The grave of Richard the Third was discovered in a parking lot in August of 2012 by archaeologists from the University of Leicester. It is thought that the English king had been buried there for over 500 years. Richard the Third is said to have died at the Battle of Bosworth and was only 32 years old.
What was notable for archaeologists was how the king appeared to be buried without the traditional respect in which a royal would be laid to rest. By the looks of his remains, archaeologists believe he was buried with no ceremony or even in a coffin. Historians assume that, whoever buried him, were not supporters of the royal.
Mammoths
The remains of the ancestors of modern elephants, woolly mammoths, have been discovered all over the world, from Alaska to Siberia. These gentle giants had tusks that could reach up to 15-feet in length and could weigh up to 15 tons, although they weren’t necessarily the largest species of mammoths. Remains of these creatures have been dated back between 39 and 40,000 years ago.
In 2013, researchers discovered perhaps the most well-preserved woolly mammoth to date, deep in Siberia in a tomb of ice. They believe that the female mammoth had lived nearly 40,000 years ago. The body was still so intact that it still had some blood.
Tutankhamun’s Tomb
Egypt holds many incredible archaeological treasures that have revealed much about the sociological traditions of ancient times. One of the fascinating discoveries is Tutankhamun’s Tomb which was found in 1922 by a British archaeologist named Howard Carter.
What else was remarkable about Tutankhamun’s Tomb is that the walls are overlaid with gold, and his sarcophagus itself is made of solid gold too! Additionally, it is believed there are two different rooms hidden in his tomb, but it is not yet clear what may be inside.
Cave of Altamira
The Cave of Altamira is located in the north of Spain and contains some prehistoric engravings and paintings that were discovered in 1868. The cave was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985 and is covered in paintings and engravings of bison, cryptic symbols, and horses.
The validity of the paintings and engravings have been called into question in the past but are generally considered to be about 22,000 years old. Because of the delicate state of the paintings, tourists were at one time only allowed to see a replica of the paintings and engravings in a museum.
Staffordshire Hoard
The Staffordshire Hoard may look like movie props, but the beautiful treasures were actually found in 2009 on farmland near Lichfield, Staffordshire. The Hoard is considered the largest Anglo-Saxon collection of gold and silver found to date and contains both pagan and Christian symbols.
Many of the objects are intricate, geometric patterns and animals. It is thought that treasures belonged to a male warrior or high status, but very little is known about the circumstances surrounding these abandoned objects.