Biggest Archaeological Discoveries Made in May

Hi, it's Katrina. What do a rare gold warrior scabbard hidden under a tree, an 1800-year-old underground neighborhood in Mexico, and a tragic 180-year-old arctic cannibalism mystery all have in common? They are all part of a wave of mind-blowing archaeological discoveries that just came to light in the month of May. In this video, we are looking at the 10 most significant discoveries made last month that are forcing us to look at the ancient world in a whole new light. Let's dive in. The Gold Sword Scabbard A hiker poked a hole in the ground and pulled out a rare gold scabbard from 1500 years ago. He wasn't looking for treasure. He was just out on his morning walk when his walking stick touched a relic some people would kill for. It's being called one of the finest pieces ever found from the period. Some people have all the luck. Maybe I'm just hiking wrong. This piece is a masterwork of ancient art. Measuring just 2.4 inches long and intricately decorated with serpents, this gold fitting once adorned the sword of a high-ranking warrior. Experts don't think they lost it, though. It was probably intentionally buried as a ritual offering to the gods during a time of extreme turmoil. What makes it truly fascinating is the wear and tear. The fitting is heavily worn, but not from sitting in the dirt for 1500 years. It was worn down by life. The scabbard shows signs of constant, repetitive use, suggesting its owner was a hardened Norse fighter who drew their blade on a regular basis. Not a Viking, though, because this sword predates the Vikings. It comes from the 6th century AD, a time when Norway, and indeed most of Scandinavia, was ruled by rival clans. This scabbard could have belonged to the leader of the area. In 6th century Norway, only the strongest man could lead, and this guy seems to have fit the bill. In the 6th century, Norway experienced a steep population decline thanks to a series of volcanic eruptions, a visit from the bubonic plague, and a long cold spell. Burying the scabbard as an offering to the gods was most likely the leader's way of trying to placate the angry deities that were making life so difficult for everyone. By sacrificing such a gorgeous object, the leader showed off his status and power while also appeasing the gods. But what do you think? Did the offering work? Sometimes the best way to find a lost civilization is just to start building a train line. Construction crews in Mexico were digging up tracks for a brand new passenger train when the heavy machinery hit something completely unexpected – a massive 1,800-year-old underground complex. It's an entire network of ancient shaft tombs containing a strange offering of 47 miniature pots. Here's what we know so far. Right now, Mexico is rushing to construct a massive 144-mile passenger rail line connecting Mexico City to Querétaro. But as heavy machinery tore into the earth in Tula de Allende in the state of Hidalgo, construction ground to a halt. Hidden just beneath the surface, workers stumbled onto a massive 2,400-square-meter residential complex. Archaeologists from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, INAH, launched a massive salvage excavation, discovering a neighborhood of small residential rooms connected by central patios. But the real surprise was waiting under the floors. Cut directly into the tepetate, the compact volcanic rock native to central Mexico, were a dozen ancient burials, including five highly unusual shaft tombs. In one specific room, archaeologists discovered a northern shaft tomb plunging nearly six feet deep into the rock, leading to two distinct lateral burial chambers. Inside, researchers uncovered the remains of eight individuals, mostly adults. Six of them had been deliberately placed in an upright, seated position, but resting directly at their feet was a pristine cache of 47 miniature pottery vessels. This discovery is a major breakthrough for understanding the reach of Mesoamerica's greatest phantom empire, Teotihuacan. The site sits about 55 miles away from the legendary capital and dates to between 225 and 600 AD, the peak of Teotihuacan's imperial power. It's very rare to find discoveries from the Teotihuacan culture. These 47 miniature ceramics, consisting of tiny, highly detailed jars, bowls, and cups, definitely weren't toys, and they weren't for daily use. In Mesoamerican archaeology, miniature pottery is a clear indicator of complex household rituals and deep ancestral worship. Just the presence of elite grave goods, including a semicircular mother-of-pearl pendant, a matching shell plaque, and nearby vessels decorated with intricate engravings, proves that this wasn't a commoner's burial. Instead, this community was highly sophisticated. Researchers discovered that this specific community was actually an industrial outpost for the empire. They were exploiting the local limestone to produce the massive amounts of lime stucco needed to plaster and paint those giant pyramids back in the capital city of Teotihuacan. This discovery is a window directly into the daily lives and sacred rituals of Teotihuacan's working class. Monumental Tomb in Turkey Excavations along the southern coastline of Turkey at the ancient Lycian city of Olympos revealed a massive find, a 30-foot-tall vaulted Roman tomb. The archaeologists working under the Ministry of Culture's Legacy for the Future Project already knew that this area was historically significant, but they did not expect to find a hidden chamber standing nearly three stories tall underground. When they went inside, the researchers found a heavily damaged but extraordinarily high-quality marble sarcophagus. The sarcophagus is intricately decorated with hunting scenes and figures of Eros and Nike, the goddess of victory. In the Roman world, this kind of specific imagery was the ultimate status symbol, a loud and clear statement of immense wealth, power, and high social standing. Geochemical tracking confirmed the premium marble was hauled to the site from a famous ancient quarry in western Turkey, which means this person was extremely wealthy. Because of this, researchers are confident that the monument belonged to one of the most prominent aristocratic families in Olympus. The bottom section of the sarcophagus was broken into roughly 50 fragments, so the archaeologists are now working on putting the puzzle back together. The goal is to put it on public display. Fortunately, the team has plenty of practice with this kind of painstaking work. Just last year, they successfully reconstructed two other sarcophagi on site from a staggering 722 fragments. Lycia was a powerful federation of ancient city-states in modern-day Turkey. They created the world's first democratic union with proportional voting, a system that actually inspired the writers of the U.S. Constitution centuries later. The city of Olympus was one of the big six powerhouse cities in this league. Thanks to its hidden, deep-water harbor, it became an incredibly wealthy maritime trading hub and cultural melting pot. It was so rich and popular that everyone wanted to be there, and everyone wanted a piece. It was so wealthy that it was even hijacked by Mediterranean pirates for a while. The newly discovered sarcophagus is a big deal because it serves as a direct window into the lives of this port city's ancient billionaires. It's also symbolic. The elaborate carvings of gods on it weren't just pretty, they were deliberate symbols of imperial power, military prowess, and elite status. Finding this towering monument right in the harbor district proves this waterfront was a high-visibility millionaire's row built to flaunt the family's immense wealth to every ship entering the city. When we think of elite ancient treasures, we usually think gold. Lots and lots of gold. And that's true, but a groundbreaking scientific study published this month in the journal Latin American Antiquity reveals that a thousand years ago, the ultimate status symbol for the rulers of Central America was a glowing translucent green gemstone. For the first time, an international team of scientists used advanced technology, including portable x-ray fluorescence, UV vis spectroscopy, and photoluminescence, all kinds of stuff, to test a mysterious set of translucent green stones. These stones were recovered from the famous gold-filled tombs of El Caño and Sitio Conte, located along Panama's Pacific coast. This was home to the Gran Cocle culture. For nearly a century, historians could only guess what these stones were or where they came from, but the new data delivers a definitive answer. They are genuine high-grade emeralds, and their distinct chemical signature matches the famous Emerald Belt of Colombia, hundreds of miles away. The chemical breakdown reveals traces of chromium and vanadium that tie the gems directly to the legendary pre-Columbian mining zones of Muzo and Chivor, which are still active to this day. This makes these artifacts the furthest north that pre-Columbian emeralds have ever been scientifically recorded in the Americas. What makes this a true archaeological jaw-dropper is the sheer logistics of how they got there. The powerful chiefs of the Gran Cocle culture didn't have direct trade agreements or merchant highways connecting them to Colombian mines. Instead, these stones moved through what archaeologists call a down-the-line trade network. They were passed from hand-to-hand, tribe-to-tribe, and canoe-to-canoe, slowly winding through river systems and along dangerous Pacific coastlines for over 450 miles. The physical condition of the gems tells an incredibly human story. The researchers noted that several emeralds show clear signs of being modified by local Panamanian artisans who didn't fully understand how to work the brittle barrel stone. Some stones show fracturing or drilling holes that went wrong and chipped the gem. But because these emeralds were so staggeringly rare and held such immense symbolic weight, they weren't discarded. They were saved and mounted onto copper pendants or set directly into heavy gold animal figures. Then they would be passed down as royal heirlooms for generations before finally being buried with the region's highest ranking chiefs. It proves that a thousand years ago, the ancient Americas were bound together by an incredibly sophisticated luxury trade network. 60,000 years ago, the Neanderthals were practicing dentistry, if you can believe it. And they did it without any anesthetic, resulting in what must have been the most painful dentist visit in history. How do we know there were Neanderthal dentists? Because in the foothills of the Altai Mountains, scientists found a molar in a cave. That molar shows evidence of what scientists are calling dental intervention. In simpler terms, the tooth had a hole in it. A great big hole that was manually drilled with a stone tool, likely to remove decay from the tooth. All I can say is that this Neanderthal must have had one heck of a toothache. He was willing to let someone drill into his molar with what couldn't have been any more sophisticated than a sharp and pointy rock. I don't know about you, but I don't think I could handle stone instruments. According to the authors of the study, this is the earliest example ever discovered of invasive dental surgery. And it doesn't even have anything to do with us. When these Neanderthals were drilling into their teeth, Homo sapiens were still stuck in Africa. It's further evidence, actually it's the latest piece in a growing mountain of evidence, that hints at extinct human species being far more intelligent, technologically capable, socially complex, and inventive than modern humans have been giving them credit for. But how does a Neanderthal with a tooth infection end up experimenting with dentistry? Anthropologist John Olson said there are two possibilities. The first is that the Neanderthal reached out to someone saying they were in pain and needed help. The helper then used the stone drill to remove decay from the tooth. The second possibility is that it was more of a self-help deal, a sort of Tom Hanks and Castaway situation. Without mirrors, our Neanderthal may have taken a stone drill and jammed it into their mouth until they started to feel better. Given what's already known about Neanderthals and their social connections, the first option is the most realistic. And besides, would you go digging into your mouth with a sharp rock if you had a tooth infection this bad? I don't think so. John Olson doesn't think there were specialized Neanderthal dentists. Instead, the person who performed the medical procedure was probably the closest thing they had to a doctor. Vence Viola from the University of Toronto, who specializes in this kind of science, thinks the job was expertly done. Viola said it doesn't look like a hack job, with his official assessment being that whoever performed the operation had experience. Maybe not in tooth drilling, but certainly in medicine. So there you have it, guys. Neanderthals had their own doctors. I think it's time to throw away the outdated image of the dumb Neanderthal and accept the fact that Neanderthals may have been just as smart as us. What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Lost copper mines. For decades, Bronze Age researchers have been trying to solve a massive continent-sized missing puzzle piece. Geochemists testing ancient copper artifacts found in Bronze Age Scandinavia, thousands of miles north, made a baffling discovery. The chemical isotope signatures of the metal didn't match any local Scandinavian ore. Instead, the data pointed directly south, to the Iberian Peninsula. But if Iberia was supplying the far north with copper, where were the actual mines? Now, a joint team from Gothenburg University and Spanish researchers have finally found the smoking gun. Deep in the Extremadura region of southwestern Spain, they used advanced satellite mapping and ground-penetrating radar to locate six previously undocumented Bronze Age copper mines. At a key site located near Cabeza del Buey, the team uncovered a staggering, highly organized, open-cast mining trench stretching over 70 meters long and plunging deep into the hillside. Scattered all across the floors of these trenches were more than 80 heavy, grooved stone hammers and crushing axes. These primitive tools were used by ancient miners to shatter the quartz veins holding the copper ore. Dating to between 1500 and 1100 BC, these mines are the definitive missing link for European prehistory. This discovery shatters the old, outdated idea that late Bronze Age Europe was made up of isolated, primitive tribes. Operating a 70-meter mining trench required a massive amount of labor, regional security, specialized geological knowledge, and an organized food supply to feed the miners. The isotopic data from the ore at Cabeza del Buey matches perfectly with the metal found in elite Nordic bronze axes and swords from the same era. This means that over 3,000 years ago, Europe was bound together by a massive, highly sophisticated maritime trade network. Spanish copper was traded up the Atlantic coast, likely passing through Brittany and the British Isles, before arriving in Scandinavia in exchange for Baltic amber and furs. This is a revelation! Long before the Roman Empire or the Silk Road, a massive prehistoric supply chain was already moving wealth from the depths of Spain all the way to the frozen north. What do you think this route should be called? Lost Image of Jesus. In Turkey, several new archaeological discoveries have shed new light on the earliest stages of Christianity. Over the past two years, archaeologists working in the Anatolia region have uncovered about a dozen previously unknown churches from as early as the 4th century AD. One of their most remarkable finds came from excavations in the historic city of Pergamon, where scientists found an ancient depiction of Saint George, the patron saint of England. The incredible volume of discoveries here has cemented Anatolia's role in the expansion of Christianity. The region has been a hub for Christians ever since Christ's death. After the crucifixion, which is believed to have taken place in the early 30s, Jesus' disciples went to Anatolia and began spreading the gospel. Within just a few years, Anatolia became a cradle of faith, which is precisely why one of the oldest known images of Jesus Christ was found in the Turkish city of Iznik. It's one of the five oldest known images of Christ as an adult. It's also the best preserved of those five, making it even more important. Even though it's one of the earliest images, it still only dates to the middle of the 3rd century AD, more than 200 years after his death. There are still no images of Christ from his lifetime, or from anyone who lived at the same time as him. The image was discovered inside of a family tomb, which is why it's in such good condition. Because the tomb was sealed, there was no oxygen to eat away at the fresco's pigments. They are virtually perfect, looking exactly the same way as they did when they were painted almost 1800 years ago. The image of Christ is so clear you can see his facial features, which is rare for a painting of this age. You can see the distinct outline of a ram carried across his shoulders, and even the folds of his tunic. The ancient painting is an important discovery because it gives scholars and historians a much better understanding of how Christians perceived Christ at the beginning. He was definitely not the same Jesus Christ of today. The Christ in this image had no beard, his hair was short and curly, and he was dressed in posh Roman robes. Oldest evidence of cremation ever. In Ethiopia's Afar rift, where the air is so hot it feels like you're inside an oven, something strange has started to emerge from the ground. Scientists are studying fragments of bones scattered inside piles of ancient sediment. They could be the oldest evidence ever of human cremation. The bones are primarily those of prehistoric Homo sapiens, dated to 100,000 years ago. Those bones have marks on them that scientists are having a difficult time explaining. They appear to have been exposed to intense heat. They may have been processed after death, but no, it doesn't fit the timeline. These fragments of bone look like the results of human cremation. That's the bottom line, but it doesn't make any sense because the earliest evidence of human cremation dates to 17,000 years ago. The oldest known person to have been cremated was the Mungo lady, found partly cremated at Lake Mungo in Australia. Other cremated remains have been found from the Neolithic era in the Middle East and Europe, but none of them even remotely compared to the age of these fragmented bones. Could humans have really started cremating the dead 100,000 years ago? Because if they did, scientists may need to take a fresh look at all of human history. Cremation is a funerary ritual. A body is exposed to flames, reduced to ashes, stuck into trinkets, vases, or scattered. That's a ritual. Which means if humans were already doing this in Ethiopia, they were already performing rituals. This is very important for anthropologists. Nobody thought humans had the capacity to perform rituals 100,000 years ago. Now with one little discovery, there is proof it happened. Then again, maybe not. Experts have admitted that something else could have caused the body to burn. Maybe it was struck by lightning. Maybe it was part of a pyre that went up in smoke. There are other possible answers. To make things more confusing for everybody, some of the bones show evidence of being gnawed on by predators. This suggests they spent time lying out in the open before being incinerated. So was this part of a ritual or was it a way to clean up the dead? Right now, scientists don't have as many answers as they'd like. This could be the earliest evidence of deliberate cremation or evidence of mass body burning. Either way, the experts are stumped. Mysterious Structure Found in Bavaria When construction workers in Bavaria began work on a storm overflow basin, they were almost positive they wouldn't find anything ancient. But 26 feet beneath the surface, workers uncovered the impossibly preserved timbers of a mysterious structure. Immediately, work was halted. This wasn't just the foundation of some Roman ruin or a toppled pillar from a forgotten age. Workers had dug up an enormous structure made of massive oak beams. It was big enough to have been a community hall, maybe a temple, or anything that could fit hundreds of people inside it. When scientists analyzed the wood, they dated the timbers to the 4th century BC. That places the structure at 2,300 years old. As of yet, scientists don't know what the structure is, what its purpose was, or how it ended up almost 30 feet below the ground. Stephanie Berg from the Department of Archaeological Heritage Conservation said the discovery is truly unique for a ton of reasons. It's preservation, for one. Whatever the structure started out as, the fact it hasn't completely decayed is shocking. Timber almost always rots after just a few centuries, so for wooden beams to have survived thousands of years is incredible. The structure is also remarkable for its unique architecture. During the Iron Age, humans typically only used stone when building defensive fortifications. They almost never combined stone and oak. But what archaeologists see here is exactly that. Stone and oak combined to build a structure far more advanced than others of the same age. It's crazy because scientists didn't even realize there was a settlement of importance here. The structure was a complete surprise. Maybe scientists have just found a previously unknown European culture. What do you think? Doomed Franklin Sailors Identified More clues have been revealed about the legendary Franklin Expedition, which was without a doubt the worst polar expedition in history. Almost 180 years ago, the brave men aboard the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror died while trying to explore the Northwest Passage. They were stuck in the ice for over a year before finally abandoning the ships and trying to walk back to civilization. Considering they were trying to get through the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic, you'd be right to assume they didn't make it. The men on the expedition died from hypothermia, starvation, a little bit of cannibalism, lead poisoning, scurvy, and zinc deficiency, not to mention general exposure to the hostile polar environment. Every single person on the expedition died. And now, thanks to some DNA volunteered by the descendants of their relatives, four of those sailors have been identified. Three of the victims were from the HMS Erebus and the other was a captain of the HMS Terror. Not the captain, but a captain. He is the first from that ship to be identified with DNA. But what did the DNA tell scientists that they didn't already know about this tragic mission in the ice? It's actually kind of comforting. The findings reveal that none of the men from the HMS Erebus died alone. Based on the location of the bodies, researchers are confident that other people were nearby at their times of death. While it doesn't make the situation better, it's nice to know that as the men dropped one by one, they at least had some friendly company. The Franklin expedition left England in May of 1845, intent on finding a way through the Northwest Passage, thereby connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Both ships were commanded by Sir John Franklin, but they got stuck in the ice in 1846. On April 22nd, 1848, the 105 crew members left alive out of the original 129 set off for the Canadian mainland. In the years after, there were multiple search expeditions. Some of the searches found human remains and artifacts, but the ships weren't discovered until the 21st century. What's so exciting about this new DNA analysis is that it sheds light on where each crew member traveled in their failed attempt to reach safety. Although the bodies were already found, identifying bones can be a little tricky. DNA is helping to match faces with skeletons. One of the newly identified sailors from the terror was Harry Pegler, captain of the Fortop. Harry had made it 125 miles from the frozen ships, but unlike the crew members of the Erebus who died in company, Harry Pegler did die alone, dressed in a steward's uniform in the midst of one of the greatest barren wastelands on the planet, the Canadian Arctic. The other newly identified sailors include William Oran, Abel Seaman, David Young, boy first class, and John Bridgens, subordinate officer steward. Thanks to historical records, we know a lot about these guys. We know that William Oran first set sail in 1821 at the young age of just 15. He served on the HMS Swan in 1830 and the HMS Alfred in 1831. Then he took a 14-year break before signing on to the crew of the Erebus at 38 years old. A descendant of Oran's provided the DNA that allowed him to be identified. David Young, seen here in a facial reconstruction by Diana Trepkov, was only 17 years old when he joined the Erebus. His father had been a navy sailor but didn't go on the expedition. The DNA that identified him came from a descendant of his brother. John Bridgens was trained by his stepfather to be a hairdresser but decided to seek adventure on the high seas instead. His first foray into sailing was in 1829 when he went to sea as a musician. John later served aboard the HMS Endymion in 1841 during a brief war with China. Then he volunteered for the Franklin expedition at 26 years old. He was identified by the DNA of a descendant of his half-sister. There have been other DNA studies on other members of the Franklin expedition before this. John Gregory was an engineer on the Erebus whose DNA confirmed his identity and also the identity of James Fitzjames. James Fitzjames is one of the most controversial members of the crew. Not because of anything he did while alive but because of what scientists found on his remains. After Captain Franklin died on June 11, 1847, James took over as captain of the Erebus. Then, when he died, the crew ate him. Bioarchaeologist Ann Keenleyside discovered cut marks on James's bones and on his jawbone. The cuts are exactly what you would expect to see from human butchering. James is so controversial because some believe he was eaten by other crew members in a desperate attempt to avoid starvation. Others aren't so sure. They say the cut marks could have been from anything. They don't necessarily mean that the survivors were reduced to cannibalism but look at their situation. They were in the middle of the arctic with nothing to eat trying to walk somewhere safe. If they had to eat one another to survive, you bet that's what they did. For the living descendants of the crew members who suffered such terrible ends, the new findings provide at least some semblance of closure.