Enquiring minds want to know! What is your favourite archaeological discovery? It can be a discovery from hundreds of years ago, or a more recent one.
If I had to choose just one (so difficult to do), I think I would choose the rediscovery of Pompeii in 1748. To rediscover a historic town that had essentially been frozen in time is not only incredible but also so important to our understanding of Roman life in Pompeii.
I have such fond memories of learning about Pompeii in high school, and I was lucky enough to finally visit in 2023:
As someone who loves ‘old things’, one of the discoveries would be the preserved 30 meters long and 5 meters width, circa 50-40 thousand years old ‘Agathis australis’ prehistoric Kauri tree, discovered in the Swamp Kauri wetlands, New Zealand.
As much I as love Italy, Greece holds a very special place in my heart (I really need to investigate processing memories of my past lives). So, for me, it would be the gate leading to the stadium at Olympia. So much history in such a simple doorway.
Too many to choose from. Pompeii is definitely up there. i’d go with Tut’s Tomb, the “Great Death Pit” of the Royal Cemetery of Ur in the ruins of ancient Mesopotamia, Knossos on Crete. BUT - my favorite discovery is an American Revolutionary War cannonball discovered under the porch of my family home, built c. 1820’s. That happy discovery, long ago, was the best. Very exciting - especially because my parents were always looking for historical artifacts. And there was one right under our front porch.
I don’t remember, actually. I remember the cannonball was on a shelf in the dining room for years - but I don’t remember where it wound up. Probably the local historical society.
The oldest known archaeological site is Göbekli Tepe, which is over 11,000 years old and is believed to be the site of the world’s oldest temple. Located in Turkey’s Southeastern Anatolia Region, Göbekli Tepe challenges previous interpretations of human history and is recognized as the earliest known example of a megalithic building
I agree, Göbekli Tepe, Karahan Tepe, Cakmaktepe and Sayburç blew me away. I definitely would like to go back in a couple of years as the new discoveries never seem to stop being in Amarna and visiting Akhnaten‘s tomb felt very special too!
Not been to Malta yet, sounds very tempting. Turkey is an amazing country for history and I loved the Tepes but there are other incredible places too like Mt. Nemrut, Ephesos, Pergamon and many others. For Troy you need to bring a lot of imagination
In 1930-31 there was an unoffical dig in sheebeg county Louth, Ireland. It recently came up again in the news and during Osteoarchaeological analysis and radiocarbon dating, the remains of an male and probable female are between 5,300 to 5,600 years old which date them during the middle Neolithic period.
My favorite is Pompeii as well. Not only the discovery, but how well it has been preserved for so long. I also found it amazing how many modern day practices (food preparation, civil design, amphitheater) you can connect to discoveries in Pompeii.
Interestingly a spelling close to it is that of ‘Cowrie’ sea shells. Found in Maldives, even Australia, it was a precious currency for the Portugese, English, Dutch and even Pirates in the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal dealing in slaves and cotton etc from the 1500s onwards till the colonies in India shifted to bullion and barter trade.
