00:00You know how it usually goes.
00:02Over the years, general knowledge disappears more quickly than we can say what this thing is for.
00:08Imagine, our little children scratching their heads in front of the keys of our old phones.
00:13It is therefore a surprising war that some ancient artifacts also leave us perplexed.
00:18Look at this curious object.
00:20What do you think?
00:21A musical instrument?
00:22A toy?
00:23Or maybe an alien invention?
00:25Nobody really knows, not even the experts.
00:29This little object is a Roman dodecahedron,
00:31discovered by amateur archaeologists near Lincoln, in England.
00:36It has the shape of a fist and is made up of a metal alloy.
00:40So, what was this thing for?
00:42That's the million-dollar question.
00:45Apparently, these things were hot at the time in northern Gaul and Roman Germany,
00:49according to some ancient maps.
00:51Similar dodecahedrons have been found in Europe,
00:55in Great Britain,
00:56and even along the road of maritime silk,
01:00in Southeast Asia.
01:02The mystery is growing as more and more of these dodecahedrons are discovered.
01:07Some contained wax,
01:09which led scientists to believe that they could be candle holders.
01:13Others assume that they could be used to knit gloves,
01:17since none have been found in warmer regions.
01:21An example discovered in Geneva bears the signs of the Zodiac,
01:25which has aroused some crazy theories about its mystical powers.
01:30And now, new discoveries question all of this.
01:33Was it a sacred tool for the Romans?
01:36Who knows? Maybe the first multifunction tool,
01:39long before the invention of the Swiss knife.
01:42The Scottish-sculpted stone balls represent another historical enigma.
01:46Going back to the late Neolithic,
01:49around 3000 to 2500 BC,
01:52they are made of various types of stone,
01:55ranging from grey to granite.
01:57All of them are similar in size,
02:00and feature complex circular patterns,
02:02which are regularly spaced,
02:04composed of bumps or pommels.
02:06Most of these patterns have 6 bumps,
02:09but their number can vary from 3 to 160.
02:13Some of these balls are finer than others,
02:15and some even feature additional decorations.
02:19More than 400 sculpted stone balls have been found mainly in Scotland,
02:23although some have also been discovered
02:26in Northern England and Ireland.
02:29These stone balls generally do not show any signs of wear or damage,
02:33and no clue can determine their function.
02:36Most experts agree that they were not practical tools,
02:41but had a symbolic or social importance,
02:44probably an external sign of prestige within their community.
02:49The Folkton stone balls are three-cylinder stones
02:52dating from the British Neolithic,
02:54discovered at the end of the 19th century
02:56in a funerary tumulus in East Yorkshire.
02:58No similar prehistoric object
03:00has ever been found elsewhere in the British Isles.
03:03Each stone ball is decorated with unique patterns,
03:06which cover the sides and top of it.
03:09These ornaments are mainly geometric,
03:11arranged in panels,
03:13and stylized human faces are reproduced on two of the stones.
03:17Recent studies, using new technologies,
03:19have revealed that these patterns
03:21had been sculpted and re-sculpted over time.
03:24A team of experts has also analyzed the composition of the stones,
03:27revealing that they were made of local chalk.
03:31At the late Bronze Age in Europe,
03:33long before coins were widespread,
03:35finely crafted metal objects
03:37served as portable wealth and external signs of prestige.
03:41All over the continent,
03:43archaeologists have discovered a wide variety of artifacts,
03:45ranging from gold plating worn by the elites
03:48to large bronze cauldrons used during banquets.
03:51Among these objects,
03:52we find magnificent gold rings,
03:54discovered in Wales.
03:56Known as lock rings,
03:58they could have been used to hold hair.
04:00After spending nearly 3,000 years underground,
04:03they are now flattened.
04:05In the past, they had defaults
04:08and a cone-shaped opening at each end.
04:16Although they were discovered at different times,
04:19they were probably carried by pairs
04:21and buried together in the same cache.
04:24Other Roman artifacts made of copper
04:27were initially classified as lunar pendants.
04:30However, during a recent re-evaluation,
04:33experts have discovered that these objects
04:36were actually small sets of mortars and pylons
04:39used to grind cosmetics.
04:41These containers were used to spray
04:43the minerals intended for makeup
04:45and specifically designed to apply
04:47glue and eye shadow.
04:49They had been mistakenly taken for pendants
04:51due to the suspension loops
04:53that allowed them to be worn around the neck.
04:55These cosmetic sets,
04:57dating from the first century of our era,
04:59are unique to Great Britain.
05:01They testify to the influence of imported cosmetics
05:04and to aesthetic trends from the Mediterranean
05:06and the Roman provinces,
05:08starting with Egypt.
05:10The Salzburg Cube,
05:12also known as Wolfsegg's Fair,
05:14was discovered at the end of the 19th century
05:16in Austria.
05:18It does not really look like a cube
05:20but rather a rounded object with two flat sides.
05:22A groove crosses its middle
05:24and its surface is covered
05:26with hollows and craters.
05:28This artifact was accidentally discovered
05:30by workers
05:32who blew up a coal vein.
05:34It is estimated that the vein,
05:36from which it comes,
05:38is more than 60 million years old.
05:40This cube was moved from one museum to another
05:42before mysteriously disappearing
05:44at the beginning of the 20th century
05:46and then reappearing.
05:48Some researchers thought it could be
05:50a boujoir from the Victorian era.
05:52But no one still knows
05:54the real history of the cube
05:56or its current location.
05:58Archaeologists have made
06:00an incredible historical discovery
06:02in Pakistan,
06:04an ancient sphinx
06:06estimated to be around 12,500 years old.
06:08The region where it was found
06:10was once a flourishing center
06:12of Arab civilization,
06:14known for its advanced urban planning,
06:16its complex art
06:18and its sophisticated water evacuation systems.
06:20The discovery of this ancient sphinx
06:22perfectly illustrates the extent of their progress.
06:24We all know the Great Sphinx of Giza,
06:26but what was the meaning
06:28of the sphinx in the culture
06:30of the Indus Valley?
06:32The lure is adorned with patterns and sculptures
06:34representing scenes of everyday life,
06:36suggesting a more complex role
06:38than a simple symbol of power.
06:40It could represent the balance
06:42of man with nature
06:44or even a deity associated with agriculture.
06:46Arika, in Chile,
06:48is located on the sandy dunes
06:50of the Atacama Desert,
06:52known as the most arid desert in the world.
06:54Long before this coastal city
06:56was founded in the 16th century,
06:58the Chinchorro people lived in this region.
07:00Archaeologists have discovered
07:02hundreds of their mummies
07:04and the dating to radiocarbon
07:06has revealed that the latter
07:08were more than 7,000 years old,
07:10which makes them older by 2,000 years
07:12than the famous Egyptian mummies.
07:14The Chinchorro used sophisticated techniques
07:16to preserve the mummies
07:18without relying on the arid climate.
07:20Unlike the Egyptians,
07:22they did not mummify only the members of the elite
07:24but all the individuals,
07:26regardless of their age or social status.
07:28The inhabitants of present-day Arika
07:30are so used to discovering mummies
07:32in their gardens
07:34that they do not find it strange
07:36to live among them.
07:38In the winter of 1850,
07:40a violent storm accompanied
07:42by exceptionally high tides
07:44hit the west coast of the Orchard Archipelago
07:46in Scotland.
07:48The wind and waves tore off the tower
07:50which covered a mound
07:52The amateur geologist therefore decided
07:54to excavate the village of Skara Brae,
07:56which he believed to date from the Iron Age,
07:58i.e. from 500 BC to 500 AD.
08:02He managed to reveal
08:04the remains of four houses
08:06and many artefacts
08:08from two villages.
08:10These had been buried under the sand,
08:12which allowed for exceptional conservation.
08:14The dating to carbon did not yet exist at the time,
08:16which made it difficult
08:18to determine the exact age of these villages.
08:20Almost a century later,
08:22thanks to new technologies,
08:24researchers were finally able to establish
08:26that this site dated from the Neolithic,
08:28from 3100 CE
08:30to 2500 A.D.
08:32We can still see
08:34furniture carved in stone
08:36and prehistoric beds.
08:38Archaeologists
08:40and historians working on the famous
08:42army of baked earth think
08:44that it could have been inspired
08:46by ancient Greek sculptures.
08:48This would create a cultural contact
08:50between the East and the West
08:52much earlier than we thought,
08:54well before the establishment
08:56of the Silk Road.
08:58A Western influence probably existed
09:00in China during the reign
09:02of its first emperor,
09:04who seized the throne
09:06in 246 A.D.
09:08Before that time,
09:10China was not used
09:12to carrying out
09:14large-scale sculptures.
09:16This is how
09:18Chinese artists
09:20would have been able
09:22to share their knowledge
09:24with Chinese sculptors.
Comments