Buzz
A single, small discovery can dramatically transform our understanding of a monument, historical documentation, or even an entire discipline. While not every find is groundbreaking, each piece recovered holds significance. Even the most concise segment of history is rarely fully realized.
Artifacts can appear unexpectedly, either in obvious locations or places no one thought to search. But it's not all about ancient ruins. Signs of conflict during the first encounters between civilizations, as well as lesser-known relatives of prominent figures, can ignite history with intense emotion and suffering.
10. Pillaged Monastery Walls
When King Henry VIII clashed with the Church, he dismantled over 800 religious establishments throughout England. His main targets were monasteries and nunneries, where he seized their wealth.
However, in 2017, a surprising discovery in Hull revealed that the king also plundered building materials. A year after his rampage (1536–1540), the monarch commissioned the creation of a blockhouse to reinforce Hull's defenses and provide security for artillery and ammunition.
While excavating the heavily damaged site, archaeologists uncovered the original floors beneath the 19th-century layer. They then uncovered the first walls and found that parts of monasteries had been used in the construction. These walls, buried underground, still stood up to 1 meter (3 ft) high in some areas. The remains also included gun ports with side chambers.
In addition to uncovering the remnants of the destroyed monasteries, the rediscovered blockhouse is a remarkable historical find, ranking as one of the earliest fortifications built under Henry VIII’s orders.
9. The Nova Zagora Slab
In 2016, a fragment was discovered beneath a Roman road station in Bulgaria. Marks on its surface made this 7,000-year-old piece a strong contender for the title of the world's earliest writing. However, a year later, another discovery in Bulgaria—this time a complete slab—might challenge that claim by predating it by a millennium.
The small artifact was made of clay, with repetitive symbols pressed into its surface. Though these markings may appear as simple lines and sergeant stripes to the untrained eye, archaeologists were thrilled by the find.
Unearthed near the town of Nova Zagora in an ancient riverside settlement, the artifact shared features with other inscribed objects from Bulgaria. None, however, matched its age.
Archaeologist Tatyana Kancheva stated, “These symbols, these signs are widely distributed not just in Bulgaria but also in Romania, in Serbia, all over the Balkan Peninsula, but those are from the fourth to fifth millennium. [ . . ] There are similar signs which were inscribed on all kinds of artifacts.”
If this represents some form of writing, its meaning remains an unsolved code. Researchers are confident that the message holds significance, likely something similar to a harvest calendar.
8. New Esarhaddon Inscriptions
One of the monuments destroyed by the militant group ISIS was a shrine in Iraq, shared by both Muslims and Christians. It was believed to contain the tomb of the biblical figure Jonah, located in the ancient city of Nineveh.
Researchers discovered that looters had dug tunnels beneath the tomb. Four of these passageways contained an unexpected find—inscriptions that were 2,700 years old. These inscriptions detail the genealogy, religious reforms, and territory of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon.
Descriptions of his territories varied from the geographical, stating 'king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the kings of lower Egypt, upper Egypt, and Kush,' to the more grandiose, claiming him to be the 'king of the world.' His and his ancestors’ names were inscribed on the back of a subterranean statue.
New information can now be added to the writings discovered during the 1987–1992 excavations of the shrine, which depict the violent actions of Esarhaddon. The destruction of Cilicia was captured on a small clay pyramid in his own words: 'I surrounded, conquered, plundered, demolished, destroyed and burned with fire twenty-one of their cities, along with smaller towns in their surroundings.'
7. The Brief Existence of Fort San Juan
For years, scholars searched for Fort San Juan, the earliest known European attempt to establish a settlement in the interior of the United States. In 2013, it was finally located in North Carolina.
As one of the first groups to engage with the locals, archaeologists have pondered whether the relationship was built on cooperation or marked by tension. The fact that Fort San Juan was occupied by Spanish conquistadors raised concerns, as Spanish interactions with indigenous peoples are widely regarded as oppressive.
Even more troubling, prior to the establishment of the fort, another group of conquistadors had coerced local villages in 1540 into providing food and labor. When the Native Americans refused, they were attacked, and the Spanish forces moved on.
Two decades later, when Fort San Juan was constructed, the locals were no longer defenseless. Possibly due to the trauma they had endured, a nearby settlement called Joara grew hostile and, in 1568, set fire to the fort after only two years of its existence.
In 2018, researchers found that the homes destroyed in the attack bore Native American design influences. It remains unclear whether these homes were built by the locals or the Spanish, but the question of how the two groups ultimately interacted was resolved, setting the stage for what followed.
6. Unknown Ramses II Stela
In the ancient Egyptian city of Tanis lies an often overlooked site. Known as San Al-Hagar, it has revealed itself to be a treasure trove for archaeologists. Temples dedicated to the goddess Mut, along with gods Amun and Horus, have been uncovered at San Al-Hagar since the 19th century. One of these temples even had its own sacred lake inside.
In 2018, a renewed exploration and preservation effort at San Al-Hagar led to the discovery of a large granite stela. Found standing upright, the red stone featured the famous pharaoh Ramses II making an offering to a deity. However, Egyptian authorities have yet to identify the god or entity to whom the king was paying homage.
Ramses II, one of the most renowned and longest-reigning pharaohs, ruled Egypt until his death at the age of 90. The discovery of the stela, along with its undetermined hieroglyphs, presents an exciting prospect for those seeking to transform San Al-Hagar into an open-air museum.
5. Roman Boxing Gloves
Thanks to depictions in statues and paintings, researchers are aware that Romans used boxing gloves. These gloves were quite different from the ones we use today, resembling knuckle bands more than full gloves. Despite numerous Roman site excavations, no gloves had ever been discovered until recently.
In 2017, a cache of artifacts was uncovered near the ancient fortification of Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland. Among the weapons, clothing, and writing materials, archaeologists found a pair of sparring gloves dating back 2,000 years.
Expertly crafted from leather, the gloves fit snugly around the knuckles, though they were mismatched in size. The larger glove contained natural fiber stuffing, while the smaller one held a hard coil of leather inside.
Though the gloves ensured a more painful punch, they were relatively tame compared to the brutal nature of ancient boxing matches. Gloves used in real combat typically contained metal. It’s likely that this rare find was a set intended for training purposes.
4. Hemings’s Kitchen At Monticello
Thomas Jefferson owned several slaves, many of whom were half-siblings of his wife, Martha, sharing the same father. The most famous of them was Sally Hemings, with whom Jefferson is believed to have had several children. Another, less known, sibling of Martha and full brother to Sally was James Hemings.
Far from being overlooked by Jefferson, 19-year-old James was sent to Paris to master French cooking. Jefferson, who adored the cuisine, likely saw it as both a personal passion and a symbol of wealth to serve French dishes at his estate.
James Hemings remains a largely forgotten figure in history. Despite his contributions, little is known about his life, even though he is credited with introducing meringues, crème brûlée, and macaroni and cheese to the United States.
Recently, renovations at Jefferson’s plantation, Monticello, uncovered the hidden kitchen of the enslaved chef. For years, it had been concealed beneath a cellar that had been converted into a visitors' bathroom. When fully excavated in 2017, the remains of stoves were found, confirming that this was Hemings’s kitchen. These stoves, which were used to make stews, were uncommon in America at the time but popular in France.
This discovery is significant because linking a slave to tangible evidence of their life, such as Hemings’s kitchen and tools, is a rare occurrence in history. Although James Hemings was eventually freed, he tragically died a few years later, possibly by suicide.
3. Graveyard Under The Sea
Venice, Florida, is a prime location for fossil hunters. In 2016, a diver stumbled upon a jaw near Manasota Key. After keeping it at home for a few weeks, he grew suspicious that the remains might belong to a human. An expert quickly verified his hunch and confirmed that the jaw belonged to a prehistoric individual.
A research team soon dove to the site where the jaw had been discovered. There, they uncovered more skeletal remains and wooden stakes, leading to the unprecedented conclusion that they had found a 7,000-year-old bog cemetery that had been swallowed by the ocean.
What made this find so extraordinary was the remarkable state of preservation. Against all odds, the skeletal remains and artifacts endured thousands of years beneath the sea, withstanding harsh waves and defying expert predictions that no ancient site could survive such conditions.
In 2017, excavations uncovered six individuals, textiles, and sharp stakes. Given that the graveyard spans about an acre, more skeletons are expected to be found. The age of these remains suggests they belong to some of the first Native Americans to transition from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to settled village life.
A large quantity of organic material was also discovered, supporting the theory that burial rituals of the time involved wrapping the deceased in woven material before staking them to the pond's bottom.
2. Missing Crusader Altar
For years, pilgrims visiting Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulcher carved their marks into a discarded slab of stone. Over time, this table-sized rock came to be known as the 'graffiti stone.'
In 2018, a delicate section of the church was in need of restoration, so the stone was moved to a different corner. However, it was turned over, revealing the side that had remained hidden for decades.
An Israeli researcher spotted circular patterns and finely inlaid red stone within the limestone. The design matched the signature work of an artisan family who had been employed by Pope Urban II. Suddenly, the stone was no longer seen as a mere discarded piece; the papal connection, the quality of craftsmanship, and its location all pointed to its true significance.
The renovation work was carried out in the Aedicule. This area had previously been restored in 1808 after a destructive fire, but during that time, the high altar had gone missing. It had been placed there by the Crusaders in the 12th century, seven centuries after the church's original construction.
Researchers now believe the graffiti stone could very well be the missing high altar, where Mass had been held for the next five centuries. Ironically, it had been sitting nearly in its original spot, visible the entire time.
1. The Windsor Monument
In 2018, near Windsor Castle, one of Britain’s ancient monuments was uncovered. Initially, archaeologists anticipated finding remnants of small homes and evidence of prehistoric farming. Instead, they uncovered an oval structure measuring 500 meters (1,640 ft) in circumference, surrounded by ditch segments. This discovery revealed a causewayed enclosure dating back around 5,500 years.
This type of site, encircled by ditches, has long been thought to serve as a ceremonial center. The Windsor find provided substantial evidence supporting this theory. Among the discoveries were large quantities of animal bones, both domestic and wild, indicative of feasting.
The discovery of deliberately broken ceramics suggests that the celebrations were intense at times. Additionally, expertly crafted weapons and tools were found, making the collection of artifacts especially noteworthy. Typically, causewayed enclosures do not yield such an abundance of artifacts.
Moreover, the site was more intact than most similar structures, offering a better opportunity to understand these ancient gathering places. Oddly, human remains were also uncovered. One individual was missing a femur and skull, while another skull, showing signs of cuts, had been intentionally left at the bottom of a ditch.
