Is the hunt for our Ancient Origins over?
Is the hunt for our Ancient Origins over?
Greetings the Unleashed!
Is the hunt for our Ancient Origins over? Is archaeology dead?! Were our readers otherwise engaged?
When the story of LiDAR stripping away the rampant foliage of the Guatemalan rainforest to reveal 60,000 hidden constructions in 2018, Ancient Origins had its biggest scoop yet. Thousands flocked to the website to read the article, which was simultaneously shared by other news outlets. It was an amazing revelation, the like of which had never been seen before, and it changed the world’s view on just what was the scope of the ancient Mesoamerican (mainly Maya in this case) civilization. Exciting stuff!
So last week, I got very excited because I thought I had found a story of similar importance and size, further south, in Ecuador. A huge ancient development, 1000 years older than those previously found had been detected by that same wonderful LiDAR that had lasered through the forest further north in the continent 5 or 6 years ago.
I raced to get the story out and share with our lovely, learned audience as soon as possible and was pretty quick off the bat. I hustled my colleagues, told them this one was BIG. I pulled out all the stops, then sat back to see the HUGE interest it was bound to garner…and what happened? Tumbleweed.
Well, not quite tumbleweed, but way short of my expectations. Another groundbreaking find that seems to have missed its mark for some unfathomable reason.
So, I wonder – Is interest in archaeological discoveries waning? Is the written word an antiquated news medium? Is Ancient Origins dying through algorithm asphyxiation? Or am I just losing my touch?!
As I try to work all that out, I’ll share the find here with the Unleashed newsletter audience, and see what you think of it. Ancient, advanced civilization…big settlements…hidden in the jungle…1000 years older than was known…what the heck was going on back then in South America?!
It’s my first choice of editor’s picks…
Oldest Known Ancient Amazonian Cities Uncovered in Ecuador!
An extensive civilization like nothing ever discovered before has been revealed in the Amazon jungle of Ecuador! This latest discovery is believed to be the oldest human settlement known in the Amazonian region. Laser mapping technology has unveiled a lost network of interconnected cities in Ecuador's Upano Valley, hidden beneath the dense foliage. The largest of these pre-Hispanic urban centers and lost cities were home to at least 10,000 people around 2,000-2,500 years ago, revealing a densely populated network of settlements and connecting roadways, that were in use for at least a thousand years!
This anthropized landscape, featuring clusters of monumental platforms, plazas, and streets arranged in a specific pattern, is the subject of a new study published in the journal Science. The landscape is intertwined with extensive agricultural drainages and terraces, along with wide straight roads covering considerable distances. The occupation of these sites has been dated from around 500 BC to between 300 and 600 AD, a period roughly contemporaneous with the Roman Empire.
A remarkable feature of this landscape is the intricate road system spanning tens of kilometers, connecting various urban centers and forming a regional-scale network. This early and extensive development in the Upper Amazon draws parallels with similar Maya urban systems recently brought to light in Mexico and Guatemala.
What’s behind the unfinished wall…
‘Mongolian Arc’ Study Reveals Reason for Gaps in the Great Wall of China
For the first time ever, scholars have conducted an analysis of a segment of the Great Wall of China that reaches into Mongolia. Stretched across 405 kilometers (252 mi), this wall, known as the "Mongolian Arc" owing to its curved path, has been the subject of great scrutiny. Positioned in close proximity to the border separating China and Mongolia, it spans from Sukhbaatar Province to Dornod Province in northeastern Mongolia. Despite the extensive fieldwork, its purpose remains unclear – perhaps a defensive fortification as per ancient texts?
“In spite of its scale and complexity, it is unclear when exactly it was built, who built it, and for what purpose… one of the most enigmatic long wall and trench systems in the history of China and Mongolia,” write the study authors. Their study was published in an open access form in the latest edition of the Journal of Field Archaeology.
The Great Wall of China was built, extended and reinforced over a period of around 2000 years. Regarding this section, comprising an earthen wall, a trench, and 34 structures, historical records from the 11th to 13th centuries AD make references to the construction of the wall, although the precise chronology remains elusive at present.
Despite the immense scale of the structure, the study authors note that the "Mongolian Arc" has been notably absent from widespread academic discussions.
“One possible explanation for the gaps, which were points of vulnerability in the system, is that the Mongolian Arc was hastily built during the final years of the Jin dynasty as a defense against the expected invading Mongol armies,” write the researchers. The swift Mongol invasion of Jin territories occurred around 1200 AD.
The new Brazilian reveal…
9,000-year-old Human Skeletons and Over 100,000 Artifacts Unearthed in Brazil
Surveyors in Brazil were appraising a site identified for the building of a new apartment complex. However, they downed tools, and called in archaeologists when they started finding bones and shards of pottery. Now, a multi-layered archaeological site has been revealed which has yielded 43 human skeletons and in excess of 100,000 artifacts.
A team of construction workers were planning on building a new apartment complex in the coastal city of Sao Luis, the capital of Maranhao state in northeastern Brazil, when they came across human bones and shards of pottery. Now, having been dated to around to 9,000 years ago, lead archaeologist, Wellington Lage, said the find might “rewrite the history of human settlement in Brazil”.
The six-hectare (15-ac) plot is known locally as Rosane's Farm. Back in 2019, the Brazilian construction giant MRV hired now 70-year-old Wellington Lage’s company, “W Lage Arqueologia,” to carry out a site survey before the building of a new apartment building. Researching the site, Lage discovered that bones were recovered in the 1970s, and part of a human jawbone was found in 1991.
According to a CBS news article, over the last four years Lage’s team have unearthed “43 human skeletons and more than 100,000 artifacts.” Brazil's Institute for National Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN), referred to the discoveries as a "grandiose" haul of bones and artifacts.
Lage said that even after four years of digging, his 27-strong team, including archaeologists, chemists, a historian and a documentary filmmaker, have “barely scratched the surface.”
Now, the team of researchers plan to catalogue each of the artifacts before they publish their findings, and the recovered items are exhibited to the public.
Read the preliminary findings…
If you can’t go around…
Experts Blown Away by Ancient Tactical Defense Tunnels Unearthed in China
Entering the ancient stone city of Houchengzui over 4,000 years ago was a tryst, with an elaborate fortification system, layers and layers of defensive walls and the overpowering of the armed settlers. But that was not all. What had eluded archaeologists until now were a series of secret underground passageways and tunnels – 6 intersecting each other in total, functioning as a hidden transportation network!
A surprising result…
Cerne Abbas Chalk Figure Now Identified As the Greek Hero Hercules
Researchers have been speculating for centuries about the meaning and origin of a gigantic 180-foot (55-meter) human figure carved into a chalky hillside near the village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset, England. While many explanations have been offered purporting to explain who this man really is, a new study published in the medieval history journal Speculum asserts that the mystery has been solved. The answer to this timeworn question appears to be that the individual carved into the hillside is none other than Hercules, the Greek behemoth who was the world’s first superhero.
The distinctive white outline of Cerne Abbas figure reveals a powerful man wielding a heavy club in his right hand, with his left arm extended and his phallus fully erect. Since the remarkable chalk figure known as the Cerne Abbas giant was first discovered, researchers and historians have been debating its true identity.
Some suggested it portrayed an ancient British sky god named Helith, who was supposedly worshipped in Britain during prehistoric times. Others believed the figure was carved much more recently, and that it was actually a tribute to the legendary Oliver Cromwell. Another theory claimed that the figure portrayed Saint Eadwold, a pious ninth-century prince who lived modestly as a hermit in the region and was chosen as the patron saint of Cerne sometime after his death.
In the new study, historians Tom Morcom from the University of Oslo and Helen Gittos from Oxford University argue that none of these theories fits the known facts. The only explanation that makes sense, they assert, is that the huge naked man carved in chalk is actually the famous Greek hero Hercules, whose courageous deeds and immense strength formed the historical template for modern superheroes like Superman and Captain Marvel.
“We've tried to put together the most convincing and coherent narrative,” Dr. Morcom said in The Daily Mail. “It's how it all fits together and how the giant could have been most likely understood.”
Most likely right? Read the deductions…
Oh, and another big one to start the year…
Huge 500-Year-Old Longsword Recovered from Medieval Grave on Swedish Coast
Researchers digging at the Lilla Torg site in the western Swedish port city of Halmstad unearthed something extraordinarily rare. While excavating a grave in a medieval era cemetery, archaeologists from Kulturmiljö Halland (the Cultural Environment of Halland) and its partners at the Lödöse and Bohusläns Museums found a long, rusted metal sword that measured more than four feet (1.2 meters) long. The massive weapon was discovered buried next to an elite man who had died in the late 15th or early 16th century, and this individual was unique in his own right as he measured over six feet tall (an atypical height for medieval times).
This remarkable discovery occurred on December 19, during excavations of a large cemetery containing 49 graves that was found beneath Halmstad’s Lilla Torg square. The burial sites were unearthed under what had once been a Franciscan monastery and church, which were known to have been open and occupied by the Franciscan Order from 1494 through 1531.
Among all these burials, the grave that held the skeleton of the tall man stood out, firstly because of the size of its occupant, and second because of the heavy sword that was buried at his side. While an osteological examination of the man’s skeleton showed he would have been about 6’3” (1.9 meters) in height, his sword was only two feet (0.6 meters) short of this in length, measuring an impressive 4’3” (1.3 meters). The sword was the only artifact in the grave, and it had been placed at the man’s left side (presumably he would have been left-handed).
Til next time…the search continues…
 | A guest post by
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Although you might think there's no credibility to it, many people like myself, believe that beings from other worlds were instrumental in shaping human origins. There's a lot more factors to our origins than just fossilized bones. The younger generations in particular are more accepting of these ideas, and many of us are waiting for our government to finally disclose what they REALLY KNOW about off-world beings. The small fraction of data being released about discoveries in Antarctica will defintely blow the lid off this academic cover-up!
I have paid for a few years now but you have not produced the product so when mine expires I am done.