Unexplained Artifacts: Part 1

Every once in a while archaeologists and sometimes regular people, make some remarkable discoveries. Stunned, they are often unable to explain what it is they’ve found, how it came into existence, or ascertain its value. Every once in a while archaeologists and sometimes regular people, make some remarkable discoveries. Stunned, they are often unable to explain what it is they’ve found, how it came into existence, or ascertain its value. This is the first of two posts of a comprehensive listing of such artifacts; artifacts that many believe should have never existed given the discerned age/period of their creation.

The London hammer – a tool older than history

In June 1936 (or 1934 according to some accounts), Max Hahn and his wife Emma were on a walk when they noticed a rock with wood protruding from its core. They decided to take the oddity home and later cracked it open with a hammer and a chisel. Ironically, what they found within seemed to be an archaic hammer of sorts. A team of archaeologists checked it, and as it turns out, the rock encasing the hammer was dated back more than 400 million year; the hammer itself turned out to be more than 500 million years old. Additionally, a section of the handle has begun the transformation to coal. Creationists, of course, were all over this. The hammer’s head, made of more than 96% iron, is far more pure than anything nature could have achieved without an assist from modern technology.

The Antikythera mechanism – a Greek ancient computer

The Antikythera mechanism has been labeled the first known mechanical computer. Found in a shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera, it was designed to calculate astronomical positions. Consisting of a box with dials on the outside and a very complex assembly of gear wheels mounted within, it’s about as complex as an 18th century top-notch clock. The level of sophistication utilized by the device has forced scientists to accept that their perceptions of ancient Greek engineering may be faulty. Nothing similar to this exists or is mentioned in any known writings from the period of its creation. Based on the knowledge we do have, this mechanism shouldn’t even exist. According to Professor Michael Edmunds of Cardiff University, who led the team studying the mechanism:

“This device is just extraordinary, the only thing of its kind. The design
is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right. The way the mechanics are designed just makes your jaw drop. Whoever has done this has done it extremely carefully.” He added: “…in terms of historic and scarcity value,
I have to regard this mechanism as being more valuable than the Mona Lisa.”

The Dropa Stones

In 1938, an expedition led by archaeologist Dr. Chi Pu Tei into the Baian-Kara-Ula in China made an astonishing discovery. Nearby caves held traces of the ancient culture which once occupied them. Buried by the dusts of time, hundreds of stone disks lay scattered about the cave’s interior. Nothing too spectacular you may think, but the disks turned out to be eerily similar to phonograph records — nine inches in diameter, a circle cut into their centers and an obvious spiral groove. They are believed to be more than 10,000 years old. But the spiral, as it turns out, is composed of tiny hieroglyphics. When studied and translated, it was revealed that the discs tell the amazing story of spaceships that crashed into the mountains, piloted by people who called themselves the Dropa.

The Saqqara bird – an Egyptian plane

Discovered during the 1898 excavation of the Pa-di-Imen tomb in Saqqara, Egypt, the Saqqara bird is (as you could have guessed) a bird shaped artifact made from the wood of a sycamore tree. Weighing in at just under 40 grams and with a wingspan of more than 7 inches, it’s been dated back to approximately 200 BC. Lack of documentation and other data has led to some speculation. In fact, the ancient egyptians were well aware of the principles of aviation. Was it simply the toy of an affluent Egyptian child? Did it serve some kind of ceremonial purpose? Regardless, the object has few realistic bird traits. With its vertical tail, resembling that of an airplane or glider, it resembles no known bird. Scientists came to the conclusion that it couldn’t be effective as an aircraft due to lack of technology, but it could have in fact been a glider.

The Baghdad battery – a 2000 year old battery

This device consists of a 5-1/2-inch high clay vessel, inside of which was a copper cylinder held in place by asphalt. Within the cylinder, archaeologists found an oxidized iron rod. In 1940, Wilhelm König (the German director of the National Museum of Iraq) suggested that these could be galvanic cells, perhaps used for electroplating gold onto silver objects. Nobody has been able to prove him wrong, especially since it only needed to be filled with an acid or alkaline substance to produce an electric charge.

Info via: ZME Science