9 Mysterious Ancient Civilizations Scientists Can't Explain

hi everyone it's katrina from enormous carved out caves built by unknown hands to what happened to the people who built stonehenge here are nine ancient civilizations that scientists can't explain number nine long you caves a group of farmers in china's xiang province received the surprise of a lifetime in 1992 when they drain several small ponds in their village and discovered some enormous caves it turned out to be an ancient underground world that nobody knew existed all signs point toward the caves being carved out on purpose by some ancient civilization but the question is who were they so far 36 grottos have been discovered including five enormous caverns in total covering 30 000 square meters the curious thing is that none of them are connected they were carved into solid silt stone with pillars evenly distributed throughout to support the ceiling and walls every stone column and wall is uniformly decorated with chisel marks creating parallel lines the marks make everything look like a pattern which would have taken a very long time especially in the dark there are also stone carvings of animals like horses fish and birds the structures collect rainwater runoff from ground level and are equipped with sophisticated drainage systems for managing excess water based on the sheer size of the caves scientists estimate that it would have taken 1 000 people working day and night for 6 years to complete it probably took much longer than that but so far there is no evidence of tools or construction methods the large scale of the caves and the architectural design and attention to detail indicate that they were made by a very advanced society but ever since their discovery archaeologists scientists and historians have been unable to determine who built the long-u caves why they were built and what they were for the only known historical record mentioning the caves is a 17th century poem which doesn't really reveal much clay pots discovered on the cavern's floors were dated to sometime between 206 bc and 23 a.d suggesting that the caves are at least 2 000 years old perhaps the caves were tombs storage facilities of some kind barracks for soldiers or perhaps it was used for some type of mining only one of these caves is open to tourists so far and despite years of research the civilization responsible remains unexplained number 8. oxumite empire considered one of the least documented civilizations of the ancient world the axomite empire was an african kingdom that spanned modern day eritrea in northern ethiopia as well as parts of djibouti somalia and somaliland it rose to power around 80 a.d and lasted for many centuries meeting its downfall in 825 the kingdom of aksum was a major player along a commercial trade route between the roman empire and ancient india it had its own currency for trading and participated in the politics of kingdoms across the red sea and the arabian peninsula aksum was the first sub-saharan empire to mint its own coins and adopt christianity but researchers know very little else about it outside of egypt and sudan it's the earliest complex society or major civilization in africa archaeologist michael harrower told the new scientist aksum stopped producing coins in the early 7th century meanwhile residents were forced inland for safety where they sought refuge from some sort of upheaval on higher ground the capital was abandoned and resettled at a yet unknown location one theory suggests that the aksum empire became economically isolated as other civilizations dominated the red sea naturally leading to its decline on the other hand legend holds that a jewish queen named yodit ordered the burning of aksum's christian churches around 960 but several modern historians doubt that she ever even existed another hypothesis suggests that a pagan queen named bani al-hamwiyah from a rivaling tribe ended oximite power climate change is also cited as a possible triggering factor for the kingdom of aksum's collapse during the first century increased rains vastly improved the region's food supply and lengthened the annual growing season but food production had to support a large population and it's possible that the land simply could not endure the intensity of cultivation that the culture required and that soil erosion ultimately led to the aksumate empire's downfall in late 2019 archaeologists announced the discovery of beta samati a lost aksum city located between its capital also named aksum and the red sea thanks to locals tipping them off about the buried site which sits over 10 feet below ground experts hope that the settlement will help them learn more about the enigmatic empire and its decline which began during the mid 6th century number 7 the cucuteni tripilians the neolithic kukuteni tripilian culture also known as the tripoli culture existed in what is now eastern europe encompassing parts of modern-day moldova ukraine and russia it rose to prominence around 5500 bc and lasted until 2750 bc the civilization's settlements were small and dense sometime between 4000 and 3500 bc the kukuteni tripelia civilization built neolithic europe's largest settlements with populations numbering between 20 000 and 46 000 people evidence shows that the culture had a habit of destroying its settlements every 60 to 80 years by burning them down for reasons that scientists still don't understand oftentimes they built new settlements on top of the burn down remains of past ones for example the poduri site in romania bears evidence of 13 habitation levels throughout its existence the cucuteni triplians also left behind no signs of a written language between this and the seemingly ritual burning of their cities experts have very little to work with in terms of learning about the culture the few clues left behind include clay totems copper tools and spiritual treasures rediscovered during the late 19th century evidence of the civilization shows that neolithic eastern europe played a bigger role in human advancement than it was previously credited for but the lingering question of what and how it contributed remain number six ancestral puebloans a group of native americans called the anasazi now referred to as the ancestral puebloans once lived in an area of the u.s that is famously known today as the four corners their network of hundreds of communities spanned across modern day southeastern utah northeastern arizona northwestern new mexico and southwestern colorado the ancestral puebloans possessed an advanced knowledge of the skies and incorporated the celestial sciences into their diverse architecture they are best known for their famous cliff dwellings which were primarily used for defensive purposes built between 900 and 1350 a.d these multi-story homes were incorporated into tall steep mesas and canyon walls like large apartment complexes some of these structures can still be seen today in places like the bandelier national monument in new mexico and mesa verde national park in colorado the ancestral puebloans also built small pit houses out of earth and stone as well as huge complexes of hundreds of rooms known as great houses additionally they were well known for their pottery which was generally gray in color they are also well known for their kivas a circular space used for ceremonial purposes during the 12th and 13th centuries they left their homes and historians have not figured out why researchers believe that climate change such as prolonged drought topsoil erosion deforestation and other environmental factors may have triggered the decision to migrate elsewhere but they can't say with certainty that this was the case they can only speculate based on the available evidence number five the mycenians the mycenians were immigrants who arrived in the aegean region around 2000 bc while their origins are a bit murky they subsequently conquered the minoans after living alongside them and trading with them for some time the minoans and the myceneans were the first literate societies in europe and greatly influenced the classical greeks the mycenaeans took over the minoan area and were more militaristic and austere than they were they became the dominant civilization in the area building palace fortresses and tombs large walls and gates they frequently terrorized and raided other societies like the hittites and the egyptians through their plundering they became extremely wealthy and the civilization flourished between 1600 and 1200 bc there were over 100 centers spread throughout greece and the mediterranean but historians still don't know how they were organized how they communicated and what their relationship was between all of the different palaces and their populations then suddenly the civilization began to decline around 12 30 bc people began leaving the region in droves some historians say that we may never know why the mycenians disappeared there are numerous theories including the realistic possibility that the society's violence against others finally caught up with them natural disasters possibly including an earthquake and or volcanic eruption may have also caused their decline by 1100 bc most majestic sites had been reduced to villages but their legacy remains number four the rappa nui hundreds of years ago a small group of polynesians left their homeland for unknown reasons and rode their vessels through the pacific ocean they eventually settled on a remote island known today as easter island located roughly 2182 miles off the modern day chilean coast found uninhabited this small 63 square mile island boasted lush greenery and rolling hills the settlers named it rapa nui there they built massive monolithic structures called moai also known as the easter island heads some of these mysterious sculptures still stand today the more archaeologists and researchers learn the more intriguing easter island becomes the immense stone figures are a testament to the society's artistry and engineering scientists can't seem to agree on exactly when the rapa nui people arrived on the island it was previously believed that they came between 700 and 800 a.d but a radio carbon analysis shows that they may have arrived as late as 1200. others think that the rapa nui came to the island much sooner perhaps as early as 300 a.d some question how they were able to plot their course to get to the island in the first place researchers also struggle to understand why the civilization collapsed perhaps they ran out of food it looks like at some point deforestation and agriculture caused palm trees and grass to dwindle leaving behind eroded nutrient-deprived soil that became practically impossible to cultivate the island was practically barren by the time the dutch arrived in 1722 one theory holds that the rapa nui civilization consisted of several tribes throughout the island and that these factions began warring against one another when food became scarce and the threat of starvation loomed another hypothesis based on findings indicating that the rapa nui may have arrived around 1200 suggests that the environmental destruction they suffered from happened extremely fast rat bones found at an ancient settlement site point toward the possibility that this invasive species contributed to the society's swift downfall archaeologist terry hunt does not believe that humans could have destroyed the island's forest so quickly on their own and that the rodents fed on the once abundant plant life until there was practically nothing left number three the sanching dewey during the bronze age a little-known culture called the sanctuan dui thrived in what is now china's sichuan province the only known site connected to the civilization turned up dozens of artifacts dating back to the 12th and 11th centuries bc although evidence shows that a walled city existed at the site as far back as 1600 bc built along the banks of the yazi river the city and its walls were surrounded by large canals measuring between 66 and 82 feet wide and 6.6 to 10 feet deep which were used for navigation defense and flood control saint xuang gui was divided into residential industrial and religious districts a farmer discovered the first known evidence of the ancient culture in 1929 when he unearthed a cache of jade artifacts while digging a well many of the objects therefore ended up in the possession of private collectors meanwhile chinese archaeologists scoured the area for further evidence of the civilization and finally hit the pay dirt in 1986 when they found sacrificial pits filled with bronze jade and pottery items the items were broken and burned before being buried indicating that they were ritually placed in the ground sometime between three thousand and five thousand years ago when the culture mysteriously vanished from the site nobody really knows exactly who the saengshuin dewey really were despite the handful of evidence they left behind they abandoned their settlement sometime between 2800 and 3000 years ago and possibly move to the nearby ancient city of jinsha researchers aren't sure why they fled one prevailing theory suggests that the ancient people encountered an earthquake or a landslide which redirected the minjang river cutting them off from their fresh water supply and forcing them to relocate elsewhere number two the etruscans the etruscans left behind the first identifiable evidence of their civilization around 900 bc in what is now tuscany and modern-day italy a region once called erutria they are considered one of the most advanced societies to develop outside of ancient greece yet scientists know very little about their origins the earliest known examples of etruscan writing date back to around 700 bc today's scholars only partially understand the etruscan language as the culture's texts did not survive into modern times for this reason researchers rely heavily on later writings from greek and roman sources which carry a disapproving bias against the etruscans and do not necessarily reflect the culture accurately for example archaeological evidence suggests that they were indigenous to erutria but the greeks wrote that the etruscans stemmed from the indigenous pelagian population of greece something which modern experts doubt heavily etruscologist dominique brickell argued that the greeks made this assertion based on witnessing trade between the etruscans and palasgians and similarities between some of the two society's traditions that likely resulted from cultural exchange rather than migration additionally bruckell claimed that the greeks had political motivations for fabricating the etruscan's history the etruscans began assimilating into roman society sometime during the 4th century bc following the roman etruscan wars in 90 bc they were granted roman citizenship and their territory was fully incorporated into the roman empire in 27 bc much of the etruscan culture was likely lost throughout this transition and even dna studies have failed to definitely determine exactly where the civilization came from number one the bell beaker culture the bell beaker culture arose around 2800 bc and is named for its inverted bell-shaped drinking vessels which came into use at the very beginning of the european bronze age these unique looking cups became all the rage across europe at the time leading to a debate among modern experts whether the people who used the bell beakers were a single culture that migrated across europe or the vessels were used across various cultures it's the pop versus people argument which is one of the longest running questions in archaeology the sheer variety of bell beaker artifacts makes it difficult to trace them to one singular culture or place of origin leaving today's researchers to refer to the spread of these items simply as the bell beaker phenomenon scientists analyzed the genomes of 170 ancient europeans and compared them to the genomes of other ancient people as well as modern genomes they found that skeletons discovered near bell beaker artifacts in modern day central europe and iberia shared few genetic ties indicating that the culture did not consist of one group of migrating people on the other hand ancient remains from britain point toward the bell beaker people being a genetically distinct group that almost entirely replaced the people who occupied the island before they arrived this suggests that the beaker people invaded britain and pushed out the previous population of neolithic farmers the ones who built stonehenge today british people have more dna from the beaker people than neolithic farmers and are barely related to the neolithic people who built the monument five thousand years ago the findings are absolutely sort of mind-blowing said archaeologist barry cunliffe a professor emeritus at the university of oxford they are going to upset people so that's part of the excitement of it dna analysis of 400 prehistoric skeletons some from after stonehenge and others born before it was created demonstrate that the beakers replaced 90 of the people and had fair skin and lighter hair and eyes they may have destroyed the people who built stonehenge by bringing the bubonic plague with them to britain the spread of ideas and migration and the fact that so many beaker artifacts have been found throughout europe make these people an enigma thanks for watching which civilization would you like to learn more about let me know in the comments below and remember to subscribe if you haven't already see you soon bye

Channel: Origins Explained

Views: 325,200

Rating: 4.8355718 out of 5

Keywords: origins explained, mysterious ancient civilizations scientists can't explain, mysterious, ancient, civilizations, unexplained, science, mysterious civilizations, ancient civilizations, unexplained civilizations, strange civilizations, unexplained by science, science can't explain, ancient discoveries, mysterious discoveries, ancient finds, archaeological discoveries, archaeological, ancient cultures

Id: yGGml9PAfkU

Length: 17min 46sec (1066 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 04 2021