25 Most Incredible Archaeological Finds

In this video, we're talking about archeology, but not the boring stuff. We're not interested in some small fragment of pottery found in a field or a dull old painting found in someone's attic. This is about the kind of archeology that will blow your mind and leave you wanting to applaud the amazing people who discovered these wonders. So sit back, relax, and get ready to be amazed. Archeologists from the Polish Center of Mediterranean Archeology have made a remarkable discovery at the deserted Sudanese town of Old Dongala, revealing what appears to be the largest church ever discovered in the Nubian region. Comprising parts of modern-day Egypt and Sudan, the Nubian region was ruled by the kingdom of Makuria for six centuries and emerged as a Christian stronghold in the eighth century. Polish archeologists have been digging at the site since 1964, but the newly discovered church came as a surprise as the team had not anticipated finding a cathedral at the city's ancient citadel. The discovery includes two walls of the church's apse, painted portraits of the 12 apostles, and the domed covering of a tomb, which archeologists believe could be the final resting place of a powerful archbishop from Nubia's Christian period. The discovery adds to our knowledge of the forgotten kingdom of Makuria, which played a significant role in medieval African history by halting the advance of Islam in Africa for several hundred years and acting as an ally to Christian European forces during the Crusades in the 12th century. The Parvati Hill Cave is a historic site located in Pune, India. As the oldest surviving structures in the city, the caves are a significant part of Pune's heritage. Parvati Hill is well-known for its Parvati Temple, built by the Peshwa dynasty, and the Peshwa Museum, which displays artwork, weaponry, and costumes from the Peshwa era. With a good trek along the southeastern slope of the hill, visitors can find their way to this famous old rock-cut cave. Scholars believe this structure was built around the 8th century and is contemporary to the better-known Pataleshwar Caves. The facade of the cave features three entrances, and the interior chamber is supported by thick pillars. Additionally, the inner wall of the cave has three arched alcoves, and tiny stalactites hang from the ceiling. Pune is home to a plethora of similar rock-cut caves, and these grottoes have immense heritage value. The Parvati Hill Cave is a fantastic spot to explore while trekking to the hill in the center of the city. It's considered a must-visit site for anyone interested in the history of Pune and the wider region. A massive Maya frieze was discovered in 2013 by archaeologists in the buried city of Holmul in Guatemala. The frieze, measuring 25 feet by 6 feet, is well-preserved and depicts a mythological setting with a ruler seated on top of the head of a Maya mountain spirit. The artwork has traces of red, blue, green, and yellow paints still visible and is believed to be complete. Marcello Canuto, a Maya archaeologist and historian, said that the frieze provides an idea of how intricate and ornate these sites must have been during their apogee. The section of the temple at Holmul where the frieze was found dates back to about 590, which is the Maya classical era. It had been unclear which dynasty had control over Holmul, but the newly discovered frieze reveals that the temple was commissioned by a ruler of a neighboring city called Naranjo, which was a vassal city of the Qainul Kingdom. The city of Holmul occupied a strategic position for both kingdoms, lying along the best east-west route between the Tikal Dynasty's capital city and the coast. A significant discovery of 3,500-year-old bone ice skates was recently made in China's western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Archaeologists speculate that the mountainous area, which is the believed birthplace of skiing, could also have been a hotspot for ice skating. These are the oldest ice skates found in China, crafted from the bones of oxen and horses, and resemble prehistoric skates found in northern Europe. Found in a tomb within the Gautai Ruins, the skates feature a straight bone piece with holes at both ends, allowing it to be fastened onto footwear. The resulting blade is much flatter than contemporary ice skates, but has a sharp edge to facilitate gliding over the ice. The discovery provides rare physical evidence for research on the origins of ice skating in China, but may also be new evidence of a potential exchange of information between the ancient West and East during the Bronze Age. The skates were discovered within 3,600-year-old Bronze Age ruins, including the best-preserved tomb buildings in Xinjiang, which are believed to have belonged to a noble family from the Andorra-Novo culture of cattle herders. Yazilikaya, also known as Phrygian Yazilikaya or Midas City, is a village located in Eskişehir Province, Turkey. It is famous for its Phrygian archaeological remains, such as the settlement of Midas City and a number of rock-cut reliefs, including the famous so-called Midas Monument, which was previously believed to be the tomb of Midas, as in the biblical figure. Other rock-cut reliefs at the site include the Unfinished Monument and the Hyacinth Monuments. The Midas Monument is a high rock-cut façade featuring a pedimented temple front with acroteria and an abstract geometric design that mimics the terracotta faces of buildings. It contains a niche that likely held a statue of the goddess Sibyl and bears an old Phrygian dedication by Ates, son of Arceus, to Midas, mentioning his titles as the leader of the people and ruler. The monument is thought to have been built in the early to mid-7th century BCE and, as such, is one of the oldest rock-cut monuments in western Phrygia. The monument's abstract designs on the façade are stylistically comparable to architectural terracottas from central Anatolia dating from before 600 BCE. While it's not a tomb, its true purpose remains unknown. The Ngirli Sword Group is a collection of around 20 medieval swords from the 10th to 12th century, each with a unique domicended blade inscription that reads NGELRI. This inscription has several spelling variations, including NGELRD and NGELRILT, and is comparable to the much older Ulfberht Group, which dates from the 9th to 11th century and has about 170 known examples. Ewert Oakeshott, a renowned British sword expert, identified 13 swords with the NGELRI inscription in 1951. He also proposed that another sword found in the riverbed of the Old Nene in 1895, which is now in the collection of Weisbach Museum, may also be an NGELRI sword. This claim was supported by fellow expert Hilda Davidson, who suggested that the sword could be the 14th known example of the NGELRI group. Other variations of the inscription have also been discovered on NGELRI swords. For instance, a sword found in Sigridsholm, Sweden has the inscription NGELRI MEPHISET, while a sword found in Flemma, Norway has the inscription NGELRI FESSET. The meanings of the engravings on these swords might never be known, but their survival is a testament to the advanced metallurgical skills of medieval swordsmiths and their ability to craft fine weapons. The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna houses a marble bust from the mid-fifth century known as the Head of Eutropius. It is believed that the bust represents Eutropius, a fourth-century Roman official, and was discovered in Ephesus before it was moved to Vienna. Although the identification of the subject is traditional rather than being based on solid evidence, scholars suggest that it's probably correct because of the stylistic features of the bust. The style of the Head of Eutropius resembles the work produced by the studios in Ephesus, or Aphrodisias, during the fifth century, which was characterized by intensely expressive works influenced by Theodosian art. The Head of Eutropius is part of a theme of bearded philosophers' heads that originated in Athens during the fifth century BCE. All of these busts have a fixed and intense gaze with wavy, flowing hair. The bust's excavation context and style suggest that it was created between approximately 425 and 450. The Head of Eutropius is significant as an example of the classical influence on fifth-century art in Ephesus, which was a center of cultural exchange and artistic production during that time. The site of Eketorp in Åland, Sweden has been of enormous importance at two different points in Swedish history. It was created as a hill fort during the Iron Age and was then almost completely knocked down, rebuilt, and significantly enlarged during the Middle Ages. It was a purely defensive ring fort when it was first built, but over time, it became a protected medieval town and then eventually a cavalry garrison. These days, it's a tourism hotspot and a popular choice of backdrop for people who like to reenact medieval battles. Many archaeological digs have been carried out here over the years, resulting in the discovery of more than 24,000 ancient artifacts. The site is sometimes referred to as Eketorp Castle, although that's not technically accurate. The original walls and buildings were created at the start of the 5th century, but Eketorp was mysteriously abandoned during the 7th century until redevelopment work began in the 11th century. It's thought that a round shape was chosen for the walls because the fort was built on a flat level plain, making attack equally likely from any side. You could argue that makes it a poor choice of location for a fort, but who are we to argue with these ancient builders? Tuvichedu is a hill located in the city of Cagliari, Sardinia that houses a Punic necropolis, which is considered the largest in the Mediterranean. The Carthaginians chose this hill to bury their dead between the 6th and 3rd centuries BCE. The burial chambers they created were beautifully decorated with amphorae and ampules for essences, and they were reached through a well dug into the limestone rock, with a small opening leading to the burial chamber. Some of the famous tombs discovered in the Punic necropolis include the Uraeus Tomb, Fighter Tomb, and Wheel Tomb, all of which were decorated with palm trees and masks. On the slopes of the Tuvichedu Hill, there is also a Roman necropolis, primarily consisting of Arcausallium Tombs and Columbaria, overlooking the exit road of the city. In May 2014, the necropolis was opened to the public. Additionally, a 2017 ancient DNA study conducted by Claudia Viggenio analyzed the DNA of a man who was buried in the necropolis of Tuvichedu approximately 2,000 years ago. The results showed that he carried the Code 39 mutation that causes beta thalassemia, a blood disorder which can still be found in the residents of Sardinia today. Let's talk about the legend of Dracula, the world's most famous vampire. We all know that Dracula is a fictional character. He was created in 1897 by British writer Bram Stoker. Why is it then that in 2014, a team of archeologists claimed that they'd discovered Dracula's former dungeon in the north of Turkey? The answer to that question is that although Dracula is fictional, the character is based on Vlad the Impaler, and Vlad was very much real. He had three separate terms as the ruler of the ancient land of Wallachia during his lifetime, but spent plenty of time between those rules imprisoned. Experts now believe that one of those terms was spent here, in a secret network of tunnels and dungeons below Tolkat Castle. It's thought that he and his brother were both captured by the Ottomans in 1442 and were only released after the capture and execution of their father. It was only after this point that he began to impale his enemies on spikes, so you could even say that the real legend of Vlad the Impaler began within these walls. Archeologists didn't get around to discovering the Saadian tombs of Marrakesh, Morocco until 1917. That isn't really their fault though, as the tombs had been deliberately hidden for hundreds of years. This beautiful series of mausoleums and sepulchers houses the remains of the rulers of the Saadi dynasty, which ruled the country from 1549 to 1659. The tombs were sealed off as an act of disrespect shortly after the dynasty fell. It's thought that the area housed a royal necropolis even before the Saadi dynasty came along, with signs of use as early as the 14th century. The grandest of all the tombs is the Hall of Twelve Columns, which was built by and for Sultan Ahmed el-Mansur from gold and imported Italian marble. In total, there are 66 royals and more than 100 wives, mistresses, and chancellors buried here. The tombs were covered over by Moulay Ismail ibn Sharif, ruler of Morocco between 1672 and 1727. He was a king of many nicknames, most notably the Bloodthirsty, and is said to have executed as many as 30,000 of his own people during his reign. By those standards, the fact that he didn't destroy the tombs is a remarkable act of restraint. Let's wrap things up by taking a look at Tonina in Mexico. Mexican territory is covered in ancient Mayan ruins, some more famous than others. Tonina is among the least famous, which is a real shame because it's also among the most fascinating. In truth, it's been overlooked from the moment of its discovery. The ruins of Tonina were first discovered in the late 19th century, but it took until the 1970s for professional archaeologists to turn up and start performing excavation work. That work uncovered the Terracotta Acropolis, along with two well-preserved Mesoamerican ball courts. Archaeologists believe there's still plenty here waiting to be discovered, and they'd like someone to provide them with funding so they can go looking for it. The stelae at the site of Tonina are exceptionally detailed, telling the story of the torture and eventual brutal murder of the city's enemies in vivid graphic terms. The last Mayan long count date can also be found here, marking the end of the Classic Era in the year 909. Nearby Palenque gets a lot more visitors, which is a fact that probably wouldn't sit well with Tonina's ancient occupants if they knew about it. It was they who attacked and sacked Palenque in the first place. The word dolphin is French for dolphin, but it was also the title given to heirs apparent to the throne of France between 1350 and 1791. With that in mind, here's the Heart of the Dolphin, which can be found in the Basilica of Saint-Denis in France. It's a fancy name for a transparent container, in which is the mummified heart of Louis XVII, the so-called Lost Dolphin of the French Revolution. The French Revolution was, for obvious reasons, a very bad time for the French royal family. Most of them didn't survive. King Louis XVI, the King of France and father of Louis XVII, was beheaded. Nobody knows exactly how the Lost Dolphin came to lose his life, but his heart was submerged in alcohol and placed in this glass. The alcohol has long since evaporated, leaving only the mummified heart. The identity of the heart's owner was proven beyond all doubt when a DNA sample was taken and compared with a strand of Marie Antoinette's hair, proving definitely that the heart belonged to her son. It's now kept beneath a cenotaph in the crypt of the Basilica. Most of you will have heard of the legend of the sword in the stone. It's connected to the legend of King Arthur of England. What most people don't know is that there's another sword in the stone and it's not in England. Instead, it's at Monteciepi Channel in Cistino, Italy. Rather than laying in wait for the rightful king to come and pull it out of the stone, this sword was driven through its stone by a saint. This saint in question is Galgano Guidotti, who was born close to Cistino in 1148. He was once a wealthy knight, but became a hermit after turning to Christianity in later life. He claimed to have been visited by the Archangel Michael, who told him to renounce all his worldly possessions. Galgano responded that he could no more do that than drive a sword through solid stone and attempted to do so to demonstrate its impossibility. To his amazement, the sword passed straight through the stone and then became stuck fast. He died in 1185 and was declared a saint by Pope Lucius III the following year. Monteciepi Chapel was then built around the sword in the stone. Tests have confirmed that the sword comes from the 12th century. So who's to say the story isn't true? While we're in Italy, let's look at the Orologio della Torre di Sant'Andrea in Scioggia, or to give it its English name, the Saint Andrew Tower Clock. This is one of the oldest still-functional clocks in the world. There are written records confirming its existence as far back as 1386, but it may be even older than that. The clock was designed by the Dandi family, who also made the famous Astronomical Clock of Padua in 1344. It doesn't look much like the kind of clock face you'll see on towers today. It only has one hand, and it's divided into 24 sections rather than 12. Amazingly, most of the clock is original. Aspects of it were repaired and replaced in 1424, and the original mechanism was replaced with a pendulum in the 18th century. But that's about it. These days, electricity keeps the pendulum swinging. Some Italian historians claim it as the outright oldest clock in the world, but the clock on the tower of Salisbury Cathedral in England can be traced to earlier than 1386. This clock was originally attached to Palazzo Pretorio, but the palazzo was destroyed by fire in 1817. The clock was saved and was moved to Torre di Sant'Andrea. Our ancestors had many weird and wonderful burial traditions. If you were fortunate enough to be of ancient Egyptian nobility, you would likely be buried in a glorious tomb with a fine sarcophagus. If, on the other hand, you were a medieval peasant, you were more likely to end up discarded thoughtlessly in a pit. If you were very rich and lived in China during the fourth century, though, you might have ended up inside one of these incredibly ornate jade burial suits, weaved together with threads made from gold and silver. The first written record of the suits comes from the year 320 CE, although there's some anecdotal evidence that they were around a few hundred years before that. Not until 1968 did archaeologists confirm their existence by finding a real-life example, and when they found one, they found two. The two jade suits you see here belong to Prince Liu Shang and Princess Du Wan, his wife, and they date back to the Han Dynasty. It's thought that making a single one of the suits would be 10 years worth of labor, even for a skilled jadesmith. Why jade was chosen as the material is unknown. It's porous, and so the skeletons within the suits had almost crumbled away completely. You don't need to be Swedish to pronounce the name of this next ancient artifact properly, but it probably helps if you are. It's the Kimlingenstenen, and it's in Stockholm, Sweden. Most historians agree that it's a sacrificial stone, and it was first used during the Bronze Age. It hasn't always been in this location, though, and the sacrifices made upon it haven't always been to the same gods. Scientists have been able to prove the stone was first used around 3,700 years ago and is said to have belonged to a so-called elf mill. Tiny holes have been drilled into the stone, each one representing a millstone for a fairy, an elf, or another woodland spirit. Each morning, the pits would be greased with unsalted fat, and the sacrifice would be made. This didn't necessarily have to be a blood sacrifice. It could be coins, jewels, rare metals, or something else. The stone was moved from its original location to the Skansen Open Air Museum in 1899, but was moved to Ryssna 90 years later to decorate the city square. It was finally returned to its original position in 2011. The Gezer calendar is a controversial artifact. It was found in 1908 in the ancient city of Gezer, not far from Jerusalem, and is claimed by some to be 3,100 years old. It's impossible to be confident about that dating, though, as it wasn't discovered in a secure archaeological context, and the discovery wasn't stratified. There's an allegedly early Canaanite inscription on the surface of the calendar, but there's no agreement over whether the script is Paleo-Hebrew or Phoenician. The most common translation of the text identifies it as a calendar, dividing the year into bimonthly periods and assigning a duty to each, such as planting or harvesting specific crops. The formatting of the text is more poetic than historians would expect to see in a calendar, which has prompted speculation that it may be the lyrics of a folk song or perhaps a rhyming memory aid for farmers. It could even be the work of a child learning how and when to tend the land. Another suggestion is that it could be a tax collector's aid specifying when to collect taxes from specific farmers, but that wouldn't explain its sing-song nature. In 2021, amateur metal detectorist Kevin Duckett found a gold figurine in a field in Northamptonshire, England. In 2021, Kevin found out that his figurine might be an ornament that was broken off the lost crown of King Henry VIII. The figurine is actually of King Henry VI, but it wasn't uncommon for Tudor kings and queens to have representations of their predecessors on their crowns. After the English Civil War, all of England's royal crowns were ordered to be melted down by the order of Oliver Cromwell, which is how and why King Henry's crown came to be lost. This ornament may have been deliberately broken off it as a way of preserving it. It's an exact match for a replica of the crown that's kept in Hampton Court Palace, but that alone isn't sufficient to prove that this is the original. However, it was found close to the site of the Battle of Naseby, which ended with King Charles and his followers being forced to flee. It's conceivable that the ornament might have been lost in the panic. If you look at the Ocelotl Quachicali from the right angle, it could be described as cute. The reality of the artifact is anything but cute though. This enormous jaguar statue, which can now be found in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, Mexico, was once used as a vessel for the ripped out hearts of victims of human sacrifice. The impressive but gruesome sculpture was carved by Aztec artisans from volcanic rock. Based on its pose, it's likely to have been intended to resemble a jaguar in the split second before it pounces on its prey. In form and function, it would have functioned as the altar of an Aztec temple. The aforementioned human hearts would be placed in the bowl in the middle of the carving by an Aztec high priest, after which the hearts would be set aflame and burned as offerings to the gods. The Mesoamericans believed that the heart contained the soul, so burning a heart was the ultimate sacrifice. Jaguars represented warriors in Aztec culture, so it's likely that the people whose hearts ended up in it were enemy soldiers. The Huaca vase, also known as the Uruk vase, is one of the greatest treasures thus far recovered from the site of the ancient city of Uruk in what's now Iraq. This slim, stylish, carved alabaster vessel was found in the ruins of a temple complex dedicated to the Sumerian goddess Inanna. Experts have been able to confirm that the vase was created around 5,200 years ago, making it one of the oldest surviving narrative relief sculpture works in the world. Simple relief sculptures have been found that are older than this, but the narrative nature of the design is a huge step forward in both quality and complexity. The bottom register of the artifact is dedicated to life's naturalistic components, such as water, wheat, barley, date palms, and other plants. The next register is full of ewes and rams, with humans making their first appearance on the middle register. Flora and fauna on the Huaca vase appear to be ranked in order of their perceived importance, with the goddess Inanna standing atop the front portion surrounded by an elaborate shrine where she accepts votive offerings from servants. Now we head back to England for a look at the Hove Amber Cup, which was found, appropriately enough, in Hove, East Sussex in 1856. The Bronze Age relic was found inside an enormous round barrow, but the method used for excavating the barrow was crude and much of the archaeological evidence inside it that should have been preserved was instead destroyed. This is one of only two amber cups ever to have been found in the British Isles, the other one having been discovered in Dorset. The vastly different styles of the two cups suggest that there's no connection between them. Scientists have dated the Hove Amber Cup to around 1250 BCE and believe it to be a product of the Wessex culture. It was placed with its owner inside a coffin made from a single tree trunk, along with a Camerton-style dagger, an axe and a whetstone. Experts think it's likely that the cup was made in Britain, but the material it's made from is not British. It came from the Baltic region and its presence in the UK during the Bronze Age suggests early trade connections between Britain and the rest of Europe. 1,200 years ago, the Chimu civilization in Peru invented a basic form of telephone. It's not exactly a smartphone, but it's capable of enabling spoken communication across short distances. The Chimu telephone was found in the ruins of Chan Chan in late 2020 and is the only artifact of its kind ever to be found in the country. You might have made something similar to it when you were a child. The telephone is made of a pair of cups connected by a 70-foot-long cotton twine string. We think the cord may have run between two neighboring houses or perhaps from one end of a large communal building to the other. Archaeologists can't decide whether it was thought of as a sophisticated device for the use of the elite or whether it was a simple child's toy. We might never find that out because the Chimu had no written language, so they didn't leave behind any records for us to consult. It's not the most high-tech phone you'll ever see, but it would have worked perfectly well. Scientists would like us to believe that the Klerksdorp spheres are a natural phenomenon created by a process known as concretion. They say that the objects, which are often found in mines in South Africa but don't appear anywhere else in the world, are sediments that have been worn down and shaped by millions of years of weathering and exposure. Not every scientist is convinced by that idea. Although concretion can and does make shapes like this, the process doesn't explain why the Klerksdorp spheres contain metals that can't possibly have been created through concretion. That's not the only thing that goes against the idea of them having a natural origin. There's also the fact that almost all of them are the same shape and size, have the same red shade, and have a seam running around their center that makes them look almost like cricket balls. While the exterior of the spheres is harder than steel, the interior is soft and fibrous. That doesn't tally with the concretion idea either. If they weren't formed by concretion, then we have to consider that there was a degree of intelligent design involved in their creation, which is problematic because they are 2.8 billion years old.