Finding Archaeological Treasures Sometimes totally unexpected things are found. They could be found after being hunted for, or they could be found by accident. Lately it seems more ancient cemeteries are being found all over the planet. Recently a vast cemetery was found and the archaeologists became very excited over what they found because the cemetery was full of grave gifts. These are things people left in the graves for their loved ones. The cemetery was a Goth cemetery. Some of these people lived in northern Poland and were famous at the time for making very high quality jewelry the Romans were crazy over. The Polish archaeologists who discovered the cemetery could hardly contain themselves. As I have said before, I understand digging up ancient graves and the reasons for this, but it still doesn’t sit very well with me. The Goths were the people who sacked Rome in 410 A.D. It looks like people acted mostly the same even in ancient times. Archaeologists found evidence of a party which was held 6,500 years ago. They called it a feast, but a feast is really a party with a lot of food and drink. The party was held in what is now north west England. Something interesting was also found at the site and it was the greatest amount of red ochre ever found and the tools to make it into powder. This was all near the town of what is known today as Carlisle. It is thought the ochre was used in body paint. Perhaps a formal gathering required the equivalent of a tuxedo which was a painted body. I am surprised at what I am going to tell you was not thought of before. One of the big deals for archaeologists is being able to date what they find. Sometimes instruments can date the objects, other times, the depth and type of soil they are found in is used. There are even times when something which is found is compared to objects which are similar and have known dates. A new idea was put forward in how to date all those structures which were built with mud bricks. It seems pieces of plants are in the bricks so they can be dated by dating the plant fragments. This is similar to the method where plant material found between stones is used for dating. One structure which was found which was made of mud bricks was just dated and was 2,900 years old. The war in Iraq was a shame in many different ways, but one of them had to do with the fact the country was the home to ruins from ancient civilizations. Some of these relics were being destroyed by the war. We as Americans seem to be more interested in the remains of the ancient past than most people around the world. I think it is because we live in a relatively new country. We do have some ancient native American sites, but not the massive number of sites found in Europe and Asia. More stuff just keeps being found in Iraq. Last year ancient city gates were found. This year Sennacherib reliefs were found nearby. These panels were part of a palace. It is believed they date back to about 700 B.C. One of the things I find the most exciting about archaeology is something which hardly happens. It is when an ancient object which is very old is found and it looks like it is new. It happened when a sword was found last year and it has happened with some coins. This leads me to the fact there is an ancient iron pole named the Iron pillar of Delhi which was made in the 4th century and mounted in the open air, yet it has never rusted. It is almost 24 inches high. I think something a little out of the ordinary is happening to it. There were inscriptions on it made in ancient times. The lack of corrosion would have made them still readable. For some reason the iron has closed over some of the letters. When something is discovered in Greece and called pre-civilization you can imagine how old it must be. Some are gold and have carvings on them which show some strange things. One I saw pictured a woman holding something in front of another woman who was sitting on a fancy chair with a stranger looking from behind. They were drawn like caricatures. One has to wonder what the engraver was thinking when he created this object. An incredible 6,000 year old village was found. It was not found on the land, but under the water. It was found under a lake in Albania. Archaeologists suggested it was first populated by people around that time. This makes it the oldest one found in the region. It was said to probably be the home of about 500 people. It does make one wonder what else we could find out about the areas back in ancient times which were not yet under water. This has been talked about quite a few times. There is a city which was found off the coast of Greece, and it too is under the water and is believed to be about 5,000 years old. The name of the city is Pavlopetri. Other countries have also found submerged cities off their coast. One of the things we have learned a lot about is ancient boat construction. This is thanks to the wrecks we have found, some of which were very well preserved. The oldest wreck ever found is said to be the Dokos wreck. It has been dated to around 2,200 B.C. A wreck has been found in a coal mine. It was the wreck of a Roman ship and it was protected by several layers of damp dirt. This boat is thought to be from the 3rd or 4th century. It is believed this boat was used to travel to the nearest city and back with supplies, the distance being only about one mile. Another ancient cemetery was discovered in an unlikely spot. The Brits were building a site to launch rockets from in the Shetland Islands in northern Scotland when they discovered the cemetery under the ground. Archaeologists think it could date back to 2,200 B.C. So many times, lately during different constructions, ancient articles and even ruins have been found. It is almost as if wherever you put a shovel in the ground in Great Britian you find archaeology. Most of it is Roman but other types have also been found.
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