Father discovered a medieval English gold coin worth a record $875,000 on the first day he tried out his new metal detector
When his children were born, Michael Leigh-Mallory gave up his passion for metal detecting. Now, 10 and 13, they encouraged him to take up the hobby again. On the first day he used his new metal detector, he found the oldest gold coin in England, dating back to the 13th century.
“The day after it arrived, I went out into this field. It was a bright, sunny day, and within 15 minutes, I found the coin. I knew it was gold, but I had no idea how important it was,” Leigh-Mallory told The Guardian.
The 52-year old ecologist and amateur historian had dug up the rare gold penny as it glistened in a field in Devon, South West England, and was advised to take it to the British Museum.
The gold coin was found by the father of two, dates back to the thirteen century. Spink auction house
It was discovered to be one of only eight in existence, and the last one was found 260 years ago, according to The Metro.
The coin, made from North African gold, was minted in the reign of Henry III, who was the English king between 1217-72.
Father discovered a medieval English gold coin worth a record $875,000 on the first day he tried out his new metal detector
Not only did it bring immense joy to Leigh-Mallory and his family, but also a record-breaking hammer price of £540,000 – with extra fees taking the total £648,000 ($878,778) – when the coin was sold at Spink and Sons auctioneers in London, last week.
Spink told Insider that the sale price made it the most valuable coin ever sold in the UK. A private collector bought it, say reports.
The gold coin was found by the father of two, which dates back to the 13th century. Spink auction house
“It is quite surreal, really,” Leigh-Mallory told the paper. “I’m just a normal guy who lives in Devon with his family, so this really is a life-changing sum of money which will go towards their futures.”
In a statement to Insider, Leigh-Mallory said that he is “humbled and honoured to be linked with the discovery and subsequent history afforded to us by the staggering research undertaken by Spink and the wider academic community about this coin.”
He will split the profits of the find with the landowner. “The money will be put towards my children’s future, who show the same passion for our history as me. In fact, I really owe it to them for having found the coin in the first place, as they were my inspiration to go out prospecting,” Leigh-Mallory added.
Archaeologists discover new mystery human species in Israel
Researchers working in Israel have identified a previously unknown type of ancient human that lived alongside our species more than 100,000 years ago. They believe the remains uncovered near the city of Ramla represent one of the “last survivors” of a very ancient human group.
The skull fragment and jawbone found near Ramla in Israel
The finds consist of a partial skull and jaw from an individual who lived between 140,000 and 120,000 years ago.
The team members think the individual descended from an earlier species that may have spread out of the region hundreds of thousands of years ago and given rise to Neanderthals in Europe and their equivalents in Asia.
The scientists have named the newly discovered lineage the “Nesher Ramla Homo type”.
Dr Hila May of Tel Aviv University said the discovery reshaped the story of human evolution, particularly our picture of how the Neanderthals emerged. The general picture of Neanderthal evolution had in the past been linked closely with Europe.
“It all started in Israel. We suggest that a local group was the source population,” she told BBC News. “During interglacial periods, waves of humans, the Nesher Ramla people, migrated from the Middle East to Europe.”
The human finds were uncovered during the excavation of a sinkhole. Thousands of stone tools and animal remains were also found
The team thinks that early members of the Nesher Ramla Homo group were already present in the Near East some 400,000 years ago. The researchers have noticed resemblances between the new finds and ancient “pre-Neanderthal” groups in Europe.
“This is the first time we could connect the dots between different specimens found in the Levant,” said Dr Rachel Sarig, also from Tel Aviv University.
“There are several human fossils from the caves of Qesem, Zuttiyeh and Tabun that date back to that time that we could not attribute to any specific known group of humans. But comparing their shapes to those of the newly uncovered specimen from Nesher Ramla justify their inclusion within the [new human] group.”
Dr May suggests that these humans were the ancestors of Neanderthals.
“The European Neanderthal actually began here in the Levant and migrated to Europe, while interbreeding with other groups of humans.”
Others travelled east to India and China, said Prof Israel Hershkovitz, suggesting a connection between East Asian archaic humans and Neanderthals in Europe.
“Some fossils found in East Asia manifest Neanderthal-like features as the Nesher Ramla do,” he said.
One of the stone tools used by the Nesher Ramla humans. It was produced with the same techniques used by modern humans at the time
The researchers base their claims on similarities in features between the Israeli fossils and those found in Europe and Asia, though their assertion is controversial. Prof Chris Stringer, from the Natural History Museum in London, UK, has recently been assessing Chinese human remains.
“Nesher Ramla is important in confirming yet further that different species co-existed alongside each other in the region at the time and now we have the same story in western Asia,” he said.
“However, I think it’s a jump too far at the moment to link some of the older Israeli fossils to Neanderthals. I’m also puzzled at suggestions of any special link between the Nesher Ramla material and fossils in China.”
The Nesher Ramla remains themselves were found in what used to be a sinkhole, located in an area frequented by prehistoric humans. This may have been an area where they hunted for wild cattle, horses and deer, as indicated by thousands of stone tools and bones of hunted animals.
According to an analysis by Dr Yossi Zaidner at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, these tools were constructed in the same manner that modern humans of the time also made their implements.
“It was a surprise that archaic humans were using tools normally associated with Homo sapiens. This suggests that there were interactions between the two groups,” Dr Zaidner said.
“We think that it is only possible to learn how to make the tools through visual or oral learning. Our findings suggest that human evolution is far from simple and involved many dispersals, contacts and interactions between different species of human.”
The world’s smallest elephants led unusually long lives
Ancient elephants that would have been born the size of a puppy lived for decades more than previously thought. Researchers studying an ancient miniature elephant that lived on Mediterranean islands found it could have lived for over 68 years, which is unusually long for a mammal of its size. The smallest-ever elephant took a leisurely approach to grow up, with a drawn-out development lasting up to 15 years.
Palaeoloxodon Falconeri was a species of dwarf elephant that shrunk after adapting to life in Malta and Sicily.
Though it was barely a metre tall, a team of European scientists found that Palaeoloxodon Falconeri grew much more slowly than its modern relatives, with modern African bush elephants entering adulthood four years earlier than their extinct relative despite being much bigger. Their findings contradict previous studies which suggest P. Falconeri would only have lived for 26 years, suggesting that the species would have lived for at least seven decades, and perhaps even longer.
Professor Meike Köhler, the paper’s lead author, says, ‘Traditionally this species had been considered to have a rapid development, reaching sexual maturity early and having a short life. Our work reveals that the life history of this elephant was much slower.
‘Organisms that grow at slower rates have fewer errors in biosynthesis which leads to an extended lifespan.’
Dr Victoria Herridge, who researches fossil elephants at the Museum and co-wrote the paper, says, ‘It’s hard to know why these elephants grew so slowly. There is an idea that the islands had limited resources and predators, so on the one hand food is scarce, but on the other, there is very low mortality.
‘This would allow for a slower investment in growth over a longer period of time, but without paying the price that smaller individuals pay on the mainland, such as a death in the jaws of a predator. However, the reasoning behind that is still debated.
‘There’s a lot we don’t know about this species, but its slower growth shifts our thinking a little bit on how these elephants evolved.’
The findings, led by the Miquel Crusafont Catalan Institute of Paleontology, was published in Scientific Reports.
Scientists used fossilised bones (left) and teeth (interior shown right) to deduce the life history of Palaeoloxodon Falconeri.
Bigger is better
It’s been known for some time that when it comes to mammals and birds, larger animals live longer. While some shrews live for little more than a year, mammals at the other end of the weight spectrum can live for centuries. The bowhead whale, which can grow up 18 metres long or about the length of a bowling alley, has been estimated to live over for over 200 years. Some bowheads have lived so long that they still contain Victorian harpoons used to try and kill them over a century ago. While the relationship between size and lifespan generally holds true across mammals and birds, lifestyle can have an impact. For instance, flying animals generally live longer than their ground-dwelling relatives, with small bats living for much longer than rats and shrews of a similar size.
However, there are a few notable exceptions. Naked mole-rats can live for around 30 years, while humans have used technological innovations and medicine to allow us to live for longer too. Previously, it had been thought that the miniature elephants fitted well with the overall pattern. After diverging from the largest elephant to ever live, the straight-tusked elephant, it was thought that P. Falconeri would have shortened its lifespan as it dwarfed over the millennia it was isolated on what is now the island of Sicily.
‘Palaeoloxodon Falconeri is the smallest elephant ever to have existed, living on both Malta and Sicily,’ says Victoria. ‘At the time, we don’t know if the area was one large island or an archipelago in the Mediterranean.
‘They are really remarkable animals. They were around a metre tall, which is about the same size as a newborn African elephant but they were adults. As babies, they would only have been the size of a puppy.’
While little is known about the species’ life, it is assumed to have grown smaller through a process of miniaturisation which is common to many island species due to a lack of resources, predators and competitor species. Looking at the overall trend in life history for mammals, it was estimated that an elephant of this size would live for at least 26 years. The new study analysed the growth of teeth, bones and tusks from Spingallo Cave, near Siracusa in southeast Sicily, to provide a more accurate estimate, which shows the species is an exception to the rule.
Professor Antonietta Rossa, from the University of Catania, Sicily, where the fossils are housed and coauthor of the study, says, ‘Spinagallo Cave is outstanding for the number of remains. This abundance of bones provides enough material for analyzing specimens of different ages and growth stages.’
Even the largest bull (left) of Palaeoloxodon Falconeri was significantly smaller than a human, while cows (right) and calves (centre) were smaller.
Good things come to those who wait
The researchers found that across the different types of remains studied, P. Falconeri grew very slow. Though elephants are generally already slow-growing, this species was even more so. While most species grow rapidly as an infant before slowing down after reaching adulthood, the Sicilian elephants grew at a fairly constant rate throughout their entire lives. Even the oldest specimens grew only two millimetres a year more slowly than the youngest, while the difference for African bush elephants is around a centimetre a year. However, this slow growth was compensated for by a much longer developmental period, with some bones not showing signs of adulthood even by the age of 22. The age of sexual maturity was similarly delayed, with all evidence pointing towards 15 years in P. Falconeri, compared with 12 years in living African elephants.
‘Given the later age of sexual maturity, their gestation period may also have been longer or similar to large African elephants,’ says Victoria. ‘And of course, those newborns would also take a long time to grow up, leading to long generation times.’
Researchers have suggested that this long period of development could have resulted from a lack of predators in Sicily. This would allow the elephant to grow more slowly as there was little danger of infants being hunted.
As it was less likely to die, this meant that there was less evolutionary pressure for P. Falconeri to grow up fast and reproduce. As a result, selection pressures instead drove it to grow slowly, allowing more time for learning and development over decades rather than years. However, this slow development would have put it at a disadvantage when it came to sudden changes. Longer development means that evolution acts more slowly, requiring many generations to make significant changes.
‘By taking the inferred age of sexual maturity we can see their gestation period may have been similar to large African elephants,’ Victoria says.
‘Even though it’s a lot smaller than a full-sized elephant, it’s behaving like a very large animal in terms of its generation time which makes it more vulnerable to extinction.
‘Island populations are already vulnerable to extinction because they are often unique and not very numerous so it all adds up.’
The period in which P. Falconeri lived was one of dramatic environmental and climatic change, with Sicily undergoing changes in tectonic activity and sea level. This could have put even more pressure on the elephant’s limited resources and may have led to its extinction around 400,000 years ago.
Woolly mammoth and rhino among Ice Age animals discovered in Devon cave
The remains of Ice Age animals including mammoths, woolly rhinoceros and hyenas have been uncovered in a cave near Plymouth. The finds offer a glimpse of an ancient ecosystem from over 30,000 years ago and have started a campaign to prevent the cave from being sealed off once more.
Bones from Ice Age animals, such as the jaw of a woolly rhinoceros, were found during excavations and are now being studied.
Some of the earliest residents of a new town in Devon are not quite what you’d expect. The bones of mammoths, woolly rhinoceros and hyena are among the remains discovered in a cave during the construction of new houses in Sherford, near Plymouth. They date to the middle of the last Ice Age between 60,000 and 30,000 years ago. Rob Bourn, the lead archaeologist on the project, described the find as a major discovery of national significance,’ adding it was a once in a lifetime experience for those involved.’
He said, ‘To find such an array of artefacts untouched for so long is a rare and special occurrence. Equally rare is the presence of complete or semi-complete individual animals. We look forward to reaching the stage where the discoveries can be shared and displayed so that everyone can find out more about our distant past.’
The Ice Age remains are expected to go on display locally at The Box, a newly opened museum in Plymouth, amid debate over what should happen to the site of their discovery.
An Ice Age is any period of Earth’s history when the planet has a large number of ice covers, such as polar ice caps and glaciers. There have been five Ice Ages in Earth’s history, with the first taking place over two billion years ago. This has been followed by others such as the Cryogenian Ice Age when it is thought that ice sheets could have reached as far as the Equator.
What we tend to refer to as the Ice Age is simply the last glacial period. Ice sheets covered much of northern Europe until the current interglacial began around 11,700 years ago.
Dr Victoria Herridge, an expert in fossil elephants at the Museum who was not involved with the discovery, says, ‘The Sherford Ice Age fossils are from the middle of last major cold period, known as the Devensian. During this time, ice sheets covered much of Wales and northern England but did not reach as far south as in some earlier glaciations.
‘At this time, Devon then would have been a bitterly cold and dry place to be, even in summer. However, it was also a huge open grassland, capable of supporting vast herds of cold-tolerant animals like the woolly mammoth, the woolly rhino and reindeer, as well as the big carnivores like hyena and wolf that preyed upon them.’
The conclusion of this Ice Age also spelled the end for many of these animals, with climate change and the activity of early humans both suggested as potential causes. This had a significant impact on the planet, with dramatic changes in ecosystems resulting from the extinction of large herbivores.
Archaeological work at Sherford has previously uncovered Bronze Age remains at the site.
What was found in Sherford, and what happens now?
The Sherford finds include an almost complete wolf skeleton, as well as the tusk and bones of a woolly mammoth and part of the skull of a woolly rhinoceros. Even though the bones have been found together, it doesn’t necessarily mean the animals all lived at the same time. One suggestion is that the animals fell into a pit over thousands of years, while another is that the bones may have been washed into the cave or moved by predators.
Victoria says, ‘As our most recent geological period, the Ice Age fossil record is very rich in what are known as ‘superficial’ geological deposits – the gravels and sands deposited by ancient glacial streams. This means that Ice Age fossils turn up pretty frequently during construction projects or as a result of quarrying for gravel and sand.
‘The Museum has a huge number of Ice Age fossil mammals in its collections that were discovered during construction projects that shaped modern London. These include finds from the construction of the London Underground, while the tooth of a straight-tusked elephant was found during the construction of the Museum itself.
While the Sherford remains are set to go on display at The Box, the future of the site they were discovered in is being debated. A petition has been launched by Tara Beacroft, conservation officer for caving organisation the Devon and Cornwall Underground Council, to prevent the cave from being sealed.
Speaking to BBC News, she said that the site should be preserved for future generations and researchers as a ‘unique presence’ for the new town.
‘Let’s keep pushing so that we can continue the scientific research,’ Tara said. ‘We can find out more about the site’s potential ecology, we can find out more about the past climate and explore this incredible historical time capsule.’
However, The Sherford Consortium, which is developing the new town, said that it intends to seal the entrance, adding that the public should not attempt to visit the site.
In a press release, the developers said, ‘The underground space will be conserved, and no construction will take place on top of it. However, the entrance will be closed to both protect the historic site and ensure public welfare. It is not, nor will it be, possible for the public to safely access the area in which the discoveries have been made.’
While the debate continues, scientists will continue to research the remains found in the cave and add to our knowledge of the UK in the last Ice Age. Victoria says, ‘Every new discovery if excavated properly, has the potential to advance our understanding of what this past world was like.
‘This is vital knowledge. Scientists are still unravelling what role climate and humans played in the extinction of the woolly mammoth and the woolly rhino – and what we can learn from that to protect species threatened by both today.’
Dozens of decapitated skeletons found in Roman cemetery dig
Archaeologists have discovered at least 40 beheaded skeletons in a Roman cemetery on the route of the high-speed HS2 railway. The 50-strong team made the grisly discovery in Fleet Marston near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
More than 400 bodies were exhumed and around 10 per cent were decapitated, with several having their heads placed between their legs or next to their feet.
HS2 Ltd said the decapitations suggest the bodies are of “criminals or a type of outcast”, although decapitation was a “normal, albeit marginal” part of burial during the late Roman period.
Archaeologists working on the HS2 project in St. James’s burial ground
The cemetery is the largest of its kind in Buckinghamshire.
The bodies are being held in storage for further analysis.
Unlike those exhumed from Christian grounds such as St James’s Gardens in north London, HS2 is under no obligation to rebury the bodies. The archaeologists discovered more than 1,200 coins at Fleet Marston, which suggests it was an area of trade and commerce.
Domestic objects including spoons, pins and brooches were found, while gaming dice and bells suggest that gambling and religious activity were popular at the site. The excavation was carried out over more than a year by Cotswold Archaeology and Oxford Archaeology (Copa), working on behalf of an HS2 contractor.
Copa senior project manager Richard Brown said: “The excavation is significant in both enabling a clear characterisation of this Roman town but also a study of many of its inhabitants.
“Along with several new Roman settlement sites discovered during the HS2 works it enhances and populates the map of Roman Buckinghamshire.”
Fleet Marston is one of more than 100 archaeological sites examined by HS2 since 2018 on the route of the first phase of the railway between London and Birmingham.
HS2 Ltd’s head of heritage Helen Wass said: “The HS2 archaeology programme has enabled us to learn more about our rich history in Britain.
“The large Roman cemetery at Fleet Marston will enable us to gain a detailed insight into the residents of Fleet Marston and the wider Roman Britain landscape.
“All human remains uncovered will be treated with dignity, care and respect and our discoveries will be shared with the community.”
Rare 2,500-year-old ‘Golden Warrior’ found buried under precious ornaments in Kazakhstan
The fascinating discovery of a golden treasure left by the ancient Saka people in a burial mound in Kazakhstan was reported by Ancient Origins last week.
The man’s remains were removed from the site for analysis.
It was hailed as one of the most important discoveries in helping archaeologists in deciphering the ancient Scythian sub-group. group’s Archaeologists have now discovered the missing component of the Saka burial mound – a ‘golden man.’
The mummy of a Saka man who died in the 8th-7th centuries BC was discovered in the remote Tarbagatai Mountains of eastern Kazakhstan, according to Archaeology News Network.
He died when he was just 17 or 18 years old and it is estimated he was 165-170 centimetres (5.4-5.6 ft.) tall.
There are plans underway to find out more about the man, as lead archaeologist Zeinolla Samashev, stated, “We will do facial reconstruction from the skull of this young man, extract DNA from the bones to find out the environment people lived in back then, to learn about their everyday life and habits”.
Kazakhstan’s ministry of information and communications explained why the human remains received their shining nickname, “When buried, the young man was dressed in gold, with all of his clothes being embroidered with gold beads.
The man was buried with a massive gold torc around his neck (suggesting his noble origin) and a dagger in a golden quiver beside him.”
These gold beads would have been used to decorate his clothing.
That fits in well with the previous discovery of 3000 golden artefacts in the kurgan (burial mound).
Archaeologists have unearthed plates, necklaces with precious stones, earrings, beautifully crafted figurines of animals, and golden beads which may have been used to embellish Saka clothing.
The find also corresponds with the belief that elite members of the culture were laid to rest in the Saka burial mound.
As Yegor Kitov, an anthropologist at Moscow’s Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, said, “The finds and the size of the mound suggest that the young man buried inside had a high social status.” Kitov also suggests “The body was mummified to allow time for those coming from far away to say farewell to the man,” further exemplifying the man’s social status in his time.
The burial mound which held the man’s remains was created by members of the Saka culture. This was a Scythian nomadic group who spoke an Iranian language and lived on the Eurasian Steppe. The Saka is best remembered as skilled horsemen and metalworkers.
Danial Akhmentov, head of the East Kazakhstan regional administration, notes the craftsmanship of the Saka in the recently revealed treasures from the burial mound, “The finds indicate the high level of technological development in gold jewellery production in the 8th century B.C., which, in turn, suggests the high level of civilization at that time,” he said.
The Saka is known to have buried members of the elite in their kurgans, usually in pairs or as a family unit. That means that there may still be other skeletons inside the Yeleke Sazy burial mound.
One of the gold figurines was found in the treasure.
There are still more plans to excavate in the area because estimates suggest that there may be 200 burial sites in varying states of conservation nearby. Unfortunately, it is believed that looting has been an issue in at least some of the kurgans.
Akhmetov said that the discovery of the burial mound “shows that the people of Kazakhstan are descended from a great culture” and “gives us a completely different view of the history of our people.”
Autopsy Unmasks King Tut’s True Face, and It Isn’t Pretty
King Tutankhamun was a hobbled, weak teenager with a cleft palate and club foot. And he probably has his parents to blame. The mother and father of the legendary boy pharaoh were actually brother and sister. The startling discovery was revealed today by a team led by Egyptian antiquities expert Dr Zahi Hawass. They identified the mummies of both his parents and both of his grandparents by studying DNA samples over two years.
For a long time, there were strong suspicions that he was murdered because he had a hole in the back of his head. But this is now believed to be due to the mummification process and scientists think the new research points to him dying from complications from a broken leg exacerbated by malaria.
The revelations are in stark contrast to the popular image of a graceful boy-king as portrayed by the dazzling funerary artefacts in his tomb that later introduced much of the world to the glory of ancient Egypt.
Meet the family: Scientists have for the first time – with the help of DNA – been able to identify these skulls as belonging to King Tut’s father Akhenaten (left) and mother (right). They were also brother and sister
King Tut has fascinated the world ever since his ancient tomb was unearthed by the British archaeologist Dr Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings in 1922. The treasure in his tomb included a 24.2lb solid gold death mask encrusted with lapis lazuli and semi-precious stones. Rumours of a curse arose after Dr Carter’s benefactor Lord Carnarvon died suddenly a few months after the tomb was opened, even though Dr Carter went on to live another 16 years.
King Tut was known to be the son of the ‘heretic’ pharaoh Akhenaten, who tried to reform the Egyptian religion during his rule. But the identity of his mother had been shrouded in mystery – until now. The fact that his mother and father were brother and sister may seem bizarre today but incest was rife among the boy king’s family because pharaohs were believed to be descended from the gods.
Therefore it was an acceptable way of retaining the sacred bloodline. King Tut’s own wife Ankhesenpaaten, was his half-sister as they shared the same father. They were married when he was just ten. But Dr Hawass’ team found generations of inbreeding took their toll on King Tut – the last of his great dynasty.
The bone disease he suffered runs in families and is more likely to be passed down if two first-degree relatives marry and have children, the study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows.
They described him as: ‘A young but frail king who needed canes to walk.’
This explains the presence of more than 100 canes in his tomb, which he would have needed in the afterlife. A sudden leg fracture possibly introduced by a fall might have resulted in a life-threatening condition when a malaria infection occurred,’ the JAMA article said.
Tut, who became pharaoh at the age of ten in 1333 BC, ruled for just nine years until his death. He was the last of the royal line from the eighteenth dynasty of the New Kingdom. The cause of King Tut’s death has long been disputed among historians, with many speculating that he was murdered.
Theories that he was assassinated stemmed from the fact that he was the last ruler of his dynasty and had a hole in the back of his head. However, in 2005 Dr Hawass announced his team had found no evidence for a blow to the back of the head, and the hole was from the mummification process. King Tut was succeeded by the high priest Ay for four years – who also married his widow Ankhesenpamon.
King Tut’s grandmother Queen Tiye, the mother of Pharaoh Akhenaten. The hairpiece behind her is believed to have been made up of her own hair. It has not disintegrated because of the mummification process and the dry conditions within the tomb
The two faces of the boy king Tutankhamun. Left, his mummified head and, right, reconstruction of what he would have looked like
Ay was followed by the military leader Horemheb who ruled for 26 years until he ceded power to Ramses, founder of the 19th dynasty. The researchers studied 16 mummies from the Valley of the Kings. They revealed that beneath the golden splendour in which they lived, ancient Egypt’s royals were as vulnerable as the lowliest peasant to disease.
Three other mummies besides tuts showed repeated malaria infections and incestuous marriages only worsened their maladies. However, analysis of King Tut’s family disproved speculation his family suffered from rare disorders that gave them feminine attributes and misshapen bones, including Marfan syndrome, a connective tissue disorder that can result in elongated limbs.
The theories arose from the artistic style and statues of the period, which showed the royal men with prominent breasts, elongated heads and flared hips.
‘It is unlikely that either Tutankhamun or Akhenaten actually displayed a significantly bizarre or feminine physique,’ the team said. One of the most impressive-looking mummies who was studied was King Tut’s grandmother, Queen Tiye.
She was the chief wife of Amenhotep III and mother of King Tut’s father Akhenaten. She was the first queen to figure so prominently beside her husband in statues and temple reliefs. Queen Tiye held much political influence at court and acted as an adviser to her son after the death of her husband. There has been speculation that her eldest son Prince Tuthmose was in fact Moses who led the Israelites into the Promised Land.
After 3,000 years and DNA analysis, scientists have proved that from foreground to background, these mummies are of King Tut’s mother, grandmother, and his father, Akhenaten
Antiquities expert Dr Zahi Hawass (right) announces today in Cairo’s Egypt Museum that the mummies in front of him have been identified as Tutankhamun’s father, mother and grandmother by using DNA
Technicians take DNA samples from the mummy of Boy Pharaoh Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings. Tests revealed his parents were siblings
A lock of her hair was found in a miniature coffin in King Tut’s tomb. Her tomb was identified by matching the labelled hair in Tut’s tomb with the well-preserved hair on her mummy. The ancient Egyptians were very concerned with maintaining their hair to promote their social status. They devised remedies for baldness and greying and regularly washed and scented their hair. Adults sometimes wore hairpieces and had elaborate styles.
The hairpiece found by Queen Tiye is believed to have been made up of her own hair. It has not disintegrated because of the mummification process and the dry conditions within the tomb. Hair does not continue to grow after death, instead, the skin retracts around the follicles as it dries, making the hair jut out more prominently.
King Tutankhamun has long been big business.
A 1970s Tut exhibit drew millions of visitors to U.S. museums, and a popular revival including artefacts from his tomb and others’ has been travelling around the United States for the past several years and is currently at San Francisco’s DeYoung Museum. Egypt’s economy depends a great deal on tourism, which brings in around $10billion a year in revenue. The King Tut exhibit at Cairo’s Egyptian Museum is one of the crown jewels of the country’s ancient past and features a stunning array of treasures including Tut’s most iconic relic – the golden funeral mask.
Another tourist destination is Tut’s tomb tucked in the Valley of the Kings amid Luxor’s desert hills. In 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered it and the trove of fabulous gold and precious stones inside, propelling the once-forgotten pharaoh into global stardom. Hundreds of tourists come daily to the tomb to see Tut’s mummy, which has been on display there since 2007.
Though historically Tut was a minor king, the grander image ‘is embedded in our psyche’ and the new revelations won’t change that, said James Phillips, a curator at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History.
‘Reality is reality, but it’s not going to change his place in the folk heroism of popular culture,’ Phillips said. ‘The way he was found, what was found in his grave – even though he was a minor king, it has excited the imagination of people since 1922.’
Dr Zahi Hawass removed King Tut from his stone sarcophagus in 2007 to study his DNA. Tests revealed the king was a sickly young adult.
Three images that prove the Ancient Builders of Puma Punku had access to advanced technology
Perhaps the biggest mystery involving Puma Punku is, how ancient mankind managed to transport these huge blocks of stone from quarries within 10 to 100 km.
How did they manage to achieve this type of precision cuts and how did they place the blocks in such a perfect manner? Engineers and constructors around the world today cannot answer nor replicate these achievements done by ancient mankind thousands of years ago.
Scientists cannot come to a conclusion and answer how were these amazing blocks of stone transported. Some of them believe that it was accomplished by the large labour force of ancient Tiwanaku. Several theories have been proposed as to how this labour force transported the stones from the quarries to Puma Punku, but these theories remain speculative.
Another puzzling mystery at Puma Punku is the assembly of the walls. Each stone was finely cut to interlock with the surrounding stones and the blocks fit together like a puzzle, forming load-bearing joints without the use of mortar. The precision challenges today’s engineering abilities.
The answer to these and other enigmas can be solved by a different approach and different thinking methods.
By looking at images from Puma Punku you can notice a perfection that is baffling, you will notice the elegance in every single construction at Puma Punku, but most importantly, you will notice a mysterious pattern that could help explain how ancient man achieved all of this, thousands of years ago.
This image is one of the best examples of advanced technology present at Puma Punku. We are looking at andesite blocks, a material that is extremely difficult to work with.
Can anyone explain how ancient mankind managed such perfection, elegance, and precision? We believe that this is one of the best examples of highly advanced tools that were made available to ancient man, thousands of years ago.
One of our favourite images of Puma Punku is where you can see small holes that are placed with such perfection apart that it is hard to believe that primitive man achieved this with sticks and stones.
Puma Punku is one of the most important places if you want to see what ancient man was capable of. These stone structures are among the biggest ever found.
The H Blocks. A trademark of Puma Punku and perhaps one of the best examples of lost technology. The perfection present within these blocks is staggering.
It is difficult to even think that ancient mankind managed to cut, transport and stack these blocks of stone which such perfection without the use of some sort of technology. Not everything can be achieved through force.
What do you think? Is it possible that the ancient builders of Puma Punku and Tiahuanaco had access to advanced technology that has been lost in history? A forgotten, omitted piece of history that mainstream scholars do not seem to be interested in?
