Secret HistoryS


Boat

Vasco da Gama's 16th century shipwreck found

Esmeralda Shipwreck
© Blue Water Recoveries Ltd, David Mearns/Oman’s Ministry of Heritage and CultureDivers excavating the wreck site of what historians believe is the Esmeralda, a 16th-century Portuguese ship.
Archaeologists have discovered a shipwreck off the coast of Oman that was part of a fleet led by 16th-century Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama during his second voyage to India.

Lying in Omani waters, the wreck site was identified as possibly belonging to the ship Esmeralda. It is the oldest shipwreck from Europe's age of exploration ever to be found, Oman's Ministry of Heritage and Culture said on Tuesday.

The wreck was first discovered in 1998, on the 500th anniversary of Vasco da Gama's epic discovery of the direct sea route to India, after an extensive search in the Portuguese archives.

David Mearns, of the recovery company Bluewater Recoveries Ltd, identified the wreck site off the coast of the remote Al Hallaniyah Island, some 28 miles from mainland Oman.

"The bay where the site is located was almost a perfect geographical match for where the ship wrecked, according to the descriptions of the chroniclers," Mearns said.

The site wasn't explored until 2013 when a two-year excavation, led by Mearns in partnership with Oman's Ministry of Heritage and Culture, took place in the island's waters.

Question

Unknown civilizations? The mysterious artifact collection of Father Crespi

Father Crespi collection
Left: Father Crespi holding a metallic artifact that appears to contain a series of hieroglyphs. Right: Photographs of Crespi’s so-called ‘Metallic Library’
The story of Father Crespi is a mysterious and controversial account of a priest in Ecuador involving claims of unknown civilizations, strange golden artifacts, a subterranean cave system containing a metallic library, depictions of strange figures connecting America to Sumeria, symbols depicting an unknown language, evidence of extra-terrestrial contact, and a Vatican conspiracy involving thousands of missing artifacts. But how much of the story is true? Ancient Origins set out to find the answers and was given exclusive access by the Central Bank of Ecuador to the private artifact collection of Father Crespi, tucked away in hidden vaults and storerooms, including the controversial carved metal plates, which had not been seen or photographed for decades.

Google the name 'Father Crespi' today and you will find dozens of websites telling the bizarre story of a humble priest and his connection with a mysterious collection of artifacts. Admittedly, Ancient Origins is included among those that have highlighted the strange story of Crespi and his missing artifacts. However, when myself and Dr Ioannis Syrigos of Ancient Origins moved to Cuenca, Ecuador, and were visited by researchers Hugh Newman, founder of Megalithomania.co.uk, and Jim Vieira, who has starred on several History Channel programs, there was an opportunity to explore the account in more depth and find out what is really behind the story of Father Crespi.

Magic Wand

Treasure-filled tomb of 8th century Etruscan 'princess' unearthed in Italy

Egyptian scarab
© Archeological site of Vulci via ANSA
A treasure-filled tomb, believed to belong to an an Etruscan princess from the eighth century BC, has been unearthed by archaeologists in Italy.

The ancient tomb was found in a burial chamber three metres below the ground in front of the ticket office at the archaeological site of Vulci in Lazio, which was once an important Etruscan city.

But historians faced a race against time to stop the treasure from being pilfered by illegal diggers. "We had no idea the tomb was there, but carried out an emergency dig last month after we noticed looters had excavated another tomb that was above the princess's tomb," 45 year-old site worker Tecla Del Papa told The Local.

"The robbers had revealed, but not entered, the tomb below, so thanks to them, we were able to quickly find the burial chamber and quickly excavate it," she added.

Inside the tomb, archaeologists found the bones of a young girl wrapped in a fragile cloth. Her remains were surrounded by valuable jewellery, pots and jars, some of which had been acquired on the international market.

She had been buried with a Phoenecian amber necklace and two Egyptian scarabs made of gold, ivory and silver - beautiful and highly elaborate pieces that attest to the artistic prowess of the ancients and the wide extent of the seafaring Etruscans' trade links. They also mean the grave belonged to someone very important.


Comment: See also:


Magnify

Did Druids dig mysterious tunnel network at Gilmerton Cove?

Archaeologists in Gilmerton Cove
© Pamela GriggArchaeologists Sam Badger and Magnus Kirby investigate the mysterious tunnels.
It is a little-known network of underground tunnels that lies hidden beneath the streets of a former mining village.

The mysterious series of hand-carved passageways and chambers hidden below Gilmerton have been linked to witchcraft, smugglers, Covenanters and the Knights Templar. But now a prominent art expert and historian believes the subterranean site is likely to have been a druid temple dating back more 2000 years.

Julian Spalding, the former head of Glasgow's museums and galleries, claims that the temple was deliberately buried by the ancient priests to protect its sacred nature. And he believes further work at Gilmerton Cove, which was opened as a visitor attraction 13 years ago, could unlock a host of secrets about the mysterious labyrinth. Experts have long been baffled by the origins of Gilmerton Cove, which features several stone tables and chairs. Theories over past uses have included a witches' coven, an illicit whisky still, a drinking den and even the home of an exclusive 18th-century "Hellfire Club".

Official records show Gilmerton Cove was created by local blacksmith George Paterson in 1724, but Mr Spalding is convinced he simply dug out rubble used to fill in the remains of the temple. He said: "It is very probable that the whole complex was deliberately buried, a widespread ancient practice which prevented the subsequent defilement of sacred sites.
"This interpretation explains why two passages are still blocked by unexcavated rubble.

It is inexplicable why Paterson should have filled them up after going to the immense trouble of excavating them. "The work is beautifully consistent throughout and indicates a team of highly-skilled craftsmen, with numerous assistants, guided by a mastermind. The arrangement of rooms and passages is elaborate and the dividing walls are often remarkably thin. "All the shapes within the Cove are womb-like and curved, indicating a Celtic or even earlier culture."

Comment: See also: Druid Legends of Catastrophe


Sherlock

Indian archaeologists discover ruins of a lost civilization in Mizoram

Ancient ruins Mizoram India
Ancient ruins in Mizoram
A team of archaeologists excavating the mysterious megalithic structures at Vangchhia in Champhai district of Mizoram was of the opinion that a city belonging to a greater lost civilization might have once existed there. The excavations concluded on Wednesday.

Vangchhia is Mizoram's only ASI-protected site.

Sujeet Nayan, assistant superintending archaeologist at ASI Delhi and director of the excavation at Vangchhia, said this was one of the most important archaeological finds of the present time. He said the site held the key to hitherto-unknown facts about Mizoram and the northeast.

The team documented more than 50 structures at Vangchhia and will return soon for further research and study. It collected fragments of charcoal that will be sent to specialized laboratories for carbon dating and other scientific analysis.

"We were exploring what lay beneath the bushes and thick foliage. The entire site could hold traces of a lost city or a greater lost civilization. It is amazing to stumble upon so many things. We need more time and research to reach a final conclusion," said Nayan.

Pharoah

Rare glass beads found in Danish tomb were made in King Tut's workshop

Egyptian Bead in Danish Tomb
© Roberto Fortuna and Kira UrsemDetail of a bead found at the Danish tomb.
Glass beads discovered in 3,400-year-old Danish graves were Egyptian in origin, and made by King Tutankhamun's workshop, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Thursday.

The beads were found in the Nordic burial sites by a team of Danish and French archaeologists, the publication explained, and nearly two-dozen of them were blue, which was said to be a rare color during the Bronze Age. Their discovery indicates that trade routes between the Levant and northern Europe may have been established as early as the 13th century BCE.

Jeanette Varberg, an archaeologist and curator at the Moesgaard Museum who was involved in the research, told Haaretz that blue glass was "the next best thing" to Lapis lazuli, a blue-colored semi-precious gemstone that would have been the most valuable bauble of its kind in the Nordic Late Bronze age. "In the north it must have been almost magic," she added.

One of the beads was found buried along with a Bronze Age woman at a gravesite in the town of Olby in Denmark, the researchers said, while another was discovered in a necklace together with four pieces of amber at the burial location of a second woman. Twenty-three beads were found in all, and were analyzed using a non-destructive technique known as plasma-spectrometry.

Map

Flashback Rise and Fall of Islam in Europe: When the Moors (Muslims) ruled Europe

Join British historian Bettany Hughes as she examines a long-buried chapter of European history--the rise and fall of Islamic culture in what is now Spain and Portugal.

Although generations of Spanish rulers have tried to expunge this era from the historical record, recent archeology and scholarship now shed fresh light on the Moors who flourished in Al-Andalus for more than 700 years.

This fascinating documentary explodes old stereotypes and offers shocking new insights. You'll discover the ingenious mathematics behind Granada's dazzling Alhambra Palace, trace El Cid's lineage to his Moorish roots, and learn how the Iberian population willingly converted to Islam in droves.

Comment: For more information, listen to our radio show Behind the Headlines: 'Muslim Hordes' - The Islamic origins of Western Civilization.


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SOTT Focus: Behind the Headlines: 'Muslim Hordes' - The Islamic origins of Western Civilization

caliphs Islam spread
The Age of the Caliphs: Brown - Muhammad, 622–632. Orange - Rashidun Caliphate, 632–661. Yellow - Umayyad Caliphate, 661–750
With post-9/11 anti-Muslim hysteria in the West providing fertile ground for the perception of today's refugee crisis in Europe as a "Muslim horde invading Western civilization to rape our women, steal our jobs and generally tarnish Our White European Christian Values", intense historical revisionism is underway to paint Muslims as having always been a 'backwards, sub-human horde'.

In a throwback to the Medieval crusades, today's Western wars of conquest in the Muslim world have essentially been justified on the basis of a 'civilizing mission' to bring freedom and democracy to backwards peoples. Citing it as historical precedent, the revisionists propose that the Medieval era crusades launched against Muslim cities in the Eastern Mediterranean were justified because of the 'invasion and occupation of Medieval Spain' during Europe's Dark Age.

In what is arguably one of history's richest ironies, this complete inversion of what really happened when the Muslims came to Europe around 700 AD has obscured the truth about just who was behaving like a marauding horde and who was doing the civilizing. So this week on Behind the Headlines we're going to take a moment to explore the origins of Western civilization.

We're live from 1pm-3pm EST / 5-7pm UTC / 6-8pm CET

Running Time: 01:38:57

Download: MP3


Flashlight

Archaeologists discover 1000 year old 'lost' village of Cadzow in Scotland

medieval village Cadzow
© Transport ScotlandArtists impression of the lost village of Cadzow
Construction work to upgrade Central Scotland's motorway network on the M74 near Hamilton has unearthed a rare archaeological discovery, including remnants of a medieval village and a collection of mediaeval coins believed to date from the 10th or 11th Century.

The discovery was made on the verge of the M74 motorway near Junction 6 Hamilton, opposite Hamilton Services, where the carriageway is being widened as part of the £500m M8 M73 M74 Motorway Improvements Project.

Keith Brown, Minister for Infrastructure, Investments and Cities, visited the site and viewed the rare collection of coins and artefacts, which archaeologist believe to be more than 1000 years old and could finally identify the location of the lost village of Cadzow.

Black Magic

Report claims Hitler engaged in bizarre sexual fetish acts and forced his niece to act them out

hitler nazi salute
© AFP/Getty Images
The latest personal information to be revealed about Adolf Hitler since the "micro-penis" report shows that the Nazi leader had some seriously strange sexual interests.

A U.S. intelligence report claims the Fuhrer indulged in bizarre sexual fetishes and even made his own niece act them out. A psychological profile compiled by American spies revealed that Hitler was a coprophiliac — someone who gets sexual pleasure from feces.

He allegedly forced his niece, Geli Raubal, to perform disturbing sex acts.

Before this finding was made public, the most recent information revealed about Hitler's sex life was that he had an abnormally small, deformed penis and had only one testicle.