It's been an awesome year for archeologists – mummies, huge cat carvings, and more have been unearthed across the globe!
Class Discussion Questions:
1) What do you think the purpose of the geoglyphs were for the people who created them?
2) Which archeological find would you like to visit? Justify your choice?
Read the Script:
Guys, let's dig right into it because there have been some pretty cool archeological discoveries recently. The finds may be old, but let's not wait another minute to check them out. We start in Egypt, one of the favorite spots for archeologists. Just south of modern day Cairo is an acropolis known as Saqqara. "Necropolis" means a burial area belonging to an ancient city. At the beginning of October, officials here announced the discovery of a large group of ancient coffins, also called sarcophagi, believed to be more than 2,000 years old. Officials think the coffins contain senior statesmen and priests from the 26th Dynasty, which ruled Egypt during the sixth and fifth centuries BC.
Zahi Hawass, a famous Egypt historian, told the media that this is one of the most important discoveries in Egypt this year. "That moment, I cannot explain to you. It is passion when you discover a mummy for the first time that was sealed for thousands of years. I always say that you never know what the sand of Egypt may hide." Along with the sarcophagi were multiple statues of Saqqara's main god, and a finely carved bronze statue of Nefertum, the god of the lotus flower and perfume. This amazing discovery wasn't the only one. Just a few weeks later, researchers found another trove of about 80 more coffins! And that certainly won't be the last either.
Now our next story takes us to southern Peru, roughly 250 miles south of the capital of Lima. Here, researchers have discovered a huge cat drawing carved into the side of a hill! The cat measures 121 feet across and is estimated to be about 2,000 years old. It joins hundreds of mysterious artworks- also called geoglyphs-etched into the region's landscape. They are known as Nazca lines: carvings made by the Nazca people. Other shapes here include a spider, a hummingbird, and my favorite, a monkey. The giant geoglyphs were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994. This cat? He was found during maintenance work. It's unclear the exact purpose of them. Though some have guessed they were part of a religious ceremony calling on the gods for rain. I personally like to imagine they were part of a huge game of Pictionary.
But our final discovery involves some Ohio researchers making a breakthrough about the Maya civilization. Let's head to the ancient city of Tikal, which is located in what's now northern Guatemala. A group of researchers from the University of Cincinnati found that the ancient people used a mix of natural minerals to filter their drinking water. The researchers found crystalline quartz and zeolite, a crystalline compound consisting of silicone and aluminum. They were used to remove toxins and harmful bacteria from the water. The Mayans had to import these minerals from an area about 18 miles away, but it was worth it to help preserve drinking water during droughts.
UC geography professor Nicholas Dunning coauthored the study. He said, "It was probably through very clever empirical observation that the ancient Maya saw this particular mineral was associated with clean water and made some effort to carry it back." "Empirical" means able to be proved through observation. Researchers said that the system would still be effective today- amazing, since the Maya used it more than 2,000 years ago! How cool is that? Like I said, these finds might be from a long time ago, but they're still neat to discover today.