25 incredible discoveries made by ordinary people (and one badger) (26 photos)

In childhood, perhaps every second dreamed of becoming an archaeologist - like Indiana Jones, explore ancient tombs and excavate incredible artifacts lost in time. However, practice shows that great discoveries like the statue of Venus de Milo or the tombs of Tutankhamen can be made not only by professional archaeologists: sometimes ordinary people find ancient mummies and golden treasures. And even simple badgers.





1. Likey



In 335 BC Aristotle created a gymnasium near the Temple of Apollo Lyceum in Athens, called the Lyceum. Over time, the Lyceum was lost and archaeologists have never been able to find it. Until his accidentally discovered by workers during the construction of the Museum of Modern art.

2 Chinese mummy





In 2011, in Taizhou, during the expansion of the road, workers stumbled upon a large solid object at a depth of about 2 meters under earth. When they realized they had found something important, they contacted a team of archaeologists. After excavations, they discovered a small tomb with sarcophagus inside. Inside was an almost perfectly preserved mummy.

3. Venus de Milo



Before becoming one of the most famous sculptures in the world, Venus de Milo spent centuries underground on a Greek island Milos. She was found by a peasant who was trying to get blocks of marble for construction.

4. Graves of medieval Slavic rulers



The same discovery that was made not by an ordinary person, but by an ordinary badger. For five years he dug his lair on a farm in Stolp, on northeast Germany, but left his home when he unearthed human pelvic bone. During the archaeological excavations in this eight graves of the 12th century were discovered in the area, including two Slavic rulers. It was found that the badger found one of the last pagan burials in Brandenburg.

5. soldier



After the death of George Davis, relatives found in his things an old figurine of a Russian soldier in the original box. Obviously he Bought it in 1934 and haven't taken it since. Assessing it, they learned that the soldier in 1912 was made by Peter Carl Faberge by order of Nikolai II for his wife, Empress Alexandra. A total of 50 were made such figurines, and Davis's relatives sold the soldier for 5.2 million dollars.

6. Treasure of Childeric



May 27, 1653 builder Adrian Kuinken worked on the church Saint-Bris in Tournai when he realized he had found gold coins. Digging further, he found an ancient tomb full of treasures.

Quinkin found the tomb of Childeric I, king of the Salian Franks, who was buried in his capital Tournai in 481 AD.

7. Yosemite Photo Negatives



In 2000, Rick Norsigian bought some glass negatives with images of Yosemite National Park printed on them for 45 dollars. However, he later learned that these were the original works of the famous photographer Ansel Adams. The negatives were sold for 200 million dollars.

8. 2000 year old marsh oil



In June 2016, a peat cutter found a piece of oil weighing 19 kilograms, which has lain there for 2000 years. In those times butter was a luxury in Ireland and was also used in as an offering to the gods. Thanks to the swamp environment, a piece of butter beautifully preserved. Archaeologists say it's still usable for use.

9. Vase of the Chinese Imperial Family



The brother and sister were sorting things out in their parents' house in Great Britain and found a Chinese vase 40 centimeters high. They are brought the vase to the auction house, where they found out that the vase belonged to imperial family during the Qianlong Dynasty. After 30 minutes auction vase was sold for 85 milliondollars, which was a record for a piece of Chinese art.

10 Ancient Roman Villa Found Using Google Earth



One Italian was looking at his city on Google Earth and noticed some kind of oval with strange shadows around it, similar to buildings. He uploaded a screenshot to his blog and then called local archaeologists, to get their thoughts on the matter. Archaeologists began excavations and found an entire ancient Roman villa buried underground.

11. 1700-year-old seal of the emperor



In 1784, a rice farmer in Japan tried to fix irrigation ditch. While working, he discovered a seal of pure gold. The farmer brought it to a local scientist, who realized that the seal was a legendary relic given by Emperor Han Guangwu to the Japanese envoy during the first state meeting between China and Japan in 57 AD.

12. Golden pendant of the 15th century, buried in the field



Hertfordshire housewife discovers 15th century treasure using a metal detector while walking through the field with his son. She found gold pendant depicting the crucifixion of Jesus, buried at a depth of 10 centimeters underground. Its value was estimated at more than 250,000 pounds. sterling.

13. Golden Buddha statue



In 1935, the workers of the monastery were instructed to move the plaster statue Buddha towards an old building that was used for storage relics of little value. One worker in progress dropped the statue to the ground. Part of the plaster broke off, and the workers saw golden glitter. Tearing off the remains of the plaster, they discovered that the statue underneath was made of pure gold. The statue is the largest golden Buddha in the world and is now housed in a separate building.

14. An ancient underground city in Turkey



This 5,000 year old city was discovered by accident when builders commissioned to demolish a large number of buildings as part of a renovation project city in the Turkish province of Neveshir. City size at present unknown, but current estimates say it occupies about 40 hectares and goes about 112 meters underground.

15. Stone spheres of Costa Rica



As workers cleared the jungle in the Dikis Delta in Costa Rica, their bulldozers stumbled upon large stone spheres. Further research determined that the spheres were created by culture Diquis. 300 of them have survived to this day as icons of Costa Rica.

16. Rosetta Stone



In 1799, when the French army was marching through Egypt, one detachment found a stone slab with hieroglyphs in the city of Rosetta. After careful study, experts determined that one of the inscriptions written in ancient Greek. They worked for many years to translate Rosetta stone and find the key to understanding Egyptian hieroglyphs.

17. Hoksna treasure



One of the most famous and valuable exhibits exhibited in British Museum, is Hoksna treasure. It consists of 14,865 coins, 200 silver cutlery and gold jewelry. He was found in the village of Hoxne in the UK in 1992 by farmer Eric Lowes, and all because he lost his hammer while working and used metal detector to find it. Instead, he found a wooden box with centuries-old coins and jewels. Do not worry, the hammer was also found and can also be seen in the British Museum.

18. Fighter Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109



Doing homework, a 14-year-old boy from Denmark and his father Klaus found the wreckage of a German plane that crashed during the Second world war, on their family farm. Grandfather told Klaus about German fighter plane that crashed on a farm in the last years of the war, when Denmark was still occupied by the Nazis. They found the plane after several minutes of searching with a metal detector.

19. Caveman in ice



On September 19, 1991, two German tourists found a well in the ice. preserved body. Believing that they accidentally stumbled upon the place crime, the hikers reported the find to the authorities. When the police arrived and the body was excavated, the archaeologists found that the body had spent in ice 4000 years. It is now on display at the Archaeological Museum of South Tyrol in Italy.

20. Early printed copy of the Declaration of Independence



In 1989, a collector bought a mediocre painting for 4 dollar at the flea market because he liked the frame. pulling out painting, he discovered an old document between canvas and wood frame. It turned out to be one of the original copies of the Declaration independence. Maybe Nicolas Cage left it there?

21. Lascaux Caves



Eighteen-year-old apprentice mechanic Marcel Ravidat was walking with friends in the woods in September 1940, when I stumbled upon the entrance to cave. Inside, the teenagers discovered ancient rock paintings. They are agreed to keep their find a secret, but lasted only a week before telling the teacher who was local expert in prehistoric art. The cave was open to visitors for 15 years, but the entrance was restricted when the walls the cave began to develop mold.

22. Dead Sea Scrolls



While two shepherds were looking for a lost goat, one of them fell into a cave, where he found several jugs filled with old scrolls. These were fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, original manuscripts of sections of the Old Testament. The shepherds did not know this and sold pitchers for $21.

23. The first Superman comic



A couple in the US were sorting out old boxes in the attic, preparing the house for transfer to the bank when they found the original copy of the Action Comics No.1. The issue is best known for the first appearance of Superman. This an extremely rare find went on auction for more than 1 million dollars.

24. Terracotta Army



In 1974, a Chinese farmer dug a well for two days when bumped into something hard in the ground. It turned out to be an ancient statue. He delivered the find to the museum, where experts concluded that the statue is a relic of the Qin Dynasty. As a result, archaeologists dug up the rest statues on the farmer's land, opening the famous Terracotta Army.

25. Tomb of Tutankhamen



Archaeologist Howard Carter has spent years searching without success. Tutankhamun's tomb. Things were so bad that funding it should have stopped here. And if not for one bored water boy, it would have happened. Bored, the boy began to play stick in the sand and stumbled upon a stone step. He said about it Carter, who came running and started digging. 22 days later they found the entrance to tomb.