Diggin’ deeper

A 2,000-year-old computer? 10 archaeological finds that challenge history

Credit: The Cleveland Museum of Art

Most of the time, archaeology uncovers little more than pottery shards and ancient tools—not that there’s anything wrong with those. But sometimes, when luck strikes, excavations can reveal bizarre, baffling, and downright eerie artifacts that challenge our understanding of history. Join us on a journey through 10 of the most fascinating mysteries and unexpected finds ever unearthed.

Credit: Constantinos Kollias

Recovered from a shipwreck in 1901, the Antikythera Mechanism was a surprisingly complex artifact that used intricate bronze gears to predict eclipses, track planetary positions, and regulate calendars.

Advanced imaging techniques revealed it contained at least 37 interlocking gears, operated by a hand crank, earning it the title of the world’s first known analog computer.

Credit: Seiji Seiji

Dating back to 500 BCE–500 CE, these lines cover over 400 square miles and depict animals, plants, and geometric shapes. Created by removing the top layer of reddish pebbles to expose the lighter soil beneath, they have remained intact thanks to the region’s dry climate.

While their full extent can only be appreciated from the air, scholars believe they served astronomical or ceremonial purposes at the time.

Credit: Spencer Davis

Found across Europe, these hollow 12-sided polyhedra date to the 2nd–4th centuries CE. From the start, they puzzled scientists, who couldn’t determine their purpose.

Their size, ranging from 1.6 to 4.3 inches, and evenly spaced holes suggest they may have been measuring tools, religious artifacts, or even knitting aids. However, no ancient texts explain their use, and, so far, the mystery remains unsolved.

Credit: F𝓪7𝓪𝓭 ✔️ .

This 2,000-year-old ceramic jar contained a copper cylinder and an iron rod, which some have speculated could have been part of an ancient galvanic cell.

It might have generated the electricity required for electroplating or medicinal purposes. Tests with modern replicas show it can produce a small voltage, though its true function remains unconfirmed.

Credit: The New York Public Library

Drawn by Ottoman admiral Piri Reis in 1513, this early world map depicts parts of Europe, Africa, and the Americas with surprising precision.

Some theories claim it even shows Antarctica centuries before its official discovery. The surviving fragment is now kept in Istanbul’s Topkapı Palace.

Credit: Mark Rasmuson

Carbon-dated to the early 15th century, this mysterious 240-page manuscript is written in an unknown script with even stranger botanical drawings.

Despite decades of cryptographic attempts, no one has cracked its meaning. It’s housed at Yale University’s Beinecke Library.

Credit: Steinar Engeland

At the northernmost tip of the island of Newfoundland, Canada, lies the first confirmed Viking settlement in North America, dated to around 1000 CE. Excavations have revealed turf houses, iron-working remains, and Viking-style artifacts.

This UNESCO World Heritage site provides clear evidence that Norse explorers reached North America nearly 500 years before Columbus.

Credit: Aaron Greenwood

Discovered in 1974, China’s Terracotta Warriors consist of over 8,000 life-sized clay soldiers standing in battle formation near Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s tomb.

Buried with the emperor around 210 BCE, these warriors were created to serve as his protectors in the afterlife, reflecting the emperor’s power and beliefs about immortality. The site remains one of the most significant archaeological discoveries in history.

Credit: Gabriel Garcia Marengo

Discovered in the Alps in 1991, Ötzi is a naturally mummified man from the Copper Age, over 5,300 years old. Found with a copper axe and clothing made from multiple animal hides, his body is so perfectly preserved that even multiple tattoos can be identified.

Curiously, analysis of Ötzi’s remains revealed he died from an arrow wound, offering rare and valuable insight into prehistoric life, violence, and death during the Copper Age. A literal cold case from millennia ago, eh?

Credit: Matteo Vistocco

Discovered in 1799, the Rosetta Stone is a granodiorite stele inscribed with the same text in three scripts: Greek, Demotic, and hieroglyphic. This unique trilingual inscription provided the crucial key to understanding ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Thanks to the Rosetta Stone, Jean-François Champollion was able to crack the hieroglyphic code in 1822, unlocking centuries of Egyptian history. The artifact is now prominently displayed in the British Museum.

Extraterrestrial forecasts

From diamond rain to iron storms: 10 craziest alien weather facts

Credit: Viktor Mindt

Weather on Earth might be wild, but compared to other planets, it’s downright boring. Across our solar system—and beyond—insane storms, metallic rain, and atmosphere-shredding winds violently shape alien worlds. Here are 10 of the weirdest and most extreme weather events ever observed in space.

Credit: Bas van den Eijkhof

Location: Neptune & Uranus

In the atmospheres of these ice giants, intense pressure crushes methane into solid carbon, forming diamonds that fall like hail.

Estimates suggest that billions of carats worth of diamonds may exist in the deep interiors of these planets, possibly forming layered structures similar to geological strata.

Credit: NASA Hubble Space Telescope

Location: HD 189733b

This exoplanet is bombarded by winds blowing at over 5,400 mph—about seven times faster than the speed of sound.

Fortunately, all of this is happening far from Earth—HD 189733b is a 'hot Jupiter' located 63 light-years away. Its atmosphere endures extreme heat on one side and frigid cold on the other, fueling violent winds that circle the planet.

Credit: Planet Volumes

Location: Venus

Venus has clouds of sulfuric acid that rain—but the droplets evaporate before they hit the surface.

Temperatures on Venus reach 870°F, hot enough to melt lead. Acid droplets form high in the atmosphere but vaporize at lower altitudes, creating a corrosive "rain cycle."

Credit: NASA Hubble Space Telescope

Location: Jupiter

A storm larger than Earth has been raging on Jupiter for over 350 years.

First observed in the 1600s, the Great Red Spot is a massive anticyclone with wind speeds exceeding 400 mph. It’s so large that it could easily swallow our planet whole.

Credit: Planet Volumes

Location: Saturn

A massive six-sided jet stream spins around Saturn’s north pole. NASA’s Cassini mission captured this bizarre atmospheric pattern, which spans nearly 20,000 miles.

Surprisingly, it's a persistent weather feature—not a surface structure.

Credit: Daniele Colucci

Location: Mars

Mars is famous for its massive, planet-wide dust storms. These weather events can last for weeks and obscure the entire planet from view.

NASA’s Opportunity rover went silent during one of these dust storms in 2018 and never recovered. The catch? Mars doesn’t have enough atmosphere for the winds to be truly dangerous—sorry, The Martian.

Credit: Andy Holmes

Location: Boomerang Nebula

The coldest known natural place in the universe is the outer cloud of a dying star. The Boomerang Nebula, located 5,000 light-years away, reaches temperatures near 1 Kelvin—colder than the cosmic background.

This happens because the star’s gas expands so rapidly that it chills below the temperature of empty space itself.

Credit: Morteza Mohammadi

Location: WASP-76b

On this ultra-hot exoplanet, iron vaporizes on the dayside and rains down as molten metal on the nightside.

These extreme temperatures are reached because WASP-76b is tidally locked, with day-side temperatures over 4,000°F.

Credit: Javid Naderi

Location: The Sun

The Sun hosts giant tornadoes made of superheated plasma. These solar events can be up to 10,000 miles tall and spin at thousands of miles per hour.

They’re driven by magnetic fields and can feed into solar flares and coronal mass ejections—fiery explosions that can even impact Earth.

Credit: NASA

Location: The Moon

The Moon may experience electrostatic dust storms during lunar dawn and dusk. When the Sun hits the lunar surface, it creates an electric field that lifts tiny dust particles off the ground.

This phenomenon was first suspected during the Apollo missions and has been confirmed through recent satellite observations.