Top 10: Unsolved Mysteries of the Past

Here are ten mysteries that have yet to be 100% solved. We have OOPARTS (Out Of Place Artifacts), Lost cities and a few things that no one knows what the heck they are. We offer up some of history’s mysteries and a couple of possible explanations.

Rongorongo

Considered the other “Easter Island mystery,” Rongorongo is the hieroglyphic script used by early inhabitants of the island. While no none of the neighboring peoples had a written language (of course Easter Island was a long long way away from anything else), Rongorongo appeared from no where in the 1700s. Early colonists banned the language, its meaning lost forever. Just looking at the tablet below you will see what appears to be body parts and people. This strengthens our hypothesis that this was a menu of some sort.

The Bog-men

There have been many theories surrounding the bog-men (should be people) and how they came to be. Hundreds of these ancient- and remarkably preserved corpses have been discovered buried around the northern wetlands of Europe. Theories include ritualistic sacrifice and banishment to “hell” as a punishment that would reach beyond death.

Tarim Mummies- Out of Place

During an excavation beneath the Tarim Basin of western China, archaeologists were surprised to discover more than 100 mummified corpses that dated back 2000 years. But Victor Mair, a college professor, was downright stupefied when he came skull-to-skull with some of the blond-haired and long nosed Tarim mummies. So in 1993, Mair returned to collect DNA samples and test results to validate his hunch that the bodies were of European genetic stock. While Ancient Chinese texts from as early as the first millennium BC do describe groups of far-east dwelling Caucasian people, there is no mention of how or why these people ended up there.

The Oak Island Money Pit

And money pit is right. In 1795 at age 16, Daniel McGinnis discovered a depression in a clearing on Oak Island. It was reported that he returned with some friends and the three began to dig into what they thought was a pirate treasure hide away. The problem was after much digging (and a lot of money) the hole filled with seawater- not unlike the native sink holes in the area. Coincidence? Nope, not likely.. there has to be treasure there because for something like 215 years people are still trying to get the water out. Perhaps the biggest mystery is why people keep spending all their money on this pointless venture.

Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters was a term used by allied pilots to describe what they believed to be UFO’s during WW2. What these balls of light were, no one knows. One theory is that it was all part of an elaborate German anti-aircraft experiment as these balls had the property of interfering with electronics. Further theories involve Germany’s massive mercury production towards the end of the war. That this phenomenon existed, there is no doubt- what it was exactly is however still a mystery.

The Cliff Dwellings of the Anasazi

Little is known about why the Anasazi Indians began building these cliff dwellings. One thought is that they were being cannibalized by native Mexican tribes and subjugated. Another is that they were eating each other. Regardless of their peaceful existence (on the outside at least), as a predominantly agricultural culture established around 1200 BC, it is obvious that strife came to these peoples. The Mystery has been what kind of strife and to what extent. Nearly 700 years ago, they completely disappeared, and not in the usual way of a steady decline. There is evidence that their possessions were left behind, bodies were simply left in their dwelling to mummify and the entire culture simply vanished. Theories ranging from war, famine, drought and alien abduction have plagued this mystery for decades.

The Amber Room

What do we love more than pirate treasure? How about Nazi gold? In 1716, the king of Prussia presented the Amber Room to Russian Czar Peter the Great. Later Catherine the Great commissioned craftsmen to embellish the room and moved it from the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to her summer home in Tsarskoye Selo. It was finished in 1770 and was illuminated by 565 candles whose light was reflected in the warm gold surface of the amber and sparkled in the mirrors, gilt, and mosaics. Then the Nazis stole during WW2. Pieces keep turning up here and there, but there is little hope of ever recovering the entire room.

Mystery of the Sphinx

The iconic symbol of the Pharaohs might actually out date them by a good few thousand years. What? How is this possible you say? Evidence related to the positioning of the Sphinx and the type of erosion on the tail versus the head (water erosion from rain versus wind erosion from a dessert climate) are strong indicators. If someone build the Sphinx prior to the Egyptians, who? I’m no archeologist, but I’m going to go with my Aunt Mona.

The Stone Spheres of Costa Rica

Hundreds of stone balls have turned up in the delta of the Térraba River, also known as the Sierpe, Diquís, and General River as well as near the towns of Palmar Sur and Palmar Norte. Balls are known from as far north as the Estrella Valley and as far south as the mouth of the Coto Colorado River. That’s a lot of territory to cover. What they were used for no one knows, but they range in size from roughly the size of a softball to as large as a Volkswagen. Who made them exactly is a mystery. How they were made has been open to much speculation since their discovery in the 1940s.

Bagdad Batteries

One of the most interesting arguments for ancient technology comes from the discovery of the Bagdad batteries. These small pots which were found in the proximity of today’s Baghdad are the best candidates for electro-chemical devices found so far.

Some of the pots were also found in the Parthi settlements, which was inhabited around the time of Christ’s birth. Other pots even might have to be settled into the period to 1200 CE. What these pots were used for is still being figured out. One thing is for sure they were capable of producing an electric current- and most likely did. All of this way before Edison.