In August of last year, I found myself standing in a grotto, its walls grey and damp, adorned with stalactites. The flickering light from our headlamps created an eerie atmosphere as I struggled to keep my footing on the ancient steps of a sunken amphitheatre enclosed by tuff as hard as stone. Amidst the lava,... Continue Reading →
The Corona pandemic might not have only negative effects. It taught us to better telework, and might improve our lifebalance and the wellbeing of our world.
The story of a mysterious haunted lion statue in Venice leads to the traces of a peculiar theft of art.
La Isabela, the first European settlement in the Americas, is threatened by erosion and decay.
A particularly severe intervention was the deformation of the head of newborn babies. Despite its bizarre cruelty, it seems to have been a surprisingly widespread tradition.
In their quest for wealth, the European conquerors met with legends that made them penetrate ever further into the interior of the American continent. One of these legends was that of El Dorado, 'the Golden one'. While various cartoons and films today portray El Dorado as a mythical city, it was more likely a human being.
Pillaging of cultural artifacts from ancient shipwrecks causes enormous damage.
In times of the crusade the dead kings that died in the Holy Land where often cooked, in order to be able to bring their bones back home.
Fascinating finds were made in a mysterious cave on Kyffhäuser Mountain in Germany. They seem to contain sacrificial human offerings, victims of cannibalism, which were offered to an ancient goddess. Perhaps they are the starting point of the legend of someone lying asleep in the mountain and of today’s famous fairy-tales....
The most touching burial is that of the dead babies of the Tana Toraja in a tree.
Some of the most stunning museums on submerged cities and wrecks see the light in Latin-America.
Bizarre giant musical instruments were found in Denmark's swamps.
Among the burials found among the indigenous population of Panama is an astonishing grave, the burial of a young man who seems to have fallen asleep sitting.
Most of us have certainly never thought about who invented his window glass. It is just there and from time to time we have to clean it. But glass is much more fascinating than you might think. So what is it all about, with this strangely durable but completely transparent material that protects us from... Continue Reading →
In the hinterland of the African coast of the Indian Ocean, near Malindi, Kenya, lies a mysterious ruined city of which the local Giriama say that it is inhabited by the ghosts who are widely revered in the area. Its name is Gede.
So far it has been assumed that only Homo sapiens survived the times. The reasons for this were sought in his superiority. New studies, however, put many aspects into question. Perhaps the Neanderthal was in no way inferior to Homo sapiens. And perhaps it is not really true that only Homo sapiens survived…
Researching how ancient Romans went to the toilet, one may come over a lot of surprises...
Die germanischen Legenden sind reich an Erzählungen von weiblichen Kriegerinnen, Walküren und Schildmädchen. Aber gab es sie wirklich? Eine vor kurzem gemachte Entdeckung ist spektakulär.
When you go to Australia for tourism, you inevitably go to Uluru (Ayers-Rock), the Great Barrier Reef and Sydney. But you can even get better than that. The Abrolhos Reefs are one of the most magical places in the world and home to incredible historical events. It is not easy to get to the reefs,... Continue Reading →
The Toraja are certainly the people with the most peculiar burial traditions in the world and you can experience them unexpectedly close up.
You sometimes hear the curse, "Then go to hell!" But if you wanted to comply with the request, you would have trouble doing so. Where is hell actually?
The old city of the Inca Cusco in Peru is surrounded by numerous legends and a visit to this Inca city at an altitude of three thousand meters is a must for every globetrotter. A hidden mysterious lies, however, underneath.
Many great civilizations throughout history have met their demise, including the Mongol Empire, the Roman Empire, the Incas, the Pharaohs, and the Sumerians. The question then arises: What about our own civilization? Will Western civilization also collapse and fade into oblivion, becoming mere artifacts displayed in museums? In recent times, there has been an increasing... Continue Reading →
Few buildings are as rich in history and beauty as the ancient cathedral of Chartres in France. It is one of the most beautiful buildings in the Paris region and is famous for the bright coulours of its mighty windows. Inside the colossal church, numerous secrets can be discovered that attract esoteric and believing Christians... Continue Reading →
Archaeology has evolved. Museums mostly have not. It is time to change our museums and bring their context to the artefacts. A museum should not be an antiquity shop.
You could begin the story like a pitch-black fairy tale. "Once upon a time, there was a young girl, barely sixteen years old. She had just given birth to her first child and, after wandering through unknown territories, she desperately searched for water in a region where there seemed to be neither rivers nor lakes..."... Continue Reading →
There are places that do not form part of everyday life. Places where something higher reigns and the breath of history sweeps the air. One such place is the Hagia Sophia. This despite the fact that after the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks it was consecrated as a mosque - or perhaps just because of it.
The immense country of India is particularly rich in sights and archaeological sites. Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, the holy Varanasi on the Ganges and the Taj Mahal are among the most spectacular places in the world. At one place, however, secrets and beauty meet in an especially magical mix - in the mystical ghost town of... Continue Reading →
Have you ever wondered why the most powerful wand in the world is carved from elderwood? Elder branches are hollow inside and easy to break. Elder is also not a particularly beautiful wood. So why should the strongest of all wands be carved from this light, fragile material, and why did not Dumbledore, Harry Potter's... Continue Reading →
There are those mystic places in which you change your business attire to an Indiana Jones hat and to safari colours. Where you suddenly don’t mind anymore that there is no light at night and that you have to try to distinguish your face in the shabby mirror of the even shabbier bathroom cabin with... Continue Reading →
The Hoatzin is a most peculiar bird and may be even the oldest in the world. It has surprising characteristics...
In May 2014, American explorer Barry Clifford made a widely publicized announcement claiming to have found the wreckage of the Santa Maria. This declaration garnered significant attention, despite the absence of concrete evidence to support his claim. The excitement surrounding the discovery is understandable, as the Santa Maria was the flagship of Christopher Columbus during... Continue Reading →
In the National Museum of San Salvador (El Salvador), there is a simple clay sculpture of a man. At first glance, it appears that he is adorned with feathers. However, upon closer inspection, his clothing appears peculiar. And indeed, it is. He is wearing the skin of a man that has been stripped off and... Continue Reading →
El Salvador in Central America is one of the most volcanic and earthquake-hit countries in the world. Twenty-two volcanoes crowd into the smallest of spaces. There is hardly a place in the country from which one does not see these mighty giants. The capital San Salvador, on the other hand, has only few sights. Whatever... Continue Reading →
Since primeval times, humankind has lived near coasts and rivers in order to survive. Since the first day it has also experienced the change of climate very closely. And this change was often impressive. During the ice age the sea level was relatively low and during a time span, which covers about 90% of the... Continue Reading →
It was a game of life and death. The “Pok-a-tok” in the the Mayan language was a ball game similar to soccer. It was held during ritual celebrations. The object of the game was to move the rubber ball by bouncing it off the hips or knees without using the hands or feet. The team... Continue Reading →
Exciting news has emerged about a mysterious civilization that once inhabited central Europe in 5500 BC, leaving little trace of their existence. Recent archaeological findings near Dresden, Germany, have shed light on this ancient high culture that lived in the humid valleys near the Elbe River. Archaeologists discovered at least four independent circular "places" around... Continue Reading →
Climate change has always happened, as the Ice Age movies prove. So what is the hype about? You might ask, ‘why don’t we just adapt’? Here is a try at an easy clarification of climate change history, based mainly on explanations by Dr. Nic Flemming, one of the best ever specialists for sunken sites and... Continue Reading →
This amazing picture shows a prehistoric indigenous burial found under water at the coast of Costa Rica. You might wonder, why people were buried in this place under water? The answer is simple. When the burial took place, there was no water in that place. Waters rose. For over 90% of the existence of humankind,... Continue Reading →
If you go to the eastern Coast of Africa, to the atmospheric place of Mozambique Island, you will see a strange image in the evenings. Groups of women, men and children linger on the beach and seem to be looking for something. And if you are lodged in one of the hotels on the beach,... Continue Reading →
A light-hearted, whilst nevertheless touching story of World War I is that of the ship Liemba, which still sails the Lake Tanganyika today. This is despite her having travelled over a mountain, endured two sinkings and experienced a war, experiences that have left bumpy traces all over her hull. Her story is one of the... Continue Reading →
Who does not dream of one day observing what happens under the surface of the water, if possible, sheltered from the currents? See ancient stone engravings and monuments lying at the bottom of a river, float above rich calligraphy and even caress with the gaze hydroglyphs bequeathed by famous scholars? Admiring a wreck or historic... Continue Reading →
Do you feel the soul of a pirate in you? I hope the idea of drinking a glass of rum does not make you seasick. No ? So here is the exciting tale of how ended the ship of Blackbeard, a lawless pirate who lived in fury and exaltation, to the rhythm of fighting and... Continue Reading →
Even before Christopher Columbus, Bartolomeu Dias and James Cook, the Chinese sailors, attentive to the wind and currents of the ocean, wanted to expedite the notion of adventure. Crossing large seas, with stunning and boundless winds, they made their way to seven adventurous travels around the world. It was 87 years after the first trip... Continue Reading →
Since its tragic sinking on the night of March 12, 1822, the wreck of Gottfried has continued to fascinate and captivate the imagination. The presence of a stone sarcophagus, dating back to over 4,000 years, as well as mummies and steles aboard the ship stimulate the imagination. The story begins, when in 1822, King Frederick... Continue Reading →
The legend of the sarcophagus of the fourth dynasty Pharaoh Menkaure, the builder of the third pyramid of Giza, has largely been fuelled by the mysterious disappearance of the ship Beatrice. Its fate is an unsolved mystery that fascinates and leaves the door open to imagination. In October 1838, the English schooner Beatrice was heading... Continue Reading →
Twenty-one centuries ago, a mechanism of incredible ingenuity was created in Greece. The story of its rediscovery begins, when a mysterious relic was found on the seabed on a shipwreck, broken into pieces and covered with rust. The story of this discovery dates back to the year 1900, when a Greek sponge-diver spoted “naked men... Continue Reading →
The great and formidable Kublai Khan was a Mongol prince who constructed the world's largest empire. He was hailed as a hero by some but considered barbaric by others. As the grandson of Genghis Khan, he established his power and legitimacy as a Mongol ruler through his triumph over the Song emperors of China. Following... Continue Reading →
The most impressive is the absolute loneliness of the region and the fact that it is despite all odds inhabited. This extensive, empty highland of Bolivia is an imposing area. The first time I came to the Altiplano was in the year 2000, when I worked researching in the Amazonian Jungle in Peru and this... Continue Reading →
Archaeology Mysteries 