8 Surprising Discoveries That Changed History as We Know It Today

Archeological findings that will leave you completely astounded.

Archaeology gives us an insight into how our ancestors lived and what they did to survive in historic and prehistoric times.

It has played an essential role in changing our perception of how we viewed them as creatures of low intelligence to those that invented tools — even with the limited available sources, that we are still using in their modified versions.

The article below will delve into such historical artifacts and much more bizarre ones that have changed history as we know it.

1. The Dead Sea Scrolls

Discovered within in the 1940s to 1950s, outside of Jerusalem, scriptures of the Bible were found that were once thought to be nonexistent or lost.

The Hebrew texts were verified by comparing them with other readers of the Bible and the help of the expertise of renowned scholars and professors.

They were found on faded letters once thought to be empty, but through technology, the text was encrypted, and an image of writing started to conjure. The texts are still being examined to gather further information and come to their source, but the theories circulating the subject are still vague.

According to some scholars, the text may have some resemblance to the book of Ezekiel, but it is still too early to conclude.

2. The Dragon Man

Within the walls of China, another secret waits to be uncovered, where a different form of human species is thought to have lived.

The scientist’s term the “Dragon Man” is the discovery of a skull of human resemblance very much alike but also highly different. It is said to have belonged to the Homo Longi, the sister lineage of the human species.

The skull features comprise a wide face with flat cheek bones, square eye sockets, and a small oral cavity with large molars.

Scientists and biologists conflict where some say that it is different enough to belong to another species; however, some say it is closer than the Neanderthals.

3. The First Fiction

Perhaps, the oldest myth lies within the rocky caves of Sulawesi, an island in Indonesia that depicts human hybrid creatures hunting animals with their weapons. It is thought to be a mythical story with an underlying spiritual meaning.

It is estimated to be 49.9 thousand years old, with the limestone climbing across its surface, where parts of the tale are still missing.

4. Fossilized feces might be our new road to discovery

Fossilized feces are what scientists used to make discoveries on our ancestors’ diet and how it is distinguished in different parts of the world.

This study helps us track down the origin of diseases like diabetes, osteoporosis, and even certain types of cancer caused by certain elements in our diet.

Much of the feces previously assumed to belong to humans did belong to dogs, which leads to the assumption that our diets were remarkably similar to those of the said species.

5. The Making of the Wonder

The Egyptian Pyramids, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, are built-in ancient times, and we are still unraveling its mysteries.

Until now, it was believed that the slaves of the pharaoh built the pyramids, but a recent discovery has brought about a new turn in the story.

The bodies found in the 1990’s very New Year to the pyramid, suggests that the builders were previously thought to be enslaved paid laborers.

This theory is brought about by the imagery on the pyramid builders’ tombs that depicted them being rewarded with bread and butter in the afterlife. Their tombs are closer to the pyramids than other citizens, hinting at their positions in Egyptian society.

According to Egyptian beliefs, no enslaved person was allowed such luxury, not even in the afterlife, especially not the prestige of being buried so close to the emperor.

6. Antikythera Mechanism: The First Step to Modern Technology

The first analog computer found by the expertise of ancient Greece is another phenomenon that has us marveling over the works of our ancestors.

Antikythera Mechanism has been lost for decades but was found in a shipwreck in the mid-90s.

It is a mechanical structure built up of foreign counterparts that worked together to predict different planetary positions in our solar system and future solar eclipses.

Much of them have either been lost or rusted to decay. Still, different ideas have been put together considering the design of the analog computer out together an idea of how it worked.

Regardless of their limited resources, the Greeks did not damper their thirst for knowledge. They continuously evolved ways to get to know the world and what lies beyond a little bit better.

7. The New Gods

Mayans have always been in the spotlight whenever we talk about the history of ancient civilizations.

In 2013 a group of archaeologists uncovered a stone carving in Guatemala that has added new information to our prior knowledge considering Mayan civilization.

The painting still holds traces of centuries-old paint. This colossal revelation has unveiled previously unknown gods that were part of Mayan beliefs and contained information about the transfer of power from one group to another, giving insight into their political system.

8. The World’s Oldest Temple

The ruins of Gobekli Tepe are over a thousand years old and are thought to be the oldest temple found to date.

It has changed the way paleontologists perceived the residencies of early humans that were believed to settle around civilizations and built cities about 10,000 years ago.

Further studies into the architecture of Gobekli Tepe suggest that human settlements might have started well before that.

Final Words

We are often quick to form prejudices in the modern-day world we live in against the people of the present and past times — we fail to realize that there might be more on the map and timeline than we have dared to see.

This is evident by the artifacts and discoveries mentioned above and many more mysteries waiting to be uncovered.

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