10 most amazing archaeological discoveries in 2017

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Now is the time to take a look at 2017 and uncover the many archaeological discoveries that have been made this year, and pick 10 of the most exciting to see.

Please note that there is no specific order.

Tower of Skulls

The ancient tower of skulls is believed to have been destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors. image: REUTERS.

A team of archaeologists have unearthed more than 650 skulls bonded with lime near the Templo Mayor memorial in the Aztec capital Tenochitlan in Mexico. Archaeologists believe they were part of the Huey Tsompantli, a massive tower of skulls that terrified the Spanish conquerors when they took over the city in 1521.

Cavity in the Great Pyramid

ScanPyramids / HIP Institute

Scientists using X-ray scanning technology have discovered a large, mysterious "cavity" inside the Great Pyramid of Giza.

A mysterious space, 20 meters long, sits above the Great Gallery, and it is the first large structure to be discovered since the 19th century inside a pyramid, believed to have been built around 4,500 years ago.

Dead Sea Scrolls - Cave 12

Small Piece of the Book of Giants and the Dead Sea Scroll

Researchers announced in 2017 the discovery of a series of cans, wrappers, and ties associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls (manuscripts that include the oldest known instances of biblical texts) in a cave twelfth of the Qumran caves near Qumran, Israel.

“This exciting excavation comes closest to the great discoveries of the New Scrolls of the Sea of Merik in the past 60 years,” said Hebrew University archaeologist Oren Gutfeld, director of the excavation.

Two sunken cities

A joint Tunisian-Italian archaeological mission has sought evidence of Neapolis since 2010 - Image Credit: Tunisian National Heritage Institute / University of Sassari

In Tunisia and Italy, archaeologists have discovered the existence of two flooded ancient Roman cities: Neapolis, near the cities of Nabe and Bahia, on the Italian coast. They disappeared in the 4th century, as a result of seismic and volcanic activity in the Mediterranean.

Stone gate in Saudi Arabia

Massive structures visible from the air.

Researchers have come across over 400 strange structures that date back thousands of years in Saudi Arabia.

The ancient stone structures, referred to by experts as the Gates, are believed to be around 7,000 years old. Their purpose remains a mystery. Some of these "gates" are located next to a volcanic dome that once spewed out basaltic lava.

Wreck of Antikythera

The bronze hand recovered from the shipwreck.

The Antikythera shipwreck yielded more fascinating discoveries, as researchers discovered a huge amount of relics and the hand of a bronze statue. This is a rather valuable find, as experts say the bronze statues are among the rarest artifacts since ancient times. What makes this discovery even more fascinating is that the hand fragment does not match the statues found to date, which brings us to the question: where is the rest of the statue?

The oldest pottery fragments in America

Pieces of ceramic fragments recovered by archaeologists. Image Credit: Far Eastern Federal University of Russia

2017 yielded what many experts consider to be the oldest pottery fragments ever found on the American continent.

A team of Russian and Ecuadorian experts have recovered artifacts that are believed to be more than 6,000 years old and belong to the little-studied culture of San Pedro.

4,000-year-old clay tablet reveals the location of ancient cities

Ancient cuneiform inscriptions.

Researchers analyzed a 4,000-year-old clay tablet created by ancient traders from the Assyrian empire, detailing the approximate location of 11 long-lost ancient cities.

Written in an ancient cuneiform text, in the language of the ancient Sumerians, many business transactions, invoices, seals, contracts and even marriage certificates are described in detail.

Remains of Buddha?

A ceramic urn containing human remains is burned with the name of the engraved Buddha (Chinese cultural relics)

Archaeologists have recovered cremated bones hidden in a 1,000-year-old chest in China, which, according to reports, may belong to Siddhartha Gautama, better known as Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.

The teeth are 9.7 million years old

This image shows two of the fossilized teeth found at Eppelsheim. Image Credit: Natural History Museum Mainz

Experts discovered a 9.7 million-year-old fossilized denture that belonged to a species that theoretically appeared in Africa several million years later, and this puzzled experts.

A revolutionary discovery could declare Europe as the cradle of humanity, and not Africa as previously thought.

The discovery was made by experts from Germany, who after the discovery said: "We do not want to dramatize too much, but I would suggest that we have to start rewriting the history of mankind after today."