Mysterious creatures, objects, and unexplained historical events populate the ancient world. Now, thanks to modern technology, scientists are finally pushing back the curtains on a few of those ancient puzzles. From what color prehistoric animals really were to the gruesome murder mystery, science is affording us a peek into a world that otherwise had seemed lost to time. Following are 13 intriguing ancient mysteries that modern science has been able to unlock.
1. The Child Mummy and the Origins of Smallpox
Smallpox has been the deadliest scourge in human history, but where did it come from, really? Most in a long time thought that it really originated in ancient Egypt, based on the scars seen in mummies. However, scientists have recently found something quite incredible-a 17th-century child mummy under a Lithuanian church contained evidence of the oldest known version of the smallpox virus itself, not just the scars.
This throws a wrench into the long-held view that smallpox has existed since pharaonic times. Today, it means that science must readjust its timeline, speculating if perhaps the disease spread later than was initially considered. The combination of this mummy and modern DNA testing is rewriting a piece of medical history.
2. The Mystery of the Tully Monster Solved
The Tully Monster is the stuff of horror movies, but it's real. In 1958, an amateur fossil enthusiast by the name of Frank Tully happened upon one weird fossil in Illinois that for many years left scientists in confusion. It had some tube-like body, fins, and a weird claw-like appendage coming out of its head. For the longest time, nobody knew what it was; some people thought that it was a worm, while others speculated it could be a slug.
In 2016, finally, scientists cracked the case: with new technology, they were able to identify that the Tully Monster was actually a vertebrate-fundamentally, a jawless fish related to lampreys. It just so happens that this 307-million-year-old creature wasn't as otherworldly as people had thought. While still bizarre in appearance, at least now we know it was some form of fish, not some variety of underwater monster.
3. Ancient Egyptians Played D20 Before It Was Cool
If you're a fan of Dungeons & Dragons, you might think that 20-sided dice-more commonly known as D20s-are a fairly modern invention. Well, guess again. The ancient Egyptians were rolling D20s long before any of us were.
One such die, which dates back to the Ptolemaic Period (304-30 B.C.), was found in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The symbols, however, are in Greek, and though we are not 100% sure of how it was used, historians believe that it might have been part of a game or used for divination purposes-perhaps an ancient Egyptian form of casting lots. Who knows; maybe ancient Egyptians were sitting around predicting their future with the roll of dice!
4. A Salamander Trapped in Time
You wouldn't exactly expect to find a salamander in the Caribbean today, but apparently, that was their stomping ground 20 to 30 million years ago. In 2015, a group of scientists discovered a tiny salamander, perfectly preserved in amber, and quite the dramatic story it did have to say.
It lacked one leg, probably because some predator attacked it, and while struggling to free itself, it had fallen into the sticky amber. That unlucky instant in time preserved it through millions of years to give scientists a glimpse of ecosystems on ancient Caribbean islands. The snapshot from the past, frozen in time.
5. Coloring Prehistoric Bats
Fossils are great for showing us outlines of long-dead animals, but what about their colors? In one fascinating 2015 study, scientists have used advanced technology to deduce the color of two species of prehistoric bats that lived over 33 million years ago.
By studying the well-preserved melanin-responsible for skin, hair, and eye color-researchers determined these bats were reddish-brown. It's a small thing, but an amazing piece of insight, since it allows paleontologists to further fill out the picture of what these animals looked like as they flew through ancient skies.
6. A Four-Legged Snake? Yes, Really!
Snakes do not have legs nowadays, but it seems that a long time ago, they did. The finding of the snake fossil in Brazil in 2015 was quite a jaw-dropping incident. This fossil of a four-legged creature originated from 110 million years. The legs were so tiny that they probably could not be used for walking but for grasping prey.
This discovery gave important clues to scientists who were studying the evolution of snakes, showing that it is highly likely that snakes evolved from burrowing lizards and did not come, as other theories had suggested, from marine reptiles. It should remind us that even in very common organisms, such as snakes, there can be hidden histories waiting to be found again.
7. The Mysterious Shipwrecked Silk Dress
Imagine finding a dress that is more than 400 years old, perfectly preserved in the bottom of a shipwreck at sea. What had never been heard of is precisely what divers found in 2014 in the Netherlands. The dress found on this sunken 17th-century ship outdid centuries of sitting under the ocean, its floral patterns still intact.
It is thought by scientists that the dress may have belonged to a noblewoman and may form a part of the cargo inside the ship when it sank. The divers also recovered a book with a coat of arms of King Charles I along with the dress, suggesting this wreck might have held treasures from England's royalty. It is a find almost miraculous and defying the ravages of time and water.
8. Roman Coins Discovered in Japan
Finding ancient Roman coins isn't unusual—unless you're in Japan, that is. In 2016, archaeologists at Katsuren Castle in Okinawa made a surprising discovery: four Roman copper coins dating back to about 300 A.D.
How did these coins end up in Japan, thousands of miles away from the Roman Empire? It is believed that historians could have traveled along ancient trade routes and might have been brought to Japan by some merchants or explorers. This find underlines how connected the ancient world was, with goods and currencies making their way across vast distances.
9. 800,000-Year-Old Footprints in the UK
It is not often that footprints on a beach would be exciting; what if those footprints were over 800,000 years old? In 2014, on a beach in Norfolk, England, scientists discovered a set of ancient footprints and quickly realized that these were the oldest human footprints ever found outside of Africa.
These were prints of a number of early humans that had walked along the shoreline, both adults and children alike. Such is a rare glimpse and an intimate one of the lives our ancient ancestors lived, and through modern technology, the researchers were able to preserve them for study before the sea washed them away forever.
10. A Prehistoric Murder Mystery
Some ancient finds are less than peaceful. Archaeologists in Kenya excavated, in 2016, the scene of a brutal massacre more than 10,000 years ago. They found the remains of at least 27 people who were brutally killed. Evidence showed that they died in battle between two rival groups of hunter-gatherers.
Bones tell a gruesome tale of cracked skulls with blunt force and pierced skeletons with obsidian-tipped weapons. That is to say, violence and conflict impregnated the fabric of human existence since time immemorial. This prehistoric murder mystery gives one a haunted glimpse into the darker sides of the lives of our ancestors.
11. A Flea With Plague Secrets
The Black Death was a bubonic plague that devastated Europe in the 1300s. However, it may find its roots quite a bit further back. Fleas preserved in amber 20 million years ago may be among the most bizarre ancient sources of information that scientists could hope for in finding the historical roots of the plague.
The imprisoned flea in this amber is supposed to carry an ancestor of Yersinia pestis-look, the bacteria responsible for the Black Death. Though absolutely impossible to say with complete certainty, the flea would bear features from modern plague-carrying fleas, making an implication that the deadly disease may have been around way longer than previously thought.
12. The Justinian Plague
The Black Death is not the only plague that gave devastation to human civilization. Prior to the Black Death, there was the Plague of Justinian, which struck the Byzantine Empire in 541 A.D. and continued periodically for about two more centuries.
In 2016, a team of researchers studying the remains of individuals who died during the 6th century determined that this plague was also attributed to Yersinia pestis, thereby linking it to the future Black Death. This study suggests that the Justinian Plague was even more widespread than had previously been believed, affecting broad areas far beyond what the historical record had indicated.
13. The Storr Lochs Monster
Move over Loch Ness Monster, there's another Scottish sea creature that's a lot more real. Though a fossil was discovered on the Isle of Skye in Scotland back in 1966, it's only recently that scientists began a thorough study of what they're calling the Storr Lochs Monster.
This is an ancient creature that swam through the seas off Scotland during the Age of Dinosaurs. It was a marine reptile, a type of ichthyosaur, and is the most complete skeleton of any sea-dwelling reptile ever to be found in Scotland. Scientists want to learn more about its evolution and lifestyle. Unlike 'Nessie', the Storr Lochs Monster was very much real.
These 13 discoveries are a good reminder that the ancient world is full of surprises. All these puzzles, which have baffled humanity for centuries, modern science helps put them together. Whether it be finding out what color prehistoric animals were or solving ancient murder mysteries, we get to learn more and more about the world that once was. And who knows-possibly even greater discoveries may await us just beyond the horizon.
