Interesting Archaeology I saw some really ancient gold coins and they were really unusual. When we think of coins, we think of a round, flat object, sometimes made of precious metal with a picture on it. Most of the time that picture is of a leader. These coins were entirely different. Think of a small hollow rubber ball and think if you sliced it in half what the two halves would look like. That is exactly what the coins looked like. They were gold and looked like half a ball and plain. The coins were at least 2,000 years old and were Celtic. They were found in Germany. I love archaeology because it is always full of surprises. Well, archaeologists have just been surprised again. Something totally unexpected has been found and it is 5,000 year old drinking straws. They are the oldest drinking straws ever found. They are three feet long and were made from gold and silver. When we think of ancient people drinking, we usually think about wood or clay cups, but it seems these people would sit around a table and all drink from a communal bowl by sticking their straw into it. They were found in a Bronze Age burial mound in Russia in 1897 but it seems it took scientists this long to realize how they were used. Most of us have heard about the Valley of the Kings and know it is in Egypt, but how many of us know there is a Valley of the Kings in Siberia? While archaeologists were digging there, they found treasure buried in a burial mound which was buried there over 2,500 years ago. The Valley is located in an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation known as Tuva. In the mound was a woman and a child. There were also gold ornaments, and things which would have been considered treasures back then like an iron knife, a bronze mirror and jewelry. Sometimes even amateur archaeologists can find incredible things. An article was found using a metal detector which is a silver object which dates back to Emperor Constantine and might have healing properties. They have given the object a name which is paranormal paracetamol. Paracetamol is a drug to treat pain and fever. The finder said the object is about ¾ of an inch long, silver and is shaped like a paracetamol tablet, thus the name. Archaeologists have discovered something unexpected and it is the fact ancient humans butchered their meat. This evidence was the bones were 3.4 million years old and had cut marks on them. We keep finding out humans go back further all the time, but instead of hundreds of thousands of years, perhaps we go back millions of years. Some scientists think however there is a chance other animals could have made these cuts. It looks like the history of farming in Great Britain is about to be rewritten. There is a body of water named the Solent and it is between the Isle of Wight and Britain. It was once dry land many thousands of years ago. A very ancient settlement was found on the sea floor of the Solent. Archaeologists couldn’t believe what they found. It was evidence that the residents of the settlement were farmers over 8,000 years ago. Wheat DNA was found at the site. When and why did jewelry become popular. We may never know exactly when, but we are getting a good idea from the remains of ancient jewelry we find. Archaeologists from Europe were examining a cave and came across a decorated ivory pendant. It was dated as being 41,500 years old. It is hard to believe it is that old, but it is being said it is the oldest known decorated jewelry found in Eurasia. The cave was located in Poland. Archaeologists are stunned by an ancient golden tower built atop a very large rock in Myanmar. The reason they can’t believe their eyes is the rock is leaning over a cliff and should fall and yet it is not falling and the locals believe it is sacred. It is named the Kyaiktiyo Pagoda and is a Buddhist shrine. Archaeologists have found what is called the best preserved ancient wooden house, known as a round house. It is said to be at least 3,000 years old and was part of a settlement with other homes. It is located in England in Whittlesey. The community homes were built on stilts over the water at the time. The contents were still inside because the house had caught on fire and it seems no one went back to get anything since it fell into the water. The discovery is being called Britain’s Pompeii. There is an island named Santorini. The island is off the coast of Turkey and was the victim of an ancient explosion, said to be from a volcano, which blew off a huge part of the island. There are those who believe it may have been the home of Atlantis. The explosion and damage to the island is said to be one of the most devastating in history. Physical remains of a resident have been found for the first time and they are 3,600 years old. In 853 B.C. the Assyrian Empire sent a huge army to conquer the Middle East. The countries in the area were Israel and the various Arab countries. Seeing the situation was hopeless for any one country to be able to defend against this force, the Arabs and Israelis joined forces. A great battle took place named the Battle of Qarqar. Since ancient kings would claim victories even in lost battles it is hard to tell what actually happened, but there didn’t seem to be anymore conquests by that Assyrian king in the area. Last year, in 2021, archaeologists made an incredible discovery and it was in Egypt. The discoveries from there just keep coming. They discovered a lost Golden City near Luxor. It is believed it dated back to 1391 B.C. There are numerous buildings such as houses, a bakery, administrative buildings and others. Documents seem to indicate Pharaoh Amenhotep III had three palaces in the city. Archaeologists knew about the city from ancient documents, but only discovered the actual city last year. Archaeology tells us so much about our ancestors. It is interesting to know they were a lot like us and the main difference is we have the technology, but that never stopped them from accomplishing unbelievable things with the primitive tools they had. We still don’t know how they were able to do certain things.
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