So 2024 was packed with wild archaeological discoveries that totally shook up what we thought we knew. One of the coolest? The "Blinkerwall" — an underwater structure in the Baltic Sea that’s over 10,000 years old and might’ve been a reindeer trap built by ancient hunter-gatherers. Researchers also found an ancient Chinese city that was way more advanced than expected, complete with surprisingly modern-looking infrastructure. In Egypt, new tombs revealed some unusual burial practices and artifacts we've never seen before. And in South America, a strange network of stone lines turned out to be part of an ancient communication system. It’s been a year of serious "wait, what?!" moments in archaeology. Credit:
CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/:
Dodecahedron Aventicum: By Woudloper, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16293147
Pentdod gruen neu anim: By Lokilech, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1777960
Animation is created by Bright Side.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/
Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV
Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en
Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official
Stock materials (photos, footages and other):
https://www.depositphotos.com
https://www.shutterstock.com
https://www.eastnews.ru
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more videos and articles visit:
http://www.brightside.me
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/:
Dodecahedron Aventicum: By Woudloper, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16293147
Pentdod gruen neu anim: By Lokilech, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1777960
Animation is created by Bright Side.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/
Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV
Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en
Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official
Stock materials (photos, footages and other):
https://www.depositphotos.com
https://www.shutterstock.com
https://www.eastnews.ru
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more videos and articles visit:
http://www.brightside.me
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00It's like archaeology woke up recently and decided to spice up the news with its history-changing
00:07discoveries.
00:08From unearthing dinosaur fossils in peaceful Iowa to translating bad news from ancient
00:13Babylonian texts, history is revealing its secrets like never before.
00:20When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, it froze the town in time.
00:26Some of the most famous discoveries were heartbreaking, like a mother wearing a golden bracelet, holding
00:31her child, or two sisters hugging in fear.
00:35At least that's what scientists thought.
00:38In 2024, advanced DNA tests shattered these long-held beliefs.
00:43The mother from the house of the golden bracelet was actually a man wearing a fancy 30-carat
00:49bracelet and the child wasn't even related to him.
00:54As for the two sisters, DNA revealed one was actually a man, while the other remains
01:00a mystery.
01:01Some speculate they were lovers, but the truth is still buried in time.
01:07Speaking of rewriting history, another shocking revelation comes from ancient Babylon.
01:12Recently, archaeologists translated 4,000-year-old texts that turned out to be heralds of terrible
01:19news.
01:20These specific texts that were translated are believed to be from Sippar, a city near
01:25the Euphrates River in modern Iraq.
01:28They talked about lunar eclipses, which is when the Earth's shadow blocks the moon.
01:32And for ancient Babylonians, these were warnings.
01:36Eclipses could mean everything from floods and famines to chaos in the kingdom.
01:42But here's the interesting twist.
01:44Babylonians also came up with clever ways to cancel these bad omens, like calling in
01:49priests to perform rituals or consulting oracles for advice.
01:54These ancient astrologers took their job seriously, since it wasn't just about stargazing.
02:00It was about keeping the kingdom safe.
02:05Augustus was the first Roman emperor, so we can say he was a big deal.
02:11Archaeologists have already found ruins of the villas where he partied, but now they
02:15think they've found his final resting place.
02:19In a place near Naples, they've found an old structure buried under a villa.
02:24They found the equivalent of a modern heating system, something that was probably used to
02:28draw warm baths.
02:30They also found shelves filled with ancient jars, suggesting the site later became a temple.
02:36They're still not sure this was Augustus' last home, but if confirmed, this would be
02:41a big deal for world history.
02:45While ancient Rome is surprising us, the famous Nazca Lines in Peru are also revealing
02:51hidden details.
02:53These massive geoglyphs, created thousands of years ago, have only been partially studied
02:58until now.
03:01Scientists trained artificial intelligence to help them scan 243 miles of terrain.
03:06With AI's help, they identified over 300 new motifs, including llamas, stick figure people,
03:13and strange heads.
03:15The algorithm, originally developed to decode charred scrolls from Mount Vesuvius, has doubled
03:20the number of known glyphs.
03:23The past is getting a serious digital upgrade.
03:27Meanwhile, in Bulgaria, archaeologists made a surprising discovery in a place few would
03:33expect, a sewer.
03:36In 2024, researchers unearthed a nearly intact 6.8-foot-tall marble statue of Hermes, the
03:43Greek god of travelers and trade, hidden beneath layers of soil.
03:49Experts believe it was placed there for safekeeping after an earthquake in 383 CE damaged the
03:56city's infrastructure.
03:58At that time, paganism was declining, and Christianity was rising as the Roman Empire's
04:03official religion.
04:05Many pagan idols were being destroyed, but it seems some locals secretly preserved their
04:10deities by hiding them underground.
04:15Searching the bottom of the River Thames is probably worse than looking under your bed.
04:20The riverbed collects all kinds of discarded treasures, including a legendary typeface.
04:27In the early 1900s, two men created the Doves typeface for printing books, but after a bitter
04:33falling out, one of them threw every single metal letter into the river.
04:38A century later, in 2014, a designer trying to revive the typeface began searching for
04:44the lost letters.
04:46In just 20 minutes, he started finding them.
04:49With the help of divers, more were uncovered, and today, some of the lost letters are on
04:54display in a museum.
04:58Not much goes on in Iowa, which is why finding a huge 13,000-year-old mastodon skeleton made
05:05headlines.
05:07In 2022, a researcher received a photo of a massive femur believed to belong to a prehistoric
05:12animal.
05:14It took two years to secure funding for excavation, but in 2024, archaeologists finally dug in.
05:22After 12 days of work, they uncovered a well-preserved mastodon skull, the first ever found in a
05:28Midwestern state.
05:33This discovery would make Indiana Jones jealous, especially since it happened in Petra, the
05:38ancient Jordanian city featured in one of the movies.
05:43Archaeologists uncovered a 2,000-year-old chamber beneath Petra's treasury containing
05:47at least 12 skeletons along with iron and bronze artifacts.
05:52The chamber, built by the Nabataeans, sheds new light on their afterlife practices, which
05:58remain largely mysterious.
06:00One of the most intriguing finds was a ceramic chalice clutched by one of the skeletons.
06:07Back in Peru, archaeologists made a groundbreaking discovery that turned Peruvian history upside
06:13down – a female ruler.
06:17At the 1,600-year-old site of Panamarca, scientists uncovered a throne room decorated with colorful
06:24murals.
06:26These murals depict women spinning and weaving, men carrying a crown, and even a crowned woman
06:32speaking to a birdman.
06:34The discovery suggests that Moche women weren't just spiritual leaders, but rather had real
06:40political power too.
06:44Tiny houses are mainly a modern thing, but archaeologists think they found one in ancient
06:50Pompeii.
06:52Unlike traditional Roman homes, which had grand atriums for entertaining guests, this
06:56house had none.
06:58But what it lacked in size, it made up for in artistry.
07:02Inside, scientists found a painted altar decorated with birds of prey, sparrows, snakes, and
07:08plants.
07:09The altar held ceremonial items like a lamp and an incense burner, still holding traces
07:15of fragrant herbs.
07:18In 2021, researchers scanning the Baltic Sea found a massive stone wall hidden beneath
07:23the ways.
07:25The Blinker Wall, stretching over a mile and a half, could be Europe's oldest man-made
07:30structure.
07:31Sitting 68 feet below the surface, it's built from around 1,400 small stones placed between
07:38300 giant boulders, some weighing up to 142 tons.
07:44Dating back over 10,000 years, the Blinker Wall predates Stonehenge and France's Carnac
07:49stones, meaning it was likely built when the area was dry land.
07:55Scientists believe it may have been a reindeer hunting tool, guiding animals into a lake
07:59where hunters could strike.
08:02Oh, and then there's the granite slab that was found in Egypt's Abydos area.
08:08At first, it was thought to belong to two important people from ancient Egypt, but a
08:13recent discovery showed it was actually part of the sarcophagus of Pharaoh Ramses II, one
08:19of the most famous Egyptian rulers.
08:22A researcher found a special engraving on the slab that had Ramses II's name on it.
08:28Ramses ruled Egypt a long time ago, and after he died, his tomb was looted, so his body
08:33and belongings were moved around a few times.
08:37This new discovery shows that after Ramses' tomb was robbed, some of his things were used
08:42again.
08:43The finding also teaches us that ancient Egyptian tombs were often looted, and the things in
08:48them were reused.
08:51Recently, something unexpected happened during a dig in Norton Disney back in England.
08:58While searching for ancient coins and brooches, a volunteer from the Norton Disney History
09:03and Archaeology Group stumbled upon a mysterious Roman dodecahedron.
09:09This small hollow object, made of copper alloy with 12 pentagonal sides, was buried
09:15for 1,700 years, but was surprisingly well-preserved.
09:21Though over 30 of these strange objects have been found in the UK, no one knows for sure
09:25what they were used for.
09:27Some think they might have been measuring tools or calendars, while others believe they
09:31were used for rituals.
09:33The Norton Disney group thinks these dodecahedra were likely symbols for religious ceremonies,
09:39as many show no signs of wear from daily use.