30 Fascinating Things From The Past That Survived For Future Generations To Explore, As Shared On This Facebook Group

Joanna was also kind enough to share some fascinating fun facts about ancient history with us. “The earliest dentures were made with teeth scavenged from dead soldiers. In ancient China, they used armor made from layers and layers of paper, and in some instances, it was deemed superior to metal armor. Romans wore red-crested helmets in battle to prevent them killing people on their side,” she noted. 

“In 16th-17th Britain, pineapples were a status symbol and people would pay thousands for one pineapple. They could even rent them by the hour to display at a dinner party. For 1,000 years, monks of Mt Athos in Greece have not only banned women, but also female animals,” Joanna continued. “Mary, Queen of Scots, washed with white wine to ensure a smooth complexion. Queen Elizabeth I may have died from wearing toxic lead-based makeup. Ketchup originated in ancient China. Eels were sometimes used to pay rent in the Middle Ages. Tutankhamun’s parents were brother and sister.”

When it comes to why it’s so important that we study ancient history, Joanna says, “[It] offers a window into our very origins – unraveling the birth of mankind and our evolution through the development of civilization, culture, society, and religion. Delving into the history of ancient societies gives us the opportunity to glean wisdom from their successes and failures, thus informing our modern lives. As the renowned Spanish philosopher George Santayana aptly noted, ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’ While historical lessons may not always ward off doom and disaster, learning about them can help us better understand our present and also anticipate our future.”

And if you’d like to learn more about ancient history, Joanna says it’s best to get out in the field. “Visit ancient sites, talk to locals who know lesser-known facts, folklore and historical tidbits, visit museums, join tours and expeditions. You can even volunteer to participate in archaeological digs to gain hands-on experience. These adventures can help you nurture your passion and identify your specific areas of interest.”

Joanna also shared a fascinating story detailing how exciting studying ancient history can be. “In 2015, Ioannis and I were in Ecuador investigating the lost artifacts of Father Crespi, an Italian missionary who had spent 60 years there since the 1930s. He had done a lot of good work, and in return, the indigenous people brought him artifacts from all over the country, ranging from 200 to 2,000 years old and covering various cultures and ages,” she explained. 

“Among these artifacts, there was a controversial subset depicting Sumerian writing, gods, and figurines. If authentic, it would imply contact between Sumer (now Iraq) and South America thousands of years ago, which is not mentioned in history books.”

“However, the controversial artifacts went missing, and we wanted to find out where they went,” Joanna continued. “We gained exclusive access to Crespi’s artifact collection in Ecuador's central bank vaults, but the Sumerian ones were missing. Upon inquiring about them, we received threats and were told not to ask about the missing artifacts and to take our investigations elsewhere. Later, we were threatened with legal action if we were to write an article about the missing artifacts.”

“In 2016, Ioannis and a colleague, Gary, were investigating a story for Ancient Origins on the Tayos Caves in Ecuador, a vast underground network where several ancient artifacts have been recovered in the past, but many parts of the cave remain untouched and unexplored,” Joanna shared. “Like something out of an Indiana Jones episode, they were captured by a machete-wielding tribe in the Amazon jungle for accidentally straying into their territory. They were taken back to the village and put on trial. The villagers voted that they were guilty, but Ioannis and Gary managed to talk and pay their way out of it, before being left in the jungle in the middle of the night. So, a website on ancient history is not all dusty academic articles and artifacts!”

If you’d like to learn more about ancient history, be sure to visit AncientOrigins.net right here!

We hope you’re enjoying this virtual trip to an ancient history museum, pandas. Whether you’ve studied archeology yourself or you didn’t realize that dinosaurs and humans never coexisted, we hope you’ve been able to learn something new here today. Feel free to share any other fun facts about ancient history that you know down below, and keep upvoting the images you find most captivating! Then, if you’re interested in reading another Bored Panda article featuring artifacts that have been preserved for many years, check out this story next!