8 Most Mysterious Things Ever Found by World Archaeologists
Being an archeologist doesn't sound as scary as Indiana Jones and its deadly missions. However, as an archaeologist, you must have special moments that make them "float". It's like finding a riddle from the past that makes them anxious to want to live in that time in order to know the answer to the artifact.
Here are 8 examples of shocking archeological discoveries that they thought would have been better left undiscovered than horrified.
1. European cannibalism.
ibtimes.co.ukIn 1996 a group of archaeologists discovered a site in Southwestern Germany containing the remains of more than 500 people. Including men, women, children and babies as well as a large number of dog skeletons. This mass burial is believed to be 7000 years old. While the discovery of this number of bodies alone is gruesome, archaeologists have also found the same markings on human remains as the remains of the animals that the inhabitants cooked and ate. The practice of cannibalism in Europe is so rare that this discovery is horrifying.
2. The headless Vikings of Dorset.
ancient-origins.netDuring excavations for repairs to a Weymouth road in Dorset, England in June 2009, archaeologists were shocked by what they found. In what appeared to be a mass burial, they found the remains of more than 50 young men. All of them are known to be naked, heads cut off and in the same big hole. While their skulls are collected in one place not far from their bodies. It is known that Scandinavian Viking youths lived between 910 and 1030. These young men were brutally executed and their remains were finally found in 2009.
3. The fire mummy.
ancient-origins.netIn the northern Philippines a cave was found which contains many other caves. Inside the cave were found hundreds of skulls and coffins shaped like walnut shells. Turns out it was a mass burial place for the Ibaloi Tribe. When the tribe members near death, they will be forced to drink a drink with an extraordinary level of saltiness to start the process of dehydration of their bodies from within. When they died, their bodies would be washed, smeared with herbal concoctions and then placed in a casket that was burned over a fire in a sitting position for several weeks or even months. Tobacco smoke is also blown into the cremation process to speed up the dehydration process. This process is known as fire mummy. This practice stopped in 1500 when Spain colonized the Philippines.
4. Ashkelon Ditch.
ancient-origins.netIn an archaeological exploration of the ditch beneath a Byzantine (ancient Roman) bath house in the Ashkelon area, Israel in 1988, researchers found something unexpected. They found thousands of small bones. At first they thought it was a chicken bone or some other small animal.
but in the end they found a sadistic reality. Exploring the ditch deeper, they found many small human skulls. Turns out it was the aftermath of newborns of both genders. It is later revealed that the bathhouse is also a brothel that disposes of all the newborns of the workers there.
5. Death whistle.
yxayotl.comWhile researching an Aztec temple near Mexico City in 1994, archaeologists found the remains of a human skeleton attached to a whistle engraved with a skull in its hand. At first they thought it was just a toy, but the instrument was described as "the scream of a thousand corpses" when it was blown. This whistle is used during ritual human sacrifice processions.
6. Altamura Man.
cracked.comWhile studying the Lamalunga cave network near Altamura, Italy, archaeologists made a frightening discovery. Embedded together with the rocks and stalactites in the cave are human skulls. The build-up of calcium carbonate surrounding the skeleton made it blend into the cave. The skeleton is from the Neanderthals who fell into the cave about 150000 years ago. Their skeletons have been preserved because of the high levels of calcium in the cave.
7. Screaming mummy.
imgur.comIn 1886 near the Valley of the Kings, Gaston Maspero, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Division, was cataloging and viewing mummies of ancient kings and queens in undecorated chests. Sarcophagi are usually beautifully decorated, depicting the life of the mummies inside. When the plain sarcophagus was opened, a mummy was found wrapped in sheepskin, a technique unheard of in ancient Egypt. Hands and feet together with face upturned mouth wide open like screaming. Experts consider that these mummies were either poisoned or buried alive.
8. Athens mass funeral.
ekahimerini.comAs of 2016, a construction project is underway for a new library and theater hall in downtown Athens, Greece. While excavating the construction site, the crew discovered an ancient Greek mass burial. More than 1,500 skeletons were found there. Then a small booth was found containing 80 skeletons with their hands above their heads. Most of the frameworks are stacked on top of one another. This framework is the result of a failed coup that was executed for their betrayal in 682 BC.
There are still many mysteries of the past hidden in this earth and around us. They are waiting to be revealed at the right moment. Obviously, everything about the past found makes us more grateful to live in the present.