麻豆传媒

Archaeologists have made many stunning discoveries down the years. These have changed our thinking on how our species became the only humans on the planet, how civilisations arose across the world and how international trade first began.

As the world marks the 100th anniversary of one of the most famous archaeological finds of all time 鈥� the unearthing of Tutankhamun鈥檚 tomb in Egypt 鈥� 麻豆传媒 asked archaeologists who work at sites scattered across the world, from Greece to Indonesia, to nominate the discoveries they think are even more significant.

Mycenae Grave Circle

In the late 19th century, archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann excavated a circle of six royal graves at the citadel of Mycenae in southern Greece. He found a hoard of golden treasures from the 16th century BC, including the 鈥淢ask of Agamemnon鈥�, which Schliemann believed was worn by Mycenae鈥檚 mythological ruler, who fought in the Trojan war. That is unlikely, but the find 鈥渞evolutionised our comprehension of the Mediterranean鈥�, says at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, revealing the previously unknown Aegean civilisations that preceded historical Greece.

Terracotta Army and the ancient site of Yinxu

In 1974, workers digging near the city of Xi鈥檃n, China, uncovered a life-size clay soldier poised for battle. Archaeologists soon found an entire terracotta army, guarding the tomb of the 3rd-century-BC emperor Qin Shi Huang. at Harvard University highlights the site along with 聽(see picture at the top of the page). This city, which dates to the late 2nd millennium BC and so is much older than the Terracotta army, revealed a golden age of early Chinese culture, including palaces, a flood-control system and inscribed oracle bones 鈥� the earliest evidence of the Chinese written language. Both 鈥渨ere true discoveries of things and stories that had been long forgotten鈥�, says Flad.

Hand axes of Hoxne

In 1797, antiquary John Frere wrote to colleagues describing sharpened flints uncovered by brickworkers in Hoxne, England. The stones lay 4 metres deep, alongside the bones of enormous, unknown animals and beneath layers apparently once at the bottom of the sea. Frere suggested they belonged 鈥渢o a very remote period鈥� even beyond that of the present world鈥�. His discovery of what we now know are Palaeolithic hand axes 鈥渞evealed for the first time the long-term, deep-time human past鈥�, says at University College London, 鈥渃hallenging the biblical notion that the world was created in 4004 BC.鈥�

Uluburun

This Bronze Age shipwreck, found off the coast of Turkey in 1982, stands as 鈥渙ne of the great underwater discoveries鈥�, says at Lund University in Sweden. Once described as 鈥溾��, it transformed historians鈥� understanding of the era by revealing an astonishing web of trade contacts. The wreck鈥檚 vast cargo represented at least 11 different cultures and included weapons, jewellery, ostrich eggs, resin, spices and copper ingots from as far afield as Egypt, Cyprus and Asia.

The Flores 鈥楬obbit鈥�

The shock discovery of diminutive humans who once lived on the Indonesian island of Flores was the 鈥淛FK moment鈥� of modern archaeology, says at Griffith University in Australia, in the sense that scientists in the field still remember where they were when they heard the news. The tiny bones, discovered in a cave in 2003, showed that individuals (subsequently dubbed Homo floresiensis) grew to just over 1 metre tall and lived alongside giant lizards. For Brumm, 鈥渋t was an electrifying and totally unexpected find鈥�.