Story Archive
Bridge of the Gods Legend and Tunnel
Bridge of the Gods Legend and Tunnel. Native American legends describe a rock bridge called 'Bridge of the Gods' crossing the Columbia River When it collapsed, it became the…
Liquid mercury discovered in tunnels beneath Temple of Feathered Serpent
Liquid mercury discovered in tunnels beneath Temple of Feathered Serpent. In 2015, archaeologist Sergio Gómez discovered liquid mercury in sealed tunnels beneath Temple of the…
Pyramid of Sun has five construction phases with advanced earliest craftsmanship
Pyramid of Sun has five construction phases with advanced earliest craftsmanship. Pyramid of Sun consists of five distinct construction phases stacked upon each other Deeper…
Ötzi the Iceman's copper axe was 99.7% pure
Ötzi the Iceman's copper axe was 99.7% pure. Ötzi the Iceman died around 3300 BCE (5,300 years ago) Found in the Alps on the Italian/Austrian border in 1997 His copper axe was…
Jefferson sent Lewis to find threats to US sovereignty
Jefferson sent Lewis to find threats to US sovereignty. Thomas Jefferson sent Merryweather Lewis with specific instructions Jefferson told Lewis to look for anything threatening…
Cahokia mound shows imported clay layers
Cahokia mound shows imported clay layers. Poverty Point, Louisiana has 7 concentric rings cut by Mississippi River Evidence of copper processing at Poverty Point Cahokia has a…
Pure Michigan copper contains unexpected mercury
Pure Michigan copper contains unexpected mercury. The Superior Rift formed 3 billion years ago A wall of nearly pure copper exists in Lake Superior (40-80 feet tall, 18 ft thick)…
Cacao found in 38 ancient North American sites
Cacao found in 38 ancient North American sites. Ceramic vessels at 38 sites in North America tested positive for cacao Sites range from Arizona to Florida to Wisconsin Cacao…
Plato's Critias dialogue ends mid-sentence, third dialogue lost
Plato's Critias dialogue ends mid-sentence, third dialogue lost. Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias are the oldest sources about Atlantis Critias stops mid-sentence as Zeus…
Machu Picchu aqueduct and water engineering system
Machu Picchu aqueduct and water engineering system. A spring of fresh water exists at the top of Machu Picchu peak The Inca engineered an aqueduct system spanning nearly a mile…
Sacred Plaza and principal temple megalithic architecture
Sacred Plaza and principal temple megalithic architecture. The principal temple had walls 12 ft high with exquisitely made niches Blocks in the lower course weighed from 10 to 15…
Temple of the Sun and fine Inca stonework at Machu Picchu
Sun Temple discovery and megalithic stonework at Machu Picchu. Bingham discovered carved caves beneath the Sun Temple, believed to be royal mausoleums The Sun Temple was lined…
Hiram Bingham's 1911 expedition discovers Machu Picchu
Hiram Bingham's 1911 expedition discovers Machu Picchu. Hiram Bingham was a 33-year-old Yale professor of Latin American history National Geographic granted him $5,000 for the…
Bingham's theories about Machu Picchu proven incorrect
Bingham's theories about Machu Picchu proven incorrect. Bingham believed Machu Picchu was Vilcabamba, the last Inca capital Bingham also theorized it could be the birthplace of…
Historical testimonies about Great Pyramid summit overlooked by Egyptology
Historical testimonies about Great Pyramid summit overlooked by Egyptology. Johan Michael Wansleb in 1672 was first explorer to accurately count 206 courses of the Great Pyramid…
Cyclopean empty quarters reveal cultural boundaries
Cyclopean empty quarters reveal cultural boundaries. Empty quarters are areas with conditions to have cyclopean walls but have none Greek areas including ancient Epirus and…
Cyclopean walls are cultural construction, not natural
Cyclopean walls are cultural construction, not natural. Cyclopean walls appear in high concentrations in small areas as a cultural product Building polygonal walls with fitted…
Algerian wall appears cyclopean but is natural rock formation
Algerian wall appears cyclopean but is natural rock formation. The wall in Algeria is a natural rock formation that resembles cyclopean masonry Large chunks of bedrock remain…
Global natural formations mistaken for cyclopean walls
Global natural formations mistaken for cyclopean walls. The Ancient Wall in Montana, USA is the most YouTube-covered example, likely a natural phenomenon New Zealand has a remote…
Longyou Caves: 2,000-year-old Chinese site with uniform machine-like tool marks
Longyou Caves: 2,000-year-old Chinese site with uniform machine-like tool marks. Over 40 massive caves excavated inside sandstone hills in China Average cave floor area over 1,000…
Maya Classical Period Collapse Explained
Maya Classical Period Collapse Explained. The 'Maya disappearance' refers to the collapse of the Classical period between 800-900 AD Pre-classic period began around 2200 BC with…
Deforestation and Drought Caused Maya Collapse
Deforestation and Drought Caused Maya Collapse. At Copán, Honduras, archaeologists found the city was completely deforested during its height Maya cut down all trees to obtain…
Teotihuacan Invasion Sparked Maya Civil War
Teotihuacan Invasion Sparked Maya Civil War. Teotihuacan colonized parts of the Maya world and installed rulers in cities like Copan The Kan dynasty led by Calakmul opposed…
Video Misdates El Chichón and Mislinks It to Maya Decline
Volcano Eruption and 10th Baktun Ended Maya Era. El Chichón volcano erupted around 850 AD, west of Palenque The eruption covered Palenque in a layer of ash and cast a dark plume…
Orongo: Birdman ceremony site with ancient competition rituals
Orongo: Birdman ceremony site with ancient competition rituals. Orongo is the site of the Birdman competition (Tangatu Manu) Representatives from each tribe would climb 200m down…
Rano Raraku crater: Discovery site of rapamycin, potential key to human longevity
Rano Raraku crater: Discovery site of rapamycin, potential key to human longevity. Rano Raraku crater is now a freshwater lake and the largest crater on Easter Island It is a…
Anakeion: Beach with restored Moai platform and first coral eye ever found
Anakeion: Beach with restored Moai platform and first coral eye ever found. Anakeion Beach is considered the most beautiful beach on Easter Island Au Nau features seven Moai…
Rano Raraku: Moai quarry with 400 statues, 300,000-year-old volcanic stone
Rano Raraku: Moai quarry with 400 statues, 300,000-year-old volcanic stone. Rano Raraku is home to roughly 400 Moai statues, the primary quarry on Easter Island The volcanic stone…
Tongariki: Largest monument with 15 Moai, iconic Easter Island site
Tongariki: Largest monument with 15 Moai, iconic Easter Island site. Tongariki is Easter Island's largest monument with 15 Moai statues It is the most photographed and iconic site…
Ground-penetrating radar reveals massive chambers beneath site
Ground-penetrating radar reveals massive chambers beneath site. In 2009, ground-penetrating radar revealed massive chambers beneath Pumapunku The site has never been deeply…
2500 artifacts excavated in 1879-1880 proven authentic
2500 artifacts excavated in 1879-1880 proven authentic. Artifacts excavated from Garden Creek Mound in 1879-1880 2500 different types of artifacts including bird stones, boat…
Physical evidence proves water immersion claims false
Physical evidence proves water immersion claims false. Emmer claimed artifacts were immersed in water to make them look old Soapstone is non-porous and would not change color when…
DeSoto Chronicles match artifacts found at Garden Creek
DeSoto Chronicles match artifacts found at Garden Creek. DeSoto Chronicles describe the temple at Cofitachequi with detailed descriptions matching artifacts found Chronicles…
Gla: largest Greek acropolis with cyclopean walls now abandoned
Gla: largest Greek acropolis with cyclopean walls now abandoned. Gla is the largest acropolis in all of Greece Features impressive cyclopean walls from the Bronze Age Located on…
Cyclopean builders: finest ancient engineers with lost technology
Cyclopean builders: finest ancient engineers with lost technology. Cyclopean builders were the best builders of antiquity Their technique of fitting odd-shaped stones together…
Mastaba 17 built without entrance for deceased occupant
Mastaba 17 built without entrance for deceased occupant. Mastaba 17 has no entrance passage constructed to reach its chambers The substructure was sunk into bedrock pit and…
Sneferu pyramids lack sarcophagi unlike contemporary tombs
Sneferu pyramids lack sarcophagi unlike contemporary tombs. None of Sneferu's three pyramids (Maidum, Bent, Red) contain stone sarcophagi Pyramid complexes both before and after…
Kufu transformed royal burial practices at Giza (Pyramids)
Kufu transformed royal burial practices at Giza (Pyramids). Khufu must have planned the Great Pyramid before arriving on the throne He spent his entire life watching pyramids rise…
Earliest granite sarcophagus found at Mastaba 17
Earliest granite sarcophagus found at Mastaba 17. Mastaba 17 contains the earliest known granite sarcophagus It predates the Giza necropolis of Khufu Other mastabas at Meidum…
Ancient Amazon cities may be located inland away from rivers
Ancient Amazon cities may be located inland away from rivers. Orellana traveled from where the Coca River meets the Napo to the Amazon mouth, seeing cities along the river He also…
LiDAR reveals million-person cities in Amazon interior
LiDAR reveals million-person cities in Amazon interior. Ancient Amazon settlements have been found by farmers clearing land on the periphery LiDAR scanning has revealed huge…
Orellana likely truthful about Amazon civilizations despite skepticism
Orellana likely truthful about Amazon civilizations despite skepticism. Scholars historically believed Orellana fabricated stories of huge snakes, sprawling cities, and Amazon…
Machu Picchu pre-Inca megalithic core with 50-ton blocks
Machu Picchu pre-Inca megalithic core with 50-ton blocks. Pre-Inca construction uses white granite containing quartz crystal (hardness 7) Largest blocks weigh around 50 tons,…
Coricancha curved andesite wall with vitrified joints and L-blocks
Coricancha curved andesite wall with vitrified joints and L-blocks. Curved outer wall made of tightly fitted andesite blocks over 1 meter tall Blocks interlock along multi-angled…
Pumapunku dating controversy and impossible stonework
Pumapunku dating controversy and impossible stonework. Traditional archaeological dating places Pumapunku around 500 CE Austrian archaeologist Arthur Posnansky proposed…
Ollantaytambo pre-Inca megalithic blocks with impossible precision
Ollantaytambo pre-Inca megalithic blocks with impossible precision. Temple of the Sun at Ollantaytambo contains pink granite blocks with scoop marks suggesting stone softening…
Why Old Copper Culture Stopped Mining: Copper Depletion Theory
Why Old Copper Culture Stopped Mining: Copper Depletion Theory. Native copper deposits were eventually depleted through mining Without smelting, they could only work large chunks…
Minoan-Old Copper Culture Trade Hypothesis: Evidence Analysis
Minoan-Old Copper Culture Trade Hypothesis: Evidence Analysis. Claim that Minoans traded with Old Copper Culture during Bronze Age Evidence claimed: copper amounts, timing of…
Old Copper Culture: 9,500 Years of Native Copper Mining Near Lake Superior
Old Copper Culture: 9,500 Years of Native Copper Mining Near Lake Superior. Native copper deposits around Lake Superior used from 9,500 to 3,000 years ago Copper was 99.9% pure,…
Old Copper Culture Artifacts: Catalog Estimates and Collection History
Old Copper Culture Artifacts: Catalog Estimates and Collection History. Early 20th century catalog by P.V. Lawson estimated around 13,000 copper artifacts Over 100 years later,…
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