Sometimes, it isn’t the archeologists that are making groundbreaking discoveries. About two decades ago, an anonymous hitchhiker was traveling across Fukang in Xinjiang, China, when he suddenly stumbled upon this extraordinary mass from space.
This beautiful rock is now known as the Fukang Meteorite. It is covered with pieces of olivine crystals and embedded in an iron-nickel matrix. Scientists aren’t exactly sure where this came from, but they do know that it’s extremely valuable. The meteorite weighs slightly over a ton, and just a few grams of its crystals are worth over $500.
The Mount Owen Moa
An interesting discovery was made in the caves of Mount Owen in New Zealand three decades ago. It is a claw that looks very similar to something from a dinosaur species. It was mummified, so it retains most of its features and has not yet decomposed. It was from a 3,300 years old mummified upland moa - a prehistoric bird.
It most closely resembles the modern-day emu, which is the second-largest living bird. But, the moa is even bigger still, with some species measuring over 10 feet in height. With advanced dating processes from its DNA, it was found to have first appeared 18.5 million years ago!
Pyramid of the Sun
A greenstone mask dated back more than 2,000 years ago, was discovered in 2011 by researchers in Mexico, who were investigating the base of a pyramid. The Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacán, Mexico, got its name from the Aztecs. This ancient civilization was a lot more advanced than we had originally believed.
The Aztecs had access to many technologies and rituals which have only been discovered in the last few centuries. These let them carve rock into beautiful sculptures like this unique mask, even before the tools for such creations were invented.
Petra
It's hard to imagine that the entire wall of Petra was carved by hand on a wall of sandstone. It's an archaeological site that's matched by no other. The area was inhabited as early as 7,000 BC, and the landmark was likely made around 2,000 BC. It was the home of the ancient settlers, the Nabataeans.
The Nabataeans constructed Petra using their master skills in crafting and building. Historians are baffled to this day regarding how exactly they pulled it off. Unfortunately, most of this area was destroyed during an earthquake in the 6th century. At least the most impressive architecture there survived and can still be visited today.
This Beautiful Boxwood Miniature
Some artists take a painstaking amount of time to perfect their artwork. This is impressive today, but even more so when speaking of artwork from over five centuries ago. This piece represents the crucifixion of Christ and shows the brutality of the Romans' treatment, as well as the religious leaders of the time.
Archeologists believe that this kind of art was a symbol of wealth back in the 16th century. Most box carvings were based on depictions of various religious events, which is why they were done with such passion and care.