12 Most Incredible Artifacts Finds

time travel hasn't been invented yet because of that we can't find out about the lives of our ancestors by meeting them and asking them questions we have to study the things they left behind instead and that's what the field of archaeology is all about through studying artifacts from another time and place we find out more about the way our ancestors lived their lives let's see what we can learn from this collection [Music] you've probably heard of china's terracotta army but that isn't the only fascinating collection of terracotta figures from the ancient world in february 2021 archaeologists announced the discovery of almost 100 clay figures in turkey figures that were crafted by the people of ancient mira the statues which include representations of animals men women and deities are all approximately two thousand years old they're so well preserved that some of them still feature their original colorful paint schemes and legible inscriptions mira which is now known as damra was once the most important city in the strategically important mediterranean region of lycia the archaeologists responsible for the discovery were actually hoping to find an old hellenistic theater so the terracotta collection came as something as a surprise they still haven't found the theater but they're happy to take this discovery as consolation for now they're still trying to work out what the inscriptions on the statues mean but the current theory is that they're the names of the people who made them the invention of rope was a significant breakthrough in early human development we think of it as a simple process now but someone still had to come up with the concept and show others how to do it we think that happened roughly forty thousand years ago in germany that's an assumption that's based on a rope making tool that was found in hula fell's cave in the south west of the country in 2016. the tool is made from mammoth ivory and contains four different sized holes which would have allowed people to make ropes of four different thicknesses depending on their needs artifacts like this have been discovered before but were misinterpreted as abstract works of art or primitive musical instruments this find could have been misfiled the same way but researchers have been able to demonstrate that rope could be made by feeding plant fibers through the holes and twisting them once our ancient ancestors had mastered this trick they could turn their minds to bigger concepts like binding wood together with rope to make boats and houses it's not quite as significant as the invention of the wheel but it's almost as important [Music] chess has been one of the world's most popular board games for centuries but there's no single origin point for the game it evolved from several popular ancient world board games the most notable of which was probably nephitol this is an old viking game that started in scandinavia and then spread across europe with a name that translates into english as king's table nephitol boards have been recovered from many viking tombs along with full sets of pieces but sadly nobody's yet found a surviving copy of the rules you'll find several interpretations of possible rules written by modern day historians on the internet but nobody can be sure which of them if any are correct what we do know is that if viking warriors loved it enough to have their boards buried with them along with their weapons and jewelry the game must have had some kind of special significance perhaps it was more than a game to them maybe it had some kind of spiritual meaning frustratingly we have no way of knowing and perhaps we never will you don't have to be a professional archaeologist to make an incredible discovery all you need is a metal detector some time on your hands and a bit of luck that's what led rajo givonin to a remarkable discovery on the finnish island of podonsari in may 2016. there he discovered a one-of-a-kind three-headed eagle pendant dating back to the iron age the archaeologists and historians who've had the opportunity to examine reijo's discovery are mystified by it but they think that the three heads might be intended to represent three different human souls double-headed eagles appear in the mythology of many ancient cultures but three-headed eagles are less common and were totally unknown in finland until this discovery the ornate nature of the piece has led some experts to believe that it was intended as a tribute and may have been left with the body of a deceased loved one to aid their passage into the afterlife on the other hand maybe there was just someone living on this island during the iron age who really liked eagles that's the problem with trying to interpret ancient artifacts it involves a lot of guesswork our next artifact is an ancient aztec skull carving and if you think it looks horrific you should hear when it's blown this is a fine example of a type of artifact known to archaeologists as an aztec death whistle variants of the design are still used today on day of the dead celebrations in mexico but the original instruments were used in battle aztec warriors would blow into the whistles before they descended upon their enemies making a noise like the dead had risen and returned to life to take on the living you can think of it as an early example of psychological warfare they might also have a connection to the grisly aztec practice of human sacrifice a sacrificial victim discovered several years ago inside a temple dedicated to echocatal the aztec wind god was found still clutching an aztec death whistle to his bony rib cage that reflects an old aztec belief that the dead even dead enemies and sacrifice victims deserve respect and assistance on their way to the afterlife that being said the fact they carved the whistles into the shape of skulls was almost certainly intended to create fear [Music] aside from being a fantastic piece of sculpture this pendant mask is also a testimony to an ancient benin king's dedication to his mother it's known as the queen mother pendant mask and it dates back to the benin kingdom of the 16th century in what's now nigeria the revered benin king esigi considered to be the greatest african ruler of his century wore the pendant as a breastplate during ceremonies it's modeled on his mother idea who served at his side as his counselor the pendant mask is made from a mixture of copper iron and ivory and is a testimony to the great wealth of the kingdom at this point in history while the focus of the piece is ideas face around the edges of it we find tiny depictions of the portuguese traders who brought the kingdom its wealth and double-headed fish which presumably have a symbolic meaning that's lost on our modern eyes we guess the king was a mummy's boy although we sincerely doubt anybody ever told him that to his face [Music] in 1938 archaeologist luther cressman discovered an ancient pair of sandals inside fort rock cave oregon usa then he found another the more he looked the more he found by the time he was done he'd collected more than 100 pairs of sandals all of which have survived because they were buried under the ash of a volcanic eruption approximately 9500 years ago to this day they're still considered the oldest pair of shoes in the world and they weren't new when they were covered by the volcanic ash experts believe that the oldest of the sandals is close to eleven thousand despite their great age they're not entirely dissimilar to the style of sandals that we see in the world today they're made of closed twining with a flat sole and open toes to allow air to circulate there's even a cord to wrap around the ankle and make sure they don't slip off while we can't say for sure that the human habit of sandalwaring began with the native american cavemen of 11 000 years ago we're yet to see any evidence to the contrary [Music] in greece's delphi archaeological museum you'll find a stone artifact known as the umphalos of delphi it was recovered from the archaeological site of delphi where it used to stand in a position that was believed by the ancient greeks to be the center of the world according to greek myth and legend the marble monument is a representation of a stone that was thrown by zeus to determine the position of the middle of the planet even the name omphalos can be interpreted as the navel of the earth archaeologists can't agree whether this is the first umphalos or a recreation if it's the latter it's a very ancient one the second century writings of the greek traveler pocentius tell us that he saw the artifact standing in position at delphi when he visited the city and the object in the museum is believed to be the same one he saw possanias recalls seeing it covered by a woolen cloth mesh and covered in precious stones with two gilded eagles affixed to the top they haven't survived the passage of time but the stone is still standing there was a big win for the british museum in 2008 when the institution received 350 000 pounds of funding allowing it to keep hold of a rare and unique astro labe that was discovered during building work in kent three years earlier the artifact which was made in the 14th century is the ancient equivalent of a pocket calculator it's one of only eight of its kind that are known to exist anywhere in the world aside from being able to tell the time the astrolabe can measure height and depth and can even be used to map the stars it's now known as the canterbury astrolabe quadrant and is on display within the museum jeffrey chaucer author of the canterbury tales was known to be an expert on astrolaves and so considering this one was found in canterbury and was almost certainly made during the author's lifetime who's to say it didn't once belonged to him it might look primitive but this was among the most sophisticated calculation tools available to the human race prior to the invention of the computer [Music] the so-called stone club head of mesolimb was found a long time ago 1881 to be exact and yet its meaning still isn't fully understood today the curious artifact was found at the site of telo within the ruins of the ancient sumerian city of gursu upon the surface of the carved monument is an inscription that connects it with messily the king of kish and proclaims him to be the builder of the temple of ningirsu it goes on to say that the king presented it as a gift for entamina who's recorded as being a prince of lagash that raises the possibility that it was a peace offering aimed at smoothing relations after a dispute between the city-states of lagash and uma which probably caused a headache for the kingdom and its ruler at the time mesolimb sat on the throne during sumer's early dynastic 3rd period approximately 4 400 years ago which dates the artifact to the same period notably the sculpture includes a depiction of a mace which was a brand new invention at that time and so was viewed as a symbol of power the pasrik rug is thought to be the oldest surviving rug or carpet in the world and so is a testament to both the craftsmanship and sophistication of the ancient pasric nomads of siberia it might not look like it's in great condition now but its scuffs marks and tears can be forgiven when you take into account the fact that it will soon be 2 600 years old the floor covering was found within the burial mound of a scythian prince by sergio rudenko a russian archaeologist in 1949 perhaps the most surprising thing about it is that both in composition and style it's very similar to many traditional rugs that are still made today materials like this wouldn't normally survive thousands of years but we got lucky with the puzz rick rug because the burial mound had been broken open long before sergey found it which exposed it to the freezing mongolian cold and preserved everything inside it perfectly while it may have been found in siberia experts can't say whether it was made there the tomb was in the middle of what was once a busy trade route between china and asia so its origins could lay anywhere along that route hand grenades are enormously destructive weapons and they've caused havoc on battlefields for over a thousand years if you thought they were a relatively modern invention you're wrong it's probably fair to classify the infamous greek fire that was used on the byzantine empire's enemies during the 7th century as a form of grenade but there's no debate to be had about this 14th century artifact it looks and functions like a hand grenade and so there's no other way to describe it the object was found off the israeli coast during 2016 where it's thought to have been in hiding since the days of the crusades it's made from clay with a hole in the top for flammable liquid to be poured into a fuse would then be affixed and lit and then the assailant could throw the weapon at their enemies while it wouldn't have exploded in every direction as a modern grenade would it would spread burning liquid across every surface it touched that would be a huge problem if it landed on a wooden ship and so devices like this were probably responsible for a lot of 14th century sinkings [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 soon

Channel: Amazing Stock

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Keywords: 12 Most Incredible Artifacts Finds, artifacts finds, ancient finds, ancient artifacts, archaeological finds, incredible artifacts, archaeology, artifacts, artifact found, 12 most, top 12, most amazing

Id: ZHsbXOhcuyA

Length: 15min 2sec (902 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 02 2021