29 Interesting Archaeological Discoveries - mental_floss List Show Ep. 506
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- Опубліковано 28 бер 2017
- The interesting archaeological discoveries highlighted in this episode of The List Show include unusual rodents and teeth from Egyptian pharaohs.
You'll learn about interesting archaeological finds from many years ago, along with more recent finds in the field of archaeology.
The List Show is a weekly show where knowledge junkies get their fix of trivia-tastic information. This week, John digs through some fascinating archaeological discoveries!
Subscribe for new episodes, every Wednesday!
Fact 19 - Image courtesy of University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
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I visited Xi'an and the Terra-cotta army. It was absolutely stunning. While there I was talking with my tour guide and said "This is a life changing experience for me, but you look at these soldiers every day for work. How do you keep from getting bored?" Without missing a beat, she said, "I have named all of the soldiers."
"I would recommend dying in a bog." -John Green, 2017.
Memento mori.
I went to the school that had the parking lot King Richard III was buried under, which used to be our playground, so I've technically danced on a King's grave
wasn't there a big hump in the lot ....they probably used it as a speed bump......you know ..according to shakespeare and all that...sorry couldn't resist...lol
Sarah C it's called a car park
it's different between American English and British English
Sarah; I am deeply envious!:)
@@bmiles2546 that's the point being made, if this girl had gone to that school she would have called it a car park
"11 pound rat unearthed"
We've all been to New York, John.
z Disturbed Sound of Silence
Once saw one that big in Worcester, MA… but who hasn’t?
Rodents of unusual size? I don't think they exist.
lilykep pft this comment is INCONCEIVABLE!
I don't think that word means what you think it means...
His dogs name was Red Green?!?!? Does anyone else recognize that’s a hilarious Canadian comedy sketch show?
I had an amazing opportunity while meeting a friend in Chicago to see the Terracotta Warriors at the Field Museum. They were absolutely magnificent.
John, did you know that every year, fewer and fewer children are shown "The Princess Bride"? Who will think of the children, John? Who?
I weep! How horrible.
It's terrible about the children, but what about the adults - who need it every bit as much?
*Best movie, evaaa!!
😱
I've seen the Rosetta Stone. It's in the British museum and sweet crispy Jesus is it ever glorious.
Sweet crispy Jesus? Express ride to hell you have.
In Chicago, the Field Museum has a copy of the Rosetta Stone hanging on the wall that is maybe 2 foot tall, and all of the pictures I had ever seen had no scale, so I was expecting some small slab of rock. Boy was I surprised to see how enormous it was! The Greek was big and clear enough to read. That was amazing that I could read a word here and a word there from a message left millennia before. That gave me goose bumps! Glorious, indeed!
"Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders" Such a great reference
What the hell is a hufflepuff?
@Atomic did not get the reference
Wait he said that? Damn, I missed it
Kayjai97 didn't say it, but it was a caption in the corner. Though he did say it a couple years ago in an interview on a late night talk show when he was promoting, iirc, The Fault In Or Stars.
Ah that explains it, thanks, Sean Gibbons
I got to treat a moa skeleton at a museum in the UK a while back. They are/were absolutely fascinating birds! Coolest thing about them was that unlike similar birds like the ostrich or emu, they didn't have vestigial wings - they were just head, neck, ribs, hips, legs, feet!
Hey, John! I've actually seen the Terracotta soldiers in person in China. It was amazing! However, there are plenty more statues than what has been unearthed! There remain an estimated 20,000 statues that were left buried in different, still unexcavated areas. Only 3 pits have yet been discovered. An estimated 30+ more remain!
Childhood dog: Red Green. Perfect name, you beautiful articulate unicorn, you.
This is one of my absolutely favourite MentalFloss videos :)
The Terracotta Army was probably my favourite location to visit in China. The rooms that house them are larger than most sport stadiums. And the detail is brilliant as well.
I went to Xi-an to see the Terra-cotta army and it blew my mind. I was also amazed that the govt there has the patience to wait for technology to progress enough to make it possible to unearth the rest of what is underground, including the Kings tomb is pretty cool too. The detail on the soldiers, including the treads on the soles of the sandals - just impressive
ROUS's? I don't think they exist.
Greengrendel1 RAARARGHG
Love archeology!! So cool to hear about everything found.
Huge rats? Im not sayin Skavens, but it was Skavens.
Dregoro nah man, skeevers
rodents of unusual size.
Man sizes rats? Preposterous!
What about those capybaras? They are basically giant rats.
ZoidFile ... R.O.U.S's
Did he say his childhood dog was named Redgreen?
I'm from Reno and I've seen the petroglyphs a few times and my dad used to study them in college. They are remarkably well preserved and the number of them is actually pretty impressive. I think it's interesting that I haven't heard of too many studies on their meaning and origin, but I guess that's they way it goes.
Where are my fellow archaeologists and anthropologists at :)
DeadNoirRose does undergraduate counts? 😂
@MadAnili Of Course! Got to start somewhere!
DeadNoirRose hihi^^ im in indonesian archaeology major
DeadNoirRose I study archaeology at the University of Leicester 😁
I have a MSc in palaeopathology from Durham University
Must admit. I am a sucker for anything archaeology/paleontology/anthropology
We coexist with dinosaurs to this very day. Birds are dinosaurs
well not really. Bird are descendants of dinosaurs but that doesn't mean they are dinosaurs.
Patrick that's exactly what it means.
birds are quite literally dinosaurs
But saying that birds are dinosaurs is like saying that you are your great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandparents
I've seen the Terracotta warriors in person, and, oh my god. I prepared myself for it, but something on that scale is just mind-blowing. There's no putting it into words until you've seen it yourself! Also, the pits that have been unearthed are just a few of what archeologists suspect exists of the site! The others have not yet been excavated because they still have the original color pigment on them, but we don't yet know how to preserve said pigment from the elements (ex: oxidation). Super fascinating. :)
I saw samples from the ceramic Chin army at a small museum in Orange County CA. They were amazing. I remember having seen photos in Life Magazine back when the soldiers were first discovered.
I saw the petroglyphs in New Mexico actually and they were so cool! Ancient history is just so fascinating and to see it right in front of me was awesome.
You said Nevada right! YAY! I have been to the petroglyphs a few times and they are awesome! ! Also, this was an excellent Mental Floss.
I was reading somewhere that the mysterious decahedron was a device used to manipulate yarn and knit things like socks and gloves. There's still mad debate about this, but someone knitted a nice pair of gloves and socks after creating one from scans of an original, and I think we can all agree that's almost cool.
Saw the Terracotta Army in its first exhibition outside of China.
Also Skara Brae in Orkney is an awesome archeological discovery I visited!
i'd read that the "battery" was not a battery at all, but just an oddly designed container
I like the battery theory but I just read it was looted during the Iraq invasion so we'll never know for sure unless it resurfaces. It would help the battery theory if there was more than one found though. The battery was a semi-accidental discovery so it's not impossible it had been discovered before, more batteries and texts are needed to prove it though. The fact that I like the battery theory does not mean I am certain it was a battery, but the opposite theory, a scroll container, does not make sense to me. Why would such a thing require a jar with a rod of one metal surrounded with a cylinder of another metal? Archeologists say similar containers contained scrolls, but were they really the same as the Baghdad "battery" with the two "electrodes" made of different metals?
I've been to the Japanese Atlantis (#25) It's a short boat ride off the coast of Yonaguni island, and it's 100% natural!
Edit: I forgot to say, even though it isn't man made at all it is a FANTASTIC dive! I really recommend it if you can get down there!
The Lost Colony is quite interesting; every year, the area puts on a play and a ton of books have been published about it.
I saw some of the terracotta soldiers at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta a few years ago. They were impressive.
2:46 You said no dinosaurs!
Watch Minute Earth's video about "What makes a Dinosaur" : )
As we say in my hometown, "Don't forget to die in a bog."
I was lucky enough to actually go to the cite of the terracotta army, and it is insane. For one, there are three pits that that have been excavated, and a few of the warriors still have their original paint on them. The paint was something no one ever mentioned to me until I got there.
Awesome video, thanks so much!!
Fascinating!
i actually got to see the site at Sutton Hoo in 2007 when I was in England for my school's student exchange! So cool to hear it mentioned here!
At 7:58 you talk about the Antikythera Mechanism. Have you seen that UA-camr "Clickspring" is building a working replica? Last year he documented himself making a cool skeletonized clock and that series was so beautifully filmed that even non-horologists were entertained. The trailer alone for the Antikythera Mechanism series is worth a look because he goes into some of the theories of it's purpose and use.
Thank you for the video.
Interesting, funny and to the point. Thanks.
I'm an archaeologist studying in Alberta, Canada!
Been to Xian many times. Always impressed, always learned more.
Great princess bride reference
Me too on the terra-cotta army. So nice to see the list again. You didn't forget!!
"Exhibition" or "expedition"? You be the judge. Interesting slip to get all the way through! Also a begrudging fan of "archaeology is mostly guesswork" haha.
But guesswork with solid conviction!
about those dodecahedra - my favourite theory about them is that they were tools for knitting gloves =D many of them have 2 sets of 1 bigger and 4 smaller holes each plus 2 completely open sides, (1 thumb plus 4 fingers each for a bigger and a smaller hand size plus a bigger hole for extracting the piece, the knobs being the anchor points for the thread for knitting and also the fact that most of them were found in the generally colder regions of the roman empire would go in that direction - it makes sense to have more gloves in colder regions, doesn't it? There are even a few people who tried and succeded making quite nice pieces with this method - but again, could be anything, candleholder, gauge for stock size, religious thingy...i love these strange things! =D
John! glad to see you
I have a feeling that, with some of these facts, you've confused archaeology with paleontology.
If you're thinking about the giant rats, they were discovered in an archaeological dig. They're pretty recent and lived well into the CE era with humans, maybe as recent as 1000 years ago. There's evidence that local people ate them and probably caused their extinction by destroying their forest habitat through farming.
Edit: BTW, rats are still eaten by locals in Timor and Sulawesi. My late grandma was born in Sulawesi and when I was a kid she'd cook bats (a delicacy) and, yes, rats. We no longer have the 11 lb version around, but people do still raise fairly large ones, maybe 4-5 lbs, for eating.
only a few. but i think you should be bit liberal about that. he promised no dinosaurs only right? :)
Andrew Suryali Ah, thank you for clearing that up. What of the moa, though?
Moa were initially attested to through anthropology, from Maori legends. Some of the first bones were found in Maori archaeological sites, and many of the current bones in museums were collected directly from the Maori people. Moa went extinct even more recent than the giant rats, around the 13th-14th centuries.
paleontology is dinos. archaeology is humans and human culture related things (Such as animals ancient humans may have hunted/lived with/etc.)
Saw the Terra Cotta Army exhibit years ago in Houston. So cool.
Their house was built over a well?? Who went "hmm, this giant hole in the ground is the perfect place for a house"?
very cool!
I know this vid is older. I rember watching The RED GREEN show. love the vids
I love bog bodies. They are so cool.
I'm so grateful he added the 'no longer edible' about the cheese, because that was exactly what I was wondering!
Hey b bc bc bc bc bc c b bc
You pronounced Nevada correctly, high five!
Saw the Tollund man at the Silkeborg Museum! Only the head remains, but there is a rather convincing replica of the body. Also, I am rather irked that John neglected to mention the delightful Seamus Heaney poem "The Tollund Man," in which he speaks of the man and his plans to visit him. "Some day I will go to Aarhus/ To see his peat-brown head/ The mild pods of his eye-lids,/ his pointed skin cap."
That part about the Roman dodecahedrons is an awesome scifi story waiting to happen...
Went to a museum once where there were 2 terra-cotta warriors on display. Went across the barrier & touched one. Not sure what I was expecting when I did lol
The terracotta statues are allays referred to as life sized, but for the most part they are much larger than people of the time would have been! Some of the statues are 6 feet 6 inches tall.
I've seen an exhibition in Chicago where they had the terracotta warriors. It was really cool
I have actually seen some of the Sutton Hoo treasure in the British Museum. Cracking stuff.
I've seen the Rosetta Stone, because it's pretty much the first thing you see when you walk into the British Museum.
You start the video with a reference to The Princess Bride _and_ the Red Green Show!! :D
Love that you named your dog “Red Green” :) Fire up the Possum van! :)
I live fairly near to Sutton Hoo and it is awesome.
I live fairly close to Sutton Hoo - there are some nice replicas of Viking treasure on display, plus a recreated tomb.
It's actually close to Woodbridge, Suffolk if anyone wants to visit (not Sutton, as John said!).
i live 5 minutes from Sutton Hoo ,it's a great place to visit !!
The inscription on Rosetta Stone is in TWO languages, written in three scripts. Both the hieroglyphic and demotic writing is of ancient egyptian language, but intended for different audiences.
red green... really? that is amazing
archaeology is almost EXACTLY the opposite of Indiana Jones haha!
SO true!!
The clay army was said to be requested by the emperor before his inevitable death. He asked this because he wanted soldiers to protect him in the afterlife, where he thought that the spirits of those he killed would come back to haunt and attack him.
No Gobleki Tepe? It is one of the most awesome archaeological sites!
I've also seen the terracotta army! Every face is unique.
It said "Croatoah", John.
croatoan
Re: that guy who found a well, did he just dig up his own house?? What did he think he was going to find? There's definitely a good story there.
I live within cycling distance of Sutton Hoo...but still haven't visited it. Really must go one day LOL
I saw the Terra Cotta army many years ago at an exhibit in D.C.
who else is studying archaeology? 😄
Red Green...lol.
I have not seen any of these archeological sites, but I have seen Mayan ruins, including the hieroglyphics staircase that has been used to study the Mayan hieroglyphics everywhere
You've never seen rats in DC. I've see 3 rats in a trenchcoat get into a museum.
LMAO
I've seen the computer wheel numerous times actually.
Reno Pride!! Berlin icthyosaur state Park is also awesome-- there's even native american cave art near Caliente NV :)
“Red Green!!!!”
Heh. Anyone notice the Princess Bride reference they pulled for the first fact?
I find it oddly amusing that we basically have evidence of gigantism in almost all species of mammals yet giant humans are still considered a myth.
We've yet to find evidence of giant humans and we haven't found any situations where they're likely to occur. Additionally, the square-cube law means that giant humans would be riddled with health problems unless they had some serious modifications to account for the increased weight (see the short life spans of Andre the Giant and Robert Wadlow).
The giant rat is a specific species of rat. Gigantism is a genetic disorder, and there are humans who "have" it. "Giants" as a race, however, have no evidence. Big birds and big rodents does not mean there were big humans.
SergeantMidknight Maybe _we_ are the giants... huh, huh, betchya didn't thinks that one now didja?
Virtually all adults hominids were barely over 100 lbs. Not a single one other than modern man has been found to have been taller than 5'11". We are giant humans.
Gigantism was the wrong word to use, what i meant is a species of giant humans.
Terracotta army was found with weapons, that shows signs of being used in combat.
I've seen the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum.
The Terracotta Army used to be painted too--when they're exposed to air the pigment deteriorates rapidly so archaeologists are trying to find a way to preserve the pigment for future excavations of the site.
hmm, I wonder if this is problem for a lot of sites. I know churches here in the UK were white washed so they were once really colourful things, but they ain't any more
For those interested, there's an episode of Expedition Unknown concerning the lost colony.
Is that a Mark Zuckerberg bobblehead in the background? Its fun trying to identify objects on the magic wall. He does point specific ones out at seemingly random moments throughout some of these videos
Haven't seen any of the sites themselves, but there will be an exhibition with a couple terracotta soldiers at one of my local museums in a few weeks.
I saw the Terra Cotta Army exhibit at the Field Museum in Chicago. I'm assuming that's where you did too?
Seen the Sutton Hoo Treasure, but not at Sutton Hoo. Its all in the British Museum in London.
Also seen at the British Museum was some of the Terracotta Army, when it visited England.
The amazing thing about the thousands of soldiers is that they all have different faces.
Thank you for using BCE and CE!
You named your dog "Red Green"?
Cool.
5:02 It's pronounced 'Cro-a-toe-ahn' john. Don't you watch Supernatural?