Top 10 Bizarre & Controversial Archeological
Discoveries 10. Acámbaro Figures Discovered: 1944 The Acámbaro Figures are a collection of
small ceramic figurines allegedly found in Acámbaro, Guanajuato, Mexico. They were discovered by Waldemar Julsrud in
July of 1944. According to accounts, Julsrud stumbled upon
the artifacts while riding his horse in the Acámbaro area. He hired a local farmer to dig up the remaining
figures, paying him for each object he found. Eventually, the farmer and his assistants
discovered over 32,000 figures, which included representations of everything from dinosaurs
to people from all over the world, including Egyptians, Sumerians, and bearded Caucasians. The Acámbaro Figures have been cited as out
of place artifacts, as they are clearly human made and portray a large variety of dinosaur
species. According to all history books, humans did
not live in the time of the dinosaurs. Upon the discovery of the figures, many creationists
from all over the world proclaimed the artifacts legitimate. If these figures are genuine, it could stand
as credible evidence for the coexistence of dinosaurs and humans, which would severely
damage the theory of evolution and offer support for the literal interpretation of the Bible. To date though, no credible scholars of archaeology
or paleontology accept the discovery as valid. 9. The Dropa Stones Discovered: 1938 In 1938, an archeological expedition was sent
to investigate a secluded area of the Baian-Kara-Ula Mountains on the border that divides China
and Tibet. The group discovered a series of caves at
the summit of the mountains. The archeologists uncovered the graves and
discovered the remains of ancient beings. The skeletons were a little more than three
feet tall, with abnormally large skulls. Inside of the tombs a collection of stone
disks were recovered. The disks were almost twelve inches in diameter,
with a hole in the center. The disks were labeled the Dropa Stones. Subsequent investigations have found a total
of 716 Dropa Stones in the caves. The Dropa Stones were sent to a variety of
scholars for investigation. One of them, Professor Tsum Um Nui of the
Beijing Academy for Ancient Studies, found that the spiral grooves were actually a line
of characters written in an unknown language. Tsum Um Nui claims that an alien spacecraft
crashed in the Bayan Har Shan region 12,000 years ago. The occupants were aliens called Dropa or
Dzopa. The Dropa could not repair their craft, so
they tried to adapt to the conditions on Earth. Many people have challenged these claims and
Tsum Um Nui was forced to resign from the Beijing Academy. 8. Horned Human Skull Discovered: 1880s Sayre is a borough in Bradford County, Pennsylvania,
59 miles northwest of Scranton. The exact year is not clear, but during the
1880s a large burial mound was discovered in Sayre. It was reported that a group of Americans
uncovered several strange human skulls and bones. The skeletons belonged to anatomically normal
men with the exception of bony projections located about two inches above the eyebrows. It appeared that the skulls had horns. It was not the first time that gigantic horned
skulls have been unearthed in North America. During the 19th century, similar skulls were
discovered near Wellsville, New York and in a mining village close to El Paso, Texas. According to historical accounts, the Sayre
bones were allegedly sent to the American Investigating Museum in Philadelphia. However, the artifacts were stolen and never
seen again. Apparent pictures of the skulls do exist,
but many people claim the discovery to be a hoax. 7. Map of the Creator Discovered: 1999 In 1999, a professor at Bashkir State University
in Russia named Alexander Chuvyrov made a remarkable archeological discovery. He was called to the house of Vladimir Krainov,
who reported a strange slab buried in his backyard. Chuvyrov was instantly intrigued, as he had
been searching for similar slabs that have been cited in various historical manuscripts. The slab was so heavy that it took over a
week to unearth. The stone was investigated and determined
to be some sort of three-dimensional relief map of the Ural Region. The Dashka stone reportedly contains representations
of civil engineering work, weirs, an irrigation system, and powerful dams. To date, the ancient technology used to make
the map is unknown and extremely advanced. The map also contains numerous inscriptions. At first, the scientists thought that it was
an Old Chinese language, although it was later reported that the inscriptions were done in
a hieroglyphic-syllabic language of unknown origin. If the Map of the Creator is genuine then
it would suggest the existence of an ancient highly developed civilization. The Dashka stone continues to undergo scientific
testing and is not available for public viewing. 6. Aluminium Wedge of Aiud Discovered: 1974 The Aluminum Wedge of Aiud is a wedge-shaped
object found two kilometers east of Aiud, Romania in 1974. The object was reported to be unearthed 35
feet under sand and alongside two mastodon bones. Physically, the artifact looked similar to
the head of a hammer. The wedge was allegedly taken to the Archeological
Institute of Cluj-Napoca to be examined, where it was found to be made of an alloy of aluminum
encased in a thin layer of oxide. This artifact is considered strange because
aluminum was not discovered until 1808 and not produced in quantity until 1885. The fact that the wedge was found in the same
layer of earth as mastodon bones would make it at least 11,000 years old. Many people have claimed that the artifact
is proof that aliens visited Earth. Engineers have reported that the object resembles
the foot of landing gear, not unlike the technology used on spaceships. The scientific community believes the wedge
was made on earth and its purpose is not yet identified. Due to the limited amount of information that
exists on the subject, the antiquity and origin of the artifact is unclear. 5. Los Lunas Decalogue Stone Discovered: 1880s The Los Lunas Decalogue Stone is a large boulder
on the side of Hidden Mountain, near Los Lunas, New Mexico, about 35 miles south of Albuquerque. The stone bears a regular inscription carved
into a flat panel. The inscription is interpreted by some to
be an abridged version of the Ten Commandments in a form of Paleo-Hebrew. The first recorded mention of the artifact
is from 1933 when Professor Frank Hibben, an archaeologist from the University of New
Mexico, reportedly saw it. Hibben was led to the stone by an unnamed
guide who claimed to have found it as a boy in the 1880s. If this information is accurate, a forgery
would be unlikely because the Paleo-Hebrew script was unknown to scholars in the 1880s. One argument against the stone’s authenticity
is the apparent use of Modern Hebrew punctuation, although epigrapher Barry Fell argued that
the punctuation is consistent with antiquity. The stone is controversial because many feel
the artifact is Pre-Columbian and proof of early Semitic contact with the Americas, providing
evidence that people from Israel settled in America. 4. Piri Reis Map Discovered: 1929 The Topkap Palace is a historical structure
that is located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Piri Reis map was discovered here in 1929. The map drew immediate attention as it was
one of the earliest maps of America, and the only 16th century map that shows South America
in its proper longitudinal position in relation to Africa. The map is drawn on gazelle skin and was compiled
in 1513 by Ottoman-Turkish military admiral and cartographer Piri Reis. The most puzzling aspect of the map is its
depiction of Antarctica. According to the history books, the first
confirmed sighting of Antarctica occurred in 1820. The Piri Reis map not only shows a land mass
near present day Antarctica, but it depicts Antarctica’s topography as not being masked
by ice and in great detail. Many people have raised the question, how
could a Turksih admiral from half a millennium ago map a continent’s topography that has
been covered with ice for thousands of years? Reports have been published claiming that
the Ottoman Empire had knowledge of some form of ancient Ice Age civilization. However, these claims are generally considered
to be pseudo-scholarship. 3. Giants of North America Giant human remains are classified as any
bones representative of a person between seven and twelve feet in stature. A human skeleton measuring 12 feet tall was
unearthed at Lompock Rancho, California, in 1833 by soldiers digging a pit for a powder
magazine. In 1856, a decaying human skeleton measuring
10 feet 9 inches tall was unearthed by laborers plowing a vineyard in what is now West Virginia. A mound discovered near Toledo, Ohio in 1895
held 20 skeletons; they were seated and facing east with jaws and teeth “twice as large
as those of present day people.” The list of these discoveries is quite extensive
and many claims have been made about the origin of these giant bones, usually starting and
ending with Sasquatch. No physical archeological evidence of these
claims has ever been displayed. 2. Kensington Runestone Discovered: 1898 In 1898, a Swedish American farmer named Olof
Öhman claims to have discovered a large stone while clearing his land of trees and stumps. The object was attached to the roots of a
small tree. Öhman didn’t realize what he had discovered,
so he took the 200 pound stone to the prominent citizens of Kensington, a settlement in Douglas
County, Minnesota. The Kensington Runestone is full of ancient
writing and carved text. It is thirty-one inches high, sixteen inches
wide, and six inches thick. Nine years after the discovery of the artifact,
Hjalmer R. Holand from Wisconsin University announced that he had deciphered the writings. He claims the text to read “8 Goths and
22 Norwegians on exploration journey from Vinland over the west. We camp by 2 skerries one day-journey from
this stone. We were and fished one day. After we came home, 10 men red with blood
and tortured. Hail Virgin Mary, save from evil. Have 10 men by the sea to look after our ship,
14 day -journeys from this island year 1362.” After Holand published his findings, a massive
investigation was conducted. If the translation is correct, the Kensington
Runestone would provide evidence that Scandinavian explorers reached the middle of North America
in the 14th century, nearly 130 years before Christopher Columbus. The runestone has been analyzed and dismissed
repeatedly. Almost all runologists and linguists consider
the artifact to be a hoax. 1. The Shroud of Turin The Shroud of Turin is a linen cloth bearing
the image of a man who appears to have suffered physical trauma in a manner consistent with
the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The shroud is wrapped in red silk and has
been kept in a silver chest in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud in the Cathedral of St.
John the Baptist in Turin, Italy since 1578. Believers contend that the shroud is the cloth
that was placed on the body of Jesus Christ at the time of his burial, and that the face
image is the Holy Face of Jesus. Detractors contend that the shroud cloth material
postdates the crucifixion of Jesus by more than a millennium. In 1988, radiocarbon dating was done on the
shroud in an attempt to determine the relic’s authenticity. The test indicated that the cloth was woven
between 1260 and 1390 A.D, much later than the time of Jesus. These results have been challenged by peer-reviewed
journals and many critics have raised questions about the original nature of the sample used
in the test.
