12 STRANGE Archaeological Discoveries

"From long abandoned ghost towns; to lucky artifact finds; these are 12 Strange Archaeological Discoveries !

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6. Sanxingdui (san-shing-do-aye)

The Sanxingdui, as it is now known, is the name of the archeological site that was first discovered in 1929, when a farmer who was digging a well found a large stash of jade relics. For generations, archeologists tried to find the main source of the artifacts, but were unsuccessful until 1986.

As accidental discoveries go, this is a perfect example. Because, even after 50 years of research and excavation, it was construction workers who eventually found the main source of the relics.

The culture in the area had a completely different way of bronze making compared to the “traditional” ancient Chinese way. This means that there were multiple, independent cultures in ancient China. Findings like this challenge the official narrative that all Chinese Civilizations started from the Yellow River plains.

Some scholars considered the Bronze figures that were found, to be more fascinating than the Terracota Army in Xi’an because of the immense difference in artistic style, and the amazing level of detail they posses.

5. Paestum

This ancient Greek city was once known as Poseidonia, after the Greek god of the sea. By the way, you really don’t know how weird that name is to pronounce until you’ve tried it. Go ahead, lets see how well you do !

It was built right on the coast of the Tyrrhenian sea in Magna Graecia, which is now known as southern Italy. The city was conquered by the Lucanians and then by the Romans who gave the city its current name. Eventually it would be abandoned during the Early Middle Ages but rediscovered during the 18th centurY.

4. The Antikythera Mechanism

This artifact was discovered and retrieved from the sunken Antikythera wreck that is located just off of the Greek island with the same name.

The device has been dated to as far back as 205 BC and is often considered to be “the world’s first scientific calculator.” Well that's a stretch to be honest, but it WAS able to able to accurately measure the position of the sun, moon, and the planets.

And if you were a fan of the olympic games, the antikythera mechanism could also track their four year cycle.

The mechanism was very advanced for its time, and the technology behind it was somehow lost over the years. It took about 1400 years for other scientists to create similar machines. Which makes you wonder, what else have humans discovered and engineered,that is completely lost to us now?

3.
2. The Rosetta Stone

This giant stone tablet has three decrees etched into it on behalf of the king Ptolemy V. The decree is written in three different languages. The top and middle portion both use a mixture of Demotic script and hieroglyphic script, while the last section at the bottom is written in Ancient Greek.

Thats cool and all, but what is the significance of this artifact? Well since we know ancient greek, the rosetta stone was used to translate the ancient egyptian language. It was the cypher, the missing link, the bee’s knee’s.

At this point, you might have figured out how the language learning software “The Rosetta Stone” got its name.

1. Pompeii
The tale of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii is a devastating one. The city and its people would fall at the hands of Mount Vesuvius as its eruption blanketed everything. The thick layer of ash was piled between 13 to 20 feet high and perfectly preserved the people in their final moments. The cities of Herculaneum, Oplontis, Boscoreale, and Stabiae suffered the same fate. This occurrence took place way back in 79 AD and it wouldn’t be until 1748 that Pompeii would be rediscovered by a Spanish military engineer named Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre."