The Coolest Discoveries Archaeologists Made in 2024

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You won’t believe the incredible discoveries archaeologists made in 2024—and we’ve got the best ones all in one video! From jaw-dropping ancient treasures to secrets that have been buried for centuries, this year has been full of surprises. Ever wondered what the past is still hiding? This video will blow your mind with finds that changed how we see history. Whether you’re a history buff or just love cool stories, you don’t want to miss this. Hit play and dive into the most exciting archaeological moments of 2024!  Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00Archaeologists have been studying Petra in Jordan for 200 years, and in 2024, they found

00:06something they had never seen before.

00:09It's a tomb with at least 12 complete human skeletons and artifacts that are over 2,000

00:15years old right in front of the treasury.

00:18Bronze, iron, and ceramic items were placed with the deceased, which shows how people

00:23honored their loved ones when they passed away.

00:26It's a rare chance for scientists to learn more about the Nabataeans, an ancient group

00:31of Arabian nomads who built Petra.

00:34The objects found in the tomb under Petra's treasury are in amazing condition, but the

00:39skeletons became fragile because it's damp inside the tomb.

00:43They plan to study the remains and extract DNA to see if the people in the tomb were

00:48related.

00:49While some scientists are solving tomb mysteries, others have trained AI to find new ancient

00:55sites for them.

00:56They've created an algorithm that works with a special type of satellite imagery.

01:01This technique uses radio waves that can peek under things like sand, soil, and even ice

01:06to find hidden objects.

01:08AI will help search a huge desert on the Arabian Peninsula called the Empty Quarter for archaeological

01:14treasures.

01:15The lead scientists of the experiment trained the algorithm to recognize hidden locations

01:21using data from a site they had found before.

01:24The new tech can discover buried structures within 20 inches, which is very precise.

01:31Another groundbreaking tech, LIDAR, which means Light Detection and Ranging, helped

01:36archaeologists reveal new hidden cities all around the world.

01:40LIDAR can see big structures beneath layers of vegetation and map even subtle changes

01:45in ancient landscapes.

01:47They use it to scan large areas from a small plane flying over places that aren't so

01:51easy to study from the ground, like dense jungle.

01:54In 2024 alone, they found new Maya settlements in southern Mexico, gardens, roads, and rivers

02:01in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest, ancient ruins on the Pacific island of Tonga, and

02:06the remains of two medieval cities along the Silk Road route in Uzbekistan.

02:12Maybe some smart technology can also explain what Marge Simpson is doing on Earth in an

02:17ancient Egyptian tomb from 3,000 years ago.

02:21The drawing featuring a woman with yellow-colored skin, a blue crown, and a green outfit is

02:26alarmingly like the famous cartoon character.

02:30If you don't see a resemblance here, I hope you'll at least enjoy an amazingly well-preserved

02:35necklace with amethyst and agate beads.

02:38It's from another recent find from Egypt – an ancient tomb with 11 sealed burials

02:43near Luxor.

02:45Archaeologists also found two copper mirrors, one with a lotus-shaped handle, and the second

02:50with a unique design of the deity of the sky, women, fertility, and love in ancient Egypt.

02:56The hair of the figurine was originally made from almost 4,000 mud beads.

03:02Another awesome find from 2024 is an ancient Greek shrine with intact burials, a sarcophagus,

03:09and plenty of gold inside.

03:12They think it was built before the year 300, before the Common Era.

03:16Even the marble lions, also found inside, were made from the same marble as the Parthenon

03:21in Athens.

03:22Greece is so full of ancient treasures that the city of Thessaloniki will house around

03:27300,000 of those artifacts in their new subway system.

03:32Meanwhile, archaeologists in France have found a monument unlike any other, and they can't

03:37figure out what it was used for.

03:39It's direct proof that people used to live here between the Neolithic and the early Iron

03:44Age periods.

03:46The coolest part is a monument made of three unique shapes that fit together like puzzle

03:51pieces.

03:52Some gravel found in the monument could mean there used to be a wooden fence called a palisade.

03:58People who built it probably used it for protection or decoration.

04:02The team studied the layers of soil around the monument to learn more about its origins.

04:07The only tools found so far were sharp flintstones, not the cartoon characters, which were used

04:13during the Neolithic period.

04:15The next step will be radiocarbon dating to figure out exactly how old the site is.

04:22The oldest saddle ever found so far was found in the grave of a woman near the edge of the

04:28Taklamakan Desert in northwest China.

04:31This saddle is the oldest ever discovered.

04:33It was crafted from pieces of leather that were sewn together and stuffed with straw

04:37and animal hair to make it soft.

04:40Normally, things made from natural materials like this don't last very long, because

04:45they rot or fall apart.

04:47But the Taklamakan Desert is so dry that it helped preserve the artifact.

04:52The herdswoman who used the saddle was buried in her full riding attire, so this proves

04:56that not only men used saddles and took part in herding and traveling.

05:02Let's shift to Guatemala, where an ornate jade mask made by the ancient Maya people

05:08was waiting for centuries to be discovered.

05:11Scientists use radiocarbon dating to figure out the age of the mask.

05:15They believe the mask may represent a Maya storm deity, a powerful figure in their mythology.

05:21These kinds of masks were often made to honor Maya royalty, and they were placed in the

05:25tombs of kings and queens when they were buried.

05:28The king's tomb was also decorated with carvings made using tools crafted from volcanic obsidian.

05:36After 15 years of searching, scientists may have finally figured out where the altar stone

05:41of Stonehenge comes from.

05:43They compared the tiny minerals inside the altar stone with rocks from many places in

05:48Wales and England and ruled out lots of spots.

05:52Then they found the perfect match with a place in Scotland, more than 466 miles away from

05:58Stonehenge.

05:59This area might even be Orkney, a group of islands in the far northeast of Scotland where

06:05a lot was going on during the Neolithic period.

06:08The big question now is how ancient people moved such a massive stone so far.

06:13The altar stone is over 16 feet long and weighs more than 6 tons.

06:18The new theory is that they might have used boats to carry it across the coastline and

06:22rivers.

06:23Once it was close to Stonehenge, they theoretically dragged it across the land using wooden sleds,

06:29ropes, and a lot of teamwork.

06:33Meanwhile, in the north of France, an ancient home popped to the surface during the construction

06:39of a new house.

06:40It turned out to be a luxury urban house for the elite from the 2nd century of the Common

06:45Era.

06:46The inside of the house was destroyed by a fire, but under the destroyed layer, there

06:51are beautiful real-size fresco paintings.

06:55Turkish archaeologists unearthed the arm and foot bones of elephants that lived around

07:009 million years ago.

07:02They also found fossils of early horses, giraffes, and even saber-toothed cats.

07:07They've already identified 43 distinct types of animals from this site and collected more

07:13than 4,000 fossils.

07:16One more cool find from Turkey is a 64,000-year-old workshop inside Nkheja Cave.

07:23It looks like people used it for 24,000 years non-stop.

07:27There are some tools inside, like flakes and blades, which were made inside the workshop.

07:34In eastern Turkey, a farmer accidentally found a 1,000-square-foot mosaic from the late Roman

07:40or early Byzantine period just beneath the dirt.

07:44Experts say it's a one-of-a-kind thing from this region, and it's still in one piece

07:48after all this time.

07:50The pattern shows dozens of trees, plants, and animals that were found in ancient Turkey.

07:56There could be more treasures in the area, so they plan to keep digging.

08:01Our final stop will be in Sicily, where archaeologists uncovered a huge ancient thermocomplex.

08:07Inside, they found two rooms with floors covered in colorful mosaic designs, along with a large

08:13courtyard surrounded by arched wings.

08:17As they kept digging, they discovered more parts of the ancient city.

08:21They found new roads and the remains of a huge complex, along with stretches of old

08:25stone walls that were part of the city's fortifications.

08:29These discoveries are helping scientists imagine what the city might've looked like during

08:34ancient times.

08:35No one knows for sure whether the bathhouse was built by the Greeks or the Romans, since

08:40both civilizations lived in Sicily long ago.

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