10 remarkable archaeological discoveries of 2014

A 4,000-year-old shipwreck in Türkiye and 40,000-year-old cave drawings in Asia are two of this year's most notable archaeological discoveries.

Oldest shipwreck

During excavations at the Urla Port, an underwater archaeological site in Türkiye, scientists discovered a sunken ship dating back 4,000 years. This is the oldest shipwreck known to man in the Mediterranean and in the world.

Cave paintings in Asia

More than 100 drawings of human hands and animal figures were discovered in a cave on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, dating back 40,000 years.

Largest ancient stone block carved by man

A team from the German Archaeological Institute found the largest ancient stone block in a limestone quarry in Baalbek, Lebanon. This place was once known as Heliopolis - the city of the sun during the Roman period. The stone block is partly buried underground. The monolith is 19.6 m long, 6 m wide, at least 5.5 m high, and weighs an estimated 1,650 tons. It was used as the foundation of the temple of Jupiter.

500,000-year-old mollusk shell carving

The mollusk shell was found on the island of Java, Indonesia. It dates back between 430,000 and 540,000 years and contains engravings by Homo erectus, an ancestor of modern humans who appeared about 1.9 million years ago and became extinct 150,000 years ago. The discovery challenges the preconceived notion that Homo sapiens were the first to create abstract drawings and written communication.

Neanderthals may have interbred with human ancestors

Scientists analyzed the oldest DNA of modern humans, Homo sapiens, taken from a 45,000-year-old femur found in 2008 on the banks of the Irtysh River, near the settlement of Ust'-Ishim, Siberia. According to the research results, the bone sample contained 2% Neanderthal DNA, the same ratio as modern Europeans today. This suggests that interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans may have occurred about 50,000 to 60,000 years ago.

New pharaoh discovered in Egypt

Egyptian archaeologists discovered the burial site and remains of a pharaoh south of Abydos in the Sohag Governorate in January. The pharaoh, who ruled Egypt 3,600 years ago, was named Seneb kay (Senebkey). He was found in a wooden sarcophagus inside a badly damaged, roofless stone tomb. His name had never appeared in ancient Egyptian history. The team discovered his name through hieroglyphics on an oval circle that bore the name and title of an Egyptian king.

Mayan city in the jungle

The remains of two ancient Mayan cities, including a door shaped like a monster's mouth, a ruined pyramid temple and palace ruins, were unearthed in a dense jungle in the central Yucatan Peninsula, southeastern Mexico's Campeche state. The two cities continue to raise new questions about the cultural diversity of the Maya.

Ancient Greek Tomb

Greek archaeologists discovered an ancient tomb on Kasta Hill, in the Amphipolis region, 600 km north of Athens. The tomb dates back to the time of Alexander the Great, around the 4th century BC. The entrance to the tomb is guarded by two marble sphinxes, missing their heads and wings but both have been restored. The tomb holds secrets that have been hidden for 2,300 years.

Architecture around Stonehenge

As archaeologists mapped the landscape hidden beneath the ancient stone site of Stonehenge, they discovered burial mounds, chapels, tombs, pits and other structures never seen before. The discovery dramatically changed the view that Stonehenge was the site's only major landscape.

Mysterious trench in the Amazon rainforest

Archaeologists have discovered mysterious lines and geometric shapes carved into the Amazonian landscape thousands of years ago. However, the latest research suggests that they appeared much earlier. John Francis Carson from the University of Reading, UK, and his team analyzed sediment cores containing ancient pollen grains and charcoal dating back 6,000 years. The results showed that the sediments did not originate from a tropical forest ecosystem. About 2,000-3,000 years ago, the landscape here looked like an African savanna. The excavation must have taken place before the transition from savanna to tropical rainforest.

According to VnExpress