I have always said that I enjoy archaeology very much. It gives us an insight into how our ancestors lived and sometimes astounds us with completely unexpected discoveries. Who would have thought that the ancient Romans had glass windows or that the art of making glass went back many thousands of year before that. Finding an ancient mechanical astronomical computer, complete with gears that was over 2,000 years old rocked the world of archaeology. There are also some things that were found that are never talked about, such as the ancient South American stones that have pictures painted on them of dinosaurs with people. The stones are out of tombs that are over 25,000 years old. Other discoveries have sparked controversy, such as the Dropa stones. They have circular lines etched into them and some claim that they are recordings, while the majority of science says that this is ridiculous and stones of this type were quite common in a particular era in China. It is hard not to find this stuff fascinating.

A mysterious race of ancient people lived in the American midwest. Lucky for us, there were no roads nearby, so the site was undisturbed. The site has villages, stone houses and granaries that still have corncobs and seeds in them. There is also a lot of art at the site, in the form of paintings that are etched into rock. These things are old and predate the famous Fremont material. Since this site was never looted, it is invaluable to scientists. This thriving group of communities just disappeared without a trace about 750 years ago. The houses were built halfway under the ground, I guess this might have helped with cooling, but this is only a guess. The site has been called "a laboratory" by those examining it. So how was this place discovered? What had happened, was that a couple decided to buy a large ranch in eastern Utah. A fence and gate was put up to keep the cattle in. But something was known by the couple, somehow it is thought that they knew of the site and were protecting it. There were hundreds of villages on the ranch that they had purchased. Can you imagine how many people must have lived here? It is said that many objects were just laying on the ground undisturbed. This sounds like a major crossroads to me. The people were thought to have been native Americans. Sometimes, in these cases, it might turn out that one or more of the villages might have been built over even older buildings, it will be interesting to see what turns up.

When archaeologists first found the Antikythera Mechanism in an old ship wreck, they didn't realize what they had. It lay in a basement of a museum undisturbed for decades until someone though to examine it using X-rays. To their utter surprise, they found that they had discovered an ancient gear driven device and it seemed to be a mechanical computer for determining the position of the planets and sun. This was thought to be impossible since it was at least 2,000 years old. Well it wasn't impossible and the gears were cut with the same precision as clock gears, but clocks with gears didn't appear for another 1,500 years. So what did all this mean? It simply meant that we had underestimated our ancestors. It seems that the ancient Greeks, the builders of the device, were far more advanced than we had suspected. If this was true, than why weren't we even more advanced now? Apparently the knowledge was lost or at the very least, no attention was paid to it by those that came later. It is true that in the east, books were written in countries like Persia that depicted some of these inventions, but that was at least 1,000 year later. Makes you wonder what else was invented and forgotten, doesn't it?

A discovery of great biblical importance was made when the tomb of King Herod was found near Jerusalem. I don't know about you, but I am always excited to find validation that people who were spoken about in the bible, actually lived. Herod is no exception. In the tomb were the grave, sarcophagus and mausoleum. It seems that hard work does payoff sometimes. Digging was going on for over 30 years in the search for this tomb. I wouldn't have made a good archaeologist, since I know I would have given up long before this. Lets look at this in the context of a job. You might have to spend your entire career digging in one area while you look for something like this. I guess some of those who who worked on this project might now retire. It seems that Herod built his palace on the fringe of the desert and this is where he was buried. No other site bears Herod's name. Herod's remains were not at the site, because unfortunately, it had been vandalized. The grave site had been heavily damaged. It is believed that this occurred in ancient times, perhaps around 66-72 AD. It is believed that the people causing the damage might have been Jewish zealots. Herod was hated by many people and there was a revolt against the Romans at this time. Herod had been appointed king by the Romans. Herod was one of the world's great builders, but he was ruthless and would kill anyone that he felt was in his way. Unfortunately for some of his wives and children, this included them. Herod was not born Jewish, but was a convert. Herod named the site Herodium. There have not been any inscriptions found at the site, but archaeologists state that they know this was Herod's tomb by the account of his funeral and other circumstantial evidence.

There seems to be no lack of discoveries in the South and Central American countries, when it comes to archaeology. Archaeologists have discovered scepters that are shaped like lightning bolts in a volcanic lake. Spaniards had described them 500 years ago when they spoke of Aztec offerings to the rain god. The scepters are made of wood. Lightning bolts were not the only things found in the lake, there were also obsidian knives and cones containing incense. The objects were found in the twin lakes of the Nevado de Toluca volcano. The lakes are over 13,800 feet above sea level. This area is part of the western section of Mexico City. When Aztec priests performed ceremonies to the god Tlaloc they used the lightning bolts. It is said that the bolts were put into the lakes to bring rain. This ritual may predate the Aztecs and it is suggested that it started somewhere around 100 BC. The Aztecs settled the area around 1325 AD.

We have all heard about Stonehenge and some of us have heard of Woodhenge, but I am willing to bet that not many of us have heard of Seahenge. In 1999 a site was discovered in England. What makes it different from all the other henges is that it is completely in the water. It is located at Holme-next-the-Sea. The site is believed to be over 4,000 years old. A circle of 55 oak timber posts formed a circle that was sticking out of the water. In the center of the circle was an upturned oak tree. The structure was created in the Bronze Age and was near the shoreline of the Norfolk coast. It was not alone, there was a second timber structure there. The second structure was made of only two logs that had been worked with an ax and laid down side by side. Around these logs was a wicker fence. Oak trees and oak have a history of being used in sites where worship took place. Planks have been found that have emerged from the peat beds of the area and there is some speculation that these planks were walkways. In the 1970s similar structures were found about half a mile away. The logs have been pulled out of Seahenge and so has the upturned tree. They have been subject to study and the tool marks are still visible on the wood. The people of the area were not happy losing a landmark of such historical importance and it still hasn't been decided if the wood should be put back or put on display.

It seems that peat bogs seem to hide a lot of things. I have commented in other articles about the bodies that have been found in them. They act as a preservative and when an ancient body is found, it looks like it was just tossed into the bog. The area around Seahenge was made up of peat bogs and as they are drained different artifacts are beginning to emerge. Who knows what might be found? Maybe there will be something there that will expand our knowledge of an entirely different area. Some truly odd things have been found in some places like the ancient Greek statue in South American ruins that were thousands of years old. It seems that people traveled a lot further than we first thought. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this discovery leads to even more intriguing ones.