accidentally during construction work in the area it's thus far proved to be impossible to provide an accurate date for the aqueducts but they're so old they used pottery crocks as a way of purifying the water that's a very old but very effective trick history tells us that borjad was once a heavily fortified town surrounded by almost 60 towers with a series of castles within it this particular castle may have even belonged to the local government which would explain why its builders went out of their way to ensure it had a ready supply of clean water the pipes are delicate which has left archaeologists with a problem should they attempt to break the pipes apart and take them away for further study or should they leave them in situ they haven't reached a final decision yet so they're doing all they can to study them while they're still in place if you want to find evidence of ancient human habitation in europe you could do a lot worse than look inside a cave we've already seen that with the bacho kiro cave in bulgaria and now we're taking a look at chauvet cave in pont de arc france it's no exaggeration to call this one of the most important historical sites in the world when it comes to the study of early humans the cave contains some of the earliest examples of purely artistic stylized cave paintings anywhere in the world rather than painting records of what they saw or what they'd done the humans who lived in these caves appear to have dedicated different walls to paintings of different subjects of those walls the gallery of the lions is the most famous and also features the most accomplished works of art human remains have also been found in the cave which has made radiocarbon dating possible according to the results of those tests the humans who lived here and created these paintings did so 39 000 years ago our current theories about history tell us that humans were little more than primal creatures back then and yet here they were creating works of art on the walls of their home as we're on the topic of humans making artwork based on animals here are some curious animal-shaped mounds in peru you'll find them above the country's coastal plains in areas that are already well known among archaeologists because of the nazca lines there's an especially large concentration of them close to the ruins of chanchon the oldest of the mounds which include a rock shaped like a condor head are around 5000 years old that would mean they were carved at the same time the egyptians were building the pyramids although their origins are mysterious the most popular current theory is that each of the animals depicted here represents an animal from the andean zodiac alternatively they might be representations of the constellations as they appeared in the sky to the ancient peruvians that idea is backed up by the fact that the mounds have been found to have astronomical orientations for example the charcoal eye of the condor head aligns perfectly with the summer solstice when viewed from the closest temple there are still a few historians who believe that seeing animals in these rocks is nothing more than wishful thinking but clinging to that idea seems foolish in the face of such obvious evidence there's an old saying in aloeville bella fosse france which is that the chapel oak is as old as france itself it sounds like a fanciful idea but it's probably true it hasn't always looked like it does today though if you were to see it with your own eyes right now you'd probably marvel at the fact that someone has been able to hollow out a tree trunk and turn it into a pair of tiny chapels surrounded by a spiral staircase that goes around the outside of the trunk the tree itself though is the oldest in the country its exact age is the subject of some debate it was definitely here during napoleon's lifetime and was around at the time of the french revolution it existed prior to the reign of king louis xiv some say it goes back even further with the idea that it was already here during the time of charlemagne and that a young william the conqueror knelt at its base in the year 1035. scientists say it's closer to 800 than a thousand years old but there's always a margin for error the mighty oak was struck by lightning during the 17th century and caught fire but it survived well enough for the local abbot to create the beginnings of the chapels we see today despite its appearance it's still alive moving from france to wales we find the tinkenswood burial chamber in the vale of glamorgan not far from cardiff this megalithic burial chamber was built approximately six thousand years ago and is the source of a lot of local myths and legends one of them says that if you spend a night alone at tinkenswood on st john's day the 23rd of june you'll either go insane die or become a poet that's only a one in three chance of a desirable outcome so we're not sure why anyone would try the collection of standing boulders at the south of the monument are said to be women who were turned to stone by god as a punishment for dancing on the sabbath day while we can probably discount those myths there is a mystery at this site the limestone capstone of the dolmen weighs 40 tons and is more than 20 feet long it's the largest capstone of its kind in europe the question of how it was manipulated and moved into position six thousand years ago doesn't currently have a satisfactory answer elizabeth the first of england was a remarkable ruler many of her subjects weren't convinced a woman was fit to rule when she took the throne in 1558 but it didn't take her long to put any questions about whether she had the necessary strength of character to bed aside from being strong she was also extremely clever most people of her era couldn't read but elizabeth could both read and write in fact she wrote a whole historical manuscript the document went unnoticed at lambeth palace library in london for centuries until it was found there by a literary historian in november 2019. the queen's choice of subject matter is very telling her work is an english translation of an ancient text by the roman historian tacitus tackitus in turn wrote about the benefits of monarchial rule over any other system of governance the queen's translation of the original text runs to 42 pages and includes crossing outs and corrections when compared to other examples the handwriting can clearly be identified as hers it's possible perhaps even likely that the queen studied the text in the hope it would teach her to be a better monarch even the great ones have to get help from somewhere [Music] the world is covered in petroglyphs left behind by our ancient ancestors but perhaps none are so mysterious as those you'll find on the island of omatepe in the middle of lake nicaragua the first now hoodie-speaking occupants of the island weren't the first people to live on the land so the petroglyphs are thought to be the work of an older civilization there are over two thousand inscribed or engraved boulders on the island with the earliest examples thought to date back around 3 000 years some of the motifs seen in the work are comparable to designs seen on pottery excavated on the island many years ago the culture that left behind these petroglyphs did not also leave behind any written records because of that we can't say whether their work ought to be interpreted as symbolic ritual literal or merely artistic we don't know who they were what they believed in or why they spent so much time shaping the rocks around them when they seemingly left no other permanent records of their civilization perhaps these petroglyphs are an entire historical record of their culture and we just don't know how to translate them [Music] when towns and cities became abandoned they have an unfortunate habit of being demolished and then new buildings being built where they once stood that process destroys a lot of the archaeological evidence that might otherwise be obtained from them fortunately there are exceptions to that rule quranic in iran being one of them this long forgotten city was founded about four thousand years ago although the mud brick ruins that it's famous for today are closer to one thousand years old after so many years of abandonment they've taken on a soft curved shape as if they're slowly melting back into the earth around them despite the fact that karanic is an ancient ruin there are no barriers or other forms of protection that prevent people from entering the town and going wherever they please that can be an issue as the upper floors of some of the ruins are so badly damaged that the floors might give out with the slightest pressure those who do come here and take their chances among the ruins often wonder why the minaret tower above the ruined mosque shakes and vibrates when there's no wind nobody knows the answer to that question which makes it a little creepy [Music] if creepy old abandoned minarets are your thing you're sure to love the minaret of jam in afghanistan legend has it that this is the final remaining piece of turquoise mountain city the city that once surrounded the minaret is long gone but the minaret tower still stands proud against the elements the minaret was part of a huge mosque when it was built during the 12th century the foundations of the mosque are still visible in the riverbank but the rest of the structure has long since been destroyed there are so many stories about turquoise mountain city that it's impossible to know what's real and what's a myth it's said that this was an ancient utopia where people of different creeds cultures and beliefs lived happily side by side prospering together for more than a century after they finished building their paradise town the end came when the mongols advanced across the area during the 13th century the pacifist of turquoise mountain city offered no resistance to the mongol hordes so they were wiped out along with every written record of their existence all that remains of them now is their 200-foot tall minaret is any of this true or is it just a nice story someone made up to explain the otherwise baffling presence of a huge tower in the middle of nowhere you decide [Music] subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications and you will be the first to know when a new video comes out thank you for watching and see you in the next video

Channel: Inforado

Views: 777,898

Keywords: 12 Most Amazing Archaeological Finds, mysterious finds, mysterious artifacts, mystery, archaeological finds, amazing finds, archaeological artifacts, artifact found, ancient artifacts, 12 most, top 12, most amazing

Id: d1VAbkVefLk

Length: 16min 1sec (961 seconds)

Published: Fri May 07 2021