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.
00:00It's like archaeology woke up recently and decided to spice up the news with its history-changing discoveries.
00:07From unearthing dinosaur fossils in peaceful Iowa to translating bad news from ancient Babylonian texts,
00:15history is revealing its secrets like never before.
00:19When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, it froze the town in time.
00:25Some of the most famous discoveries were heartbreaking, like a mother wearing a golden bracelet, holding her child, or two sisters hugging in fear.
00:34At 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 bracelet, and the child wasn't even related to him.
00:52As for the two sisters, DNA revealed one was actually a man, while the other remains a mystery.
01:01Some speculate they were lovers, but the truth is still buried in time.
01:06Speaking 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 news.
01:19These specific texts that were translated are believed to be from Sippar, a city near the 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.
01:40But here's the interesting twist.
01:44Babylonians also came up with clever ways to cancel these bad omens, like calling in priests 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.
02:02Augustus 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 think they've found his final resting place.
02:18In a place near Naples, they found an old structure buried under a villa.
02:23They found the equivalent of a modern heating system, something that was probably used to draw 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 a big deal for world history.
02:45While ancient Rome is surprising us, the famous Nazca lines in Peru are also revealing hidden details.
02:52These massive geoglyphs, created thousands of years ago, have only been partially studied, until now.
03:00Scientists 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, and strange heads.
03:14The algorithm, originally developed to decode charred scrolls from Mount Vesuvius, has doubled the number of known glyphs.
03:22The past is getting a serious digital upgrade.
03:27Meanwhile, in Bulgaria, archaeologists made a surprising discovery in a place few would expect, a sewer.
03:36In 2024, researchers unearthed a nearly intact 6.8-foot-tall marble statue of Hermes, the Greek god of travelers and trade, hidden beneath layers of soil.
03:48Experts believe it was placed there for safekeeping, after an earthquake in 383 CE damaged the city's infrastructure.
03:57At that time, paganism was declining, and Christianity was rising as the Roman Empire's official religion.
04:04Many pagan idols were being destroyed, but it seems some locals secretly preserved their deities 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 falling 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 the lost letters.
04:45In just 20 minutes, he started finding them.
04:49With the help of divers, more were uncovered.
04:51And today, some of the lost letters are on display in a museum.
04:57Not much goes on in Iowa, which is why finding a huge 13,000-year-old mastodon skeleton made headlines.
05:06In 2022, a researcher received a photo of a massive femur believed to belong to a prehistoric animal.
05:13It took two years to secure funding for excavation, but in 2024, archaeologists finally dug in.
05:21After 12 days of work, they uncovered a well-preserved mastodon skull, the first ever found in a Midwestern state.
05:32This discovery would make Indiana Jones jealous, especially since it happened in Petra, the ancient Jordanian city featured in one of the movies.
05:41Archaeologists uncovered a 2,000-year-old chamber beneath Petra's treasury, containing at least 12 skeletons, along with iron and bronze artifacts.
05:52The chamber, built by the Nabataeans, sheds new light on their afterlife practices, which remain largely mysterious.
06:00One of the most intriguing finds was a ceramic chalice clutched by one of the skeletons.
06:05Back in Peru, archaeologists made a groundbreaking discovery that turned Peruvian history upside down.
06:14A female ruler.
06:17At the 1,600-year-old site of Panyamarca, scientists uncovered a throne room decorated with colorful murals.
06:24These murals depict women spinning and weaving, men carrying a crown, and even a crowned woman speaking to a birdman.
06:34The discovery suggests that moche women weren't just spiritual leaders, but rather had real political power, too.
06:44Tiny houses are mainly a modern thing, but archaeologists think they found one in ancient Pompeii.
06:50Unlike traditional Roman homes, which had grand atriums for entertaining guests, this house had none.
06:58But what it lacked in size, it made up for in artistry.
07:01Inside, scientists found a painted altar, decorated with birds of prey, sparrows, snakes, and plants.
07:09The altar held ceremonial items like a lamp and an incense burner, still holding traces of fragrant herbs.
07:16In 2021, researchers scanning the Baltic Sea found a massive stone wall hidden beneath the waves.
07:25The blinker wall, stretching over a mile and a half, could be Europe's oldest man-made structure.
07:31Sitting 68 feet below the surface, it's built from around 1,400 small stones placed between 300 giant boulders, some weighing up to 142 tons.
07:43Dating back over 10,000 years, the blinker wall predates Stonehenge and France's Carnac stones, meaning it was likely built when the area was dry land.
07:54Scientists believe it may have been a reindeer hunting tool, guiding animals into a lake where hunters could strike.
08:01Oh, 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,
08:12but a recent discovery showed it was actually part of the sarcophagus of Pharaoh Ramses II, one of the most famous Egyptian rulers.
08:20A 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 and belongings were moved around a few times.
08:36This new discovery shows that after Ramses' tomb was robbed, some of his things were used again.
08:42The finding also teaches us that ancient Egyptian tombs were often looted, and the things in them were reused.
08:52Recently, something unexpected happened during a dig in Norton Disney, back in England.
08:57While searching for ancient coins and brooches, a volunteer from the Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group stumbled upon a mysterious Roman dodecahedron.
09:09This small hollow object, made of copper alloy with 12 pentagonal sides, was buried for 1,700 years, but was surprisingly well-preserved.
09:20Though over 30 of these strange objects have been found in the UK, no one knows for sure what they were used for.
09:27Some think they might have been measuring tools or calendars, while others believe they were used for rituals.
09:33The Norton Disney Group thinks these dodecahedra were likely symbols for religious ceremonies, as many show no signs of wear from daily use.
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