9 Recent Mysterious Archaeological Findings That Baffle Scientists (Part II)

5. Ancient 'lost' kingdom in Turkey

Source: AFP

The site of Türkmen-Karahöyük, in south-central Anatolia, had earlier been recognized as one of the largest Bronze and Iron Age sites in Turkey, containing a treasure trove of artifacts, while the mound nearby contained an inscription in hieroglyphics referring to a King Hartapu that no one had heard of before.
Archaeologists from the Oriental Institute have reported making a remarkable discovery in Turkey quite by chance, discovering a lost ancient kingdom dating to 1400 B.C. to 600 B.C.

Source: University of Chicago

Working under the Konya Regional Archaeological Survey Project, Asst. Prof. James Osborne of the Oriental Institute and University of Chicago students were mapping an archaeological site as part of the Türkmen-Karahöyük Intensive Survey Project.
The area of Türkmen-Karahöyük boasts an impressive array of traces of famous ancient cities, where one can stumble upon broken pottery fragments dating back thousands of years lying just on the surface.

6. Four-legged whales with a raptor-like eating style

We regret to inform you that your nightmares are about to get worse.
A team led by Egyptian scientists have dug up a 43 million-year-old fossil in the Sahara Desert in Egypt of a now-extinct amphibious four-legged whale.

Source: Twitter

That's right, folks — a whale with legs.
The authors of the study say that this creature had "unique features of the skull" and that its "mandible suggest a capacity for more efficient oral mechanical processing."
In other words, these walking whales had a "strong raptorial feeding style."
"We discovered how fierce and deadly its powerful jaws are capable of tearing a wide range of prey ... this whale was a god of death to most of the animals that lived in its area," Abdullah Gohar, one of the scientists, told Insider.

Source: Twitter

The new whale is called Phiomicetus anubis, which the scientists named in part after Anubis, the canine-headed Egyptian god associated with mummification and the afterlife. It was likely a top predator at the time, similar to what a killer whale is today.
Whales, it turns out, used to be "herbivorous, deer-like terrestrial mammals," the scientists write. Over the span of about 10 million years, whales turned into carnivorous creatures in the ocean. The discovery of the four-legged creature is part of that evolution.
So, a whale with legs and massive head with a vicious eating style.
Good luck sleeping tonight.

7. 1,000-year-old mummified monk hidden in statue

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Source: Pinterest

A statue of a sitting Buddha that made its way from a temple in China to a market in the Netherlands revealed an extraordinary secret -- a 1,000-year-old mummified monk.
The mummy was discovered, encased in a cavity in the statue, when a private buyer brought it to an expert for restoration. It's unclear when or how the statue was removed from China.
But it wasn't until a team of researchers and scientists did a CT scan -- a comprehensive three dimensional x-ray image -- last year, did they discover the mummy's organs were missing.

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Source: CNN

"We thought it would be lung tissue, but instead we found little scraps of paper covered with Chinese characters," said Vincent van Vilsteren, an archaeology curator from Drents Museum.
The mummy was found sitting on a bundle of cloth covered in Chinese inscriptions, revealing its identity as a Buddhist monk called Liuquan who may have practiced "self-mummification" to prepare for life after death.
Researchers are still waiting on DNA analysis results in hopes to trace the mummy back to its exact location in China.

8. Ancient Purebred Horse With Bronze-Plated Saddle In Pompeii

Source: Shutterstock

The horse, a purebred, was wearing a bronze-plated military saddle and ready to go when Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the ancient city of Pompeii in A.D. 79. The horse, too, was covered in pumice and ash.
Almost 2,000 years later, archaeologists unearthed the immobilized horse, along with the remains of two others, in the remnants of a stable attached to a sumptuous suburban villa in Civita Giuliana, outside the walls of what remains of Pompeii, the Archaeological Park of Pompeii said in a statement on Monday.

Source: AP Images

The horses probably perished soon after the volcanic explosion, with their frozen postures suggesting they had been unable to wrest free. The saddled horse and its elaborate harness were discovered over the summer, the archaeological park statement said.
Instead of stirrups, the saddle had four bronze-plated wooden horns, one in each corner, to help keep the rider stable. Researchers compared the saddle to those used by Romans around the time Mount Vesuvius erupted.

9. Iron Age Skeleton In “Tree Coffin”

Source: YouTube

The ancient corpse of a woman buried in a hollowed out tree has been found in Switzerland. It's believed the woman, who died 2,200 years ago, commanded great respect in her tribe, as she was buried in fine clothes and jewellery.
Scientists say the woman was Celtic. The Iron Age Celts are known to have buried members of their tribe in "tree coffins" buried deep underground. The woman's remains were found in the city of Zurich in 2017, according to Live Science.

Source: Office for Urban Development, City of Zurich

An analysis carried out by the city's archaeology department shows she was around 40 years old when she died in 200 BC.
Her bones suggest she did little manual labour during her lifetime, suggesting she was someone of importance. Her jewellery consisted of bronze bracelets, a delicate bronze belt and a stunning necklace strung with amber and glass beads.
And of particular interest to scientists was the clasp on the woman's necklace. Both ends of the bling had a clip known as a brooch that allowed the woman to string blue and yellow beads onto it.