Over the centuries people have found, and continue to find, interesting and important objects from long-vanished civilizations. Whether they are discovered through intense searching or merely stumbled upon—which often seems the case—these finds can convey key details about the cultures that created them, including their ritual practices, artisanal skills, societal values, and daily life.
The Rosetta Stone, for
instance, helped scholars crack the code of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, while
the Suontaka Grave pays homage to a gender-nonbinary individual.
Here are 12 Of The World’s Most Unbelievable Archaeological
Treasures Ever Found , offering intimate glimpses into the cultures that left
them behind.
1-
Pompeii
After a devastating volcanic
eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD, Pompeii – an ancient Roman city – was buried
under ash and pumice. The eruption destroyed the city and killed its
inhabitants, a tragic story but one that left us with a vast archaeological
site and a hoard of Roman treasure.
Buried under ash means no air
and moisture, so buildings, objects and cadavers have stayed well-preserved for
thousands of years. A great deal of our knowledge of everyday life in a Roman
city is owed to the very existence of Pompeii.
2-
Tutankhamun's
tomb
The great Tutankhamun owes
his fame to Howard Carter and George Herbert's discovery of his tomb in 1922.
KV62 (the Egyptian designation for the tomb) was uncovered fairly intact in the
Valley of the Kings.
Although small in size and
seemingly intended for a private individual rather than royalty, the tomb
contained over 2,000 pieces of valuable antiques. Tutankhamun remains a
worldwide symbol and sparks renewed interest in Ancient Egypt every day. It was
a great find that contributed a significant deal to archaeological awareness.
3-
Rosetta
Stone
This remarkable
2,200-year-old stele is a broken-off piece of a larger slab bearing a decree
passed by a council of priests in 196 BCE; it supports the reigning 13-year-old
king, Ptolemy V, on the first anniversary of his coronation. Though the Rosetta
Stone is only one copy of the decree, it is inscribed with hieroglyphs, cursive
Egyptian script, and ancient Greek. The inclusion of all three languages
allowed scholars to decipher the hieroglyphs, based on their knowledge of the
other two.
The stone, made of
granodiorite (a relative of granite), was uncovered in 1799 by soldiers in
Napoleon’s army while digging the foundations of a fort near the town of
Rashid, or Rosetta, on the Nile River delta in northern Egypt. The Rosetta
Stone was acquired by the British Museum in 1802 from France under a treaty
signed during the Napoleonic Wars. While it is among the museum’s most notable
artifacts, there have been ongoing efforts to have the stone returned to Egypt.
4-
The
Benin Bronzes
The Benin Bronzes are a group
of objects plundered in 1897 from the Kingdom of Benin, in present-day Nigeria.
There are believed to be more than 5,000 objects, which include figurines,
tusks, sculptures of Benin’s rulers, and an ivory mask.
Following a dispute, the
unarmed British explorer James Phillips, along with several on his mission and
200 African porters, were killed in 1897. To avenge their deaths, the British
empire sent troops to steal artifacts from the kingdom. Thousands of priceless
objects were given on loan to the British Museum, sold to British and German
institutions and private dealers, and kept by those who participated in the
military operation.
There has been much controversy over the return of the objects. Most recently, a comprehensive online database
called Digital Benin was launched;
it identifies the location of more than 5,000 of the African objects, scattered
across 131 institutions in 20 countries.
5-
Terracotta
Army
The Terracotta Army is a
mesmerising collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of China's
first emperor, Qin Shi Huang. It’s an example of funerary art made with the
symbolic intention of protecting the emperor in his afterlife.
The army dates from the third
century BC and numbers approximately 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots and 520
horses. It tells us a lot about how Chinese soldiers were equipped at the time,
the weapons they used and the clothes they wore.
6-
Richard
III's grave
The last Plantagenet King of
England, Richard III’s reputation as a prince killer, crookback, and all-round
nasty power grabber is a mainstay of English folklore. Despite his infamy, his
burial site remained a mystery until the Looking for Richard project in 2012.
With the help from the
University of Leicester's archaeological services, the project uncovered human
remains within the site of the former Greyfriars Friary Church in Leicester.
The remains were tested and scientifically proven to be those of Richard III,
attracting much media attention.
7-
Olduvai
Gorge
This 30-mile section of
Tanzania's Rift Valley is responsible for much of what we know about the
evolution of hominins and eventual existence of our species. Fossil remains
found in Olduvai Gorge show that precursor human species date as far back as
1.9 million years ago.
They also show how we've
increased in social and cognitive complexity through stone tool use and a
hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Tools and animal remains found in a central area
indicated developing social interaction and these phenomena are seen in
increasing fashion in the more recent remains. Our species, homo sapiens, are
thought to have occupied the site from around 17,000 years ago.
8-
Cave
of Altamira
The Cave of Altamira
represents a fascinating example of where the fields of archaeology and
anthropology meet to tell a beautiful story. The Spanish cave contains
prehistoric paintings of mammals and human hands, and when it was discovered in
1880 it was the first find of its kind.
The discovery totally changed
our understanding of prehistoric humans, who were previously believed to lack
the intellectual capacity for artistic expression. The artefacts date back to
between 14,000 and 20,000 years ago, giving us a glimpse into the lives of our
very distant ancestors.
9-
Dead
Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls, found
in the Qumran Caves along the northern shore of the Dead Sea, are ancient
Jewish religious manuscripts dating from the third century BCE to the first
century CE. They comprise more than 800 documents made from animal skin,
papyrus, and forged copper. Initially uncovered in 1946–47 by Bedouin shepherds
who found the scrolls tucked away in jars, they include the oldest surviving
manuscripts of entire books later included in the Christian biblical canon.
Within their pages, written mostly in Hebrew but also Aramaic and ancient
Greek, the scrolls preserve evidence of diversity in religious thought and
provide a greater understanding of Judaism and early Christianity.
The scrolls also contain a collection
of previously unknown hymns, prayers, commentaries, and the earliest version of
the Ten Commandments. The question of who wrote the scrolls is still a mystery.
While many scholars believe members of a Jewish sect called the Essenes were
responsible, others say additional sects may also have contributed. The Dead
Sea Scrolls can be found at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, though given their
fragility they are not always on view.
10-
Easter
Island Moai
On Chile’s Easter Island
(Rapa Nui to natives) in the southeastern Pacific Ocean sits a collection of
some 1,000 monolithic statues. Carved by skilled craftspeople primarily from
volcanic tuff, these upright, humanlike figures have large heads and stylized,
angular faces, with prominent noses, ears, and lips. It is believed that they
would have had their eye sockets filled with white coral and red stones during
special ceremonies. The moai range in height from 6 to 30 feet and weigh up to
80 tons; many of them were never finished.
While much is still unknown
about the moai statues, scholars think they were built between 400 and 1500 CE
to honor native ancestors. Nearly all the statues face inland watching over and
protecting the island’s inhabitants. Seven, however, face outward toward the
ocean; these, according to legend, represent a group of islanders who watched
for incoming ships.
Rapa Nui National Park, where
the statues are located, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. Recently
a volcanic eruption led to a fire that seriously charred some of the Moai;
officials are still assessing the damage.
11-
The
Gold Mask at Sanxingdui
While the Bronze Age
archaeological site at Sanxingdui, in China’s Sichuan province, has yielded
thousands of important artifacts since its discovery by a farmer in 1927, a
gold mask found within a sacrificial pit in 2021 is perhaps the most
extraordinary piece in the hoard. It is estimated to be made of 84 percent
gold, weighs just over half a pound, and may have been worn over an
individual’s face during certain sacrificial rituals. It is estimated to be
3,000 years old.
Artifacts in ivory, jade, and
gold, as well as an unopened wooden box and several bronze vessels, were
unearthed with the mask. Studies of the artifact and excavations at the site
are still being conducted. The objects are believed to have been used for
ritual practices by the ancient Shu Han kingdom, which ruled over the Sichuan
basin until 316 BCE.
12-
Staffordshire
Hoard
The Staffordshire Hoard
represents the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork ever
found. Consisting of over 3,500 items, the hoard was found by a metal
detectorist buried underneath a farmer’s field in Staffordshire, UK, in 2009.
The discovery is said to have
completely altered the perception of Anglo-Saxon England, and seeing as the
hoard accounts for over 60% of all the Anglo-Saxon items we've conserved,
that's not surprising. The hoard was valued at over £3 million.
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