Meet Sue One of the Largest, Most Extensive, and Best Preserved Tyrannosaurus rex specimen
Sue, the world’s largest, most accurate, and best-preserved T. rex, has attracted millions of visitors to Chicago’s Field Museum.
Many of Sue’s bones have never been found in a T. rex before. Sue’s skeleton, which is 90 percent intact, also gives scientists the rare ability to recreate what T. rex would have felt like and how it moved while it was alive.
Finding most of the bones from a single specimen gave scientists excellent detailed information about Sue’s anatomy and biology. T. rex is known for its tiny forelimbs, and Sue’s right arm is only the second nearly complete arm ever found.
Sue the T. rex. Notice the wishbone or furcula (circled), the first such bone ever found on a T. rex.
It will help scientists better understand the strength and motion of this oddly small appendage. Sue’s arms are about the same size as human arms, making them too short to reach her mouth.
Yet the bones are quite thick which indicates they would have been very powerful. Current thinking is that the arms were more useful to T. rex in its early life when it would have been proportionately larger.
If you do visit Sue at the Field Museum, you won’t see all of her bones attached. For example, there are long thin bones that were formed just beneath Sue’s skin on her belly called gastralia. They are different from her ribs and scientists are trying to figure out their positioning and how they should be attached.
They might have helped her breathe or perhaps they helped protect her internal organs. Usually, these delicate bones are incomplete or missing, but Sue has about 75% of her gastralia intact.
Sue’s has a wishbone or furcula in her chest. This bone is the first ever found on a T. rex. Only carnivorous dinosaurs have a furcula and it’s one of the many links between dinosaurs and birds.
The tail on Sue is the most complete tail ever found on a T. rex. A complete tail allows for accurate measurement of the animal’s length. Perhaps the most significant part of Sue’s skeleton is her skull, and Sue’s is one of the most complete and best-preserved T. rex skulls ever found.
Its structure and arrangement provide some of the best clues about how Sue lived and related to her environment.
Before being put on display, Sue’s skull spent 500 hours inside a powerful CT scanner. As a result, scientists can now learn about the structure of T. rex’s brain.
These CT images show Sue’s brain cavity. The brain itself was about the size and shape of a big sweet potato. Sue had large olfactory bulbs and sinus cavities indicating she had a strong sense of smell which would have been important for hunting or scavenging for food.
These Mysterious Artificial Islands Are Older Than Stonehenge, Claim Scientists
Ancient humans did not always live on dry land in the northern British Isles in the distant past. The roots of thousands of ancient artificial islands remain to this day across Scotland, Ireland, and Wales: known as crannogs, these unusual systems were constructed long ago by prehistoric hands in the chilly waters of rivers, lakes, and sea inlets.
Exactly how long ago these things were shaped is something that’s never been fully understood. Traditionally, archaeologists estimated Scottish crannogs emerged no earlier than the Iron Age, being first constructed around 800 BCE.
But in more recent years, evidence has come to light that these engineered structures could be much more ancient, and a new study confirms the formations are actually thousands of years older than we realized.
Using radiocarbon dating of four sites located in the Outer Hebrides (the Western Isles of Scotland), researchers have discovered ancient crannogs dating back to 3640–3360 BCE, meaning early humans were building these giant artificial islands roughly 5,500 years ago, pre-dating even the construction of Stonehenge.
“These crannogs represent a monumental effort made thousands of years ago to build mini-islands by piling up many tonnes of rocks on the loch bed,” says archaeologist Fraser Sturt from the University of Southampton.
It’s not the first time archaeologists have wondered whether crannogs could have Neolithic origins. Excavations in the 1980s at the crannog Eilean Dòmhnuill suggested it could date back thousands of years, but for decades no other comparably ancient specimens were located.
Things changed in 2012, when former Royal Navy diver Chris Murray, who was a resident of the Scottish Isle of Lewis, became intrigued by a crannog in the waters of Loch Arnish.
Diving beside the remnants of the weathered platform, Murray made a totally unexpected discovery: hidden beneath the lake’s surface around the engineered island, he found a scattered collection of remarkably well-preserved Early/Middle Neolithic pots lying on the loch bed.
Neolithic pottery recovered from Loch Arnish in 2012.
Working with Sturt and other researchers, the team investigated Loch Arnish and several other crannogs – some of which had not previously been identified in archaeological records and were located using Google Earth.
In total, the researchers discovered over 200 Neolithic ceramic vessels discarded from five crannogs – evidence of an extensive and arcane cultural practice we never knew about until now.
“Survey and excavation of these sites have demonstrated – for the first time –that crannogs were a widespread feature of the Neolithic and that they may have been special locations, as evidenced by the deposition of material culture into the surrounding water,” the researchers report in a new paper.
“These findings challenge current conceptualisations of Neolithic settlement, monumentality, and depositional practice while suggesting that other ‘undated’ crannogs across Scotland and Ireland could potentially have Neolithic origins.”
The site investigations, which encompassed a mixture of underwater and aerial surveying, plus excavations and radiocarbon analysis, revealed clear evidence the crannogs were human-made. The ancient builders created the structures by piling up boulders to make artificial islets.
At one of the sites, Loch Bhorgastail, ancient timbers were also observed around the edges of the crannog, thought to have been placed to increase the stability of the rock structure.
Six crannogs that have produced Neolithic material.
Sometimes, a stone causeway leads out to the island; at other sites, no causeway seems to exist, suggesting the crannog might have been accessed by boat, or perhaps a wooden bridge. While no other timber evidence remains at any of the sites, it’s thought the crannogs may have borne wooden structures and dwellings built on top of them, from which ancient pottery was once hurled – and not, it seems, by accident.
“The quantities of material now identified around several sites, and the position of these vessels in relation to the islets, suggests that pots were intentionally deposited into the water,” the researchers write.
“Many vessels had substantial sooting on their external surfaces, and some had internal charred residues; they had clearly been used before deposition.”
As for what these ancient disposals into the loch signified, and the other purposes of the crannogs may have had, we don’t know.
But given the amount of work that must have gone into creating these giant structures – engineered with stones weighing up to 250 kilograms (550 lbs) a piece – it’s clear they must have had some unique importance to the prehistoric community who once inhabited these mysterious spaces.
Perhaps the crannogs were reserved for important celebratory feasts, or used in mortuary rituals, with the watery backdrop of the loch somehow framing the otherness of these long-ago gatherings.
“They would have required a huge investment of labour to build and probably remained significant places for a long time,” the researchers explain.
“These islets could also have been perceived as special places, their watery surroundings creating separation from everyday life. The process of crossing over to the islets may have emphasized this separation; the practices that took place on them do appear to have been very different from those of ‘normal life.”
Mysterious Giant Objects Discovered Near The Egyptian Pyramids On The Giza Plateau
It would seem that near the famous pyramids in Egypt, everything has long been known. But, thanks to new technologies and clear high-quality images from space, new details began to be discovered.
At first glance, it seems to be nothing ordinary – pyramids, like pyramids…
But this is only at first glance. If you enlarge the details of this image, then you can find the barely guessed outlines of giant, clearly artificial rectangular formations that are located opposite the famous pyramids.
What are these incomprehensible huge geometric objects protruding through the sand dunes?
It may well be that in the thickness of the limestone plateau, ancient artificial underground structures of the disappeared Egyptian civilization of the pharaohs are hidden from prying eyes.
We are sure that the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt is well aware of these objects.
Therefore, permits for archaeological work are issued only in strictly designated places and not at all free of charge, and the more promising such a site is in terms of finds, the larger the contributions (and the contributions, judging by a number of publications, are not at all weak).
In addition, excavations at a number of sites are generally prohibited.
So the Egyptian land will keep its secrets and mysteries for a long time from ordinary inhabitants – you and us.
Anunnaki Metropolis More Than 200 Thousand Years Old Was Discovered In Africa And Rewrites History
The Great Pyramid of Giza, which is just 5000 years old, is believed to be one of the world’s oldest structures. The megalithic temples in Malta, carbon-dated to 3500 BCE, are said to be the world’s oldest structures.
Right up until now, these were known as the first advanced civilizations. Michael Tellinger and Johan Heine have discovered a sight in Mozambique’s Maputo that dates back 200,000 years.
The site is thought to be part of an ancient city that spans 10,000 kms. It has roads joining complex circular structures with agricultural areas which indicate that it belonged to a highly advanced civilization.
They were always there, people noticed them before, but no one could remember who made them and why. Until recently, no one knew how many there were, now they are everywhere, there are thousands of them; no, hundreds of thousands!
Michael Tellinger said:
When Johan introduced me to ancient stone ruins in southern Africa, I had no idea about the incredible discoveries made in a year or two, the photographs, artifacts, and evidence that no doubt accumulated by a lost and never seen civilization that predated all others, not for several hundred years, not for several thousand years, for many thousands of years. And these discoveries are so amazing that they are not easily digested by the current historical fraternity. It will require a complete paradigm shift in how we view our human history.
The Anunnaki metropolitan area is important due to the amazing amount of gold deposits
In the words of Michael Tellinger:
Thousands of ancient gold mines discovered over the past 500 years point to a lost civilization that has lived and mined gold in this part of the world for thousands of years. And if this is indeed the cradle of humanity, perhaps we are observing the activities of the oldest civilization on Earth.
This place is about 150 km from a superb port where sea trade could help support such a large population, but remember that we are talking about a metropolis almost 200,000 years ago. Some ruins of the metropolis, mostly stone circles, were buried in the sand and are visible only from a satellite or from an airplane. Some have been eroded by sand melting, exposing walls and foundations.
Coordinates of the metropolis on Google maps
When explorers first encountered these ruins, it was assumed that they were built by nomadic tribes such as the Bantu people as they moved south and populated the land throughout the 13th century.
In early history, there was no record of any civilization capable of building a larger, populous community. Little effort was made to explore the site because the size of the ruins was not fully known.
Over the past 20 years, people like Kirill Gromnik, Richard Wade, Johan Heine, and others have discovered that these stone structures are not what they seem. In fact, it is now believed that the age of the ruins of ancient temples and astronomical observatories of a vanished ancient civilization is hundreds of thousands of years.
The circular ruins stretch over a huge area and can only be truly appreciated from the air or with the help of modern satellite imagery. Many of them are almost completely destroyed or covered with soil due to agriculture and climate change. Some of them have survived quite well, demonstrating large dimensions: the original walls in some places reach almost 1.5 meters in height and more than a meter in width.
Ruins of the Anunnaki metropolis
As for the entire city, or metropolis, it is obvious that it was a well-planned community, created by a highly developed civilization. The number of ancient gold mines suggests why the community chose this site.
Roads have been found, some of which stretch for hundreds of kilometers, connecting settlements and terraced agriculture, very similar to those found in Inca settlements in Peru. But the answer to the question has not been found: how could this have been achieved by humans 200,000 years ago?
When science is silent
The explanation for this mystery can still be found, however, not among the official scientific postulates, but among others. The theory of ancient astronauts, Zecharia Sitchin, which speaks of the Anunnaki and their “mining work” on Earth, points to a possible explanation for this ancient metropolis.
This is Sitchin’s theory, which speaks of time and civilization that existed on Earth long before all officially recognized ones, such as Egyptian, Sumerian, and so on. According to the generally accepted version of human history, the first civilization on Earth was the Sumerian, which appeared in southern Mesopotamia in 5000 BC.
According to Sitchin’s theory of ancient astronauts, the history of the Earth begins with the arrival of the Anunnaki on our planet, approximately 450,000 BC.
Zecharia also claims that the Anunnaki came to Earth in search of gold, which they needed to “restore” the atmosphere on their home planet – Nibiru. Long and difficult wars on Nibiru damaged the atmosphere, which began to threaten their lives.
The Mythical Peruvian Giants, Whose Skeletons Were Seen By Conquistadors
There is one special area on our planet where there are especially many stories and legends about people of very large stature. Moreover, these stories are not thousands of years old, but only a few hundred.
Stories about the Peruvian giants have been known since the 16th century when the first Spanish conquistadors reached this region.
One of the earliest reports of the Peruvian giants is the story of conquistador Pedro Cieza de Leon, described in the folio Royal Inca Commentaries, Volume 1. This man apparently did not see the giants with his own eyes but talked with those who saw them.
In his report, he described that once people of great growth sailed on their large rafts from reeds to the shore where the village of local Indians stood. The village was located on the peninsula of Santa Elena, which is now the territory of Ecuador.
The giants landed from the rafts on the peninsula and set up their camp near the conquistadors. They apparently decided to settle here for a long time, because immediately they began to dig deep wells in order to extract water from them.
“Some of them were so tall that a man of ordinary size would barely reach their knees. Their limbs were proportional to the body, but their huge heads with hair to their shoulders were monstrous. Their eyes were huge like plates and their faces had no beards.
Some of them were dressed in animal skins, but some were in their natural state (without clothes). Not a single woman was visible among them. When they set up the camp, they began to dig deep wells for water. They dug them in stony soil and then built strong stone wells. The water in them was excellent, always cool, and tasted good. “
As soon as the giants set up their camp, they immediately made a bloodthirsty raid on the village of local Indians. According to the description of de Leon, they robbed everything they could grab and ate everything they could eat, including people!
It was a terrible sight when these huge people hung over the trees and the Indians fleeing from them, who practically could not defend themselves from them. Then, on the site of the devastated village, the giants built their large huts and stayed here to fish and hunt in the local forests.
This story ended with a completely surreal story when a “shining angel” appeared in the sky and drove all these giants away.
Despite this, de Leon himself believed that this story was completely true and described that he personally saw the huge stone wells constructed by the giants. He also writes that other conquistadors saw the wells and the remains of huge houses that could not be built by local Indians.
Further, de Leon writes about even more curious things. He writes that the conquistadors found in this area human bones of very large sizes, as well as pieces of teeth that were large and heavy.
“In 1550, in the city of Lima, I heard that when His Excellency Don Antonio de Mendoza, the viceroy and governor of New Spain was here, some bones were found of people who were huge and could belong to giants.
I also heard that whole deposits of giants’ bones were found in an ancient tomb in the city of Mexico City or nearby. Since many locals claim to have seen them firsthand, we can assume that these giants really exist and can belong to a single race. “
Another proof of the existence of the Peruvian giants can be found in the records of Captain Juan Olmos, who in 1543 dug up ancient burials in the Trujillo Valley and allegedly discovered bones of people of very large stature there.
Later, another giant skeleton was found in the province of Tucuman by conquistador Augustine de Zarate and his people. In general, similar stories came from the Spaniards who visited Peru throughout the 16th century and continued to appear in the 17th century.
In 1620, the Jesuit priest and missionary Pablo Jose Arriaga in his manuscript “On the Eradication of Idolatry in Peru” wrote the following:
“They (representatives of the Spanish inspectors) led us to the other side of the village, where there was a very large cave and the remains of Giants lay in it. Among them were three giant bodies with deformed heads (elongated skulls) wrapped in combi (ceremonial fabric).
These giants were considered the ancestors of all these people in the village who worshiped and worshiped them, even sacrifices were made in their honor. Then they (Spaniards) burned all these bodies.”
In the 18th and 19th centuries, stories about Peruvian giants also appeared, but they were becoming smaller and they were already perceived as myths and legends, and not something real.
Monastery, 1500-year-old mosaic unearthed in Turkey
During an illegal excavation project carried out by two suspects in the Aliağa district of Turkey’s western Izmir province, a monastery built in the Roman period and a nearly 1500-year-old mosaic were discovered.
A closeup of the fine floor mosaic work from the Roman monastery discovered in Izmir Province, Turkey, after security forces were alerted to the theft in progress
Turkish Gendarmerie teams, acting on a tipoff, launched an operation in the mountainous area of the Aliağa district which has no vehicular access. The suspects were nabbed trying to remove the historical remains from about 2 meters (6.5 feet) below the ground.
Later, experts from the Izmir Archeology Museum investigated the region and the area was put under protection. The mosaic will be taken to a museum after initial studies are performed.
Two experts from the Izmir Archeology Museum investigate the area where the mosaic and monastery unearthed, Izmir, western Turkey
Hünkar Keser, the director of the Izmir Archeology Museum told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the team came to the region following the Turkish Gendarmerie’s notification. “We discovered the floor mosaic. This place was used as a monastery and has a basilica,” said Keser.
Explaining that the team estimates that the monastery was used between the fourth and 14th century, Keser said the mosaic was very valuable archaeologically.
“It is located at a point where it can be reached by tractor from the pathways. This is a universal cultural asset and a rare artefact,” he said.
The Incredible Images Created With Byzantine Mosaics
The Byzantine Empire refers to the continuation, in parts, of the wilting Western Roman Empire, in its eastern advancement roughly from the 5 th century AD to the middle of the 15 th century.
With its capital at Constantinople, the overwhelming influence of Eastern Orthodox Christianity appeared in all art forms during the period, including architecture. During this period, the art produced drew heavily on Hellenistic motifs and iconography, frequently with mystical themes.
Mosaics are carefully constructed colourful and detailed pictures made of finely cut marble, limestone and pebbles, known as tesserae.
The Byzantine Empire was renowned for its mosaics. And many of these incredible works of art celebrated the union of church and state.
The spread of Byzantine mosaic culture was not restricted to Constantinople but spread to distant regions of the empire, including the Balkans, southern Italy, and parts of Russia.
In fact, the rapid increase in mosaic artists who possessed the technical mastery and aesthetic sense of this artform led to huge cross-cultural influences, including Islamic art styles, especially by the Abbasids and the Umayyads.
While the messaging was politico-religious, it was impossible to ignore the distinctions in style and aesthetics and the resultant beauty.
An especially impressive Byzantine mosaic in the Hagia Sophia church that eventually became an important mosque
The world-famous Hagia Sophia, now a museum, began as a church and then became an important mosque for nearly 400 years, is especially celebrated for its exceptional range of gorgeous mosaics, made by the finest craftsmen.
This is also true of the mosaics found in the monasteries at Hosios Loukas, Daphni and Neo Moni of Chios in Greece, which are all marvels of the Byzantine mosaic artform and, incidentally, UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Due to the eventual collapse and sacking of the Byzantine Empire capital of Constantinople in the 15 th century AD, many mosaics were destroyed forever. And this was a terrible loss for historians and cultural aficionados worldwide.
Izmir itself, the location of the current find, was once the ancient Greek city of Smyrna, which became a part of the Byzantine Empire. It was ransacked several times: twice by the Turks in the 11 th and 14 th centuries, and then by the Ottomans in the 15 th century.
The recently discovered Roman monastery mosaic will be removed from the ground and taken to the museum for further study. It is a find that has great historical implications, and it is only a matter of time before we learn more.
This 2,500-year-old female mummy dubbed the “Altai Princess” is one of few known mummies with visible tattoos
Tattoos aren’t just a trendy way for people to express themselves – they’re also apparently a time-honoured tradition dating back almost three thousand years.
A Siberian mummy, who researchers believe was buried 2500 years ago, will show off her intricate ink when she finally goes on display this month, and her shockingly well-preserved body art makes her look surprisingly modern.
The mummified body of the young woman, believed to be between 25 and 28 years old, was found in 1993, researchers told The Siberian Times.
Local groups have objected to the Siberian Princess’s remains going on display. Initially they were promised her body (pictured) would not be shown in public but that decision appears to have been reversed
Since then she has been kept frozen in a scientific institute, but she will soon be available to the public to be viewed from a glass case at the Republican National Museum in Siberia’s capital of Gorno-Altaisk.
The woman, dubbed in the media as the Ukok “princes,” was found wearing expensive clothing – a long silk shirt and beautifully decorated boots – as well as a horsehair wig.
Dug from her permafrost burial chamber on the high Ukok Plateau in 1993, analysis of the princess’ remains highlighted sophisticated tattoos of ‘great artistry’ of fantastical creatures (shown)
Archaeologists told the paper that because she was not buried with any weapons she was not a warrior and that she was likely a healer or storyteller.
Though her face and neck weren’t preserved, she was inked across both arms and on her fingers, in what researchers say was an indication of status.
“The more tattoos were on the body, the longer it meant the person lived, and the higher was his position,” lead researcher Natalia Polosmak told the Times.
The woman was buried beside two men whose bodies also bore tattoos, as well as six horses. Researchers think the group belonged to the nomadic Pazyryk people, and that their body art is something special even in comparison to other mummies who have been found with tattoos in the past.
Researchers found the woman’s tattoos were designs based on fantastical-looking animals (illustrated)
“Those on the mummies of the Pazyryk people are the most complicated and the most beautiful,” Polosmak told the Times.
“It is a phenomenal level of tattoo art,” she said. “Incredible.”
Not everyone was pleased that the mummy was uncovered.
Controversy erupted after she was discovered, as many believed she should not have been removed from her burial site. Some locals even believed her grave’s disruption caused a “curse of the mummy” which they blamed for the crash of the helicopter carrying her remains.
“The Altai people never disturb the repose of the interned,” Rimma Erkinova, deputy director of the Gorno-Altaisk Republican National Museum told the Times. “We shouldn’t have any more excavations until we’ve worked out a proper moral and ethical approach.”
Local authorities in the region have declared the area a ‘zone of peace,’ so no more excavations can be done in an effort to prevent plundering, though scientists believe there are many more mummies that can be found.
Irish Farmer Stumbles Onto ‘Untouched’ Ancient Tomb
In Ireland, a farmer discovered an ancient tomb that had been practically undiscovered for thousands of years. An excavator flipped a large stone to expose a secret chamber under it on southwest Ireland’s Dingle Peninsula, revealing the burial site.
Inside, local archaeologists found what they believe to be the human bones, along with a smooth oval-shaped stone – all of which could hold clues about pre-historical burial rituals.
They suspect the tomb dates to the Bronze Age, making it between 2,500 and 4,000 years old. But unlike most Bronze Age tombs, it was constructed completely underground—meaning it could be even older.
A farmer in southwest Ireland moved a large stone on his land and discovered this ancient tomb underneath. The site included a sub-chamber near the front of the tomb, as well as a smooth oblong-shaped stone and what’s believed to be human bones
The tomb was discovered during routine land improvement work, according to RTE, when a large stone was lifted up to reveal a ‘slab-lined chamber’ underneath.
An adjoining sub-chamber was found at what appeared to be the front of the tomb, containing what is presumed to be human bone fragments. A smooth oval-shaped stone was also uncovered, although its purpose is not yet clear.
Archaeologists from the National Monuments Service and the National Museum of Ireland visited the site and believe the tomb likely dates to the Bronze Age, which ran from 2000 to 500BC. But it could be even older given its ‘highly unusual design.
Bronze Age tombs have been found in the region before, but almost all of them stick out the ground. The new discovery ‘is completely concealed, suggesting it may be even older
‘Given its location, orientation and the existence of the large slab, your initial thought is this is a Bronze Age tomb,’ archaeologist Mícheál Ó Coileáin told RTE.
‘But the design of this particular tomb is not like any of the other Bronze Age burial sites we have here,’ he added.
‘It’s possible that it’s earlier but it’s very difficult at this early stage to date it.’
Fellow archaeologist Breandán Ó Cíobháin told the outlet the tomb appears ‘completely untouched,’ and its contents remain in their original state.
‘That is very rare,’ Ó Cíobháin said. ‘It is an extremely significant find as the original structure has been preserved and not interfered with, as may have occurred in the case of other uncovered tombs.’
The tomb was discovered on farmland on southwest Ireland’s Dingle Peninsula, which has been inhabited for 6,000 years. Its exact location is being kept private to preserve the site for future study
The discovery could prove invaluable to the understanding of prehistoric burial rituals, he said. Bronze Age tombs have been found in southwest Ireland before, particularly in Cork and Kerry.
They’re typically ‘wedge tombs,’ which narrow at one end and protrude above the ground.
Bronze Age wedge tombs like the one pictured here are found throughout southwest Ireland. But the newly discovered burial “seems to be different,” archaeologist Mícheál Ó Coileáin tells the Irish Times. “Wedge tombs are usually visible above ground, [but] this one is completely concealed.”
‘[But] this one is completely concealed, Ó Coileáin told The Times.
Wedge tombs mostly face the west and southwest, possibly representing ‘celestial or lunar alignments,’ Ó Cíobháin theorized. Because so much of the newly discovered tomb is underground, ‘it is difficult to fully assess the layout,’ he said.
‘It is very well built, and a lot of effort has gone into putting the large capstone over it,’ Ó Coileáin told the Irish Times. ‘It’s not a stone that was just found in the ground. It seems to have some significance.’
The National Monument Service says the tomb is in ‘vulnerable condition’ and is keeping its exact location private to preserve the site for future study.
Known to have been inhabited for at least 6,000 years, Dingle Peninsula has been the site of several archaeological discoveries, including clochán, dry-stone beehive-shaped huts built by the Celts.
