7 most significant historical finds made by archaeologists in 2017

2023 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 02:21

Every year archaeologists and historians make new discoveries, some of which make significant changes in history. What findings and studies have become the most significant in 2017 - further in the review.

1. Metal that was mined in Atlantis (Italy)

A few years ago, an ancient Greek ship was discovered off the coast of Sicily, which sank in the 6th century BC. Examining numerous finds, scientists have found 47 pieces of metal, unlike all those materials known to the Greeks. The Greeks called it orichalcum and believed that this metal was mined only in Atlantis. Modern researchers believe that this is brass, which, indeed, is sometimes found in nature.

2. Letter from the Devil, written in 1676 (Italy)

In 1676, Sister Maria Crocifissa della Concezione, a minister of the Church, stated that she was in contact with the Devil, who wanted to turn her off the righteous path. A nun living in a monastery in Sicily, unconscious, indeed wrote several letters in a language that no one could understand. For several centuries, these documents were stored in the archives, until in 2017 the staff of the science museum could finally decipher the code. They used software, dictionaries of ancient Greek, Arabic and Latin, and even the runic alphabet. The Devil's letter turned out to be a jumble of words in different languages, which do not even make up a coherent text. But curses and heretical phrases are often found there. The head of the museum believes that the polyglot nun may have suffered from schizophrenia and recorded the "voices" that spoke to her.

3. "Aging" of the digit zero (Pakistan)

In 1881, the Bakshali manuscript was discovered in British India. It is a stack of birch bark sheets covered with mathematical problems. The work of Indian scientists had previously attracted considerable interest, but after carrying out radiocarbon analysis, it became clear that the document was even older than previously thought. The fragile wooden pages now date back to the 2nd-4th century AD. The main fact of this discovery: the number "zero" is at least five centuries older than previously thought.

4. Ancient Greek gem that revolutionized art (Greece)

In 2016, during excavations in the Greek Pylos, an archaeological expedition discovered an ancient burial. Many metal objects were found in the grave of a 30-35-year-old Mycenaean warrior, incl. swords, dishes, household items, expensive jewelry. But the most important find in the grave of the "warrior-griffin" was a gem, a semi-precious stone with artistic carvings.

Such decorations were very popular in Antiquity, and now they attract historians and art critics. On a gem of the 15th century BC depicts a Minoan warrior who pierces the Achaean warrior with a sword. The delicate work is strikingly different from other images of that era in its realism and elaboration of details. The muscles of men attract particular attention. It is striking that the entire sculptural group took up a space of only 3.5 centimeters long.

5. Bronze hand (Greece)

In 1900, an ancient Roman ship was discovered near the Greek island of Antikythera. Throughout the century, archaeologists have continued to search the site of the shipwreck, and historians have been researching numerous finds. The last of these is a bronze hand from one of seven statues still resting at a depth of 50 meters.

6. Skeleton of a Steller cow (Russia)

The Steller cow is a large marine mammal similar to the manatee or dugong. Until the 18th century, these animals up to 10 meters long and weighing up to 5 tons lived near the Commander Islands near Kamchatka. Unfortunately, having become an object of hunting for sailors, all Steller's cows were destroyed. Nevertheless, amazing animals still sometimes remind of themselves. In November 2017, on Bering Island, while walking around the beach, a researcher of the reserve discovered huge ribs sticking out of the sand. During the excavations, it turned out that this is the skeleton of a Steller cow with a length of about 6 meters.

7.600-year-old Buddha statue (China)

In the Chinese province of Jiangxi, one of the reservoirs had to drop the water level by 10 meters. After that, on one of the rocks, local residents saw an image of a stone Buddha. According to preliminary estimates, the 4-meter statue is between 400 and 600 years old. It is only part of a submerged temple complex that has long been considered lost.

Many more secrets and artifacts of the past are hidden in the ground, which, like 5 astounding archaeological finds in recent years could force you to rewrite history.