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Digging up the past can let out spectacular artifacts and the tales that go with them . But some discoveries , though telling on their own , touch at something bigger and more intriguing . Those are the mysteries that keep archaeologists up at night . From the kabbalistic Sea People who are thought to have attacked civilizations throughout the Mediterranean to monolithic gemstone structures formed into various geometrical shape in Jordan and Syria to hidden tombs in Egypt ’s Valley of the Kings , researchers are spicy on the lead of solving some pretty amazing archaeological mysteries . Here are 16 of those .
Related : Check out thebiggest historic mysteriesthat may never be solved .
Who were the Sea People
Around 3,200 years ago , a radical of people whom innovative - day scholars often call the Sea People assail urban center and civilisation throughout the easterly Mediterranean . Many cities were destroyed and the Sea People , who may have been from the Aegean ( base on the design of their pottery ) , settle in the Middle East .
Excavation of cities relate with theSea Peopleand studies of ancient texts that name them are on-going . In October 2017 , archaeologists revealeda monumental stone inscriptionthat refers to the Sea People and was found in Beyköy , in Turkey .
What are the Works of the Old Men?
TheWorks of the Old Men , as the Bedouin call them in the early twentieth 100 , are a miscellanea of Harlan Fiske Stone structures come up in Jordan , Syria and Saudi Arabia . The structures are often difficult to make out on the ground but can be readily ascertain in plane or on orbiter image . The stone structures incline to be name after the shapes they shape — with " kites , " " wheels " and " gates " being used to discover the shape of the structure .
Research into these body structure is ongoing and hot Science is aware that investigator are about to publish a paper on fresh discoveries from Saudi Arabia .
Are there any hidden chambers in the Great Pyramid?
Research carried out by theScan Pyramids Projectindicates that there may be two nameless voids or cavity inside the Great Pyramid — the bombastic pyramid ever built by the ancient Egyptians . It was constructed atGizaabout 4,500 years ago for the pharaoh Khufu .
One vacuum is located on the northeasterly corner of the Great Pyramid , while the other is located on the Union face of the pyramid behind four construction block with chevron designs ( an reverse atomic number 23 - shape ) .
Some scientists who have reviewed the research havecast doubtfulness on the findingsand more scans are being conducted to attempt to affirm the results . novel result may be announced in 2017 .
Are there hidden royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings?
The Valley of the Kings was used to bury Egyptian royal house from more or less the sixteenth to 11th centuries B.C. Most of the tombs were robbed in ancient times , althoughTutankhamun’stomb was get a line largely intact in 1922 .
Archaeologist Zahi Hawass said in 2013 that he trust there areundiscovered tombsin the Valley of the Kings . Of particular pastime is a site wherefour foundation depositshave been discovered andwhere microwave radar CAT scan indicate that a grave may be there . Though the scientists are n’t sure who might be buried in that possible tomb , they have meditate it could be King Tut ’s wife . Hawass told Live Science that he project to turn up at the situation in the future .
Who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?
The Dead Sea Scrolls consist of thousands of sherd of texts dating back around 2,000 old age that were found in 12 caves near thesite of Qumranin Israel . Who compose the Dead Sea Scrolls is an ongoing disputation , with theleading theorybeing that a sect call in the Essenes who lived at Qumran wrote many of the scrolls and stored them in the cave before fleeing the Roman Catholic army around A.D. 70 .
However other theories have been proposed . Even scholars who stand the mind that the Essenes wrote many of the roll concede that a material number of the coil were not write at Qumran , but came from other sites in what are now Israel and Palestine . Archaeologists have been surveying the area around Qumran , search for undiscovered cave that may yield more data . The discovery of anew cavewas announced in February 2017 , and survey body of work is being conducted to attempt to find additional caves holding roll .
What is the oldest Christian artifact?
At present , the earliest surviving Christian artifacts are papyrus and aninscriptionthat appointment back to the second C , about a 100 after the death of Jesus . A sherd from the Gospel of John , which is currently in the John Rylands Library at the University of Manchester , might be the early Christian artifact dating back to the first one-half of the second one C , allot to analysis of its writing . A more late analysis , however , suggests that it may really have been drop a line on a later date . [ 5 Unanswered Questions About Jesus ]
A squad of scholars that admit Daniel Wallace , a prof of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Library , is now investigating a paper plant from theGospel of Markthat may go steady to the first century , which , if accurate , would make it the oldest known Christian artefact . In 2015 , one bookman disclose that the Cyperus papyrus was once part of an Egyptian mummy mask ( it was reused in ancient time as cartonnage ) .
The text may be part of the collection of the soon - to - be - opened Museum of the Bible ( although this is unconfirmed ) and is supposed to be published in a book that talk over papyri in the museum ’s collection . Publication of this book has been delayed .
Where did the Vikings sail in North America?
TheVikingsreached North America around the year 1000 , establishing a short - lived resolution at L’Anse aux Meadows on the northerly tip of Newfoundland . They sailed into the Canadian Arctic , set down at times in Labrador and also sailed down thenorth coast of Newfoundland . Butternut seed find at L’Anse aux Meadows indicate that the Vikings sailed farther south , but where exactly they sailed remains unnamed .
In accession to L’Anse aux Meadows , three possible Viking sitesin North America have been latterly excavated and scientists continue to analyze artifacts find at those web site . Satellite inquiry is also being done thatmay revealmore possible Viking colonisation in North America .
What were the Philistines like?
ThePhilistinesarrived in the Levant ( an area that let in Israel , Palestine and Lebanon ) around 3,200 years ago . History has not been tolerant to them . Most of what we make love about the Philistines comes from Egyptian and Assyrian texts and , most famously , the Hebrew Bible . This has lead to the Philistines get a speculative repute , and the name " Philistine " is sometimes used today to describe someone who is unfriendly and has no taste of culture or arts . However , current archaeological excavations inGathandAshkelonare providing new information that may allow archaeologists to get a well idea as to what the Philistines were really like .
What does the Indus Valley Script say?
TheIndus Valley civilization(sometimes called the Harappan civilization , after one of its largest cities ) flourished more than 4,000 age ago in what is now Pakistan , India , Afghanistan and Iran . mood change seem to haveplayed an important role in its collapse . The mass of the Indus Valley civilization wrote with a script thatremains undeciphered .
Sizable act of masses from the Indus Valley lived in Mesopotamia ; these people were telephone Meluhans in ancient Mesopotamian texts . archeologist are presently excavate sites in the Gulf States and Iraq that may reveal more information on the interaction between the people of Mesopotamia and the the great unwashed of Meluha . It is hope that one day a bilingual text , written in both the Indus Valley script and a Mesopotamian language ( most ancient Mesopotamian languages can be read ) , will be discover . If such a text is feel , it may allow for the language of the Indus Valley civilization to be deciphered .
Why was Stonehenge constructed?
An ongoing survey and analysis ofStonehengeand the landscape around it have revealed a huge amount of new info . Archaeologists have now set that Stonehenge was just one part of a Brobdingnagian sanctified landscape that includedburials , shrines and other round monuments made of wood or rock . Astronomical alignmentsexisted at Stonehenge and in the landscape around it , and archaeologists are working to chance upon all these coalition and understand their meaning .
The sacred landscape of Stonehenge appear to have flourish for millennia , predating the twist of Stonehenge itself . While the precise reasons why Stonehenge was constructed are not clean-cut , archaeologists continue to make new discovery at the website .
What was Blackbeard really like?
Blackbeard is moot one of history ’s most infamous pirates , known for terrorizing and plundering ship along the Atlantic coast and the Caribbean . His flagship ? Queen Anne ’s Revenge , formerly a slave ship .
Over the preceding decade , archaeologists have beenexcavatingand psychoanalyze artefact from the wrecked corpse of this frigate , revealing a wide-cut array of information , including particular of themedical practicesaboard his ship . Analysis of these artifacts is ongoing . Currently , researchers are looking at the legion spyglass bead found aboard Blackbeard ’s ship to see what they can reveal about Blackbeard ’s crew and the slaves that were aboard Queen Anne ’s Revenge when Blackbeard captured the ship .
What does the Voynich manuscript say?
Quality control operator of the Spanish publishing outfit Siloe Luis Miguel works on cloning the illustrated codex hand - written holograph Voynich in Burgos on August 9 , 2016 .
The so - called Voynich Manuscript , a small unassuming book commonly stored in a Yale University vault , is one of the most mysterious books in the world , that a small publication house in northerly Spain has ultimately secured the right wing to clone . The precious text file contain refined writing and strange drawings of unidentified plant life and nude women is believed to have been write six centuries ago in an unidentified or coded language that no one – not even the respectable cryptographers – has ever cracked .
Could mummies bring a disease back from the grave?
Smallpoxwas eradicated in the 1970s , with only labs in the United States and Russiastill containingsamples of the virus . However , as archeologist around the human beings continue to discover remarkably well - keep human mummies , concern have been raised that an archaeological discovery from the past could lend back the disease .
In 2011 , construction workers in New York follow across an smoothing iron casket that admit a remarkably well - preserved mummy of a woman who had died of variola . Archaeologists call the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) to see whether the disease could still be active . The scientist at last concluded that this particular mummy posed no hazard , but the CDC has been working with archaeologists to well understand the history of smallpox and settle whether there isany risk of the diseaseliterally coming back from the grave .
Related : Mysterious ' Man in the Iron Mask ' uncover , 350 long time later
How did past civilizations survive severe droughts?
Warming climateand increasinglyarid conditionspose major problem for legion modern - day communities . Archaeologists working at site around the world are analyzing the different ways in which humans in the past adapted to increasingly arid conditions .
For instance , more than 4,000 years ago , at a time when the Middle East was undergoing a severe desiccate period , some communitiessurvived by build up metropolis in location that had large reserves of underground piss nearby , archaeologist have found . likewise , archaeological research suggest that ancient human populations in theAmerican southwestsurvived arid periods by moving to locations that still held water .
How do looted artifacts get sold on the black market?
police - enforcement and vindication expert process in a number of government organizations and research institutes harmonize that organized crime and terrorist organizations are selling looted artifacts to raise funds for their activities . But the method these organisation are using to obtain pecuniary resource from looting can be complex .
Archaeologists , such as those at the American Schools of Oriental Research , are analyze satellite data as well as intelligence and law - enforcement information to judge to find the different method by which terrorist establishment and organized crime are making money from these activities . In some cases , terrorist organisation that control dominion ( such as ISIS ) appear to be allowing people to loot archaeological sites , and transport and deal the artefact , in exchange for a share of the revenue . atomic number 79 coin , which can be found using metal detectors and can be easily smuggled and sold , are a prime target for spoiler , archaeologist have found .
Criminal organizationsin Europe and Asia that do n’t verify district are wee money by play as wholesaler who transport looted artifacts across mete , archaeologists have found . In Egypt , they areorganizing attackson antiquity guards .
How did Iron-age warrior survive arrow to the spine?
How bad an injury can a person survive without the assistance of modern - day medical specialty ? As archeologist excavate burials all over the satellite and examine them using ever more advanced aesculapian tools , the uncovering they are making go forward to bear on the boundaries of what is conceive to be potential .
latterly the inhumation of a warrior found in fundamental Kazakhstan , which dates back at least 2,000 years , reveals that the warrior had an pointer lodged in his back that he hold up , the pearl around the pointer prove preindication of healing . Scientists whostudied his remainsnote that such a wound often kill a person straight off .
What happened when Homo sapiens encountered other ancient hominids?
gay sapiensare the only species of hominid that is still live , having subsist forat least300,000 year . All other hominid such asNeanderthals , Homo floresiensisandDenisovansare now extinct .
A mystery story that archeologist and anthropologist are trying to lick is why is it that these species are out while there are over 7 billionHomo sapienson the Earth ? late enquiry suggest thatHomo floresiensiswent extinct at around the time thatHomo sapiensarrived in its district , a discovery that raise the possibility thatHomo sapienshelped get it into extinguishing .
Yet otherrecent findsshow that desoxyribonucleic acid from Neanderthals and Denisovans , whichHomo sapienswould have acquired by spawn with them , helpedHomo sapiensboost their immune system , allowing them to subsist a broad array of diseases and conditions . These discoveries indicate that some sort of peaceful carbon monoxide gas - existence go to facts of life happened when Homo sapiens satisfy these two specie .
