Great archaeological discoveries of civilization (10 photos). Trips
Russian archaeologists have unearthed many amazing finds that help to better understand the history of the country and mankind. We recall the 7 biggest sensations of Russian archeology.
Princess Ukok
An amazing find by archaeologists in the Altai Mountains, on the Ukok Plateau, which thundered not only throughout Russia, but became famous all over the world. In 1993, Novosibirsk archaeologists found a woman's burial there dating back to the 5th-3rd centuries BC. Due to the climate of this place, as well as the depth of the burial, the grave was ice-bound, which means it was preserved from decomposition.
For several days, trying not to harm the burial, archaeologists melted the ice. In the burial chamber were found six horses under saddles and with a harness, a deck of larch with bronze nails. The mummy of a young girl (at the time of her death she was about 25 years old) is well preserved. She was wearing a wig and a silk shirt, woolen skirt, felt socks and a fur coat. Scientists argue whether it was a noble person or whether she belonged to the middle stratum of Pazyryk society.
Indigenous Altaians believe that floods and earthquakes on their land are connected with the fact that the "princess" was transferred to the museum, and they demand to return her to the Ukok plateau. In the meantime, an amazing exhibit can be seen in the Gorno-Altaisk Museum, where an extension and a sarcophagus were specially created for it with the maintenance of temperature and humidity conditions.
Birch bark letters
It took a long time to reach this discovery: from the annals it was known that in Rus' they wrote on birch bark, archaeologists sometimes found tools with which they wrote, but assumed that these were hairpins or nails. They searched for birch bark letters near Novgorod, but the Great Patriotic War and the search stopped. Only in 1951, at the Nerevsky excavation, was the Birch Bark Letter No. 1 finally discovered. To date, more than a thousand birch bark letters and even one birch bark icon. Residents of Novgorod find them when laying communications, and Chelnokov, a native of Novgorod, found a fragment of “Diploma No. 612” in his own flower pot when transplanting flowers!
Now letters are known from various places in Russia, as well as Belarus and Ukraine. These are official documents, lists, training exercises, drawings, personal notes containing a variety of vocabulary - from love to obscene.
Scythian gold
On the vast territory between the Danube and the Don rises many mounds. They remained here from the Scythian tribe, and each mound is “gold-bearing”, because only the Scythians put so much gold into the graves of the nobility, and ordinary people. Gold for the Scythians was a symbol of life after death, and therefore it was placed in all barrows and in a variety of forms. raids on Scythian burial mounds began in the Middle Ages, but even now archaeologists find treasures in them. In one of the burial mounds, a burial of a female warrior with weapons and golden beads was found, in the other, a bronze panel depicting the battle of the Greeks with the Amazons, in the third, a diadem made of sheet gold... The collections of the Hermitage and other famous museums are filled with hundreds of kilograms of Scythian gold jewelry.
Unknown type of person
On March 24, 2010, Nature magazine published a sensational article about the "Denisov Man", whose remains were found in the Denisova Cave, located in the Anui River valley in Altai. A bone of the last phalanx of a child's finger, three huge molars belonging to a young man, and a phalanx of a toe were found in the cave. The researchers conducted a DNA analysis and found that the remains of the bone date back to a period of 40,000 years ago. Moreover, the “Denisov man” turned out to be an extinct type of person, whose genome is significantly different from ours. The evolutionary divergence of such a person and a Neanderthal occurred about 640 thousand years ago. Later these people became extinct or partly mixed with Homo sapiens. In the cave itself, archaeologists unearthed 22 layers corresponding to different cultural epochs. Now any tourist can get into this cave.
White Sea labyrinths
There are labyrinths in all parts of the world among peoples located on different stages development. In Russia, the most famous labyrinths are located near the White Sea: there are about forty of them, of which more than thirty are on the Solovetsky Islands of the Arkhangelsk region. All northern labyrinths are made of medium-sized stones, they look like an oval in plan, and inside there are intricate passages leading to the center. Until now, no one knows the exact purpose of the labyrinths, especially since there is more than one type of them. But most often archaeologists associate them with the cult of the dead and funeral rites. This theory is supported by the fact that on the Big Zayatsky Island, under the stone heaps of the labyrinth, archaeologists found burnt human bones and stone tools. There is an assumption that the ancient people who lived by the sea believed that the soul of a deceased person is transported through the water to another island, and it should not return back. The labyrinth served this purpose: the soul "wandered" in it and returned back to realm of the dead. It is possible that labyrinths were also used in initiation rites. Unfortunately, the study of labyrinths is difficult, because, while digging out the labyrinth, the archaeologist destroys the monument itself.
mammoth blood
In the area of the Kyrgyz Lake Issyk-Kul, sites of primitive people, petroglyphs, burial grounds of different times, cenotaphs, stone sculptures of the Turkic era, medieval settlements, treasures have already been discovered ... But archaeologists did not stop there and ... went under water! The international Russian-Kyrgyz underwater archaeological expedition on the Issyk-Kul lake gave amazing results. At least 5 ancient cities were found at the bottom of the lake, the age of which is about 3 thousand years. These cities stood on one of the branches of the Great Silk Road. It is assumed that these places were not only a trade, but also a "resort" center. ancient world. According to one of the legends, an ancient Armenian monastery was located here, in which the relics of the Apostle Matthew were buried. At least in the famous "Catalan Atlas" Lake Issyk-Kul, and the monastery, and the shrine are indicated.
01.07.2013
This is Top 10 The most important interesting
No. 10. Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang
The famous first emperor of the Qin Dynasty is about 700,000 soldiers carved in stone, which were buried in one of the first halls of the tyrant's tomb. This unique creation of human hands would have remained unknown to history and science, if in 1947 local farmers had not started drilling wells, but instead of water, they found one of the most striking and important finds in the history of archeology. Each warrior of this grave is individual and not like the others. All of them are created by hand, and the methods of their processing have sunk into centuries along with the great emperor. But not only ordinary soldiers were slaughtered long years artisans: statues of horses, officers were found in the tomb, warriors are fully equipped with weapons (swords, crossbows, spears). Qin Shi Huang was one of those people who knew how to lead. Otherwise, this commander would never have been able to unite a vast territory into a single kingdom. Together with the soldiers, the emperor's slaves were buried in the tomb, and by no means in stone form. Ancient people believed that the army would help their emperor in the afterlife and protect him. The emperor also planned to take his wealth to the other world: jewelry, valuable products, chariots, ordinary peasants (70,000 of whom were buried alive with him). The excavations of the tomb are still ongoing and have reached the final stage. Be that as it may, this Army will remain clearest example cultures of ancient China. And this amazing archaeological find opens our list.
No. 9. The Dead Sea Scrolls
Qumran manuscripts - this is the name of one of the greatest gifts of the past millennia of mankind. Found from 1947 to 1956 in several caves in the Judean Desert. written mainly on biblical subjects, but there are also apocrypha and a description of the Qumran community. Each text is supplemented with fragments from the book of the Old Testament. However, it does not include the book of Esther. But once again saw the light of one fully preserved text of the book of Isaiah. The texts help expand understanding of many previously unknown details of the Old Testament, many textual traditions, and other interesting linguistic discoveries. There are texts containing the rules of the then society, the rules of warfare, and so on. It is believed that these scrolls are nothing more than the entire documentation, or library, of the Jewish Sect, which was hidden during the First Jewish Revolt (66-70 BC). Scrolls Dead Sea discover some connection with Christianity: after all, the Qumran community itself was a monastery in the Christian sense, and this despite the fact that before Christianity itself there were several more centuries. And this is the ninth place among interesting finds.
No. 8. Ashurbanipal Royal Library
This archaeological find, Found in the city of Neneveh in the middle of the 19th century. Ashurbanipal's library is one of the irretrievably bygone past. By order of the Assyrian king, it was created for more than 25 years. Since the king was more than anything in the world concerned with the management of the state, and magic, fortune-telling were considered the most effective ways of such management, a significant part of the library is occupied by the texts of prophecies, all kinds of rituals, conspiracies, prophecies. The bulk of the texts were taken from the Sumerian and Babylonian texts and rewritten. The library contained a huge collection of texts on medicine. There were lists of legends (for example, the epic of Gilgamesh), and of course, tablets that lift the veil on the life of ancient people (this includes legal documents, songs, household records)
It was thanks to the Ashshurban library that a huge number of cuneiform texts came down to us, which helped to better imagine the culture of Mesopotamia, and greatly facilitated the decipherment of texts in the Sumerian and Akkadian languages.
No. 7. Tomb of Tutankhamen
In 1922, one of the most remarkable events in the world of archeology took place, amazing find- Egyptologist Howard Carter discovered perhaps the most famous tomb in history - the tomb of Tutankhamun. And although until the 20th century, Tutankhamun was of no interest to historians, with the discovery of his tomb, a whole layer of ancient knowledge and things came into our world. The tomb of this young king is perhaps the most successfully preserved since that time, despite the fact that it was broken into by tomb robbers. Since Tutankhamen died very early, it is obvious that they did not have time to build a tomb for him, which means that he had to huddle in someone else's grave. It consists of a burial room, chamber, hallway, treasury. The entrance hall leads to a sloping corridor. Of course, there were treasures in the royal tomb. There, archaeologists have found statues, jewels, chariots - in a word, everything that, according to the ancient Egyptians, a king could need in the afterlife. Although this young king was not the most powerful and famous among the kings of Egypt, and his tomb is not the most grandiose in architecture, its importance lies elsewhere - in the objects of life and components that have survived to this day. ancient culture.
No. 6. Pompeii
6th in the Top 10 Most Important amazing archaeological finds. Pompeii ... There is probably no such person in the world who would not have heard about this and about the tragedy that happened to him. It was founded in 6 BC. like a Roman colony. The settlement prospered at the expense of the port and the resort area. This is easy to understand from the rich houses, temples, theaters and baths built within the colony. As in any self-respecting city, there was also an amphitheater and a forum. Earthquakes began as early as 63 BC, and destroyed the city until the ill-fated day. Despite the efforts of the inhabitants to restore the city, its fate was sealed. The ruthless forces of nature in the guise of Vesuvius decided to wipe the city off the face of the earth. It happened on August 24, 79. Lava completely destroyed the village. And so, under the cover of ashes, the city rested until 1599, but its research began only in 1748. Pompeii is the most successful example, an example of Roman life embodied in its practical application. It was on him that scientists managed to resolve many of their questions. The ashes managed to stop time, and over the past centuries to keep everything as it was on that last day: people, animals fleeing from there.
No. 5. Lascaux Cave
This cave complex is located in the southwest of France. One of the oldest monuments human culture. Inside the caves are hundreds of drawings dating back to the Paleolithic era. This truly majestic treasure trove of human heritage was discovered, as all great things are usually discovered - quite by accident and by ordinary teenagers on September 12, 1940. About 2000 images of animals, people and animals are imprinted on the walls of this stone complex. unknown to science characters. Animals are represented by deer, cattle. There are quite recognizable figures of cats, feathered inhabitants of the sky, kings of the present forests - bears. The Lasko cave was used mainly for painting, and this is its value. To date, this complex is one of the largest caves that have come down to us. rock art. Fifth place in the top 10 interesting finds.
No. 4. Sinanthropus
This kind of man belonged to the hitherto unknown species of primitive man. In 1927, Her Majesty history wished to write this man on its pages, it was then that the Chinese anthropologist Pei Wen-Zhong discovered him in the Zhoukoudian cave near Beijing. The anthropologist managed to find parts of the skull, pieces of the lower jaw, teeth and many well-preserved bones of the skeleton. It turned out that the cave was a shelter for 45 of our distant ancestors. Extensive and in-depth studies have shown that Peking Man was upright, knew how to make tools from stone, and used fire. Peking Man significantly complemented the picture and ideas about ancient people. Thanks to him, we know more about our ancestors living in different parts of the world.
No. 3. Rosetta Stone
Another one interesting archaeological find. The Rosetta Stone is a basalt stele dated to 196 BC. On this archaeological site a lot has been carved: from the Egyptian decree about the veneration of Ptolemy V to the official Egyptian hieroglyphs. Destined for the temple, it found its place among the building stone at Fort Rashid. Captain Pierre-Francois Bouchard discovered this unusual plate, dotted with signs, on a hot July 1799, during the famous campaign of Napoleon Into the Egyptian lands. Since the text on the stele is written in several languages, scientists, having studied them in detail, were able to penetrate the mysteries of a civilization unknown to them.
No. 2. Behistun Rock
The rock is a unique monument the time of Darius the Great. The inscriptions on it are made in many languages. It was discovered by Englishman Robert Shirley in 1958. This text begins with a biography of King Darius, and captures what happened after the death of Cyrus the Great and Cambyses II. Behistun Rock can be compared to the Rosetta Stone - the original inscription, and on both it is repeated several times, except perhaps in completely different languages. The text on the Rock, for example, is written in Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian. And just like the Rosetta stone allows you to understand the psychology of ancient people, to look at the world through their eyes. Undoubtedly, it is a unique example of cuneiform literature. Thanks to this rock, archaeologists have studied the civilization of Mesopotamia, Sumer, Persia, Assyria.
No. 1. Olduvai George
First place in Top 10 interesting and amazing archaeological finds. This large gorge in northern Tanzania, formed by the basin of one lake, opened itself to the world in 1911. However, humanity took action to study and excavate only 20 years later, in 1931. Three species of hominids (large apes) were found in the gorge at once, such as Australopithecus boisei, Homo habilis and Homo erectus. In addition to everything, the remains of ancient animals were also found there: large antelopes, indigenous people of Africa - elephants, hares, etc. This historical monument brought to our days all the remains of the various stages of development of our ancestors. Refuted any evidence that the cradle of mankind is not in Africa. Before us opened the source of life of hominids, their life. And in 1975, following the discovery of traces of hominids, it was claimed that they walked on two legs - one of the most remarkable archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.
Archaeological discoveries never cease to shock us.
Sometimes the finds are so fantastic that they cause many years of controversy among scientists and acquire an ambiguous assessment.
1 Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is a stone slab. Usually it is taller in size than wider. In ancient Egypt, the plates were popular as ritual signs to the deceased.
2. Dead Sea Scrolls
For several years, historians believed in the existence of biblical and non-biblical documents concerning the ancient Jewish sect of the Essenes. Concrete evidence emerged in the 1950s. The manuscripts are written in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic.
The fury of Mount Vesuvius buried the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in 79 AD. e. The volcanic eruption was so powerful that over time, memories of the city were erased from public consciousness like the city itself.
Altamira was discovered by amateur archaeologist Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola. Genuine Paleolithic art was born in the cave.
"Gold ... Everywhere the glitter of gold ... I was amazed and numb with amazement," these are the words of Howard Carter, the man who discovered the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen.
One of the oldest man-made human figurines depicts an obese woman with full, saggy breasts. The figurine symbolizes fertility, pregnancy and the roundness of the female figure. The statue is approximately 26,000 years old.
7. City of Knossos
Bronze Age archaeological site at Knossos important point in the restoration of Greek civilization almost 3500-4000 years ago. The city built around the city of Crete reflects references to ancient Roman texts and coins.
When this mechanism was discovered in 1901 among the usual shipwrecks off the coast of Greece, it did not seem important. Today, however, he is considered the father of modern computing devices.
Pilate's Stone is possibly the first reliable evidence for the biblical reference to Pontius Pilate. Discovered in the region of Caesarea (Judea), the stone was supposedly used as material for a staircase built in the 4th century. n. e.
10. Olduvai Gorge
Oldulvay Gorge may be one of the oldest known human creations. It was inhabited by primitive people millions of years ago and contains hunting tools and objects.
While the oldest of the Egyptian pyramids dates from around 2670 BC. e., the megalithic temples of Hagar-Kim (Malta) anticipate it by almost 600-1000 years.
The funeral army of Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, includes a massive collection of terracotta statues. It was created as a tribute to one of the most influential historical figures.
13. Tomb of Philip II of Macedon
In 1977, an expert in Greek archeology, Manolis Andronix, announced the discovery of the burial place of the Macedonian kings in Vergina (Northern Greece). Later, in 1990, tombs were also found. One of the graves belongs to Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great.
In July 2009, a collection of gold, silver and metal objects from the collection of the Anglo-Saxon era of the 7th-8th centuries was found in the village of Hammerwich in Lichfield (Staffordshire, UK).
The jars found from the Parthian era during the Sassanid period (I-III centuries AD) have a cylindrical iron shell with a copper peak enclosed inside. The electrochemical steam in the jars generated voltage potential.
The Roman dodecahedron is a small hollow object with twelve flat pentagonal faces, each containing a round hole of different diameters. Approximately the object dates back to the II and III centuries. n. e. Its purpose is still unclear.
Early signs of the use of tetracycline are found in bones dug up in Nubia (Sudan). Tetracycline-producing yeast may have been an ingredient in ancient Nubian alcoholic beverages.
Sharp spearheads found in South Africa. They have been made for almost 200,000 years. This made it necessary to attribute the history of human hunting to an earlier period.
19. Ancient Chemical Warfare
In 1933, Robert du Mesnil du Buisson revealed a startling archaeological fact. The excavation contained the remains of 19 Roman soldiers and several Persian warriors. The Persians set a trap for the hordes of the Romans - the enemy was met with sulfur fumes.
Located in Costa Rica, perfectly round spheres were carved from stone. They date back to 600-1000 BC. n. e. Banana plantation workers discovered the bizarre figures in the 1930s.
Sanxingdui (China) contains artifacts from the Bronze Age (c. 2800-800 BC). The finds are recognized as one of the most important due to their huge size and long period of existence.
22. Rapa Nui
Better known as Easter Island, it lies thousands of miles off the Chilean coast in the South Pacific. However, the most incomprehensible thing is not how people found it and mastered it, but the fact that the inhabitants erected huge stone heads around the island.
Dating back to the early 1500s, this map shows coastlines with amazing accuracy. South America, Europe and Africa. Apparently, it was created by the general and cartographer Piri Reis from fragments of dozens of other maps.
Although the Nazca Lines have been studied by archaeologists for hundreds of years, they are almost impossible to see unless you are directly above them. Geoglyphs in the desert remain a mystery to this day and depict the Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru.
25. Mount Owen Moa
In 1986, a New Zealand expedition stumbled upon a huge claw in Owen Moa Cave. During excavations and inspection, it was found that the find belongs to a large prehistoric bird.
This mysterious manuscript belongs to the beginning. 15th century Italy. Even though most of the pages are filled with herbal recipes, none of the plants match. known species and the language remains illegible.
The ancient settlement was discovered in 1994. It was built about 9000 years ago. The building appeared before the Egyptian pyramids by thousands of years.
The walled complex, located near Cusco, Peru, is part of what used to be the capital of the Inca Empire. Stone slabs adjoin each other so tightly that even a hair cannot slip between them.
The digging of the railroad by Dorset workers led to the discovery of a small contingent of Viking warriors buried in the ground. All of them were beheaded. The work is done filigree, and from the front, and not from the back.
30. Tomb of Sunken Skulls
While excavating a dry lake in Motala, Swedish archaeologists came across several skulls. As if nothing surprising, but one of them was stuffed inside with parts of other skulls. Whatever happened 8,000 years ago, the picture looked terrible.
Marcahuasi is a plateau in the Andes, located east of Lima (Peru). In 1952, Daniel Ruzo made a remarkable discovery in this area. He found hundreds of stone figures similar to human faces and animals. Many claim that they were formed by natural erosion.
The Galilean boat is an ancient fishing vessel from the 1st century BC. n. e. (the time of Jesus Christ), discovered in 1986 on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. The remains of the ship were found by amateur archaeologists brothers Moshe and Yuval Lufan.
In the summer of 1923 archaeologist Roy Chapman Andrews began his third Asian expedition to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. One of his team members found a huge skull of an unidentified mammal. The creature's lower jaw has not been found. The animal was named Andrewsarhus.
34. Teotihuacan Sacrifice
Although it has been known for many years that the Aztecs performed numerous shocking sacrifices, in 2004 a horrific discovery was made outside of present-day Mexico City. Numerous decapitated and mutilated bodies of people and animals shed light on how terrible the rituals were.
While the surest method used to kill a vampire these days is a stake through the heart, hundreds of years ago this was considered insufficient. Ancient alternative - brick through the mouth. The skull was discovered by archaeologists near Venice in a mass grave.
36. Uluburun Shipwreck
The Uluburun Shipwreck is a tragic incident of the Late Bronze Age dating back to the 14th century BC. A sunken ship has been discovered in southwestern Turkey. It carried a cargo of nine cultures of the world.
contemplativeWhile archeology may not seem like the most exciting profession in the world, every once in a while archaeologists make amazing discoveries. Of course, they do not dig up mummies every day, but sometimes they come across some very impressive artifacts. Whether it's an ancient computer, massive underground armies, or just plain gruesome corpses, they're all impressive and significant archaeological discoveries. Below we describe twenty-five of them:
25. Getting rid of babies
After you read this list, you will definitely come to the conclusion that people, at least in the past, did not shy away from cannibalism, sacrifice and torture. For example, just recently, several archaeologists were combing through the sewers under the Roman/Byzantine baths in Israel when they discovered a horrific find... the bones of babies, and a huge number of them. For some reason, someone in these bathhouses had to dispose of hundreds of babies who were simply dumped into the sewers below the bathhouses.
24. Venetian Vampire
Despite the fact that on this moment The most proven way to kill a vampire is considered to be a stake in the heart, hundreds of years ago this was not enough. Let me introduce you to an alternative - a brick in your mouth. Think about the easiest way to prevent a vampire from sucking blood? Sure, put cement in his mouth. The skull you are looking at was discovered by archaeologists near Venice in a mass grave.
23. Aztec Sacrifices
Despite the fact that scientists have known for many years that the Aztecs held multiple festivals of sacrifice of human parts of the body, in 2004 a disgusting discovery was made near the modern city of Mexico City. Numerous decapitated and mutilated bodies of people and animals shed light on how horrific these rituals really were.
22. "Terracotta Army" (Terra Cotta Army)
Although this discovery is not as horrifying as the finds in the previous paragraphs, this huge " ", which was buried with Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, is definitely impressive. Apparently, all these soldiers were supposed to guard the emperor in the afterlife.
21. Screaming mummies(Screaming Mummies)
Unlike modern funeral homes, the Egyptians did not take into account the fact that if the chin is not attached to the skull, then the mouth of the deceased person will open in a silent scream. Despite the fact that most mummies have similar facial expressions, a far more gruesome discovery has recently been made. From time to time, archaeologists discover mummies that actually screamed at the time of death due to some kind of ritual torture. The mummy shown in the photo above was named Unknown Man E. It was discovered by Gaston Masparo in 1886.
20. First leper
Leprosy is not contagious, but people suffering from the disease have often been ostracized from society because of the terrible disfiguring effects. Due to the Hindu belief that the dead are cremated, the skull of this cremated man, widely considered to be the first leper, was found just outside the city limits.
19. Ancient Chemical Warfare
In 1933, an archaeologist named Robert du Mesnil du Buisson was excavating under the ruins of an ancient Roman/Persian battlefield when he discovered siege tunnels that had been dug under the city. In the tunnels, he found the bodies of 19 Roman soldiers who seemingly died trying to desperately run from something and one Persian soldier clutching his chest. Apparently, when the Romans heard the Persians digging under their walls, they began to dig their own tunnel, determined to attack the Persians from above. Unfortunately for them, the Persians heard this and set traps. As soon as the Roman soldiers jumped down, they came across burning sulfur and bitumen, which has the terrible property of turning into acid in your lungs.
18. Rosetta Stone
Discovered in 1799 by a French soldier combing the Egyptian sands, the Rosetta Stone is one of the greatest archaeological finds in history and the foundation modern understanding Egyptian hieroglyphs. In fact, this stone is a fragment of a larger stone on which a thank you inscription to Ptolemy V Epiphanes (King Ptolemy V) was carved around 200 BC. The inscription was made in three languages - ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, Demotic script and ancient Greek.
17. Stone balls of Costa Rica (Diquis Spheres)
Scientists believe these nearly perfect spherical stone balls from Costa Rica were carved around the turn of the millennium. Despite the fact that no one knows exactly what they were intended for, there are a huge number of theories.
16 Grauballe Man
Mummified bodies are often found in swamps, but this body, known as the Groball Man, is unique. Not only was he remarkably well preserved, down to his hair and nails, scientists were even able to determine the cause of death from data found on and around his body. Judging by the huge gash running all the way down his throat from ear to ear, he was most likely sacrificed, possibly to improve that year's harvest.
15 Desert Kites
Since their discovery at the very end of the 20th century, these low stone walls, located in the Negev desert in Israel, have puzzled scientists. In some places, the length of these walls reached 65 kilometers. They were called kites because of their aerial view. However, it has recently been determined that these walls were actually used by hunters to corral large animals or push them off cliffs so that they could be killed en masse with ease.
14. Ancient Troy
Troy is a well-known city, both for history and legend (and archeology). The city was located northwest of Anatolia (Anatolia), in what is now Turkey. In 1865, an English archaeologist named Frank Calvert was excavating trenches in a field purchased from a local farmer in Hisarlık. In 1868, Heinrich Schliemann, a wealthy German businessman and archaeologist, also began excavating the area after he met Calvert at Çanakkale. What they found was widely accepted as ruins. ancient city Troy.
13. Acambaro Figures
Despite the fact that most scientific world the current consensus is that these figurines were an inventive hoax, and their discovery caused quite a stir. The figurines were discovered near the city of Acambaro in Mexico. These are figures of people and dinosaurs. Over a period of time, these figurines led some scholars to speculate that ancient people were better archaeologists than previously thought.
12 Antikythera Mechanism
The Antikythera Mechanism was discovered at a shipwreck off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera at the turn of the 20th century. This 2,000-year-old device is often referred to as the world's first scientific calculator. With dozens of gears, this device can accurately measure the position of the sun, moon, and planets with simple data entry. While there is debate as to its exact application, it is certainly an indication that even 2,000 years ago, civilization had already achieved amazingly much and accomplished many amazing feats of mechanical engineering.
11. Rapa Nui
Easter Island is one of the most isolated places on Earth. It is located thousands of kilometers off the Chilean coast in the South Pacific. However, the most mysterious fact about this island is not even that people managed to find it and settle on it, but that they managed to erect huge stone heads all over the island.
10. Tomb of Sunken Skulls
During excavations at the bottom of a dry lake in the city of Motala, Sweden, archaeologists discovered several skulls in which stakes were stuck. If that doesn't sound strange to you, what about the fact that one of the skulls contained small fragments of all the other skulls? Whatever happened here 8,000 years ago was an unpleasant sight.
9. Piri Reis Map
This map, created in the 1500s, depicts the coastlines of South America, Europe and Africa with amazing accuracy. Apparently, it was drawn by a general and cartographer named Piri Reis (hence the name) from fragments of other maps.
8. Geoglyphs of Nazca (Nazca Lines)
Although literally under the feet of archaeologists for many hundreds of years, the Nazca geoglyphs were not discovered until the 1900s, as they are almost impossible to spot unless you look at them from above, from a bird's eye view. While there have been many explanations for these geoglyphs, ranging from UFOs to technologically advanced ancient civilization, the most likely being that the Nazca people were excellent surveyors, although why they built such huge geoglyphs remains a mystery.
7. Qumran Manuscripts (Dead Sea Scrolls)
Like the Rosetta Stone, the Qumran manuscripts are one of the largest archaeological discoveries of the last century. They contain the earliest existing copies of biblical documents that date back to 150 BC.
6. Paw bird Moa from Mount Owen (Mount Owen Moa)
In 1986, the expedition was moving further and further up the mountain range of Mount Owen in New Zealand when they discovered the huge paw pictured above. It was so well preserved that it seemed as if the creature to which it belonged had recently died. However, after research was done, it turned out that it belonged to the mountain Moa, a large prehistoric bird that apparently possessed these impressive claws.
5. Voynich Manuscript
This manuscript, described as "the most mysterious manuscript in the world", was written in the early 15th century in Italy. Even though most of its pages are filled with what appear to be herbal recipes, none of the plants match. existing species, and no one has yet been able to decipher the language of the manuscript.
4. Gobekli Tepe
Although at first glance the site may appear to be nothing more than a pile of rocks, this early settlement, discovered in 1994, was built approximately 9,000 years ago. IN currently it is considered one of the earliest examples of complex/monumental architecture in the world. The settlement was founded thousands of years before the construction of the pyramids.
3. Sacsayhuaman
This wall complex, located near the city of Cusco, Peru, is part of what was once the capital of the Inca Empire. However, the most amazing thing about this building lies in the details of its design. Stone slabs are pressed against each other so tightly that even a hair cannot be inserted between them. The structure is a testament to the accuracy of ancient Inca architecture.
2. Baghdad Battery
In the mid-1930s, several unremarkable jugs were discovered near Baghdad in Iraq. No one paid them much attention until a German museum curator published an article in which he wrote that these jugs could be used as galvanic cells or batteries. Despite the fact that at first this assumption seemed far-fetched, the guys from the Mythbusters program decided to check it out and confirmed that this assumption is quite reasonable and may be true.
1. Headless Vikings from Dorset 
Paving railway in Dorset, workers came across a group of Viking warriors buried underground. All were missing their heads. At first, archaeologists speculated that the villagers may have suffered the raid and retaliated against the attackers in a similar fashion. However, upon closer examination, this theory collapsed and many questions arose. The head separation areas looked too clean and the heads were cut off the bodies from the front instead of the back. Scientists still don't know exactly what really happened.
Archeology is an amazing and fascinating science, the more it learns, the more secrets it hides. This fact gives us an incentive to continue uncovering the secrets of the past. The list below consists of ten of the most important, incredible and great archaeological discoveries in history.
Baruch ben Niriyya - scribe and devoted friend the prophet Jeremiah, who wrote down his prophecies, and also possibly the author of a biographical account of him. Baruch also wrote his Bible book. He is a very revered person in the history of Jews and Christianity. In 1975, a clay seal was discovered in the antiquities market. The seal had the inscription “lbrkyhw bn nryhw hspr”, which means “Baruch the son of Neriah, the scribe”, as well as his fingerprints.
The Rosetta stone is a granodiorite stone found in 1799 in Egypt, not far from the small town of Rosetta (now Rashid) with 3 inscriptions of the same meaning in ancient Egyptian and ancient Greek, as well as Egyptian demotic writing, engraved on it. The text of the stone is a thank you inscription, which in 196 BC. e. Egyptian priests wrote for Ptolemy V Epiphanes, a monarch from the Ptolemaic dynasty. Due to damage to the stone, none of three texts is not complete. The stone is a fragment of a large stele. However, during further excavations, no additional elements was not found.
In eighth place in the list of great archaeological discoveries is the Nag Hammadi Library. In 1945, an incredible discovery took place in the Egyptian city of Nag Hammadi. Mohammed Ali Samman, a local peasant, discovered twelve papyrus codices written in Coptic at the beginning of the 4th century. n. e. The books include a number of Gospels and other texts related to the activities of the apostles after the death of Christ, as well as other Biblical writings that sometimes contradict the Bible. Now the books of this library are stored in Cairo Museum.
Pompeii
Pompeii is an ancient Roman city that was buried during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. e. In 1738, the city of Herculaneum, a neighboring city, was discovered, and then ten years later, the military engineer Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre discovered Pompeii. The found monuments were restored, and the finds that did not go to the museum were left in place for everyone to see. An itinerary plan was also developed. Interestingly, the city was full of objects and images of an erotic nature (many of which were hidden until 2000) found on a wall in Pompeii, leading many Christians to believe that the city was destroyed by God as punishment for sexual perversions. Currently, approximately 20-25% of the territories of the city of Pompeii have not been excavated.
Sixth in the ranking of great archaeological discoveries is Pilate's Stone (probably the least known object on this list). It was discovered by Italian archaeologists in June 1961, near Caesarea (part of Judea). The stone is a 82x100x20 cm slab with a Latin inscription published by archaeologist Antonio Frava. The inscription can be read like this: "Tiberium ... Pontius Pilate, prefect of Judea ... dedicated." This was the first physical evidence of the existence of the biblical Pontius Pilate. The plate is currently in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
In fifth place on the list of great archaeological discoveries are the Dead Sea Scrolls. They represent 972 biblical documents that were discovered in the cave of Qumran on the shores of the Dead Sea in 1946-1947. They date from the 2nd century AD. e. The Dead Sea Scrolls are written in Hebrew, partly in Aramaic. These are small fragments of the books of the Old Testament (except for the books of Esther and Nehemiah). Was also found full text the books of Isaiah. In September 2011, the Israel Museum, with the support of Google, digitized the scrolls and posted them on the Internet.
It's hard to say when the first dinosaur bones were discovered, but at least we know when the first scientific records were made. They were described in 1824 by William Buckland. Given the strong religious beliefs of Western society, dinosaurs were an incredible discovery for many at the time. Some people were convinced that these early dinosaur discoveries were nothing more than the bones of biblical giants, but over time, most came to the conclusion that our amazing planet was home to creatures long before man appeared.
Cave of Altamira
Altamira Cave was discovered in 1879. In this cave, amateur archaeologist Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola, with his twelve-year-old daughter, saw the works of the Paleolithic period, created by man, which were considered incapable of such a feat. The drawings were images of bison, horses, wild boars, handprints, etc. They were drawn with charcoal, ocher, hematite and other natural paints. Well-preserved prehistoric rock paintings were depicted on the ceiling and walls, not only in the main hall, but also in the central corridor.
Tutankhamun's tomb
The tomb of Tutankhamen, located in the "Valley of the Kings" near Thebes, is famous for being preserved to this day and accidentally left untouched by ancient tomb robbers. In the tomb, among the grave goods and utensils, a lot of delightful works of art of that era were found - thousands of different things, including a gilded chariot, seats, bed, lamps, precious jewelry, clothes, writing materials. This discovery gave the world a more perfect idea of the greatness of the ancient Egyptian people.
