100 Ancient Machines That Were Thousands of Years Ahead of Their Time

KirTop Top 100

From Qin Shi Huang’s sealed tomb to self-firing cannons, ancient computers, hidden caves, and artifacts that rewrite history, this journey is packed with astonishing discoveries and head-scratching mysteries. Which one will surprise you most? Watch and explore the past with us!  #History #Archaeology #AncientWorld  Subscribe for more fascinating discoveries. Comment and tell us what you liked most from the video!  👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@kirtop-100samyh  0:00:00 - Ancient Tombs and Hidden Treasures 0:08:59 - Tools, Caves, and Ancient Ideas 0:21:15 - Lost Places and Contested Artifacts 0:30:10 - Discoveries Across Ancient Civilizations 0:41:46 - Ancient Engineering and Human Origins 0:52:46 - Mysteries, Mechanisms, and Archaeology 1:05:37 - Artifacts, Fossils, and Ancient Trade 1:15:42 - Ancient Beliefs, Technology, and History  We're now available on Spotify! Listen now https://open.spotify.com/show/03446rMw7NEQKZvD764T3X

Transcript

00:00:00I'm Kurt Top and these are 100 ancient mechanisms that shaped history for thousands of years.

00:00:09The Tomb They Are Afraid to Explore

00:00:12And now let's head back to the place where this video started.

00:00:16In China, not far from the city of Xi'an, under a huge burial mound lies the tomb of Qin

00:00:21Shi Huang,

00:00:22the first emperor who unified China and introduced a unified writing system, currency and laws.

00:00:28In 1974, peasants were digging a well and accidentally found the first terracotta warrior.

00:00:34Then an entire army emerged from the ground.

00:00:37Thousands of clay soldiers, chariots, horses and weapons.

00:00:41Each warrior has its own unique face and details, but that was only the outer part of the complex.

00:00:46The emperor's main tomb still hasn't been opened.

00:00:48And the reason isn't that they can't find it, the location is known.

00:00:52The mound has been studied for decades.

00:00:53According to researchers, a vast underground palace lies beneath it.

00:00:58But archaeologists are in no hurry to open that door.

00:01:01The ancient historian Sima Chien wrote that rivers of mercury flow inside the tomb,

00:01:05the ceiling is decorated like a starry sky and crossbow traps are hidden in the floor for uninvited guests.

00:01:09For a long time this sounded like a legend, but soil analysis above the mound showed abnormally high levels of

00:01:15mercury.

00:01:16This means the story about the mercury rivers might not have been fiction.

00:01:20And that is already a serious problem.

00:01:22If there really are large amounts of mercury inside, opening it could be dangerous for people and the environment.

00:01:28Nobody knows for sure what will happen if we disturb a chamber that has been sealed for over 2000 years.

00:01:34The traps cannot be entirely dismissed as fairy tales either.

00:01:37In neighboring Qing dynasty tombs, they found ancient crossbow mechanisms that were surprisingly well preserved.

00:01:43But that's not even the main fear.

00:01:45The main fear is destroying what lies inside.

00:01:48When they uncovered the pits with the terracotta warriors, the vibrant paint on the figures began to degrade almost immediately

00:01:54after contact with the air.

00:01:55And in the main tomb there could be textiles, wood, paintings, bronze, documents and artifacts that no one has seen

00:02:01since the emperor's funeral.

00:02:03That's why China officially states that the tomb will not be opened until technology allows us to preserve everything that's

00:02:08found.

00:02:09And there is logic in that.

00:02:11Sometimes archaeology isn't just about the desire to uncover a mystery, but also knowing when to stop.

00:02:16The strangest thing is that we know where one of the greatest unexcavated tombs in history is located.

00:02:21We have radars, sensors, laboratories and money.

00:02:24Yet the door remains closed.

00:02:27Qin Shi Huang wanted to control everything during his lifetime.

00:02:30And after 2200 years, it's as if he still won't let people into his underworld.

00:02:39Imagine an alarm clock that has no battery, no mechanical springs and not a single moving part.

00:02:45And which fires a loud shot every day at the exact same time.

00:02:49This is precisely how the solar cannons that appeared in Europe in the early 17th century work.

00:02:55And their principle is ingeniously simple.

00:02:57A magnifying lens is mounted above the breech of the small cannon, focusing a sunbeam onto the touch hole at

00:03:04just the right moment.

00:03:06The gunpowder ignites and the cannon fires on its own.

00:03:09No human need it. Just the sun.

00:03:11Larger versions of these cannons were installed in city parks so townspeople could hear the shot and set their watches.

00:03:17Smaller ones were placed on estates, where the noon shot meant it was time for lunch.

00:03:22Some were the size of real artillery pieces.

00:03:24And their roar carried for miles around.

00:03:27Wealthy landowners loved making an impression.

00:03:30When accurate mechanical clocks appeared in the 19th century sundial cannons lost their purpose and almost all fell silent.

00:03:37However, one of them still fires to this day.

00:03:40It is located in the Swedish town of Otvidaberg, tucked away in a red brick tower by a lake,

00:03:44and every day from May to September, at exactly one in the afternoon, a shot rings out.

00:03:49In sunny weather the cannon fires on its own.

00:03:51If the sky is overcast, a designated person, whom locals call the Sun Gunner, lights the powder manually.

00:03:58Because a tradition is a tradition and no one is going to break it.

00:04:02The cannon was installed in 1853.

00:04:05Since then it hasn't missed a single day for 170 years.

00:04:11Dagger with a unique inlay.

00:04:14In 1876 archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann excavated shaft tombs in Mycenae,

00:04:21where they found a lot of gold jewelry and bronze weapons.

00:04:25Among the finds was an ordinary looking bronze dagger, darkened and grimy with age.

00:04:31Only later, when museum staff began cleaning the finds, did an image appear on the dagger's surface.

00:04:38It turned out to be a lion hunt scene.

00:04:40Gold, silver and other materials were inlaid directly into the bronze.

00:04:45Five hunters with spears and bows pursued the enraged beast.

00:04:48And all of this fit on a blade just over 20 cm long.

00:04:53Such an inlay technique requires a jeweler's precision.

00:04:56The craftsman had to carve the finest grooves in the bronze and fill them with precious metal,

00:05:01so that the design would hold for centuries without losing its sharp lines.

00:05:05For a long time, this piece was taken merely for a weapon rather than a work of art.

00:05:10Only cleaning revealed that researchers were looking at a miniature painting carved in metal centuries before classical Greece.

00:05:17Schliemann was certain they had found the tombs of Homer's heroes, as the bodies were literally covered in gold.

00:05:23Modern scientists are more cautious about this theory.

00:05:25But the level of skill of Mycenaean jewelers is astonishing even today.

00:05:30This find is called the Lion Hunt Dagger, and today it is kept in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

00:05:36The craftsman filled the incised lions with gold, silver and a darker silver alloy,

00:05:41which is why the figures of the five hunters and the lions stand out on the bronze blade almost like

00:05:46an ink drawing.

00:05:47No other Mycenaean find shows inlay this fine or of such high quality.

00:05:53A tomb with servants filled with gold. The man was literally buried in gold.

00:06:00Pectorals, bracelets, earrings depicting crocodiles and bats. From head to toe.

00:06:06But he didn't depart for the afterlife alone.

00:06:09Next to him they found the remains of other people, apparently his servants,

00:06:13who were sacrificed to accompany their master to the next world.

00:06:17This is Panama.

00:06:18El Caño Archaeological Park, an elite burial site over 2000 years old.

00:06:23They had known about the site since 2009, but it was only fully clear this year.

00:06:28For local cultures, death wasn't the end.

00:06:32It was a transition where your status had to be maintained over there too.

00:06:35Showing off wealth in the grave wasn't a whim either, but something like a political statement for centuries to come.

00:06:42Project leader Julia Mayo points out that the finds from El Caño are strikingly similar to the artifacts from the

00:06:47neighboring site of Sitio Conte.

00:06:49It turns out that a thousand years ago, an entire network of trade and political ties was operating here among

00:06:55different communities.

00:06:56And judging by the craftsmanship of the metalwork, the local blacksmiths were in no way inferior to the world's best

00:07:01artisans of that time.

00:07:03Treasures of the Third Reich.

00:07:05On Antiques Roadshow, a guest brought in what he believed was a rare Leica camera, adorned with the Olympic rings,

00:07:14an eagle, a swastika and the date 1936.

00:07:17He was convinced that the device was tied to the Berlin Olympics and represented a valuable Nazi artifact.

00:07:24However, the show's expert Mark Allum, who specializes in antique cameras, delivered an unexpected verdict.

00:07:30The camera turned out to be a fake.

00:07:32The guest said he bought the camera for £480 at an antique shop, thinking it was a bargain.

00:07:38Allum, impressed by the camera's appearance, noted its beauty, but quickly drew attention to details that gave away the forgery.

00:07:46He explained that the antique market, especially in Eastern Europe, is flooded with fake Leica cameras designed to deceive collectors.

00:07:53The expert pointed out issues with serial numbers and the poor quality of the engraving, which is unacceptable for original

00:07:59Leicas.

00:08:00A real, rare Leica camera could be worth thousands of pounds.

00:08:04A giant stone sarcophagus.

00:08:07This sarcophagus belonged to the powerful pharaoh Ramesses III who ruled Egypt during the 20th dynasty.

00:08:14It represents a true masterpiece of ancient Egyptian sculpture and ritual art.

00:08:19The huge stone coffin is covered with meticulously carved symbols and scenes from the Book of the Dead,

00:08:24which were meant to help the pharaoh navigate the underworld and attain eternal life.

00:08:28Its side walls depict protective goddesses, such as Isis and Nephthys, spreading their wings to symbolize divine patronage and protection.

00:08:37Hieroglyphic inscriptions tell of the feats of Ramesses III and his connection to the gods.

00:08:43Interestingly, this sarcophagus was reused by the priest-kings during the 21st dynasty, showing how royal tombs were repurposed in

00:08:51later eras.

00:08:53Today, this magnificent sarcophagus is kept in the Louvre, where thousands of visitors can admire it.

00:08:59A half-million-year-old hammer.

00:09:01Let's start with a discovery that proves fine craftsmanship isn't an exclusive invention of recent times.

00:09:08In Boxgrove, southern England, archaeologists from University College London and the Natural History Museum have dated a small ivory artifact.

00:09:20It turned out to be the oldest such tool in all of Europe.

00:09:23It's about 500,000 years old.

00:09:26The object itself is just 11cm long and triangular in shape.

00:09:31It's a retoucher, a soft, percussive tool that early humans used to shape and sharpen stone implements.

00:09:37It may sound simple, but this very technology was one of the key milestones in the evolution of human tools.

00:09:42In Africa, similar bone tools date back over 1.5 million years, but in Europe, finds older than 40 to

00:09:4943,000 years are extremely rare.

00:09:51The artifact from Boxgrove instantly pushed that boundary back by more than 400,000 years.

00:09:57I'm not so much interested in the antiquity itself, but rather why they used bone instead of stone.

00:10:03The thing is, a bone retoucher allows you to sharpen the flint edge with precision, without damaging the tool itself.

00:10:09In other words, people back then already understood which material was best suited for which task.

00:10:15And elephants and mammoths in ancient Britain were a rare resource.

00:10:19So working with a durable layer of ivory required exceptional care and skill.

00:10:24Something anthropologists did not expect from ancient Europeans of that era at all.

00:10:28Microscopic analysis and 3D scanning revealed characteristic impact fractures on the surface,

00:10:34along with tiny fragments of flint embedded in them.

00:10:37In other words, the tool wasn't used just once, but regularly, perhaps even for years.

00:10:42It was made either by early Neanderthals or by Homo heidelbergensis, the direct ancestors of Neanderthals, and presumably, in part,

00:10:50of you and me.

00:10:52Study co-author Dr. Silvia Bello from the Natural History Museum said that working with ivory fragments and repeatedly using

00:10:59them to sharpen other tools demonstrates a high level of abstract thinking.

00:11:04Simply put, ancient humans didn't just grab whatever was at hand.

00:11:08They understood that bone worked better than stone for specific tasks and deliberately chose the material.

00:11:13It's funny that the bone fragment itself was excavated back in the early 1990s.

00:11:19It's just that, back then, nobody realized what it actually was.

00:11:23Only now, 30 years later, has a reanalysis revealed its true purpose.

00:11:29Deep man-made caves.

00:11:31In 1992, a resident of the Chinese village of Xi'an named Wu Annan was convinced that the pond near

00:11:39his house was man-made.

00:11:41Although local legend said it was bottomless and best left alone, he bought a pump, convinced several neighbors to help

00:11:47him, and they started pumping out the water.

00:11:49They pumped for 17 days straight, until the entrance to a massive man-made cave emerged underground.

00:11:55Then another, and another.

00:11:58And ultimately, beneath the village, there turned out to be 24 caves carved by hand, more than 2,000 years

00:12:04ago.

00:12:04Ancient and primitive are not synonymous words.

00:12:07Just because it was ancient, doesn't mean they lacked the technology to achieve all of this.

00:12:12Each is about the size of a football field, with ceilings as high as a 9-story building.

00:12:17The walls are covered with parallel grooves, all identical.

00:12:20Same depth, same angle, same distance between them.

00:12:23Clearly someone did this deliberately.

00:12:25But there is one oddity that archaeologists have noticed.

00:12:28The exact same pattern was found on ancient pottery from the same area over 2,000 years old.

00:12:34Someone intentionally copied the pattern from the pottery onto the stone walls.

00:12:38Who did this and why, no one knows to this day.

00:12:41People extracted about a million cubic meters of stone from the rock, which is roughly equal to the volume of

00:12:46400 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

00:12:48Where it went is unclear, because the area near the caves is empty.

00:12:53No piles of dirt, no traces that any digging took place here at all.

00:12:57China has a unique feature.

00:12:58Throughout its history, the government documented absolutely everything.

00:13:02The names of officials, harvests, floods, and disputes between neighbors.

00:13:07Yet, there isn't a single line in the chronicles about these caves over the course of 2,000 years as

00:13:11if they never existed, and now for the most interesting part.

00:13:14The caves weren't discovered by a scientist, nor by an expedition with modern equipment and funding.

00:13:19They were discovered by one man with a water pump, someone whom everyone considered an eccentric.

00:13:24And here is something worth thinking about.

00:13:26If beneath a single Chinese village there turned out to be 24 caves that no one knew about for 2

00:13:31,000 years,

00:13:32how many such places across the world right now are waiting for their own eccentric?

00:13:37A Sacrifice or a Trophy of War

00:13:40Archaeologists have found a 2nd century AD Roman enameled brooch.

00:13:44It was discovered at the site of an Iron Age settlement in South Ayrshire, Scotland.

00:13:49The artifact might have been used in a foundation sacrifice ritual,

00:13:53shedding new light on the interactions between the Romans and the local Britons.

00:13:56The excavations took place on the grounds of the William Grant and Sons distillery,

00:14:00where researchers found the remains of a large timber roundhouse and a fortified palisade.

00:14:05The brooch was lying in a foundation trench, which may indicate its ritual significance.

00:14:10Such brooches are found along the borders of the Roman Empire in Gaul, Switzerland and along the Rhine.

00:14:15Scientists suggest it could have reached Scotland as a war trophy, the result of trade or an offering to the

00:14:20gods.

00:14:21The Kurak settlement, where the find was made, was located in a strategic position.

00:14:26Although there were no Roman forts nearby, archaeologists uncovered traces of an ancient military camp.

00:14:31Besides the brooch, artifacts from the Neolithic and Bronze Age were found.

00:14:35This confirms that this area was inhabited for thousands of years.

00:14:40The Imam Reza Shrine is one of the most important religious complexes in the Islamic world

00:14:44and a pilgrimage center for millions of Shiites.

00:14:48The complex's architecture is striking in its grandeur and refined decorative work.

00:14:53Its magnificence reflects many centuries of Iranian history,

00:14:57during which the complex was repeatedly rebuilt and decorated.

00:15:01The mosaic work, mirror panels and golden domes decorating the mausoleum

00:15:05create an atmosphere that transports visitors to another world, a realm of spirituality and silence.

00:15:10Every millimeter of the space seems to come alive with light reflected from thousands of mirror pieces,

00:15:16creating an illusion of infinity.

00:15:18The complex includes not only the mausoleum itself, but also mosques, libraries, museums and religious schools.

00:15:24Valuable manuscripts, relics and works of art are kept here, symbolizing the rich cultural heritage of Iran.

00:15:32One of the most mystical aspects of the mausoleum is an ancient legend that prayers said here are answered.

00:15:39Pilgrims from all over the world come to the tomb to ask for health, forgiveness or a miracle.

00:15:45What are we passing on to our offspring?

00:15:48It turns out that the theory of evolution can also change unexpectedly,

00:15:52and I talked about the theory of human origins in more detail in my previous video.

00:15:57But right now, it's not about an artifact dug out of the ground,

00:16:00but about an idea that science had officially considered debunked, and is now reconsidering.

00:16:07In 1809, French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck suggested that organisms change under environmental pressure,

00:16:13and then pass these beneficial changes on to their offspring.

00:16:16Half a century later, Charles Darwin offered a different explanation.

00:16:20Individuals are inherently different from one another,

00:16:23and natural selection simply reinforces the useful variations.

00:16:26Lamarck's reputation was severely damaged by the experiments of German biologist August Weissmann.

00:16:31For several generations, he cut off the tails of rats, but the pups stubbornly continued to be born with tails.

00:16:37After that, biologists dismissed the idea of the inheritance of acquired traits as a naive misconception for a long time.

00:16:44However, modern molecular biology has revealed that the situation is more complex.

00:16:49Organisms, indeed, do not pass on just any bodily changes to their offspring.

00:16:53The tail-dogged rats were right in this regard,

00:16:55but sometimes organisms do inherit molecular mechanisms that help them cope with stress, infections or starvation.

00:17:01The most well-studied example is the nematode worm Canarabditis elegans.

00:17:07Following a viral infection, starvation or temperature stress,

00:17:11adult worms alter their gene expression and, in some cases,

00:17:14their offspring are born already prepared for a similar threat.

00:17:17Moreover, this effect persists for several generations in a row.

00:17:21The information is carried by small RNAs molecules that regulate gene activity during stress,

00:17:26and specialized proteins then delivers some of these molecules directly into the egg cells.

00:17:31Essentially, this loosely resembles a scenario where a person would acquire immunity after vaccination

00:17:36and pass that protection on not only to their children, but to their grandchildren as well.

00:17:41For a long time, it was believed that such marks are erased during reproduction.

00:17:45But it turns out that some of them are capable of surviving this reset.

00:17:48It seems these mechanisms have been found not only in worms, but also in bacteria, plants and animals.

00:17:53In rice, exposure to cold triggers chemical changes in genes that increase resistance to low temperatures.

00:18:00And this may have helped the crop spread much further north of the tropics, where it originates.

00:18:06And killer whales pass on hunting skills through learning.

00:18:08Some populations eat mostly fish, while others hunt marine mammals.

00:18:13And these cultural differences persist across generations.

00:18:17Biology doesn't require a complete return to Lamarckian ideas.

00:18:21Natural selection still explains most evolutionary changes, and both mechanisms seemingly can work together.

00:18:27I really like the idea that even the school-level model of evolution, which everyone considers long-settled,

00:18:34actually continues to be expanded and enriched with interesting new details.

00:18:39Maori ocean-going ship

00:18:42One of the most significant archaeological discoveries in recent decades has been made in New Zealand.

00:18:48Father and son Wayne and Ben Dix found the remains of an ancient ocean-going canoe known as a waka

00:18:53on the coast of Chatham Island Rekohu.

00:18:55Initially, they didn't even realize what they had found, thinking it was just an old piece of wood.

00:19:00However, after the initial excavation, it became clear that before them lay a massive wooden vessel

00:19:05that could be around 500 years old, archaeologists have already unearthed more than 400 fragments of the vessel,

00:19:11crafted from native New Zealand trees, Pukatea, Totara and Rimu.

00:19:16Experts believe the find is connected to the Moriori people, the indigenous inhabitants of the Chatham Islands.

00:19:21Perhaps it is the legendary waka ringihoa, mentioned in their ancient texts.

00:19:26The discovered canoe is remarkable not only for its size, but also for its unique design,

00:19:30which demonstrates the exceptional craftsmanship of the Moriori navigators.

00:19:35Archaeologists believe that studying the waka will help us better understand how the region's islands were settled,

00:19:40what routes ancient peoples traveled, and how far the sea routes of the Maori and Moriori extended.

00:19:47A die for making gold images

00:19:51In the central part of the island of Falster, located in southeastern Denmark,

00:19:55a metal detectorist made an incredible discovery that could not only rewrite the local history of the region,

00:20:01but also shed light on little-known pages of Danish history.

00:20:05Leonard Larsson, strolling in the rain searching for artifacts, heard a faint signal from his device.

00:20:09Digging into the soil, he discovered a small, unusual object,

00:20:14an ancient die for making gold foil figures,

00:20:17which were presumably used in cultic rituals as offerings to the gods.

00:20:22According to archaeologists from Museum Lowland Falster,

00:20:24this find could be linked to an ancient center of power or religious activity.

00:20:29Measuring just two centimeters, the die dates back to between 500 and 700 AD,

00:20:33a time before the dawn of the Viking Age.

00:20:36Such artifacts are exceptionally rare.

00:20:38In total, only 28 similar dies have been found in Scandinavia,

00:20:42and none south of the Baltic Sea.

00:20:44The die from Falster depicts a man in exquisite clothing,

00:20:48standing with his hands lowered and palms facing outward.

00:20:51This gesture is found in both pre-Christian and Christian cultures,

00:20:55symbolizing either submission or revelation.

00:20:57The true meaning of the image remains a mystery.

00:21:00It is still unknown whether the die depicts a man or a woman.

00:21:04Perhaps it is the figure of a king showing devotion to a deity,

00:21:07or conversely, a god revealing himself to a mortal.

00:21:11How does progress destroy history?

00:21:14The progress and development of some turned into misfortune for others.

00:21:17In this case, for the residents of Villarinho das Furnas.

00:21:20It was a village in Portugal that was 2000 years old.

00:21:23People lived here back in the times of the Roman Empire.

00:21:27And three Roman bridges that had actually survived to this day

00:21:30now lie at the bottom of the reservoir, along with all the other structures.

00:21:34Before the flooding, about 300 people lived here.

00:21:36They raised chickens, cows, pigs, sheep and goats.

00:21:39The pastures were on the hills, and there was hardly any arable land.

00:21:42So the houses leaned against each other, with their second floors hanging right over the narrow streets.

00:21:46Just an ordinary, lively village going about its life for 2000 years.

00:21:51Until 1972, when the Portuguese electric company decided to build a hydroelectric plant here.

00:21:57The village was in the way, so they decided to flood it.

00:22:00They started evicting the residents in 1969.

00:22:03The last person left the village in 1971.

00:22:07The compensation for the land was one escudo per two square meters.

00:22:11At the time, that was literally the price of a single sardine.

00:22:15They paid a bit more for the houses, but not much.

00:22:18Out of anger, people took everything they could.

00:22:20They tore the tiles off the roofs, dismantled the doors and windows, and left behind bare walls.

00:22:25Half a sardine per second, quire meter of 2000 year old history.

00:22:28In 1972, they blew up the retaining walls, and the water engulfed the village.

00:22:33It seemed like the end of the story, but it took an unexpected turn.

00:22:36When a prolonged drought hits the region, and the reservoir's water level drops,

00:22:41the walls of houses, the outlines of streets, and the remains of bridges begin to rise from beneath the surface.

00:22:46The village literally returns from under the water, and people from all over the country come to see it.

00:22:51Former residents and their descendants gather here every year.

00:22:54They stand on the shore, looking out at the rooftops of the houses where their parents and grandparents grew up.

00:22:59Books have been written about Villarinho, several documentaries have been made,

00:23:03there are museums, and there are children's books.

00:23:05The electric company has long been forgotten, but the village that was bought for the price of a sardine,

00:23:10lives on in people's memories half a century after being submerged.

00:23:14It's sad to realize what was lost, and to think about all those people going through this nightmare,

00:23:20forced to leave their land and their unique way of life.

00:23:24A unique artifact made of fragile material.

00:23:27In the ancient settlement of Tel Hadid, between the modern cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem,

00:23:33archaeologists from Tel Aviv University found a tiny seal.

00:23:37It is about 2,700 years old.

00:23:41Usually, such seals back then were made of hard stone, but this one was made of Mother of Pearl,

00:23:46the very same material used to make Mother of Pearl buttons and jewelry.

00:23:51Mother of Pearl is a very fragile material.

00:23:54If you carve it too forcefully with a sharp tool, it simply cracks and splits.

00:23:59Scholars say that carving such a thin seal from Mother of Pearl back in those times was an almost impossible

00:24:05feat.

00:24:06After all, the tools of that era were crude and unforgiving.

00:24:09The seal's material itself is also astonishing.

00:24:12Yet it was taken from the shell of a pearl oyster that lives in the Red Sea and the Persian

00:24:16Gulf.

00:24:17This means that the raw material for such a small item traveled hundreds of kilometers before reaching the Master's hands.

00:24:24In the 8th century BC, the city of Tel Hadid stood on a hill overlooking the coastal plain,

00:24:30occupying an important position in the region.

00:24:32After the Assyrian Empire conquered the Kingdom of Israel,

00:24:35the authorities often relocated the conquered peoples to different parts of their vast realm.

00:24:39Because of this, people from all kinds of places mixed together in the settlements.

00:24:43Perhaps the Mother of Pearl ended up here with one of the relocated families.

00:24:47Or maybe it was brought as a finished piece along the trade routes of Assyria.

00:24:51A crescent moon on a triangular base and the figure of a man with his arms stretched upward,

00:24:55as if he were praying to someone, are carved on the seal.

00:24:58These are the symbols of the moon god named Sin,

00:25:00who was worshipped in the western provinces of the Assyrian Empire.

00:25:04The carving was made very shallow,

00:25:06most likely to avoid accidentally splitting the fragile material while working.

00:25:09Because of this feature,

00:25:10scientists think that the item was unlikely used as a regular seal for impressions on clay or wax.

00:25:16Most likely it was worn as an amulet,

00:25:18a piece of jewelry with religious significance.

00:25:20It turns out that three rare things were found at once in a single small object.

00:25:25An unusual material, foreign religious symbolism and craftsmanship

00:25:28that pushed the very limits of what was possible in that era.

00:25:32All of this shows just how different the people were who lived side by side in the Middle East nearly

00:25:373000 years ago.

00:25:40Found something more valuable than what I was looking for.

00:25:43Very often, the most valuable finds aren't made by professional archaeologists,

00:25:48but by people who didn't even plan on finding anything.

00:25:52On a beach in Ashdod, Israel, Avi Cheprak, the deputy head of the Municipal Beaches Department,

00:25:57was surveying the shore to help beachgoers search for lost jewelry and other valuables.

00:26:03And amid this routine, he stumbled upon an ancient coin around two and a half thousand years old.

00:26:10Sheprak handed the find over to the Israel Antiquities Authority,

00:26:13where it turned out to be the first coin of its kind ever found in Israel.

00:26:18Experts identified it as a Persian period siglos coin, minted in the mid-5th century BC originating from the ancient

00:26:26city of Salamis in Cyprus.

00:26:30Testing revealed that the coin wasn't solid silver, but silver-plated metal, which is typical of Cypriot coins from that

00:26:36era.

00:26:38One side depicts a reclining ram, while the other shows a ram's head beside a laurel branch and characters likely

00:26:45written in the Cypriot syllabary.

00:26:47What makes the find especially valuable is that the coin survived intact.

00:26:51Back then, such coins were typically cut into pieces for trade transactions, but for some reason this one wasn't.

00:26:57According to researchers, the location and circumstances of the find itself could help us better understand the maritime trade routes

00:27:03between Cyprus and modern-day Israel 2,500 years ago.

00:27:06And for his discovery, Vesheprak was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation.

00:27:11It was obvious that the coin was part of public and historical heritage, so he immediately handed it over to

00:27:16specialists instead of keeping it for himself.

00:27:19The Trilithon. In Baalbek, in the foundation of the Temple of Jupiter, there are three huge stone blocks that still

00:27:25baffle even seasoned archaeologists to this day.

00:27:28They're called the Trilithon. Just imagine the scale.

00:27:31Each block weighs nearly 800 tons and their dimensions are staggering.

00:27:37Around 19 meters long, just over 4 meters high and roughly 3.6 meters wide.

00:27:42Even nowadays, lifting and moving such giant stones would be no easy task, yet the ancient builders had no cranes

00:27:48or heavy machinery at their disposal.

00:27:50To this day, it's still not entirely clear how exactly these gigantic stones were transported and put into place.

00:27:55It is believed that the stone blocks were moved on special wooden sledges, using rollers made of logs and hundreds

00:28:00of workers.

00:28:00Some have even suggested that aliens were involved in the construction, but serious scientists dismiss such hypotheses.

00:28:07The Trilithon is not just the Temple's foundation, but a striking example of how sophisticated the engineering knowledge of ancient

00:28:13civilizations truly was.

00:28:14Perhaps future discoveries will help unravel the mystery behind the emergence of such massive structures in antiquity.

00:28:19Alien in Aliens Alien.

00:28:21V CHUJIH RUKAH.

00:28:23And now, a story not about what was found, but about what lies where it shouldn't.

00:28:27There are things kept in the world's most famous museums, yet half the planet believes they don't belong there.

00:28:34A book called Jiki.

00:28:36It's the world's oldest book printed with movable metal type in 1377-78 years earlier than the famous Gutenberg Bible.

00:28:46In other words, Koreans mastered book printing nearly a century before Europeans.

00:28:50UNESCO recognized it as a World Heritage artifact.

00:28:53It is currently kept in the National Library of France, where a French diplomat took it back in the early

00:28:5820th century, Korea is asking for it back.

00:29:01France refuses, explaining that the book is a treasure of all humanity.

00:29:05The bust of Queen Nefertiti.

00:29:07The limestone face is almost three and a half thousand years old, and it is one of the most recognizable

00:29:12images in history.

00:29:13It has been kept in Berlin since 1913.

00:29:16Egypt has been asking for its return for decades, and for decades has been refused.

00:29:21The Khoi Inor diamond.

00:29:23105 carats.

00:29:24It has adorned the British monarch's crowns since the 19th century.

00:29:27It came to Britain after the conquest of the Sikh Empire.

00:29:30India, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan.

00:29:33Four countries at once want it back.

00:29:35Britain has no intention of returning it.

00:29:37And the wildest story of all is the gold of Troy, the so-called Priam's treasure.

00:29:41They were dug up in Turkey by archaeologist Schliemann in 1873, and secretly smuggled out of the Ottoman Empire.

00:29:48During World War II, the gold was hidden in Germany, and then it ended up in the USSR.

00:29:53Today, the treasures of Troy are in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, and Russia considers them its own.

00:29:58An ancient book, an ancient face, an ancient stone, and ancient gold, dug up in one country, exhibited in another.

00:30:04And the debate over who they really belong to has been going on longer than some nations have existed.

00:30:09The image of a king carved in marble.

00:30:12The next find comes from Iraq, from a city that has recently been associated more with war than with archaeology.

00:30:19A joint team of Iraqi and American archaeologists discovered a monumental 7th century BC Assyrian stele near the ancient Sunday

00:30:28gate of Nineveh in Mosul.

00:30:30They found it during restoration work.

00:30:34Nineveh was heavily damaged during the occupation of Mosul by the Islamic State group from 2014 to 2017.

00:30:39Back then, ancient city walls, a museum, and many archaeological sites were destroyed or damaged.

00:30:45Today, the city is being restored.

00:30:47And it was during the restoration work, carried out jointly with the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures at

00:30:52the University of Chicago, that archaeologists came across the stele.

00:30:55The stone itself is carved from a single block of local marble, about two meters high, and roughly one and

00:31:01a half meters wide.

00:31:01Almost the entire front side is occupied by a large relief depicting King Ashurbanipal, the very one who ruled the

00:31:08Neo-Assyrian Empire from 668 to 627 BC in his characteristic bronze helmet.

00:31:14On the reverse side are two more smaller reliefs, presumably also depicting Assyrian kings.

00:31:19Next to the figures is an extensive cuneiform inscription that has not yet been fully deciphered.

00:31:25Early translations indicate that the text is dedicated to Ashurbanipal's construction projects in Nineveh,

00:31:31and other parts of the empire.

00:31:33The Sunday Gate, where the stele was found, was one of the main entrances in the ancient city's massive defensive

00:31:39walls,

00:31:40and funny enough, it's still used for car traffic today, just in modern-day Mosul.

00:31:45They haven't decided where the monument will be permanently housed yet,

00:31:48but the researcher hopes that further deciphering of the inscription will help shed light on the final decades of the

00:31:54Neo-Assyrian Empire.

00:31:55An empire over two and a half thousand years old is still sending us new discoveries.

00:32:00It's just that we literally have to dig them out from under the rubble of modern warfare.

00:32:05A copper plant in the mountains, in the eastern Pyrenees, at an altitude of 2,235 meters above sea level,

00:32:13lies hidden Kova 338 cave that is taller than seven Eiffel towers stacked on top of each other.

00:32:19The air here is thin and hard to breathe.

00:32:21In winter everything is blanketed in snow, and even today you can't drive up there.

00:32:25Neither a car nor any other wheeled vehicle can make it up here.

00:32:29Archaeologists hike up on foot, carrying all their gear on their backs.

00:32:33It would be logical to assume that ancient people had no business being in such a place.

00:32:38No food, no shelter, just cold and stone.

00:32:41For decades that was the official narrative.

00:32:43The mountains were considered a lifeless fringe that history simply passed by.

00:32:48Room 338 proved the opposite.

00:32:51Inside they found nearly 200 pieces of bright green malachite stone used for smelting copper.

00:32:56The thing is, there is no malachite in the cave itself.

00:32:59The nearest deposits lie far below, down in the valley.

00:33:02Someone deliberately hauled these heavy stones along with firewood for the blaze up the steep slopes

00:33:07to an altitude of over two kilometers.

00:33:10And nearby, archaeologists excavated ancient hearths with many pieces of malachite bearing traces of fire.

00:33:16As researcher Julia Monteslanda from the University of Granada explained,

00:33:19burning the stone was no accident, it was a deliberate smelting process.

00:33:22A real workshop operated under the clouds, and people returned here time and time again.

00:33:28Radiocarbon dating revealed that people kept returning to this very spot over the course of 3,000 years, generation after

00:33:34generation.

00:33:35The path to the Hidden Mountain Cave was passed down like a secret inheritance.

00:33:38By word of mouth, for centuries, the cave also held traces of human presence.

00:33:42In one of the layers, they found a baby tooth and a finger bone belonging to an 11-year-old

00:33:47child,

00:33:48along with two pieces of jewelry nearby.

00:33:50A pendant made of a seashell brought from the coast tens of kilometers away,

00:33:54and a pendant made from a pierced brown bear's canine tooth,

00:33:56an amulet that bound its owner to the most dangerous beast of these mountains.

00:34:02Bronze Age gold spirals!

00:34:04And now let's travel to Germany, to the state of Lower Saxony.

00:34:09There, near the village of Gessel, archaeologists uncovered one of the largest Bronze Age gold hordes in Europe.

00:34:15At first glance, it sounds simple enough, they found some gold, but that's where the most interesting part begins.

00:34:21In the ground lay 117 gold objects with a total weight of more than one and a half kilograms.

00:34:27They were buried around 3,000 years ago, when Europe had none of the states, cities or maps we are

00:34:32used to.

00:34:32Someone carefully placed this gold into a linen bag, secured it with bronze pins and hid it in the ground.

00:34:39They didn't drop it in a panic, nor lose it by accident, but deliberately prepared and buried it.

00:34:43And for over 10 years now, scientists have been trying to understand why.

00:34:46What's also strange is that it's hardly even jewelry.

00:34:49There were only three personal items in the horde, two bracelets and one gold brooch,

00:34:54while the rest consisted of dozens of spiral rings and individual spirals.

00:34:58Archaeologists believe these might not have been jewelry, but a kind of Bronze Age currency.

00:35:02In other words, what we're looking at isn't just treasure, but an ancient reserve of wealth.

00:35:07The gold brooch stands out in particular.

00:35:09It was once around 16 cm long, decorated with solar symbols and rows of circles,

00:35:14but before the horde was buried, it was bent for some reason, making the find even stranger.

00:35:19If someone wanted to preserve an item, why damage it?

00:35:22And if it was a ritual, who was it dedicated to?

00:35:25They didn't find any settlement or grave nearby, no clear explanation at all,

00:35:30just a spot in the ground where someone hid immense wealth, 3,300 years ago, and never came back for

00:35:36it.

00:35:37There's one more detail.

00:35:38Initial analysis showed that some of the golds might have come from very distant places,

00:35:43perhaps even from Central Asia.

00:35:44If this is confirmed, it means that even back in the Bronze Age,

00:35:48gold traveled thousands of kilometers through trade networks we still know far too little about.

00:35:52And right here, the ancient world once again turns out to be not nearly as simple as we used to

00:35:57think.

00:35:57Not tiny, isolated tribes, who never left their village,

00:36:01but people between whom metals, ideas, symbols, and wealth could travel across vast distances.

00:36:08The lead-laced death of the Roman Empire

00:36:10There is a fascinating and chilling theory that the Roman Empire collapsed

00:36:14because the Romans literally drank themselves to death.

00:36:17Supposedly lead from water pipes caused infertility, dementia, and paralysis,

00:36:21paralyzing the entire elite.

00:36:23Looking at the antics of Caligula or Nero, it's easy to believe.

00:36:27But by 2025 scientists conclusively proved that lead had nothing to do with it at all.

00:36:32The idea of mass poisoning was heavily pushed back in the 80s,

00:36:36claiming that lead accumulated in the bodies of aristocrats and caused degeneration,

00:36:40but the reality turned out to be much more practical.

00:36:43First of all, the water in Rome was very hard with a high calcium content.

00:36:46The pipes quickly became coated with a thick layer of limescale,

00:36:50and this build-up acted as a perfect insulator that physically prevented the lead from getting into the water.

00:36:55Back in the first century BC, the Roman architect Vitruvius recommended using clay pipes instead of lead ones,

00:37:01but not out of fear of death, simply because it was cheaper.

00:37:05Secondly, running water was a luxury.

00:37:07Ninety percent of Rome's population got their water from public fountains and cisterns,

00:37:11where there wasn't a trace of lead.

00:37:12If the pipes were lethal, the upper class should have perished first, not the Empire as a whole.

00:37:17Yet Rome's elite really were being poisoned by lead.

00:37:20The source was just somewhere else, in their wine cups.

00:37:23Romans loved sweet syrups like Sapa and Difrutum,

00:37:27brewed from grape juice strictly in lead cauldrons.

00:37:29The lead gave the drink its sweetness and acted as a preservative.

00:37:32This toxic syrup was added everywhere, into food, sauces and wine.

00:37:36It was a lead bomb. A real lead bomb.

00:37:39Other studies of Arctic ice cores have confirmed that during the Roman era,

00:37:42atmospheric lead levels were tens of times higher than normal due to silver mining.

00:37:47Yet even such concentrations raised blood lead levels in children minimally.

00:37:50It might have lowered IQ by two to three points, which is unfortunate but certainly not fatal to the Empire.

00:37:56The Roman Empire collapsed due to economic failure and the breakdown of its army, not lead pipes.

00:38:01Lead was merely background noise in the grand finale of a great superpower.

00:38:06Scarabs and the law, in an episode of Pawn Stars, where folks bring all kinds of rarities into a pawn

00:38:12shop.

00:38:13A story unfolded that perfectly illustrates how the price of antiquities really works.

00:38:18A woman brought in a gold ring set with an ancient Egyptian scarab,

00:38:22a sacred beetle that Egyptians crafted by the thousands as amulets.

00:38:26According to family lore, the ring is over three and a half thousand years old,

00:38:30dating back to the 18th dynasty, the very same one Tutankhamun and Nefertiti belonged to.

00:38:35The woman was hoping to get fifteen thousand dollars for it.

00:38:38They called in an expert. And that's when things got interesting.

00:38:41The expert picks up the ring and examines the scarab.

00:38:44Yeah, he says the beetle is genuine, an authentic ancient Egyptian artifact.

00:38:48But then he looks over at the setting itself, at the gold, and everything falls apart.

00:38:52The weave, the technique, the style of work.

00:38:56All of this points not to ancient Egypt, but to the beginning of the 20th century around 1900.

00:39:02What does that mean?

00:39:03Back then, there was a real Egypt craze in Europe and America.

00:39:07Everyone was crazy about pharaohs and tombs,

00:39:09and enterprising people started a whole business out of it.

00:39:12They took genuine ancient scarabs, which were literally found by the handful in the Egyptian sand,

00:39:17set them into brand new gold rings, and sold them to tourists as ancient relics.

00:39:21In other words, the beetle is ancient, but the ring is just a century old souvenir.

00:39:25And the price ended up reflecting that.

00:39:27The expert valued this scarab itself at about 200 to 250 dollars,

00:39:31and the gold at another 200 instead of 15,000.

00:39:34The woman walked away with 360 dollars.

00:39:37And here is the main lesson in all this.

00:39:39In archaeology, context is everything.

00:39:41An ancient artifact, pulled from its native context, from a tomb,

00:39:46from the layer of earth, from the history attached to it,

00:39:49and mounted into a modern setting, ceases to be a museum treasure.

00:39:53It simply turns into a piece of vintage jewelry with a cute beetle.

00:39:56The beetle itself hasn't changed one bit during this time.

00:39:59Everything around it has.

00:40:00It amazes me that an authentic artifact from ancient Egypt, more than 3,000 years old,

00:40:06isn't worth billions.

00:40:07I would just keep it for myself out of pure interest.

00:40:10And I don't give a damn that the gold setting is a modern replica.

00:40:15The First Astronomical Observatory

00:40:17A recently discovered ancient Egyptian observatory, the first of its kind,

00:40:22demonstrates the Egyptians' profound knowledge of astronomy,

00:40:25and its close connection to their spiritual and ritual practices.

00:40:29It is the largest and earliest known observatory in the history of Egypt.

00:40:33The remains of the 6th century BC structure were unearthed three years ago

00:40:37during excavations in the ancient city of Butto,

00:40:40now known as Tel el-Fara'in in the Kafr el-Sheikh governorate.

00:40:44Everything we found exceeded our expectations, said Hosam Gonim,

00:40:49director general of Kafr el-Sheikh antiquities and head of the archaeological mission.

00:40:54Archaeologists uncover the ruins of an L-shaped mud brick building,

00:40:58covering an area of about 850 square meters.

00:41:01The eastern entrance leads to a spot where sunlight illuminated the observation point for the sun and stars,

00:41:07where the astronomer-priest once stood.

00:41:09Preserved on the walls is an image of him facing the rising sun,

00:41:14portraying the ancient Egyptian's connection to the cosmos.

00:41:17Initially, researchers thought they had discovered the temple,

00:41:20but the discovery of astronomy-related artifacts and inscriptions,

00:41:24such as sundials and other time-keeping instruments,

00:41:27led to the conclusion that it was an observatory.

00:41:29Inside the hall, astronomical depictions of the sunrise and sunset across the three seasons were found.

00:41:35Artifacts found, such as statues of Horus and Osiris,

00:41:38along with a bronze figurine of Osiris with a serpent,

00:41:41confirmed the importance of the observatory's spiritual and scientific roles.

00:41:45A pyramid from the oldest civilization.

00:41:48The Norte Chico culture, also known as Caral Sup,

00:41:52is considered one of the oldest and most advanced civilizations of the Andes.

00:41:56It existed about 5000 years ago and achieved significant success in architecture, agriculture and social organization.

00:42:03Recently, archaeologists discovered a pyramidal structure,

00:42:07about a kilometer from the sacred city of Caral Sup, in the Sup Valley of Peru.

00:42:12The structure is a quadrangular building with a wide staircase leading to the top,

00:42:16its walls decorated with massive vertical Juanca stones,

00:42:19which may have served not only a structural but also a ritual purpose.

00:42:23In addition to the pyramid, researchers found 12 public and ceremonial buildings arranged around the central plaza,

00:42:30covering an area of nearly 39 hectares.

00:42:33This points to the existence of a small urban center with administrative and religious functions.

00:42:39Three platforms were identified in the pyramid,

00:42:41indicating a sophisticated architectural tradition of the Caral civilization.

00:42:45At the Chupasigaro site, archaeologists also uncovered a unique geoglyph crafted in the Sekin style.

00:42:50It depicts a human profile,

00:42:53and is likely tied to rituals reflecting access to the region's marine and agricultural resources.

00:43:00Giant's grave

00:43:01In Sardinia, near the town of Macommer,

00:43:05at an altitude of 740 meters,

00:43:07they found a so-called Giant's grave that is 3,800 years old.

00:43:12The two-level structure is built from track height blocks,

00:43:15and was completely hidden by thickets for many years,

00:43:17making it simply impossible to spot from the trail.

00:43:20Inside the burial chamber and a monumental semicircular excedra in front of the entrance,

00:43:25a sort of ceremonial courtyard have been preserved.

00:43:27The unique feature of this particular tomb is that the area near the entrance is divided into two levels.

00:43:33Such a design is found extremely rarely,

00:43:35and it could change our understanding of the construction technologies of the Neuragic civilization,

00:43:40which existed in Sardinia before the arrival of the Romans.

00:43:43The giants' graves themselves appeared around 1800 BC,

00:43:47as an evolution of ancient dolmens, and served as collective burial sites.

00:43:51In other words, not just one person was buried here, but many at once,

00:43:55and the semicircular area in front of the entrance was used for ceremonies honoring the ancestors.

00:44:01Scientists found ceramics that confirm people lived in this area from the earliest periods,

00:44:06and around the tomb are traces of human presence from prehistoric times to the Roman era.

00:44:11But along with this, the experts noticed something unpleasant.

00:44:15Clear signs of illegal excavations.

00:44:17That means someone reached the tomb before the archaeologists

00:44:20and may have already taken something out of it,

00:44:22and the very name giant's grave isn't an archaeological term, but a local legend.

00:44:28According to legend, the Neuragic people who built such structures were tall.

00:44:32It's impossible to verify this because their remains simply haven't survived.

00:44:37The Golden Head of a God and the Three Faces of Death

00:44:40In the ancient Egyptian city of Hierakonpolis,

00:44:43which was the country's religious center long before the Great Pyramids were built,

00:44:47researchers made a discovery that still carries an air of mystery to this day.

00:44:50Right beneath the floor of the main hall of the temple of the god Horus,

00:44:54a golden falcon head was discovered,

00:44:56a masterpiece from the old kingdom era, crafted over 4000 years ago.

00:45:01Horus was the lord of the sun and the chief patron of royal power,

00:45:05which is why his depictions were always especially lavish.

00:45:08But this artifact is unique.

00:45:10The head is crafted from pure gold,

00:45:12and its eyes are inlaid with obsidian volcanic glass of a deep black color.

00:45:16When you look at this visage, it creates a chilling illusion of a living, piercing gaze.

00:45:21The obsidian reflects light in such a way that the deity seems to be watching you across the centuries.

00:45:26Scientists believe that the head was hidden beneath the temple floor

00:45:29during a ritual renewal of the sanctuary or in a moment of grave danger.

00:45:33Today, this golden falcon is kept in the Cairo Museum,

00:45:36remaining one of the few surviving depictions of gods made of precious metals from that era.

00:45:40It is a physical embodiment of that belief,

00:45:42demonstrating that the gods were literally present in their temples,

00:45:46watching over order in the human world.

00:45:48But whereas the Egyptians sought to capture divine majesty,

00:45:50in ancient Mexico art served to explain the brutal and inevitable reality of life.

00:45:56Archaeologists there discovered a unique Aztec terracotta work,

00:45:59dating to around 1300 BC.

00:46:02Three faces nested inside each other,

00:46:04representing the endless cycle of human existence.

00:46:07The sculpture's design conveys a striking philosophical idea.

00:46:11A toothless old man, depicted in two halves,

00:46:14seems to enclose the face of a young man at the very center,

00:46:17while the whole composition's framed by the frozen face of a dead man.

00:46:20For the Aztecs, death was not the end of the road or a tragedy.

00:46:23It was perceived as just another phase necessary for the eternal renewal of the world.

00:46:27Old age gives way to youth, and death watches over this cycle, bringing it full circle.

00:46:33These two finds, the golden falcon from Egypt and the three clay faces from Mexico,

00:46:37show how differently our ancestors perceived eternity.

00:46:39For some, it lay in enduring gold and a divine gaze.

00:46:43For others, it lay in the endless succession of masks of life and death.

00:46:47Yet both of these artifacts were crafted with a single purpose,

00:46:50to make us reflect on our place in this grand spectacle of history.

00:46:54Meteoric Iron, 1200-1000 BC

00:46:59In southwestern China, in Sichuan province, on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River,

00:47:04lies a site called Sanxingdui,

00:47:06possibly the remains of the capital of an entire state,

00:47:09of which almost no written records have survived.

00:47:12In the sacrificial pits here, amazing things are found.

00:47:14Huge bronze masks with bulging eyes over a meter high,

00:47:18golden scepters and jade figurines.

00:47:20Good damn objects of such craftsmanship that you look at them and just can't understand how they were made by

00:47:24hand.

00:47:25In one of the pits, they found an object in terrible condition.

00:47:28Fragile, crumbling, looking like an axe.

00:47:30About 20 cm long.

00:47:33They extracted it along with the soil,

00:47:35cleaned it up in the lab and analyzed the metal's composition.

00:47:37It turned out to contain almost 20% nickel.

00:47:40That's a crucial figure.

00:47:42Back to meteorites.

00:47:43Iron mined from terrestrial ore contains less than 1% nickel,

00:47:47whereas iron from a meteorite yields precisely these figures, around 20% and higher.

00:47:51Someone found a stone that fell from the sky, realized it was harder than anything on earth,

00:47:56and made a tool out of it.

00:47:58Around 1200-1000 BC, several centuries before people in this region even learned how to smelt iron from ore.

00:48:05But such finds exist all over the world.

00:48:07In Egypt, meteoric iron jewelry over 5000 years old, made even before the construction of the pyramids.

00:48:14In western China, a knife from around 3000 BC.

00:48:17In Turkey, an amulet nearly 5000 years old.

00:48:21In Poland, bracelets and pins around 2600 years old.

00:48:26In different parts of the planet, in cultures that had no idea about each other.

00:48:30People looked at the sky, saw falling stones and understood that this was more valuable than gold,

00:48:34because it truly was more valuable.

00:48:36Iron, stronger than any bronze, and sharper than any copper.

00:48:40The first metal mankind ever encountered fell from the sky.

00:48:44Tell me in the comments, did you know that?

00:48:46And we're rewriting history once again.

00:48:49The next find isn't an object, but literally an imprint of a moment that lasted just a few seconds,

00:48:56yet was preserved for over a million years.

00:48:59In northern Kenya, along the shores of Lake Turkana,

00:49:02an international team of researchers led by Kevin Hatala described in detail

00:49:07a fossilized trackway dated to 1.4 million years ago.

00:49:11It captures a group of eight Paranthropos boisei, extinct human relatives,

00:49:17who were leisurely walking along the muddy shore past hippos and antelopes.

00:49:21The story of this find began almost half a century ago.

00:49:25Back in 1978, geologist Kay Behrensmeyer from the Smithsonian Institution noticed a strange rounded depression in the rock.

00:49:33When her colleagues cleared away the rock layer,

00:49:35they found a pair of footprints pressed into the ancient mud right next to a hippo track.

00:49:41The site was temporarily covered with sand for preservation and full-scale excavations only resumed in 2016 and 2023,

00:49:47revealing a true archive, 21 hominin footprints,

00:49:50plus tracks of crocodiles, elephants and other animals from that era.

00:49:55Volcanic ash helped pinpoint the exact age of the footprints,

00:49:59of around 1,430,000 years ago.

00:50:02At that time, two distinct species of bipeds were living by the lake at the same time,

00:50:06the stocky Paranthropus boisei with powerful teeth,

00:50:09and Homo erectus, a likely direct ancestor of modern humans.

00:50:12And this is where it gets interesting.

00:50:14The footprint analysis showed that the Paranthropines were up to 1.8 meters tall

00:50:19and weighed around 70 to 75 kilograms.

00:50:22That is, they were by no means smaller or weaker than members of the genus Homo, as was long believed.

00:50:27Both species apparently had similar dimensions and live side by side in the exact same environment.

00:50:32Nowadays, we live side by side with people of different ethnicities and skin colors.

00:50:36But back then, human-like creatures could live right next to each other, and even reproduce.

00:50:40And there's a second surprise.

00:50:42All eight individuals who left the trail of footprints were predominantly adult males,

00:50:47with no females or children.

00:50:49One of the researchers, Neil Roach from Harvard, believes this points to a complex social structure.

00:50:56Perhaps the males lived in large groups, competing for mates,

00:50:59but gathered in sort of patrol squads for safety near the water.

00:51:02Eight Paranthropus individuals once walked across the wet mud, hurrying somewhere on business of their own.

00:51:07And they had no idea that their path would be frozen for 1.4 million years,

00:51:12forcing us to rewrite the textbook notion of who was bigger, them or our direct ancestors.

00:51:19Gears of Maester is the Antikythera mechanism, the planet's oldest computer,

00:51:24has always seemed like something straight out of an Indiana Jones movie.

00:51:27Bronzy gears, a hand crank, a dial and eclipses, an entire ancient NASA in a box.

00:51:32But a recent 3D simulation literally broke the legend down tooth by tooth.

00:51:36Scientists recreated every single gear down to the micron and ran the virtual device through a full calendar cycle.

00:51:42The result was a total shock. After 4 months of continuous operation, the teeth began catching,

00:51:47the load increased and by the 6th month the digital replica simply jammed.

00:51:51The error isn't in the software, the model accounts for all casting defects.

00:51:55The tooth pitch and play in the shafts were measured on the actual artifact.

00:51:58If the numbers are correct, the mechanism in its original form couldn't reliably predict eclipses years in advance,

00:52:04as enthusiasts claimed. The theory that it was a tabletop planetarium toy suddenly seems more plausible.

00:52:09The owner turned the crank, demonstrating the motion of the sun and moon,

00:52:13enough for a wow factor with the elite crowd, but not for the daily calculations of an astronomer-priest.

00:52:17There is also another possibility.

00:52:19The bronze spent 2000 years underwater, corrosion ate away fractions of a millimeter

00:52:23and disrupted the perfect synchronization.

00:52:25If so, the original device truly worked flawlessly.

00:52:28And what we are seeing is merely its rusted screenshot.

00:52:31To test the hypothesis, engineers will have to make a replica with perfectly uniform teeth

00:52:35and run the extended test again.

00:52:37While debates rage on, there's only one conclusion.

00:52:40The antique teaser mechanism remains a puzzle on the level of a Rubik's Cube.

00:52:44Only antiquity has added a layer of mystique.

00:52:46Either we are underestimating ancient engineers, or overestimating our own desire to see advanced technology in every single mystery.

00:52:53An engineer from the future.

00:52:55In 1961 in the archives of the Romanian city of Cebu, a professor was looking through all military records,

00:53:01and accidentally stumbled upon a manuscript.

00:53:04Between tables and calculations were strange diagrams, not crossbows, not cannons, but multistage rockets,

00:53:10stabilizers, nozzles, and mentions of fuel.

00:53:12It all looked like technical documentation from the 20th century, but the document was created in the 16th century.

00:53:17The author turned out to be Conrad Haas, an artillery master serving at the court in Transylvania.

00:53:22He ran the barracks, drew diagrams, and wrote without embellishments or unnecessary words.

00:53:26His treatise was simply titled,

00:53:28How to make a good rocket capable of ascending into the sky on its own.

00:53:31Diagrams, calculations, and sparse explanations.

00:53:34Everything as if he was genuinely trying to build something that didn't exist yet back then.

00:53:39Little is known about his life.

00:53:41He was born in 1509.

00:53:43He was an engineer.

00:53:44He didn't take part in battles, but he created weapons.

00:53:47At the very end of the manuscript, he left a sentence unlike anything else.

00:53:50More peace and less war.

00:53:52Let the guns remain in storage.

00:53:53Let there be no shots fired.

00:53:54Then the prince will save his money, and the armorer his life.

00:53:58This isn't a statement, just a quiet line at the bottom of the page.

00:54:02A child discovered a gruesome burial site.

00:54:05The next find began in the most mundane way possible, with a kid just playing in the yard.

00:54:11In an Austrian town, a little girl found a bone on the lawn, and her mother reported it to the

00:54:17police.

00:54:18The initial tests quickly confirmed that the bone was human.

00:54:22The Austrian Federal Monuments Office got involved.

00:54:25And full-scale excavations began.

00:54:28At first, the archaeologists uncovered six mass graves.

00:54:32Then another nine in total.

00:54:34The remains belonged to at least 120 people.

00:54:37They were scattered haphazardly across an area of about 150 square meters.

00:54:41Apparently, the bodies had been dumped into the pits in a hurry, without any burial rituals.

00:54:47Anthropologists determined that the remains belonged predominantly to young men.

00:54:51Between 15 and 20 years old, the cause of death is not yet clear.

00:54:55They found no traces of gunshot wounds.

00:54:57Although in one case, they discovered that shortly before death, one person had their lower leg amputated.

00:55:03Which might indicate that this was a burial site at a military hospital.

00:55:08The arrangement of the graves and the initial anthropological analysis suggests that the people died during the Napoleonic Wars.

00:55:15Which took place from 1792 to 1815.

00:55:19In other words, they were possibly patients of a field hospital or camp who were buried together.

00:55:24Further research, DNA analysis and isotopic analysis should shed light on the origins of these people, as well as their

00:55:30diet and the circumstances of their death.

00:55:32Experts are already calling the find one of the most important archaeological discoveries of recent decades.

00:55:38Precisely because of the scale.

00:55:40120 people in one place.

00:55:42That is a rarity even for the sites of major historical battles.

00:55:46A Minoan Grill.

00:55:47In the display case of the Museum of Prehistoric Thera, sits what looks like a familiar barbecue grill.

00:55:53But it is over 3000 years old.

00:55:55The Benoan stone blocks from Santorini look like a miniature relief of a fortress wall.

00:55:59On the sides are bulls heads, on top are slots for skewers and along the bottom is an even row

00:56:04of round holes.

00:56:05Air blew through them over the coals, turning the portable contraption into a turbocharged Bronze Age grill.

00:56:10Imagine sailors in the port of Akrotiri tossing chunks of goat meat onto these stone griddles.

00:56:15While the aroma of smoke wafts through the narrow streets that are now buried under eruption ash.

00:56:20Scholars have long argued over why the Minoans needed such mobility.

00:56:23Shipboard banquets, street vending or ritual feast where the sacrificial offering was divvied up right by the shrine.

00:56:28Whichever theory wins out, the technology works flawlessly.

00:56:32Air enters beneath the coals, passes through a line of holes and heats the stone evenly.

00:56:36Mother chefs do the exact same thing when they set up a fan by the grill.

00:56:41Every time we take a bite of hot meat on the Aegean coast, we are repeating a recipe the Minoans

00:56:46were perfecting long before the Trojan War.

00:56:49The healing properties of Stonehenge Stonehenge, shrouded in an aura of mysticism and ancient secrets, remains one of the most

00:56:57enigmatic archaeological sites in the world.

00:57:00Erected during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, this monument attracts researchers' attention with its unique stones and mystical past.

00:57:08Archaeological finds around Stonehenge are striking in their diversity, ranging from human remains to everyday objects.

00:57:16Among the most significant discoveries are numerous burials, believed to belong to people who traveled here from various corners of

00:57:23ancient Britain and even Europe.

00:57:26The skeletons unearthed around Stonehenge often show signs of surgical intervention and other forms of medical treatment, suggesting this place

00:57:35might have been used for healing.

00:57:37There are several theories regarding the original purpose of Stonehenge.

00:57:41Some scholars view it as an ancient astronomical calendar, while others see it as a site for rituals and celebrations.

00:57:48Yet theories and hypotheses surrounding Stonehenge as a healing center attract particular attention.

00:57:53This theory is supported by analysis of human remains and artifacts found in the vicinity of the monument,

00:57:58many of which provide evidence of people making pilgrimages in search of healing.

00:58:03Stonehenge's blue stones brought from the mountainous regions of Wales are unique in that their source is located over 200

00:58:10km from Stonehenge,

00:58:11making their presence here a true engineering mystery.

00:58:15According to some researchers, ancient people may have attributed special healing properties to these stones,

00:58:21which might have been the reason they were transported over such a great distance.

00:58:26Archaeological data and scientific research support the theory that Stonehenge was used for medical purposes.

00:58:31Bone analyses show that many of the people buried here suffered from serious illnesses or injuries and may have been

00:58:38seeking healing from these mystical stones.

00:58:40This function of Stonehenge fits into the context of a broad network of ancient beliefs and rituals widespread among the

00:58:47Bronze Age peoples of Britain.

00:58:48Besides healing, Stonehenge could have served as a community gathering place for rites associated with seasonal changes,

00:58:54the fertility of the land and ancestor veneration.

00:58:57The mystic surrounding Stonehenge remains the subject of numerous debates and speculations.

00:59:03The mysterious stones continue to draw researchers and pilgrims alike,

00:59:07and each new discovery only heightens researchers' enthusiasm,

00:59:10wrapping this ancient monument in fresh layers of mystery and conjecture about its true role in the ancient world.

00:59:17Stone Cubes. Not far from Albuquerque, New Mexico, a group of hikers reached the edge of a canyon.

00:59:23At first glance, an ordinary rock formation.

00:59:26But the longer you look, the stronger the feeling gets that something isn't right.

00:59:30The edges of the cliffs are perfectly straight, the faces are flat as if carved not by time but by

00:59:35something sharp.

00:59:36In some places the rock masses form distinct cubes.

00:59:39Each weighs around 100 tons no signs of tooling but none of nature's chaos either.

00:59:43Everything is just too geometric. Comparisons instantly kicked off online.

00:59:47Some were called the Bimini Road in the Bahamas.

00:59:50Mysterious stone slabs extending beneath the water.

00:59:52Others brought up the megaliths of Baalbek.

00:59:54But the main reaction was the same.

00:59:56This just looks wrong. Too perfect to be natural.

00:59:58Too massive to be man-made.

01:00:01Scientists of course can explain a great deal.

01:00:03Weathering, crystal geometry, pressure, fault lines.

01:00:06But visually it's just not convincing.

01:00:08Because when you stand next to these formations, you don't feel like nature made them.

01:00:12It raises the question. If this really is artificial, then who did it? And why?

01:00:17This isn't the first or last place where nature seems to accidentally imitate someone's handiwork.

01:00:22But sometimes you get the suspicion that it's the other way around.

01:00:25That it's not nature imitating technology, but rather that we haven't figured out yet who was here before us.

01:00:31Global logistics in the 16th century.

01:00:34The ship Batavia belongs to the Dutch East India Company.

01:00:38It was wrecked off the coast of Western Australia in 1629.

01:00:42By the way, this shipwreck went down in history not just because of its cargo.

01:00:47After the disaster, a mutiny broke out among the survivors, which ended in mass murder.

01:00:52But this time, the researchers weren't interested in the mutiny, but rather the building stone on board.

01:00:56It was previously believed that all this stone came from a single quarry.

01:00:59However, a new study showed that the materials came from several European quarries at once.

01:01:05The problem is that nearly four centuries underwater have altered the cargo's appearance.

01:01:10And at first glance, many of the blocks look completely identical.

01:01:14Historical records haven't fully survived either.

01:01:16So the researchers decided to look inside the stone.

01:01:19Literally at the level of microscopic grains of the mineral zircon.

01:01:23Its chemical composition directly depends on exactly where the rock was formed.

01:01:27That means you can determine the stone's origin with high accuracy using zircon.

01:01:32For this, they used uranium lead dating.

01:01:34A method that allows you to distinguish materials that are indistinguishable to the naked eye.

01:01:39It turned out that blocks that look identical from the outside were actually brought from at least two different regions

01:01:45in modern day Germany.

01:01:46It turns out the stones were quarried in different places, then gathered into a single shipment and sent to the

01:01:52other side of the world.

01:01:54Apparently, these blocks were meant for the construction of a fortified headquarters in Jakarta.

01:01:58In other words, over 400 years ago, there was already a supply chain so well established that materials for a

01:02:05single construction project were easily gathered from several countries at once.

01:02:08The wreckage of the Batavia was found back in 1963 and since then it has been one of the primary

01:02:14maritime archaeology sites in Australia.

01:02:16But as you can see, even more than 60 years after the discovery, the ship continues to tell us something

01:02:22new.

01:02:22It's just that now, instead of a diver, it takes a mass spectrometer.

01:02:27The Pear of Anguish

01:02:29Medieval interrogation chambers house dozens of elaborate torture devices, but the Pear of Anguish remains a symbol of pure pain.

01:02:36On the outside, a smooth metal fruit with an elegant handle.

01:02:39Inside, a screw mechanism that spreads the leaves apart.

01:02:42The executioner inserted the device into the victim's mouth, rectum or vagina and slowly turned the screw.

01:02:48The steel leaves would open, tearing tissues and fracturing pelvic or jaw bones.

01:02:52The instrument didn't kill instantly. Its purpose was to force the victim to talk or humiliate them.

01:02:56For heretics or witches, the Pear was often heated over coals so the metal would burn them from the inside.

01:03:02The wounds almost always ended in infection.

01:03:04Even if a person survived, gangrene finished the job, today these pairs can be found in the dim display cases

01:03:09of European museums.

01:03:11The makers' marks and serial numbers show that they were mass produced, as if torture were just another trade,

01:03:17no different from crafting locks or kitchen utensils.

01:03:22Features of the Antikytera Mechanism

01:03:25In the sea of the island of Antikytera in 1901, a group of Greek divers stumbled upon one of the

01:03:30most mysterious discoveries in the history of archaeology.

01:03:35They discovered a shipwreck carrying treasures from the ancient world, including statues, jewelry and most astoundingly,

01:03:42a complex mechanism corroded and encrusted with marine deposits.

01:03:45This object, which came to be known as the Antikytera Mechanism, is shrouded in the mysteries of the past and

01:03:52remains the subject of extensive research today.

01:03:55Made of bronze, the mechanism is a complex system of gears and levers, consisting of 30 mechanical components housed in

01:04:02a wooden frame.

01:04:03The structure of the mechanism testifies to the high level of knowledge and technical skill of its creators.

01:04:09This artifact demonstrates an astonishing mastery of metalworking and knowledge in the field of astronomy.

01:04:153D scanning and X-ray computed tomography have allowed scientists to delve deeper into the mechanism structure and understand how

01:04:21it works.

01:04:22These methods made it possible to examine every single detail of the device without the risk of damaging it.

01:04:27Thanks to these technologies, it was discovered that the mechanism includes a series of gears capable of predicting astronomical positions

01:04:34and ephemerities of the Sunday, the moon, as well as other planets of the solar system.

01:04:39The primary function of the Antikytera Mechanism was astronomical modeling.

01:04:43The device was used to calculate and predict solar and lunar eclipses, as well as to determine the phases of

01:04:49the moon and possibly the positions of the planets.

01:04:51This discovery significantly expanded our understanding of just how advanced technology and scientific knowledge were in ancient Greece, confirming their

01:05:00ability to create complex computing devices centuries before the invention of digital computers.

01:05:06Nevertheless, many mysteries of the Antikytera Mechanism remain unsolved.

01:05:09For example, the exact purpose of some components and scales, as well as the full range of its functions, have

01:05:15still not been fully understood.

01:05:17Furthermore, it remains unclear who exactly created this mechanism and whether other similar devices were ever built that could provide

01:05:25further insight into the technological achievements of that era.

01:05:28The Antikytera Mechanism remains a symbol of ancient Greek engineering, reminding us that the history of technology and science still

01:05:34has many unexplored chapters.

01:05:37A lock beneath the asphalt. During excavations in central Moscow, near Nikolskaya Street, archaeologists unearthed a 17th century metal combination

01:05:45lock.

01:05:46Seven dials with Latin letters and the initials MW on the end face.

01:05:50The lock was simple but carefully made. Who used it remains unknown.

01:05:54Perhaps it belonged to a travel chest, or maybe a personal keepsake box.

01:05:58Nearby, among the remains of a burnt building, they found non-ferrous metal bells.

01:06:02Dating back to the late 16th or early 17th century, they were most likely hidden before a raid or a

01:06:07fire.

01:06:07People do that when they aren't sure they will be able to return.

01:06:10The bells lay buried in a corner and were well preserved.

01:06:12In other areas, they found a Turkish dish, baking molds shaped like pine cones and flowers, and patterned ceramic tiles,

01:06:19all of which are everyday items.

01:06:20They belonged to different people from different places and different eras, but they ended up in the same layer.

01:06:25All within the limits of one city, beneath what we have long considered an ordinary street.

01:06:30A 90 million year old find next is a discovery so small that it could be held between two fingers.

01:06:38And so rare that it is the only one in the entire country.

01:06:42Scientists from the geological faculty of Moscow State University, along with colleagues from the Geological Institute of the Russian Academy

01:06:49of Sciences,

01:06:50describe the fossil pearl from the Cretaceous period in the Voronezh region, dating back about 90 million years.

01:06:57This is the first reliably described fossil bivalve pearl found in Russia.

01:07:03It was formed by large marine and oseromite bivalves, which were widespread in Cretaceous seas, and possessed massive shells with

01:07:10a thick calcite layer.

01:07:12It was precisely this, apparently, that helped the pearls survive to this day.

01:07:17After all, ordinary pearls contain a lot of organic matter, and almost always decay in the ground long before a

01:07:22paleontologist could ever find them.

01:07:24To study the find without destroying it, they used microcomputed tomography.

01:07:28It's the same principle as a hospital CT scan, just for stone.

01:07:33It turned out that the pearl initially grew freely inside the mollusk, and then attached itself to the inner surface

01:07:38of the shell.

01:07:38A tiny nucleus was also found inside.

01:07:41Probably a grain of sand or a shell fragment around which it all started.

01:07:45Exactly the same way pearls form in oysters today.

01:07:48The researchers gathered all the known discoveries of Cretaceous pearls in the world.

01:07:52There are only 24 of them.

01:07:54And most are also linked to inoceramids.

01:07:58The Tutankhamun's ship, inside tomb KV-62 among golden masks and thrones, stood an object that Egyptologists immediately dubbed the

01:08:06yacht for eternity.

01:08:08Before you is an alabaster ship casket, a little longer than the palm of your hand.

01:08:12The hull is curved like a crescent moon.

01:08:14The bow and stern feature the heads of ibexes with inlaid horns.

01:08:17On deck is a tiny temple with columns, papyrus plants and a miniature shrine where, according to belief, the young

01:08:23pharaohs ca-rested.

01:08:24The material is Egyptian calcite alabaster, transparent as melted honey.

01:08:27Under the flashlight's beams light passes right through, and the entire structure seems illuminated from within.

01:08:32The parts are held together with pins, and the fine lines of the design are filled with resin and pigment,

01:08:37so that the pattern wouldn't fade, even in the pitch black darkness of the tomb.

01:08:40On the sides are Tutankhamun's cartouches, guarded by the symbols of Anubis and Horus.

01:08:44Why would he need such a magnificent little ship?

01:08:47The Egyptians believed that after death, the pharaoh would board the Sunday barge and sail across the dark waters of

01:08:52the underworld to rise again in the east alongside Ra.

01:08:54And the alabaster model is a pocket-sized replica of that boat, a sort of ticket for an afterlife cruise.

01:08:59The stone is durable, the casket has survived 3,000 years.

01:09:03It survived the sand and grave robber's attempts, hardly losing its luster.

01:09:06In the Cairo Museum, it still looks like a toy liner, ready to set sail into eternity.

01:09:12The oldest amber.

01:09:14Paleontologists discovered 385 million-year-old amber in the Hujia-Sai geological formation in China.

01:09:22That dates back to the middle of the Devonian period.

01:09:24Previously, the oldest known amber was thought to be 320 million years old, coming from Carboniferous deposits in the US.

01:09:32So the new find instantly pushes the history of amber back by 65 million years.

01:09:36The fragments themselves are tiny, ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 millimeters.

01:09:41The largest ones are no bigger than 1.5 millimeters.

01:09:45And no trapped insects were found in them.

01:09:47But what's truly strange here is something else.

01:09:49Chemical analysis showed that the resin's composition is similar to that of modern conifers, pines and aracharias.

01:09:55The problem is that in the Middle Devonian, no modern plants, including conifers, existed yet.

01:10:01They only appeared at the end of the Devonian period.

01:10:04That is, resin similar in composition to pine resin was produced by plants that weren't related to pines at all.

01:10:10Researchers suggest that these could have been some early seedless vascular plants or arborescent lycopsy, ancestors far more primitive than

01:10:19anything that produces resin today.

01:10:21It turns out that the ability to secrete protective resin evolved not just once but independently in completely different, unrelated

01:10:28plant groups.

01:10:30Apparently, it was to seal damage after fires and protect against fungi.

01:10:34Scientists believe that in the mid-Devonian, arthropods did not yet cause serious harm to plants.

01:10:40So back then, resin was used not so much against insects but rather as a first aid kit for the

01:10:45plant itself.

01:10:47Portal to the Underworld

01:10:50Last year, a unique artifact returned to Mexico.

01:10:53A portal to the Underworld, which had been stolen and taken to the US in the 1960s.

01:10:59Recently, scientists completed its restoration and returned it to its original location in central Mexico.

01:11:05This monument, created by the Olmec civilization, was long considered a gateway to the Otherworld.

01:11:11In the 1960s, it was stolen from Chalcatsingo, a renowned Olmec archaeological site,

01:11:16where it depicted a mythical feline with agape jaws, the symbol of the entrance to the spiritual world.

01:11:23The monument dates back to the preclassic period, created between 800 and 400 BC.

01:11:29The thieves smashed the artifact with sledgehammers to make it easier to transport,

01:11:33but they didn't damage its key features.

01:11:35It was smuggled into the US, where it ended up on the illegal antiquities market.

01:11:40In 1968, the artifact ended up in the New York Museum under the name The Earth Monster.

01:11:46Archaeologist David Grove recognized the Olmec origin of the monument

01:11:49and noted its similarity to other sculptures in Chalcatsingo,

01:11:52especially the Olmec cross-shaped eyes and the bromeliad flowers by the mouth.

01:11:57The mystery of the flying stones.

01:12:00India has always been shrouded in mystery and secrets.

01:12:03In any corner of it, you can encounter something amazing and unbelievable.

01:12:08Many come here for new experiences, to unlock unknown spiritual capabilities within themselves.

01:12:14Once you visit this amazing country, it is impossible to forget it.

01:12:18One of the mysteries of India is the levitating stones in the small village of Shivapur,

01:12:23located 200 km from Bombay.

01:12:25Near the local temple, there are several boulders that weigh considerably more than 50 kg.

01:12:30According to the locals, these stones can lift up into the air.

01:12:33To lift the first, heavier stone, it takes 11 men.

01:12:37They have to stand around it and chant specific words.

01:12:41After that, the stone starts to levitate, and you can support it with a single finger.

01:12:45The smaller boulder requires the effort of 9 men to lift.

01:12:49There is also a third stone, weighing over 60 kg, which only the temple monks can lift.

01:12:54The origin of these stones is mysterious.

01:12:57Some believe the stones were lifted, others that the gods sent them,

01:13:00while still others think they broke off from a nearby cliff.

01:13:03A local resident who maintains the temple claims that the stones split from time to time,

01:13:08and he replaces them with new ones by chipping them off the cliff.

01:13:11Yet even the new stones retain their floating properties.

01:13:14Some scientists suggest that ancient people knew how to move objects with the power of thought,

01:13:19as was done, for example, during the construction of the Egyptian pyramids.

01:13:22Perhaps the knowledge of levitation was lost, but it resurfaces sometimes in places like Shivapur.

01:13:28Interestingly, in the last century, Edward Litzkalnin, an immigrant from Latvia,

01:13:33used similar methods to build his coral castle in Florida,

01:13:37which only confirms the existence of such knowledge.

01:13:40These unexplained phenomena support the hypothesis of extraterrestrial influence on ancient civilizations,

01:13:46suggesting that certain technologies or methods may have been passed on to humanity by beings from other worlds.

01:13:52A mini-duck. Another little find today, literally about 2 cm long, but with a history that spans halfway across

01:14:01Europe.

01:14:02Near the Czech town of Tuchin, museum employee Miroslav Kaminek spotted a miniature bronze figurine of a waterfowl over 2

01:14:11,000 years old on the surface of a field during fieldwork.

01:14:14Just 23 mm long, and weighing less than 10 grams, yet preserved almost perfectly.

01:14:21And what is especially pleasing for an archaeologist, this time not even a metal detector was needed.

01:14:26The figurine was simply lying on the ground.

01:14:29Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the ancient craftsmen had worked out even the small anatomical details.

01:14:35Bulging rounded eyes, an elongated beak, and on the back of the body, transverse notches imitating the texture of a

01:14:41duck's tail plumage.

01:14:42The exact purpose of the figurine is unknown.

01:14:46It might have been a child's toy, a game piece for a board game, or perhaps an item of ritual

01:14:51significance, as waterfowl often carried such meaning in Iron Age cultures.

01:14:57However, the primary working theory is that the little duck was a decorative fitting attached to something larger.

01:15:02A wooden box, part of a horse's harness, or a ceremonial vessel.

01:15:06The find is also interesting, because of where it was discovered.

01:15:10Tuchin is located by the Moravian Gate, a natural mountain pass between the Carpathians and the Sudetes through which the

01:15:15northern segment of the famous Amber Road once ran.

01:15:18Amber from the Baltic shores travels south toward the Danube and the Adriatic, while salt, metals, and finished goods flowed

01:15:25in the opposite direction.

01:15:26According to archaeologists, similar bronze animal figurines, boars, and waterfowl are regularly found along this entire route, from Poland through

01:15:33Moravia to Austria.

01:15:35So, the Tuchin duck is part of a grand artistic tradition, not just a fluke.

01:15:41The Witch, the Dwarf, and the Magician's Pyramid

01:15:45The ancient Maya city of Uxmal, located on the Yucatan Peninsula, is a place where unique architecture and ancient mythology

01:15:52blend with otherworldly landscapes.

01:15:55One of the most enigmatic structures here is the Pyramid of the Magician, a building astonishing in both its shape

01:16:01and significance.

01:16:02This place is shrouded in magical legends, particularly the tale of a dwarf and a witch who supposedly built the

01:16:08Pyramid of the Magician.

01:16:10This legend exists only in the oral retellings of the locals, as it isn't recorded in ancient texts.

01:16:16Various versions of the story have been passed down from generation to generation.

01:16:20This story was first recorded in the 19th century by John Lloyd Stevens, an American explorer who published his observations

01:16:27in a book about his travels across Yucatan.

01:16:29One day he heard this tale from a local.

01:16:32According to the legend, on the site where the pyramid now stands, there once was the hut of an old

01:16:37witch who wished to have an heir.

01:16:39With the help of magic, she created a childlike creature from an egg.

01:16:43This little one quickly grew into an adult in size, but remained the height of a dwarf.

01:16:48The witch was proud of him and dreamed that he would become a great ruler.

01:16:51At her instruction, the dwarf challenged the local king to a duel.

01:16:55The trials proposed by the king proved impossible, but each time the dwarf handled them using his mother's cunning and

01:17:01magic.

01:17:02For example, the king demanded that the dwarf build a house taller than any building in the city overnight.

01:17:08By morning, a magnificent pyramid towered in place of the old hut.

01:17:12The final trial was for the king and the dwarf to break firewood over each other's heads.

01:17:16The witch prepared her son by placing a protective spell on his head.

01:17:20The king couldn't harm the dwarf, but the dwarf in turn took the king's life with his blow.

01:17:25That's how the dwarf became the new ruler of Uxmal.

01:17:28In some versions of this legend, the dwarf is the god Itsamna, who built the pyramid using magic.

01:17:34These stories may have emerged as an attempt to explain the unusual shape and structure of the pyramid of the

01:17:39magician,

01:17:39which, according to archaeologists, was built over the course of three centuries.

01:17:45Shivalingham

01:17:46In the city of Circe, in India, lies a unique pilgrimage site called Sahasralinga.

01:17:52Amidst natural beauty, stone depictions of Shivalingham evoke awe with their presence,

01:17:57especially during the Maha Shivaratri festival.

01:18:00At this time, the river's water level drops, revealing the sculptures and drawing thousands of pilgrims and tourists

01:18:06eager to see and worship the sacred lingams.

01:18:09The shivalingham is a symbol of Shiva, one of the primary deities in Hinduism,

01:18:14representing the source of creation and destruction.

01:18:16Interestingly, surrounding the shivalingham, there are not only religious, but also scientific debates.

01:18:23Some ancient astronaut theorists argue that the shivalingham may represent a powerful technological device

01:18:29similar in function to a modern nuclear reactor.

01:18:33Based on the shape and properties of the lingam,

01:18:35they suggest that ancient humans might have used advanced technologies.

01:18:39On the other hand, modern scientists might interpret the shivalingham as a symbol of atomic energy,

01:18:45which also possesses the potential for both immense benefit and destruction.

01:18:50This analogy highlights the dual nature of Shiva,

01:18:53who in the Hindu tradition is simultaneously the creator and the destroyer.

01:18:58A creature that poops gold.

01:19:01The next discovery is a bit smaller in scale, quite literally.

01:19:05We're talking about a microorganism.

01:19:08Yet for centuries, people have tried to artificially replicate the results of its work.

01:19:13Medieval alchemists spent their entire lives trying to turn lead into gold, and they failed completely.

01:19:19Yet the Cupriavitis metallodurans bacterium manages to do it without any magic at all.

01:19:25It lives in soils heavily contaminated with heavy metals,

01:19:28where almost any living thing dies instantly.

01:19:31For most living creatures, both copper and gold in large quantities are sheer poison.

01:19:37But this bacterium learned to use copper to its advantage.

01:19:40It needs it for its metabolism.

01:19:43The problem begins when there is too much copper.

01:19:46Then the bacterium turns on something like a pump that pumps the excess copper out.

01:19:50The only thing is, this pump makes a mistake.

01:19:53Along with the copper, it also sucks the gold dissolved in the soil right into the cell.

01:19:57And now there are two toxins inside the cell at once, which together can kill it.

01:20:01To survive, the bacterium activates a special enzyme called copper.

01:20:05It works like a dual filter.

01:20:07It handles copper easily.

01:20:08It converts it into a form that the cell can easily push back outside.

01:20:11But with gold, it does something interesting.

01:20:15It neutralizes it as a poison and turns the dissolved gold into tiny solid metal grains,

01:20:20just a few nanometers in size.

01:20:22That's thousands of times thinner than a human hair.

01:20:25Then, the bacterium simply pushes these gold grains onto its outer shell,

01:20:30as if spitting them out.

01:20:32In nature, such bacteria live in colonies on mineral surfaces.

01:20:36When billions of microbes detoxify themselves over centuries,

01:20:39the discarded gold nanoparticles layer on top of each other.

01:20:44Scientists believe that these exact bacteria are partly responsible for the formation of natural gold nuggets in the wild.

01:20:50So, that shiny piece of gold someone finds in a stream could very well be the work of trillions of

01:20:56invisible creatures.

01:20:58Now, researchers are trying to harness this mechanism to extract gold from low-grade ore,

01:21:03and recycle old electronics without the mercury and cyanides typically used in industry.

01:21:10An unfinished ancient structure.

01:21:13In the mysterious valleys of Lebanon lies Baalbek, a city that holds the enigmas of ancient times.

01:21:19A recently discovered structure at this site has provided new insights,

01:21:24reaffirming Baalbek's unique significance for archaeology and world culture.

01:21:27For a long time, the megalithic architecture of Baalbek remained a mystery to scientists.

01:21:32The construction methods and the reasons behind creating such massive structures were without equal.

01:21:38However, the latest discovery offers new interpretations and opportunities for understanding ancient civilizations.

01:21:43Baalbek, located in the Bekaa Valley, is known for its important role during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

01:21:49Ever since its conquest by Alexander the Great, the city underwent significant changes,

01:21:54becoming a bridge between Eastern and Western cultures.

01:21:57Greek culture left its mark on the architecture and art of Baalbek,

01:22:01which is evident from the stylistic features of its buildings.

01:22:04The Romans, in turn, expanded and reinforced its status as a religious and cultural center

01:22:09by erecting majestic temples and public buildings.

01:22:11The most famous structures in Baalbek are the temples dedicated to Jupiter, Venus and Bacchus.

01:22:17These temples are known not only for their magnificence,

01:22:20but also for the engineering achievements embodied in their construction.

01:22:24One of the most remarkable elements is the Stone of the Pregnant Woman,

01:22:27a gigantic megalith weighing over 1,000 tons that was never incorporated into the final temple structure.

01:22:34The discovery at the quarry in 2014 only deepened the mysteries surrounding these ancient construction methods.

01:22:40The find showed that the ancient builders used technologies way ahead of their time,

01:22:45raising questions about the origins and spread of ancient engineering knowledge.

01:22:51Comparing Baalbek to other ancient wonders, like Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids,

01:22:55reveals common threats in their logistical and engineering approaches.

01:22:58For instance, transporting massive stones for Stonehenge or building the pyramids at Giza,

01:23:04required not just physical resources, but also advanced planning and astronomical knowledge.

01:23:09Modern archaeological methods, such as ground-penetrating radar surveys and 3D scanning,

01:23:14are opening new horizons in the study of ancient technologies.

01:23:18The Reich's eastern colony.

01:23:20The Nazis didn't just want to defeat the Soviet Union.

01:23:23They planned to completely redraw the map of the world.

01:23:26Their lands from East Prussia to the Urals were to be turned into living space for the Germans.

01:23:31Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians and all the rest, according to Himmler's design,

01:23:35were supposed to vanish, be deported or reduced to a minimum.

01:23:38The plan was called Ost.

01:23:40It involved the construction of German cities throughout the European part of the USSR,

01:23:44connected by highways, protected by garrisons and surrounded by an obedient local population.

01:23:49Children would only be taught multiplication tables, reading road signs and signing their names.

01:23:54Nothing more, no culture, no history, no language.

01:23:57Inside this project, there was no room for a human being, only a function, only a tool.

01:24:02Eastern Europe was turning into a biological springboard for the Aryan race.

01:24:06And the longer you look at these diagrams, the more you feel that this isn't just an ideology,

01:24:11it's a technology, horrible, inhuman and frighteningly logical.

01:24:16The Staircase of the Giants of Antarctica.

01:24:19One of the most discussed discoveries made through satellite monitoring

01:24:23was a structure in the Enderby Land area.

01:24:26At coordinates 68 degrees 54 minutes south latitude and 88 degrees 42 minutes east longitude,

01:24:33an object dubbed the Staircase of the Giants was discovered.

01:24:36It is a series of massive stone steps that emerge from a creeping glacier and plunge steeply down the slope.

01:24:43The total length of the visible part of the structure is more than 200 meters,

01:24:47and it does not fit into the surrounding landscape at all.

01:24:50The main argument in favor of the artificial origin of this object is its geometry.

01:24:55Each step is exactly 14 meters wide and about 4 meters high.

01:24:59Unlike natural terraces, which are formed by erosion or landslides,

01:25:03here we see perfectly flat horizontal platforms and vertical cuts at a 90 degree angle.

01:25:09Geologists officially call it a stepped glacier,

01:25:12but moving ice cannot maintain the shape of a distinct rectangle for decades.

01:25:16The object's material is dark andesite.

01:25:19An ultra-dense rock used to build megalithic complexes in Peru and Bolivia.

01:25:23The scale of the giant staircase is staggering.

01:25:26If these truly are the remains of an ancient structure,

01:25:29it surpasses the dimensions of the largest Inca foundations.

01:25:32Researchers from Pennsylvania State University, while analyzing shadows in the 2026 imagery,

01:25:37confirmed that gaps between the blocks are virtually nonexistent, indicating the precise fitting of the stones.

01:25:42The fact that this megalithic object lies at an altitude of 2000 meters above sea level,

01:25:47makes the theory of its creation by any civilization known to us impossible.

01:25:52This is physical proof that in deep antiquity, when Antarctica was not yet buried under ice,

01:25:57megastructures existed here, the scale of which we are only just beginning to comprehend.

01:26:02Access to this area today is strictly restricted,

01:26:05and the object's coordinates are often blurred out on commercial maps,

01:26:08which only fuels the interest of independent researchers.

01:26:12How many bodies does one saint have?

01:26:16Back in the 19th century, the French historian Ludovic Leland, while studying church archives,

01:26:21compiled statistics on duplicate relics across Europe.

01:26:25Around 30 whole bodies of St. George the Victorious were venerated simultaneously in different churches.

01:26:32The same went for St. Gregory and St. Pancras.

01:26:36As for John the Baptist, seven bodies were displayed at the same time across Europe,

01:26:40along with eight heads and eleven index fingers.

01:26:43One French abbot, venerating yet another head of the Baptist in Amiens Cathedral,

01:26:48couldn't help himself and wrote,

01:26:49Thank God, this is the fifth or sixth head of John the Baptist that I have touched in my lifetime.

01:26:55Where did so many bodies come from for a single person?

01:26:58Historians cite several reasons.

01:26:59And some of them are entirely legitimate.

01:27:02Catholic and Orthodox traditions allow the division of relics into parts.

01:27:06An arm to one church, a piece to another, the head to a third.

01:27:09But there is also a less pleasant reason.

01:27:12It's a plain substitution.

01:27:13In 1671, the abbot of the Makaryov monastery passed off the bones of an ordinary monk

01:27:19as the relics of Makarios of Zeltovodsk.

01:27:21And for four years, believers venerated the fake until the fraud was exposed.

01:27:25The most striking exposures occurred in Soviet Russia in 1919 and 1922,

01:27:30when the authorities opened reliquaries en masse.

01:27:33In Tikhonov-Zadonsk's reliquary, instead of in corrupt remains,

01:27:36they found rugs, cotton wool and women's stockings.

01:27:39And in the Alexander-Svirsky monastery, instead of relics, an ordinary wax doll.

01:27:43And these didn't just stay in the past.

01:27:45In 2025, journalists discovered an entire market for relics on online auction sites.

01:27:51A relicary with the relics of Senifrasino Polozec was being sold for $1,600

01:27:55and a bandage allegedly once covering Padre Pio's wound for almost $4,000.

01:28:00An investigation that same year uncovered an international network of fake relic dealers linked to an Italian citizen.

01:28:06Almost every other online ad selling holy relics led to him or his intermediaries.

01:28:11But experts believe that a market for relics doesn't exist.

01:28:16What is being sold is 99.9% fake.

01:28:20Have you ever wondered why, out of millions of ancient artifacts throughout history,

01:28:25these particular ones have survived to this day?

01:28:27It turns out that what reaches us isn't the most important stuff,

01:28:31but rather whatever survived by pure chance.

01:28:33Which discovery surprised you the most today?

01:28:35Let me know in the comments.

01:28:36Subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications, because a new video is coming soon.

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