There are a lot of things hidden underground. Although archeologists are actively excavating them one by one, some of the secrets beneath the ground remain undiscovered.Here are some underground mysteries that humans have discovered!
#1 Hoxne Hoard
The Hoxne Hoard is the largest cache of late Roman gold found anywhere in the Roman Empire. Discovered by a metal detectorist in Suffolk, in the east of England in 1992 CE, the incredible collection contains 14,865 late-4th and early-5th century CE Roman gold, silver and bronze coins, and 200 items of silver tableware and gold jewelery. The hoard amounts to a total of 7.7lb of gold and 52.4 lb of silver, and its current value is estimated at around $4.3 million.
As the finder reported his discovery immediately, the cache was professionally excavated by archaeologists and conserved soon afterward so the vital context of the objects and their condition were preserved. Thanks to the coins in the hoard, we know that the items were deposited in the early-5th century CE, right at the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, which tells us a great deal about an important period in the history of the country when Roman rule was breaking down and a new age was approaching.
#2 15th century gold book
An English nurse named Buffy Bailey made a stunning discovery of a tiny, solid gold book while on holiday near York. Bailey and her husband, Ian, were walking near farmland when their metal detector alerted them to something under the ground. They began to dig, expecting to find the usual detritus.
Instead, the miniature gold book is thought to be connected to King Richard III, and could be worth an estimated £100,000 ($134,500)
The book, possibly a bible or a book of hours, is engraved with Saints Leonard and Margret, patron saints of childbirth, which has led experts to the conclusion that it may have been a gift to someone during pregnancy.
#3 Library of Ashurbanipal
The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal has sometimes been described as the ‘first library’ in the world, or the ‘oldest surviving royal library in the world’. The library was discovered by archaeologists who were excavating at the site of Nineveh, today known as Kuyunjik. As this was the imperial capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire during the reign of Ashurbanipal, the library has been attributed to this ruler. The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal contains over 30,000 clay tablets and fragments with texts written in the cuneiform script . The subjects of these texts range from governments records to works of literature and technical instructions.
#4 Frankenstein mummies
In 2001, a team of archaeologists found a pair of skeletons at an archaeological site on the island of South Uist off the coast of Scotland. At first, it appeared to be a typical Bronze Age discovery, but the researchers soon discovered that the finding was far from normal. While hearing the term “mummies” usually makes us think back to ancient Egypt, in this case the archaeologists had stumbled on what have become known as Frankenstein mummies.
Discovered at the archaeological site of Cladh Hallan, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, the skeletons, one male and one female, were buried in the fetal position. To their astonishment, they found that although the male had died in around 1600 BC, he had not been buried until a full six centuries later, in around 1000 BC. Similarly, the female was not buried until 300 years after her death. This was highly unusual since any skeletons left unburied for that length of time would have ended up as just a pile of bones.
However, the story did not end here, because a decade later, another incredibly finding was made. Further DNA examination of the remains led to the startling discovery that the two skeletons were actually made up of body parts from six different individuals!
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Video source: Top Generality
