Knowledge and understanding comes after making discoveries, that’s why we know so much about the past. Archeological finds have a way of conjuring up a lot of excitement. Whether they find was discovered on purpose or on accident, the thrill is all the same. Take a journey through time as you look at this list of some of the greatest archeological discoveries of all time.
Terra Cotta Army: In 1974, a group of Chinese farmers stumbled upon the discovery of the tomb of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty while digging a well near the city of Xian. After archeologists came in for further investigation, they found 8,000 life size terra cotta soldiers, horses and chariots constructed to guard the emperor in the afterlife.- The Rosetta Stone: Discovered in 1799 by a French soldier sifting through the Egyptian sand, this stone is said to be one of the greatest discoveries to date and the primary source for the modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs. The stone is part of a larger stone that contained a decree by King Ptolemy V around 200 BC written in three languages (Egyptian hieroglyphs, demotic script and ancient Greek).
- King Tut’s Tomb: Howard Carter and George Herbert discovered the tomb in 1922. The tomb was uncovered in the Valley of Kings still almost completely intact with over 2,000 pieces of valuable antique and Tutankhamun’s mask.
- Antikythera Mechanism: Found in a shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera at the turn of the 20th The 2000-year-old device has been identified as the world’s first scientific calculator. It can precisely measure the position of the sun, moon and planets simply by inputting a date. It is the most sophisticated device found from that period.
- Dead Sea Scrolls: A collection of 93 texts found in 11 caves just a few miles inland of the Dead Sea. These texts are some of the earliest known Hebrew biblical documents and date over a 700-year period around the birth of Jesus Christ.
- Staffordshire Hoard: A regular metal detectorist found a hoard of 3,500 buried items in a field in Staffordshire. The discovery altered the perception of Anglo-Saxon England and accounts for 60% of all the Anglo-Saxon items the world has conserved.
- Pompeii: After the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the Roman city of Pompeii was covered in volcanic gases and debris killing anyone not able to flee in A.D. 79. In the 18th century, workmen digging a foundation for a summer palace for the King of Naples uncovered the remains of a neighboring city which lead to the excavation of Pompeii shortly after that.
The Titanic: It took over 70 years for explorers to find the Titanic after its crash. Robert Ballard was asked by the US Navy to find and photograph two sunken submarines in the Atlantic where he realized that when a ship sinks, the wreckage is carried by the undersea currents leaving a trail of debris. By tracking the currents, he and his team were able to find the Titanic.
Brand New Treasure Hunt Adventure Awaits
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