12 Most Mysterious Artifacts That Scientists Still Can't Explain

you can't tell everything there is to know about an object a place or even a person just by looking sometimes you still don't know everything there is to know even after a detailed examination the technologies and rituals of our ancestors are still largely a mystery to us and that mystery gets bigger every time archeologists pull another inexplicable object out of the ground there are two towns called Harappa in the punjab region of Pakistan one is a small village that's still occupied by a few thousand people today the other is an ancient settlement that was once populated by around 23,000 people but now lies in ruins sadly what's left of the site suffered extensive damage during the time of the British rule in Pakistan because rocks from the ruins were taken and used to build the Lahore a molten railway that makes the job of archaeologists trying to excavate and understand the site even harder and so it's no surprise that they have more questions about Harappa than answers they're not even sure who built it some believe that it was the capital city of the Indus civilization but we don't know that for sure it might even come from a pre Indus ayah T the oldest of the ruined buildings were first built around 6,000 years ago what really baffles experts at the site are the stone and clay tablets which contain markings and carvings that are similar to early Indus script but don't match it completely and so far have defied all attempts to translate if it is a form of writing it's the earliest in the whole region Govinda bata and Bangladesh is usually described as a sixth century Hindu temple but that's only half the story and we literally mean half the remains of two different temples built hundreds of years apart exist at the site and yet they've been joined together in this unconventional fashion to make them appear as one whole the temple at the west of the site is the oldest one and we can be reasonably sure that it comes from the sixth century as most people believe the eastern temple which is a little smaller is a much later Edition that was probably erected at some point during the 11th century and incorporated some of the ruins of the earlier temple into its design as a result we now have a temple that looks like it's attempted to cannibalize itself even to say that there are only two temples at the site might be too simplistic there's evidence of up to four total rebuilds of each temple at some point in the past demonstrated by the discovery of coins in the Moriya period at the site along with sunga terracotta plaques and a fourth century terracotta buddha satva head as abandoned as it might be today it was clearly a place of great spiritual importance to a great many people for centuries the Portland vase is an incredible condition for a piece of artwork that's at least 2,000 years old unfortunately the fact that it's an exquisite piece of Roman cameo glass is pretty much the only thing that experts can agree upon about it as clear and detailed as the human figures and the snake that makes up the Cameo are there's never been universal agreement on whom or what they're supposed to represent the bottom of the vase which is a cameo glass disk representing Priam has been added at some point after the original piece was completed and is of unknown origin there are three schools of thought on the meaning of the vases cameos one school of thought says that they're strictly historical another school of thought is that they're strictly mythical the third idea is that they're a historical interpretation of a myth which is even more confusing the most popular belief is that this scene is the marriage of Thetis and peles who are ancient Roman Sea gods but other suggestions include Apollo siring emperor Augustus Mark Anthony being seduced by Cleopatra and the aftermath of the murder of Julius Caesar without knowing who the artist is we'll never know for sure many centuries ago the wearing Gaul district in telegin India was the capital city of the whole kakatiya dynasty inside that district was a fort built at least 800 years ago known as the warring Gulf fort you can still see the ruins of the fort and its four beautiful gates today leading to the ruins of what was once an enormous shiva temple the fort was attacked many times over the years but remained standing thanks in no small part to its impressive fortifications which include giant granite blocks fitted close together without the use of any mortar to join them that method of construction is curious but perhaps not as curious as the pillars of each gate which are covered in carvings of bloaters birds mythical creatures and strange birds and yet don't bear any religious symbols that's strange for the India of the time and might be the only reason why the gates weren't later destroyed by Muslim invaders who could destroy work of such beauty though look at how perfect the carving and polishing of all the stones and columns are each brick and each detail has been cut to laser precision but without using laser tools in fact according to what we know of the technology of the time all this was made using very few tools at all how can our ancient ancestors have cut this accurately using hand tools alone what do you think the history of Mexico is long and rich with great civilization after great civilization living on the land of South America from the Aztecs to the Mayans and the Inca many civilizations rose and fell within the territory over a period of thousands of years leading to the country that exists today it's not surprising that we found so many unique and interesting buildings ruins and relics on Mexico's land but we're a long way from understanding all of them the so called catchin flying shields are perhaps more mysterious than any other set of artifacts it's impossible to misinterpret them because they're so detailed each one of the rare and valuable objects is an ornate carving depicting a lizard creature riding on a shield shaped vessel of some kind legend has it that these lizards acted as intermediaries between the human beings of the time and their gods and shields known as pata Lata were capable of flight nothing could or should have been capable of flight at the time they were created so what did the craftsmen who designed them seen that inspired them to make such unique designs human beings have worn beads as decoration since time immemorial you might even have some of your own it's impossible to pin down the beginnings of the custom because the fashion appears to have developed in many different parts of the world at the same time but we can tell you that these particular ancient Egyptian beads are 5000 years old and have an extraterrestrial origin instead of being hammered and carved from sandstone or iron ore they were fashioned from the remnants of a meteorite after being turned into thin sheets the meteorite material was rolled into a tube and then placed onto a necklace alongside gemstones and gold that would seem to suggest that the ancient Egyptians somehow knew that the material was more valuable than the rocks found on earth even if they couldn't have any comprehension of where the rock had come from working with this material would have been much more difficult than working with copper due to its brittle nature the ancient Egyptians appeared to have mastered some of the skills that define the iron age 2,000 years ahead of schedule while we're on the topic of materials that are hard to work with check out this rock crystal vase from Assyria your eyes aren't deceiving you this entire vase was cut out of just one single lump of rock solid crystal we say that it's Assyrian in origin only because some slightly similar artifacts have been found in that region before although none as pure is this small and perfectly formed four inch high vase experts can't agree on how old it is but an age between 2600 years and 2,800 years is the thought most commonly posited that would make it not just a Syrian but neo-assyrian it's Providence before 1960 is unclear which is part of the reason that experts are so baffled about its origins almost any material would have been easier to work with for craftsmen than crystal and so whoever commissioned this would have been the proud owner of an object that was probably without analog in its time or its region it's not perfectly symmetrical but how someone working so long ago could get such a perfect form out of a material so difficult to carve is incredible back in 2015 for ancient Greek gold Signet rings were found in the grave of a Bronze Age warrior prompting both great admiration and a great mystery their intricately detailed and masterfully made and only now are we beginning to realize their significance in terms of early Greek society if you wanted to make something like this today you'd use electric tools and a microscope to ensure the accuracy of your carving the ancient Greeks didn't have those luxuries these rings were made by someone with an almost impossibly steady hand and laser sharp eyesight we've often thought that Minoan artists were among the best in the ancient world pieces like this prove their case the giveaway that their Minoan in origin is the symbol of a leaping bull on one of the Rings although curiously the other three rings contain female figures depicted as central characters which is out of step with the patriarchal Minoan society as we understand it all of these rings came from the tomb of man known only as the Griffin warrior who was also buried with a bronze sword a golden dagger and ivory plaque of a Griffin and a bronze mirror whoever he was he must have been very highly thought of in his lifetime your first thought when you see these masks is probably that they look a little like something you might see in a modern-day horror movie they were never supposed to be scary though in fact archaeologists believe that they're intended to be tributes to the deceased the masks which are approximately 9,000 years old were found in Israel's Judean Hills there are 12 of them in total all of which have different facial features it's the differences in the facial features that have persuaded experts that they're supposed to be replications of real people as opposed to gods the Stone Age people who created the masks would have been among the very first to give up their nomadic lifestyle in favor of settling down in one area in building homes the true purpose of the masks can only be guessed at but the presence of small holes drilled into their sides implies that they may have had string passed through them enabling them to be worn during ceremonies or rituals it's also possible that the holes were there so human hair perhaps the hair of the deceased could be attached to it to make the tribute more realistic our next artifact was also found in Israel but was made in Turkey it may appear to be a humble bead made of lead but it holds a unique distinction it's the oldest lead artifact ever found anywhere on the planet and it was made at least 6,000 years ago archaeologists found the object inside a cave in the Negev but careful analysis of its ore has revealed that the material came from antolia unfortunately we have no way of knowing what form it was in when it was exported from one country to another it may have just been the raw material that came from Turkey or it may have been the whole object was crafted there and then worn by someone who traveled to Israel that wouldn't have been impossible there's plenty of evidence that there was a trade route between Antalya and Levant all those years ago while it's natural to assume that a bead like this would have been worn as a decorative item experts aren't so sure based on abrasion marks on the bottom of the bead they think it might have been a spindle whorl instead you have to look very closely at the rocks in the town of Sylvan in Bulgaria to see the so called rockered but they're definitely there they might have been heavily eroded by time and the elements but there are a whole series of carvings on the heads of many animals most of which would be considered livestock the petroglyphs have been carved into this side of a rock face and based on the different designs they appear to be the work of more than one person it's likely that we'll never find out who these people were although nothing is known about the site and due to the difficulties that come with dating rock we can't even take an educated guess as to when they might have been created based on the extent of the weathering though it's easy to see that they're ancient the bulk of the carvings represent goats bowls and rams but there are a few wild animals and aquatic creatures as well the presence of the other creatures make some experts think that the carvings might be a reference to the zodiac but it's just as possible that it was an ancient team of farmers attempting to count up their flock the algebra Dignitas a also known as the silver Caesars art anywhere near as old as some of the mysteries we've looked at during this video but they're every bit as enigmatic the twelve silver gilt branding cups aren't just incredible examples of Renaissance metalwork they're the most accomplished feat of 16th century goldsmith work in the world each of the pieces consists of a bowl a step and in the center of the bowl a figurine of one of the Roman emperors described in the book the twelve Caesars by the ancient Roman writer Suetonius inside each Bowl are further four reliefs in which important scenes from the lives of those rulers are depicted there's a very slight difference in styles between some of the pieces which implies the work may have been started by one artist and continued by another the reason they're so mysterious is that we don't know who made them for such incredible work we'd expect a historical record or at least an artist signature on the work but there's nothing and little written history to go on they first appear in the inventory of Cardinal Pietro Al Jarreau brandini in 1603 hence the collections name but he wasn't the artist and they're likely to be much older than that 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

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Keywords: 12 Most Mysterious Artifacts That Scientists Still Can't Explain, mysterious artifacts, ancient artifacts, archaeological artifacts, most mysterious, still cant explain, archaeological mystery, artifacts found, 12 most, top 12, most amazing

Id: RUG3pUAjEzA

Length: 16min 5sec (965 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 09 2020