It is time to take a look at 2017 and comb through the numerous archaeological discoveries that have were made this year, and pick out 10 of the most fascinating, worth remembering.
Note there isn’t a particular order.
Tower of skulls
A group of archaeologists has found more than 650 skulls amalgamated with lime near the ‘Templo Mayor’ of the Aztec capital Tenochitlan, in Mexico. Archaeologists believe they were part of the Huey Tzompantli, a massive tower of skulls that horrified the Spanish conquerors when they captured the city in 1521.
Cavity in the Great Pyramid
Scientists who used cosmic ray-based scanning technology detected a large mysterious “cavity” inside the Great Pyramid of Giza.
The mysterious space, 20 meters long, is located just above the Grand Gallery, and it is the first large structure discovered since the 19th century inside the pyramid, which is believed to date back around 4,500 years.
The Dead Sea Scrolls—the 12th cave
Researchers announced in 2017 the discovery of a series of jars, wrappings, and ties related to the Dead Sea Scrolls (the manuscripts that include the oldest known copies of biblical texts) in a cave, the twelfth of the Qumran caves near Qumran, Israel.
“This exciting excavation is the closest we’ve come to discovering new Dead Sea scrolls in 60 years,” said Hebrew University archaeologist Oren Gutfeld, director of the excavation.
Two sunken cities
Tunisia and Italy. Archaeologists discovered the existence of two submerged ancient Roman cities: Neapolis, near the city of Nabeul, and Baia, on the Italian coast. They disappeared in the 4th century, as a result of seismic and volcanic activity in the Mediterranean.
Stone gates in Saudi Arabia
Researchers came across more than 400 strange structures which date back thousands of years in Saudi Arabia.
It is believed that the ancient stone structures—dubbed as Gates by experts—could go be around 7,000 years old. Their purpose remains a mystery. Some of these “gates” are located next to a volcanic dome that at one time spewed out basaltic lava.
The Antikythera wreck
The Antikythera shipwreck yielded more fascinating discovers as researchers discovered a vast array of relics and an arm of a bronze statue. This is quite a find as experts say that bronze statues are among the rarest artifacts from ancient times. What makes this discovery even more fascinating is the fact that the arm fragment does not match any statue bodies discovered to date, which brings us to the question: Where’s the rest of the statue?
The Oldest Pottery fragments in America
2017 has yielded what many experts consider as the oldest pottery fragments ever discovered in the American Continent.
A team of Russian and Ecuadorian experts recovered artifacts that are believed to date back more than 6,000 years and belonged to the little-studied culture of San Pedro.
A 4,000-year-old clay tablet reveals location of Ancient Cities
Researchers have analyzed a 4,000-year-old clay tablet created by ancient merchants from the Assyrian Empire which details the approximate location of 11 long lost ancient cities.
Written in the ancient Cuneiform script—developed by the ancient Sumerians—the clay tablets detail a set of business transactions, accounts, seals, contracts and even marriage certificates.
Buddha’s remains?
Archaeologists have recovered cremated bones hidden away in a 1,000-year old chest in China that according to reports, may belong to Siddhartha Gautama, better known as Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.
9,7-million-year-old teeth
Experts found a 9.7 million-year-old fossilized denture that belonged to a species that in theory appeared in Africa several millions of years later has taken experts by surprise.
The revolutionary finding may put Europe as the cradle of humanity.
The discovery was made by experts from Germany who after making the discovery said: “We do not want to dramatize it too much, but I would hypothesize that we will have to start rewriting the history of humanity after today.”