Archaeological Discoveries That Changed All We Thought We Knew About The Ancient World

This mechanism, created by Greek scientists in roughly 100 B.C.E., was able to accurately predict eclipses and other celestial events. Its discovery helped historians realize that the Greeks were far more advanced in the field of astronomy than previously thought.

Found in Central America near Lake Titicaca, it is often referred to as “The Rosetta Stone of America.” The Fuenta Magna is thought to be some kind of ritual bowl with Sumerian script written on the inside, which would challenge the accepted history of the region.

The London Hammer was found in London, Texas, in 1936. It’s clearly an iron hammerhead, but what’s baffling is the fact that the limestone it’s encased in is 400 million years old. This shatters accepted historical timelines of when man first began using tools.

This stone marking was found in Zhangbu, China, and is still a mystery. It seems to spell out “communist party of China perish,” but archaeologists insist that humans did not create the etchings and they were made some 270 million years ago!

Found in New Hampshire by fence pole diggers in 1872, there is currently no accepted explanation for its origin or meaning. Some think it to be a commemoration of a treaty between Indian tribes while others believe that it is simply an out-of-place artifact.

In 2015, a Chechen university claimed to have found massive dinosaur eggs in Chechnya. A Moscow scientist discredited the claim, saying that dinosaurs laid small eggs and did not inhabit mountains. If real, however, the eggs would completely change our understanding of dinosaurs.

This world map created by a geographer of the Ottoman Empire challenges the widely held belief that the Americas were uncharted territory until Christopher Columbus explored the region. In fact, many believe Columbus himself used this map!

These mysterious stone spheres are thought to be relics of the lost Diquís civilization. How they were created and what their significance was remains a mystery. They are the only stone spheres found in Central America!

Hero Alexandria, a mathematician of ancient Greece, created the first-ever steam engine known as an Aeolipile, named for the god of wind Aiolus. This invention proved once again that the Greeks were centuries ahead of their time technologically.

Chinese astronomer and mathematician Zhang Heng created a device he called a seismoscope that used bronze balls and gravity to detect earthquakes. Amazingly, Chinese historians used a replica of the device in 2005 and it was nearly as accurate as a modern seismometer!

It’s widely known that the Mayan Empire was quite brutal and often conducted human sacrifices to please their gods. However, in 2004, a sacrificial burial ground containing dozens of decapitated bodies was found, shedding new light on the level of sacrifices made.

Archaeologists digging up parts of the ancient Roman Empire were quite troubled when they discovered a collection of baby skeletons buried beneath a bathhouse. Who knows what kinds of sketchy dealings happened there…

Unearthed in a massive plague burial ground outside of Venice, the skull of a “vampire” was discovered with its mouth wedged open by a giant shard of stone. After all, breaking his jaw would keep him from biting!

The remains of a man were found in a peat bog in Denmark in 1952. His body was dated to the 3rd century B.C.E. during the Germanic Iron Age. Additionally, his throat was slit, leading some historians to believe that he was a sacrifice for bountiful crops.

The Baghdad Battery is a strange object discovered in modern-day Iraq. Dated to the era of the Persian Empire, the device is believed by some to be the world’s first battery. This would shatter our previous understanding of when batteries were first created.

A mysterious artifact that has historians puzzled, this manuscript is written in an unidentified, possibly fictitious language. It is an extensive manuscript that includes diagrams and illustrations and has been a subject of fascination for all those who’ve tried to decipher its secrets.

A hot topic among alien conspiracy theorists, the monument at Gobekli Tepe predates any previously known civilization operating on this scale of architecture. Constructed 9,000 years before the Great Pyramids, many believe it to be the work of aliens.

These large geoglyphs in the Nazca Desert are still a mystery to this day. It’s not inconceivable that the Nazca people were capable of creating them — rather, no one understands why they did. Alien conspiracy theories abound, as always!

While excavating a dry lake bed in Sweden, archaeologists discovered what was either a mass burial ground or a mass murder site. Dozens of human skulls were found with metal pikes struck through them. Whether this was a group killing or a religious ritual remains a mystery.

During the 19th century, a small cave in West Virginia was discovered. What was unusual, however, was that the walls inside were covered with petroglyphs of animals like fish and snakes…

Archaeologists digging on Mount Owen in New Zealand came across this terrifying claw. At first, they believed they’d found evidence of dinosaurs being alive much more recently than previously thought. Fortunately, they quickly realized it was just the talon of a Moa bird.

One of the more curious aspects of these carvings was the presence of a “red coloring matter,” which was seen in several of the etchings. It has since been confirmed to be the work of a Native American tribe, though which one exactly has yet to be determined.

Made up of exquisite stone chambers, rock structures, and walls, what came to be known as “America’s Stonehenge” is believed to be an ancient settlement in Salem, New Hampshire.

There are several different theories surrounding the mysterious structure. The most commonly believed theory attributes it to an ancient Native American tribe, which likely used it for religious ceremonies more than 2,000 years ago.

This extensive complex of earthworks is located in Louisiana. It was entirely made up of a series of manmade mounds and remains one of the few known complex sites of its kind credited to a hunter-gatherer society. There’s just one issue with it, though…

No one is entirely sure what Poverty Point’s original intended purpose was! However, some archaeologists believe it may have been a place for ceremonial events hosted by the local inhabitants.

This cave was constructed into a hill in Massachusetts and consists of a long passageway that opens up into a dome. The workmanship of the chamber indicates that whomever built it had a working knowledge of stonework. But what makes it so special?

Amazingly, this structure is also astronomically aligned. According to researchers, the entrance to the chamber aligns perfectly with the sun on the day of the summer solstice. How cool is that?

In Ohio, archaeologists discovered what came to be known as the Great Serpent Mound. The mound was constructed around 1000 AD and is in the shape of a giant snake. But what exactly is it?

Since then, no one has been able to determine who built the Great Serpent Mound or why, though some scholars believe it had been used as an effigy during sacrificial offerings or in religious ceremonies.

Modern-day archaeologists believe that Winnemucca Lake in Nevada contains the oldest petroglyphs in the entirety of the continent of North America.

These archaeologists believe that the ancient petroglyphs are, roughly speaking, as much as 10,000 years old. However, they still don’t know the particular meaning of any of the carvings to this day!

Boasting a population of nearly 15,000 people, Cahokia was, at one point, the largest city in pre-Columbian North America. It was settled between 700 and 1300 AD, and it had its own ruling class and unique culture.

The people of Cahokia were farmers, partook in battles with other tribes, and legend has it, practiced human sacrifice. One day, out of the blue, they vanished from the territory, and their subsequent whereabouts have baffled historians for ages.

In 1957, archaeologists discovered the Maine Penny buried in the dirt while excavating a former Native American settlement. It has been confirmed to be the only pre-Columbian Norse artifact ever discovered in the United States.

The experts originally believed the penny to be of British descent from the 12th century, though this was later disproven. Other researchers suggested the Viking coin was originally minted between 1065 and 1080 and was brought to North America during the 12th century.

Found in the Taunton River in Massachusetts, Dighton Rock is a gigantic, 40-ton boulder containing mysterious markings. The markings, however, don’t seem to have any recognizable style and have led to debates among researchers…

Some have theorized that the mysterious markings may have Norse, Chinese, or Native American backgrounds. Even still, none of these suggestions have ever been confirmed.