00:00You know how it goes. As the years pass, common knowledge slips away faster than you can say,
00:05what's that thingamajig for? Just think, our grandkids will probably be scratching their heads
00:11over the buttons on our old school phones. So it's no wonder that some ancient artifacts
00:17have got us all stumped too. Take a look at this funky object. Any guesses on what it is?
00:24A musical instrument, a toy, or maybe something out of this world? Beats me, and even the experts
00:31have no exact answer. This little guy is a Roman dodecahedron, discovered by some amateur archaeologists
00:38near Lincoln, England. It's shaped like a fist and made of a mix of metals. Now, as for what this
00:45thingy was used for, that's the million-dollar question. Supposedly, these guys were all the
00:51rage back in the day in northern Gaul and Roman Germany. According to some ancient maps, similar
00:57dodecahedrons have turned up in Europe, Britain, and even along the Maritime Silk Road in southeast
01:03Asia. The plot thickens as more and more of these dodecahedrons pop up. Some had wax inside,
01:11leading scientists to think they were candle holders. Others think they might have been used
01:16for knitting gloves, since none have been found in warmer regions. There's even one found in Geneva
01:22with zodiac signs etched on it, sparking some woo-woo theories about fortune-telling.
01:28And now, a fresh discovery has got everyone's head spinning. Could this be some kind of sacred
01:34tool for the Romans? Who knows? Maybe it's the first multi-tool ever, invented way before Swiss
01:40army knives were a thing. Carved stone balls from Scotland are another historical mystery.
01:47They most likely date back to the late Neolithic period, and come in various types, from sandstone
01:53to granite. They're all roughly the same size and have intricate, evenly spaced patterns of circular
01:59bosses or knobs. Most of these designs have six bosses, but the number can range from three to 160.
02:06Some of these balls are more skillfully crafted than others, and a few even have extra decorations.
02:13There are over 400 carved stone balls, and mostly found in Scotland, although some have turned up
02:19in northern England and Ireland. These stone balls rarely show signs of damage or use, and there are
02:25no clues that would give away their function. Most experts think they weren't practical tools, but had
02:31some symbolic or social importance. Probably a sign of power or prestige within their communities.
02:39The Fulcton drums are the three stone cylinders from Neolithic Britain, discovered in the late 19th century
02:45in a burial mound in East Yorkshire. Nothing similar has been found anywhere else in the British Isles, from
02:52any prehistoric period. Each drum is decorated with unique designs covering the sides and domed tops.
02:59The decorations are mostly geometric, arranged in panels with stylized human faces peeking out
03:05from two of the drums. Recent studies of the artifacts using new technologies show that the
03:11designs had been carved and re-carved over time. A team of experts also analyzed the composition of
03:17the drums, and it turns out that they were made from local chalk. In the late Bronze Age in Europe,
03:24long before coins became common, finely crafted metal objects served as portable wealth and symbols of high
03:31status. Across Europe, archaeologists have found all sorts of artifacts, from gold adornments worn by elites
03:38to large bronze cauldrons used in feasts. Beautifully decorated gold rings discovered in Wales are among these items.
03:46They're known as lock rings and may have been used to hold hair. Now they're flattened after spending nearly 3,000 years underground.
03:56They used to have cone-shaped openings at each end. They were found at different times, but were likely worn as a pair and buried together in a single hoard.
04:06Other Roman artifacts made of the copper alloy were first catalogued as lunate pendants. But during a recent re-examination,
04:14experts found that these items were actually small mortar and pestle sets, known as cosmetic grinders.
04:22They were used to grind minerals for makeup and were specifically designed for applying liner and shadows to the eyes.
04:29They were mistaken for pendants because of suspension loops that allowed them to be carried on a cord.
04:34These cosmetic sets from the first century of the current era were unique to Britain.
04:39They proved the influence of imported cosmetics and beauty trends from the Mediterranean and Roman provinces, including Egypt.
04:48The Salzburg Cube, also known as the Wolf's Egg Iron, was discovered in the late 19th century in Austria.
04:55It doesn't really look like a cube, but is more like a rounded object with two flat sides.
05:01Down the middle, it has a groove, and the surface is covered with pits and craters.
05:06Workers accidentally found this artifact when they blew apart a piece of coal.
05:11The coal seam it came from is thought to be over 60 million years old.
05:16The Salzburg cube moved between museums, mysteriously vanished in the early 20th century, and then showed up again.
05:24Some researchers thought it must be a Victorian-era candlestick holder,
05:28but still, no one knows the true story of the cube or its current location.
05:33Archaeologists have unearthed an incredible historical find in Pakistan,
05:39an ancient sphinx estimated to be around 12,500 years old.
05:44The region where it was found was once a busy center of the ancient Indus Valley civilization.
05:50It had advanced urban planning, intricate art, and sophisticated drainage systems.
05:55The discovery of the ancient sphinx is a good example of their progressive art.
06:00We all know of the great sphinx of Giza, but what was the significance of the sphinx in the Indus Valley culture?
06:07Their sphinx has designs and carvings that show scenes with their daily activities,
06:13which means it may have had a more complex role than a symbol of power or guardian.
06:18It could stand for a balance between humans and nature, or even a deity associated with agriculture.
06:25Araca in Chile sits on the sandy dunes of the Atacama Desert, known as the driest desert in the world.
06:35Long before this coastal town was built in the 16th century, the Sinchoro people called this region their home.
06:41Archaeologists found hundreds of their mummies.
06:45Radiocarbon dating showed that these mummies are over 7,000 years old,
06:49which makes them 2,000 years older than the famous Egyptian mummies.
06:53The Sinchoro used special techniques to preserve the mummies, not just relying on the dry climate for that.
07:00And unlike the Egyptians, they didn't just do it for the elite members of their society, but for everyone, no matter what age or status they had.
07:09The local people living in Araca now are so used to finding mummies in their backyards that they don't feel weird about living among them.
07:18In the winter of 1850, a powerful storm with extra high tides hit the west coast of Orkney, Scotland.
07:26The wind and waves ripped away the surf, covering a mound, and revealed stone-built structures beneath.
07:32A local antiquarian decided to dig up the village that he thought was from the Iron Age.
07:38He managed to unearth the remains of four houses and many artifacts from two villages.
07:44The villages had been buried under sand, so everything was really well preserved.
07:49Carbon dating wasn't a thing back then yet, so it was tricky to tell the exact age of the villages.
07:55Almost a century later, with new tech, researchers were finally able to tell that the place was actually from Neolithic times.
08:02You can still see stone dressers and box beds in the prehistoric houses.
08:07Archaeologists and historians working on the famous terracotta army think that it might have been inspired by or modeled on ancient Greek sculptures.
08:18It would mean there was a cultural contact between east and west much earlier than we thought, long before the Silk Road trade route.
08:26There was probably western influence in China during the era of its first emperor, who took the throne in 246 before the current era.
08:36Before that time, China didn't have a tradition of building life-sized sculptures.
08:41Earlier terracotta soldiers were much smaller, less than 10 inches tall.
08:46Greek artists might have even been present to train Chinese sculptors.
08:51That's it for today. So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
08:57Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!
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