As we go about our daily lives relying on top technology such as smartphones and laptop computers, there are lots of top archaeologists searching to find out about our ancestors, find pieces of the puzzle that link us to Neanderthals and find what happened to ship wrecks and research tombs and caves.
Archaeologists did themselves proud in 2010 with some top finds, the top ten archaeological finds in 2010 include:
Hecatomnus Tomb – Milas, Turkey
Hecatomnus was a ruler of the fourth century and father to Mausolus. The walls of the tomb were decorated and the tomb held a marble sarcophagus.
Strangely enough the tomb was actually found by looters who dug through from a nearby house and were caught in the chamber.
Island of Crete, Stone Tools
Stone tools were discovered on the island of Crete believed to date back to over 700,000 years ago. The tools are an example of those made by early human ancestors proving that they sailed great distances to reach the island.
Peru Pyramids
Two ancient pyramids were found near Jaen in Peru. The pyramids were covered in vegetation and used as a dumping ground by the locals until archaeologist Quirino Olivera started excavating the area. The pyramid ruins date back to around 2,800 years ago.
Royal Tomb, Guatemala
Only feet below El Diablo pyramid this royal tomb was found with offerings used by the nearby Maya people. The offerings were in the form of teeth and severed fingers. It is believed this royal tomb which is set high up in the royal quarter dates back to 350AD.
HMS Investigator, Canada
A discovery at Banks Island in Canada put all the rumors to rest about the fate of the British Ship, HMS Investigator. The ship was found thirty feet under water in Mercy Bay.
There are so many stories about what happened to this ship after its disappearance in 1853. The stories included that it has drifted out to sea, broken up by waves and some believe it was salvaged by American whalers. Finding the HMS Investigator proved that it was right where the crew had left it all those years before.
Child Burials in Tunisia
The University of Pittsburgh Archaeology department led by Jeffrey Schwartz proved the claim that children were sacrificed in Carthage from the 2nd century BC. They discovered 540 children in 348 urns, most of these children were infants and premature, there were a very small handful of children around the age of five.
Germany – Neanderthal DNA
The Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig has set up genetic testing on the Neanderthal remains found some years back. They compared the Neanderthal DNA to a French, Chines and Polynesian test subject. Interestingly each one inherited between one and found percent of their DNA from the Neanderthal.
Taking the testing even further to prove claims of where Neanderthals had originated from they tested two African subjects only to find no inheritance at all, proving all the theories that Neanderthals had evolved outside of Africa.
Ancient Church, Virginia
While searching for the first English colony settlement in Jamestown, Virginia a church was found dating back to 1608. Made from wood and measuring around 60 feet, this church was an interesting find, helping archeologists to continue their search for evidence of the colony.
Kadunuumuu, Ethiopia
Lucy was discovered in 1974 with more bones being found up to 2010. These had scientists in a debate as to how people walked over 3.6 million years ago. But new discoveries in 2010 ended these debates by proving that the fossil did not walk like an ape.
Ghost Ship, Canada
The ghost ship was found in Yukon Territory, Canada and is the ship believed to have sunk in 1901. The discovery found the crewmen’s boots still on deck and fresh wood on the fire, the wreck was upright and well preserved.