The word Artifact is defined as an object made by human beings that possesses cultural or historical value. I’m your host Leah. I’m Phil And I’m Steve. Today we are going to explore some of those remarkable items that link us to our past.
The definition that Leah read above came from Google Dictionary. Again, the word artifact is defined as an object made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest. Wikipedia further clarifies a cultural artifact as a term used in the social sciences, particularly anthropology, for anything created by humans which gives information about the culture of its creator and users. Artifacts provide an unbroken line from the past to the present.
I first became acquainted with artifacts through my Uncle Richard Goss. He was my mother’s younger brother. Uncle Richard was one of my favorite people. He was 6’4'' and was a U.S. Marine during WW II. In fact, he was one of the few survivors of the Battle of Guam in the Pacific. In spite of his war experiences, he was one of the funniest people I have ever met. He had a tremendous sense of humor and was a terrific storyteller. Most of what I know about humor and storytelling I learned from Uncle Richard.
But back to our topic of artifacts, Uncle Richard had keen eyesight and was always finding arrowheads. In his home he had created a framed display of dozens of arrowheads of varying sizes that he had found. He lived in the historic city of San Antonio, Texas and worked for the city of San Antonio doing maintenance on utility infrastructure. In this work he was often on sites where digging was occurring. Frequently he would look down into freshly dug soil and spot arrowheads poking out. I could walk with him along riverbanks and in the hills and suddenly he would bend down and pick up an arrowhead that I had just walked past.
Looking at his arrowheads made me aware of the time and precision that early Native Americans had taken to sharpen and shape each one out of the native rock. In my mind’s eye I could see them sitting next to a rocky bank and carefully using primitive tools to create the hunting instrument that their lives depended on. It was then that I learned that artifacts link us to people from the past.
Of course, arrowheads are nice and all, but we know what our listeners really like. “What about some weird artifacts?” you ask. We are happy to oblige! There was no shortage of odd artifacts to pick from, we may revisit this topic again.
The Devil’s Footprint
Our first odd artifact comes to us from Bavaria, specifically inside Munich’s Frauenkirche or the Church of Our Lady. According to Atlas Obscura and also historydaily.org, the architect of the Frauenkirche may have made a deal with the devil, at least that’s the legend.
While many gothic churches in Europe are noted for their over-the-top ornateness and design, the Frauenkirche is notably plain by comparison. According to local legend, the reason for this is that in 1468 the church architect, Jorg von Halspach, (Yorg fon Halsback) was running short of funds to complete the project. Then along happened the Devil one day with an offer. “I’ll supply the funds to finish the building on one condition, you can’t put any windows in it. I want it to be a monument to darkness!” Halspach agreed to the terms, but he had a trick up his sleeve.
Twenty years went by before the Devil got around to checking on the completed project. Halspach walked him into the entry from which no windows were visible.
“See, no windows! OK, let’s go,” said Halspach.
“Wait a minute,” said the Devil, “Where’s all that light coming from?” Taking a few steps down the aisle the Devil saw that the windows were in fact there, but had been obscured by the pillars supporting the ceiling.
“Curses, foiled again!” said the Devil, and with that he lifted up his foot and stomped the tile so hard that it left an imprint of his foot on the floor. Today, the Devil’s footprint can still be seen on the floor of Munich’s Frauenkirch – or maybe not.
There is in fact a large black footprint embedded into a tile on the floor of the church. Unfortunately, there are a few problems with the story told by the tour guides.
First of all, there actually is a huge window at the very front of the church. Unless the Devil was terribly nearsighted, he could have easily seen it from the entrance. This window was mostly covered with a large decorative altar between 1620 and 1858, so perhaps the legend began at that time. Moreover, the large footprint is embedded in a tile that doesn’t match the rest of the floor. It’s more of a yellow color while the remaining tiles are red and gray.
Plus, the print appears to have been made with a large boot, rather than a cloven hoof as the Devil is known to possess. Exactly who left the print and how it was made is unknown, but that doesn’t stop tour guides from happily pointing out the print and encouraging tourists to see how their own foot matches up.
Lincoln, New Mexico
How would you like to visit a town in which everything is an artifact? You might be thinking that I’m talking about Pompeii. That certainly is an interesting place, but I think we have covered Pompeii (no pun intended) in an earlier episode. The town I am referring to is in the American Southwest in the state of New Mexico. Yes, New Mexico is a state in the United States. Even some Americans are unaware of this. New Mexico entered the US as the 47th state in 1912. It is the 5th largest state in area, but only the 36th largest in population. The state contains vast expanses of desert lands and rugged mountains which helps to explain its relatively sparse population.
In Southeastern New Mexico, neatly tucked in between the Capitan and Sacramento Mountains you will find the historic town of Lincoln. Originally called La Placita del Rio Bonito (The Place by the Pretty River) the name was changed to Lincoln in 1869 to honor the slain American President. The town became famous, or perhaps infamous would be a better term during what became known as the Lincoln County War which took place primarily during a week in 1878, but with aftereffects lasting into 1881. I was fortunate to get to visit this town in May of 2023.
According to a website called nmhistoricsites.org/Lincoln, in 1873, an Irishman named L.G. Murphy and his partner James Dolan established a store in Lincoln. This establishment soon became known as "The House'' because of its monopoly over commerce in the region. Three years later in 1876 a wealthy young Englishman named John Tunstall arrived in Lincoln and opened a rival store and a bank. Tunstall was backed by several business partners including the Texas cattle baron John Chism. Trouble soon emerged as Tunstall and Co. began challenging Murphy and Dolan over their lucrative beef contracts with the U.S. Government. These contracts were for providing beef to soldiers at the nearby frontier Fort Stanton as well as some Native American Reservations. Soon two factions in the town developed between the Irish Catholic Murphy and the English Protestant John Tunstall. Both men hired gangs of gunslingers to fortify their positions. One of John Tunstall’s ranch hands was a young string bean of a fellow named William H Bonney. History would remember him as Billy the Kid. Complicating the situation is that the Territorial Governor and the Local Sheriff were supported by opposite factions.
On February 18, 1878 John Tunstall was murdered in cold blood by members of Murphy and Dolan’s gang as he was riding through the mountains near Lincoln. Three weeks later members of Tunstall’s supporters, known as the Regulators, hunted down several members of the Murphy / Dolan gang and killed three of them. Throughout the spring and early summer the fighting continued sporadically between the two factions.
Then on July 15, 1878 the fighting came to the streets of the town of Lincoln. The two stores located roughly two blocks away from each other and on opposite sides of the only street in town became fortifications. Over the next five days the gunfight blazed away between the Dolan and Tunstall factions. The rest of the citizens fortified themselves in their homes. By the time the dust had cleared 23 men were killed and another 23 wounded. President Rutherford B Hayes declared Lincoln’s main street to be the most dangerous street in America.
Billy the Kid managed to escape the bloodbath that day, but three years later he was captured by the new sheriff named Pat Garrett and returned to Lincoln where he was scheduled to be hanged. However, on April 28, 1881, he managed to escape, killing two deputies with their own guns in the process. A few months later, Pat Garrett finally caught up to Billy the Kid in Ft. Sumner, New Mexico and shot him to death in his girlfriend’s bed.
Today the town of Lincoln has been preserved and appears very much as it did in the 1880s. A $10 entrance fee will gain you access into the Murphy / Dolan store, the Tunstall store, the Courthouse where bullet holes from Billy the Kid’s escape are still visible, and numerous other homes and buildings from the era as well as a visitor center with numerous interpretive displays and a 22 minute video detailing the Lincoln County War and other local history.
To me, the most interesting place was the John Tunstall Store. Somehow this dry goods store maintained much of its merchandise from the late 1800s. The place is chock full of tools, tin plates and cups, various bottles of odd mixtures, rifles, and clothes from 140 years ago. I think it was the clothes that intrigued me the most. We tend to think of people in the American West wearing dark colored shirts and pants. But here there were several men’s shirts that were of bold colors and even stripes and patterns. The shirts didn’t come with collars, those were sold separately. These particular artifacts gave me a different insight to the late 19th Century than I had before.
If you are a person who is interested in the American West of the 19th century, or if you know someone who is, then let me recommend that you include Lincoln, New Mexico in your future travels. Oh, and by the way your $10 ticket also allows you access to the nearby Ft. Stanton Historic Site which is another unique artifact. Ft. Stanton was an outpost established in 1855 to protect American settlers from Apache raids. By the 1900s it was repurposed as a hospital for tuberculosis patients. Then in the 1930s it served as a Civil Conservation Corps camp only to be replaced during World War II as a German P.O.W. camp. Both sites are well worth the time and effort it takes to get to this remote location.
Diquis Spheres
Now we will travel from New Mexico south to Costa Rica where we encounter some very strange round artifacts.
Back in the 1930s workers from the United Fruit Company were clearing land in the Diquis River Valley of Costa Rica to make room for a new banana plantation. Suddenly a backhoe clanged into something large and round. Workers with shovels began digging around the object and soon had uncovered a completely round stone. It was about 3 feet across and certainly did not look like a natural occurrence. When the sphere was lifted out of the ground it showed evidence of having been formed by humans. This was a real head scratcher, but the United Fruit Company didn’t come all the way to Central America to look at round rocks. Work had to be continued on the banana plantation.
But the next day, CLANG, another round rock, this one about four feet in diameter. Over the coming weeks and months of construction on the banana plantation no less than 300 very round rock spheres were unearthed in the Diquis Valley. These ranged in size from six inches in diameter to six feet. But who made them and why?
Well, archeologists aren’t certain. They have identified that a group of people lived in the area between 800 and 1500 A.D. They have come to be called the Diquis People as they lived along the river by this name, but it is unknown what they called themselves. They may have been related to the Maya who lived slightly to the north in Guatemala and Southern Mexico, but even that is uncertain.
Making matters more complicated, the written records of the Spanish explorers who came to the area in the 1500s make no mention of seeing any culture with large stone orbs in their village construction or decoration. As Costa Rica experiences many volcanic eruptions, it is likely that the giant orbs were covered by lava and other volcanic debris sometime before the Spanish came. They remained covered and unknown until the 1930s. Perhaps the people who built them experienced the same fate.
The stones themselves are made out of a porous igneous rock that is similar to basalt. Evidence on the stones indicates that they were sculptured by hammering boulders into a crude spherical shape using denser rocks, and were then finished by polishing the stone’s surface by using sand. Ok, that explains the How, but the Why remains completely unknown.
The Diquis Spheres as they have come to be known can be located all around the area of the Diquis River Valley of Costa Rica. A few have been moved to the National Museum in Costa Rica’s capital San Jose. But the remainder can be located in both public and private collections including use as yard art. To this date, no one has figured out the reason why these ancient people created so many perfectly round spheres out of native rock. This mystery may never be solved.
This information came from Atlas Obscura and also from heritagedaily.com
ODJ: Hollywood Sign
This year, 2023 is the 100th anniversary of one of the most iconic structures in the world. Nope, not the Eiffel Tower, that was built in 1887. Not the Empire State Building, we have a few more years until we get to that centennial. Not the Gateway Arch, that is only about 60 years old. Maybe it might help you to narrow it down if I told you that this structure in its original form was actually an advertisement for a real estate development. It’s 45 feet tall and 400 feet long and it sits on the side of a mountain in an urban park.
Guessed it yet? Of course, it is the famous Hollywood Sign which sits on the slope of Mt. Lee in the middle of Griffith Park in Los Angeles.
Built in 1923 the sign was basically a gigantic billboard for a new development called Hollywoodland, and yes, it originally had those extra four letters on the end. It was built for a cost of $21,000 and was intended to be a temporary structure. It was also originally covered with about 4,000 lightbulbs. There was one guy who lived in a small structure just down the slope from the sign whose job it was to replace the bulbs as they burned out.
By the late 1940s, the sign had fallen into disrepair, and the Hollywoodland real estate development had folded. Some said the sign should be bulldozed, but the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce stepped in and had it rebuilt — this time, without the "land" on the end.
By the late 1970s the sign was in bad shape again. To the rescue steps in of all people, Hugh Heffner, the founder of the Playboy empire. Working with the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Heffner threw a huge party at his famous mansion and put the guilt trip on many who had achieved terrific success in Hollywood. “I need nine of you bigshots to step up with $27,000 each, enough to rebuild each of the nine letters in the sign.” Stars like Andy Williams, Gene Autrey, Alice Cooper, and the Warner Brothers all pitched in. The old sign was torn down, and three months later a new one went up. Unlike the wood and sheet metal construction of the original, the new version was made of steel, mounted to steel columns, and sunk into a sturdy concrete foundation. Frequent power washings keep the sign in pristine condition. In 1986 when Pope John Paul II visited Los Angeles, one of the Ls was blacked out so that the sign read HOLYWOOD. Those clever Angelinos!
Then in 2010 Heff stepped in again. It appears that the parcel of land immediately to the left of the H was not owned by the city as everyone had thought. In fact it was part of the Howard Hughes estate. Hughes had bought the property back in the 1930s and was going to build an enormous mansion for his fiancée, the dancing actress Ginger Rogers. The relationship fell apart and the parcel of land became a forgotten piece of the Hughes estate until it hit the market in 2010. The city scrambled to scrape up enough money to buy the parcel and protect the view, but came short of their goal. Hugh Heffner opened his checkbook and donated the remaining money to the cause.
The Hollywood Sign appears in the background of countless tourists’ photos. According to Casey Schreiner, author of the guidebook "Discovering Griffith Park: A Local's Guide." "I'd be hard-pressed to think of a more iconic landmark. People are drawn to it because it symbolizes a dream and a kind of ambition that only exists in LA."
Oh, but our story of the Hollywood Sign is not quite complete, it does also contain a bit of a dark side. You’re familiar with the song Hooray for Hollywood which is heard each year at the Academy Awards and is the backdrop of the movie industry. Written in 1937, the song was originally a satire sung from the standpoint of a young person who went to Hollywood seeking fame, but never found it. One of the influences of the song may have been that of a pretty young actress named Peg Entwistle. Peg was a British stage actress who began performing professionally at the age of 17. She had some success on Broadway, in fact she had the lead in a play called The Wild Duck in 1925. Upon seeing this play, a young Bette Davis exclaimed to her mother, “I want to be just like Peg Entwistle!”
In 1932 Peg traveled to Los Angeles to appear in a play. She was hoping to take Hollywood by storm, but was only offered bit parts in the movies. Distraught and disappointed with her life, on September 16, 1932 she hiked up Mt. Lee, and then climbed to the top of the H in the famous sign and leapt to her death. Legend has it that the very next day, a letter arrived offering her the lead in a Hollywood production.
This information came from howstuffworks.com and Wikipedia.com
The Antikythera mechanism
This information comes from a website called ZMEScience.com In 1901 a group of sponge divers exploring an ancient Roman shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera came to the surface with an interesting looking glob of metal. It appeared to have a set of gears and there was a location for a crank handle. Portions of its original wooden box housing were still visible. The item was taken to the National Archeological Museum in Athens where it was studied by curators. The following year, the museum announced that this object had a series of interconnected gears, and when turned by a crank handle it would project astronomical positions and even predict eclipses decades in advance. The most stunning thing about this find is that the curators judged the age of the mechanism to be more than 2,000 years old. It has been described as the oldest known example of an analog computer.
The level of craftsmanship of the ancient computer, now housed at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, is simply mind-boggling when you factor in its age. Consisting of a box with dials on the outside and a very complex assembly of gear wheels mounted within, it’s about as complex as an 18th-century top-notch clock, although it’s over 2000 years old!
In 2008 a team from Cardiff University used computer x-ray and high-resolution scanning to image inside the parts that were encased in barnacles in order to read the inscriptions that once covered the gears and casings. According to Prof. Michael Edmunds who lead the study, “This device is just extraordinary, the only thing of its kind. The design is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right. The way the mechanics are designed just makes your jaw drop. Whoever has done this has done it extremely carefully.” He added: “…in terms of historic and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as being more valuable than the Mona Lisa.”
The level of sophistication utilized by the device has forced scientists to accept that their perceptions of ancient Greek engineering may be faulty. Nothing similar to this exists or is mentioned in any known writings from the period of its creation. For all we know, it really should not exist, but exist it does. Given its complexity (the main gear was 5 inches in diameter and contained over 230 teeth) there were likely other models made before this one, but none have ever been found.
The presence of the device on this cargo ship may indicate that it aided in navigation, but other markings suggest that it was also used to mark the timing of Olympic game events. So how did the ancient Greeks, with basically no technology available, manage to build such a complex calculator? Well, we don’t know yet.
Sword of Galgano
Most everyone is familiar with the story of King Arthur and the legend that grew about him pulling a mythical sword out of a stone. But you may not be aware that there is a real sword in a real stone that may have inspired the tale; but it’s not in England.
If you travel to central Italy to the Tuscany region near the famous city of Sienna, you will locate the small village of Chiusdino (Cues deeno, and we want to thank our friend in Italy, Danila Bracaglia for helping us with that pronunciation). This town saw the birth in 1148 of an evil and arrogant knight named Galgano Guidatti. Legend has it that in 1180 Galgano was confronted by the Archangel Michael who urged him to renounce his evil ways. Scoffing, Galgano followed Michael to the top of a local mountain. Michael was telling Galgano that he needed to change, to which Galgano guffawed, “It would be easier for me to split boulders with my sword than to give up my worldly pleasures! Haw Haw!!” To emphasize his point, Galgano drew out his sword and dashed it point first into a large nearby boulder. To his amazement, the sword sunk deep into the stone up to its hilt. This miraculous occurrence caused Galgano to repent of his ways. The Catholic Church credits Galgano with performing 19 miracles, and he was later canonized to Saint status.
Okay, that’s a nice story and all, myths being the substance of feeble minds etc. say the doubters. But then how to explain that in Chiusdino (Cues deeno) inside Montesiepi Chapel, you will find a large stone with the handle of a sword emerging from its top?
For many years the sword was considered to be a fake prop. But recent testing has dated the sword’s metal and its style to the late 1100s. Of course, this doesn’t verify the mythic claim, but it does put the sword in the time of Galgano’s life.
And, oh yes, the chapel has another interesting set of artifacts. It seems that the devil sent some thieves to try to pull the sword out of the stone. Well, they couldn’t get it to budge. Moreover, while they were yanking on its handle, a pack of wolves that Galgano had befriended attacked the thieves and chewed off their arms. These severed arms are also on display in the chapel. Perhaps they serve as a warning to anyone else who might try to steal Galgano’s sword. The arms, by the way, were also tested and date to the late 1100s as well.
Some Italian scholars claim that the King Arthur story in England was actually inspired by Galgano’s sword. Galgano had been celebrated in hymns and poems that would have been well known in King Arthur’s time. They even claim that the Round Table may have been inspired by the round shape of the Chapel in which Galgano’s sword lies. We may never know if in fact Galgano’s sword was the inspiration behind the King Arthur story, but even if not, it is an interesting artifact nonetheless.
My information for this story came from Atlas Obscura and from travelthruhistory.com
Pharaoh Khufu’s Boat
We are all familiar with the Great Pyramids of Egypt. These gigantic burial chambers have puzzled mankind for millennia. The largest of these, the Pyramid of Pharaoh Khufu, is some 4,500 years old, and at 481 feet was the tallest man-made structure in the world up until the construction of the Eiffel Tower in 1887. It was thought that the pyramid complex had been thoroughly explored as both archeologists and tomb raiders had browsed the many passageways and crevices within the pyramid. But then in 1954 a major new discovery was made completely by accident.
From an article on goodnewsnetwork.org we learn about an archeologist named Kamal el-Mallakh who was supervising the cleanup of an area just south of the pyramid when he happened to notice what looked like a series of marble slabs that were laid out parallel to one another. Sensing that these slabs were not likely a natural phenomenon, he began clearing the dirt and sand from off of them. In all some twelve large slabs were laying next to one another and appeared to be covering something in a pit beneath. El-Mallakh drilled a hole through one of the slabs and later reported, “I did smell history!”
Further excavation revealed a large boat had been buried next to the Great Pyramid, and covered over by these slabs. But not just any boat, this boat was a master of craftmanship measuring 142 feet long, 19 feet wide, and consisting of 1,224 pieces. Each piece had been hand carved out of cedar which likely came from Lebanon. There are no nails or screws holding it together, but rather the pieces are cut to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. To reinforce the structure, the pieces were basically sewn into place using rope made of halfa grass which grows in abundance along the Nile.
The Khufu boat had been called the world’s most important artifact. This particular boat was designed to take King Khufu to the afterlife, that’s why it was buried next to the pyramid. But it gives archeologists and historians tremendous insight into how the Ancient Egyptians constructed ships. Forty five hundred years ago while people in the rest of the world were paddling around in dugout canoes, these people constructed amazing crafts well capable of sailing up and down the Nile and across the Mediterranean Sea.
All of the wooden pieces look like they have just been milled from the lumber yard. Some of the rope had deteriorated over time, but archeologists have managed to reassemble the boat using the same halfa grass rope that was used in the original construction. Khufu’s boat is now on display at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo in a new facility that was completed in 2021.
The Maine Penny
In 1957 there was this guy named Guy Mellgren, an amateur archeologist, who was exploring a sight along the coast of Maine. He had been given permission by the land owner, a fellow named Goddard. On a ledge about 8 feet above the high tide line Guy happened upon what looked like an ancient campsite. At a firepit he found among numerous stone chips what appeared to be ancient stone knives, arrowheads, and carving tools. As he carefully picked through the site he noticed something else that appeared to be really out of place, a metal coin!
From the markings on the coin, Guy thought that it was an old English coin, perhaps as old as the twelfth century. He showed the coin to a few friends and visitors as an oddity or a curiosity, but never really displayed it.
Upon his death in 1978 a photo of the coin appeared in a regional newspaper along with the question, “Were the English the first to visit North America?” A copy of the publication with photos of the coin made its way to London where it was examined by a prominent coin dealer who realized that it was not an English coin. Instead, it was a Viking coin that was minted between 1065 and 1093. The question remains, “How did a Viking coin get to the coast of the U.S.?”
From Atlas Obscura we learn that this find set off quite a controversy in the archeological community. There were many prominent archaeologists who believed that Guy actually planted the coin on the ledge. It appears that in 1879 a large cache of over 2,000 Norse coins were found by potato farmers in a field in Norway. The University of Oslo bought the coins from the farmer, kept the best examples for display, and then sold off the remainder. Many archeologists suspected that Guy had obtained one of these and planted it on the ledge.
The idea that Vikings reached the Americas before Columbus goes back to Icelandic sagas that describe journeys west from Greenland to a lush land of grass and grapes. For centuries these were considered only stories to all except for a handful of enthusiasts, among them 19th-century Scandinavians who settled in America. Fiercely proud, they relied on these stories to defend their claim to their new country, often in the face of discrimination and scorn from earlier Anglo-Saxon migrants. Other Scandinavian finds such as the Kensington Rune Stone (which we covered in our episode about Runes S2E19) had been recently debunked as fakes. Guy Mellgren, with his Scandinavian heritage, fit the profile of one who might just fake such a find.
But other archaeologists pointed out that Guy never promoted the coin as being Viking. He always thought it was English. Further study showed that the Maine Penny as it came to be called, was somewhat different from those found in the Norway potato field.
Helping to bolster the authenticity of the find was the discovery of an ancient Viking encampment in Canada along the coast of Newfoundland. However, there is no evidence that the Vikings ever traveled further south from there, still several hundred miles northeast of Maine.
So how did the Norse coin make it to the coast of Maine? The answer was found among the other items located on the ledge, particularly the Native American tools. It was determined that those tools were not made of local rock. In fact, further examination shows that some of the arrowheads and stone knives came from as far away as the Great Lakes and Newfoundland. This ledge contained artifacts from a broad region. One archeologist described it this way; “All sorts of objects that seem out of place in 12th-century Maine show up in this one spot, as if it were site of a pre-Columbian World’s Fair!,” Archeologists have finally determined that the area of the find was a major trading center for Native Americans. Items were brought from all over to trade. It is now mostly accepted that the coin was brought to Newfoundland by the Viking explorers and then was traded hand to hand by Native Americans until it wound up in Maine. According to the Smithsonian, it is the only Viking artifact to be found in the United States.
The Copper Scroll
In 1947 a Bedouin shepherd boy was looking for a lost sheep. Spying a small cave on the side of a hill, the boy thought that perhaps the sheep was in there. He decided to throw a rock into the cave to scare the sheep out. But when he threw the rock, he heard the sound of pottery shattering. Returning later with a torch, he discovered several intact clay pots as well as the one his rock had broken. But he also discovered that the pots contained scrolls with ancient writing on them. His discovery has been characterized by the name Dead Sea Scrolls. Over the next ten years more pottery throughout the area was discovered. In all, these scrolls contained all of the books of the Old Testament of the Bible except for the Book of Ruth. But there was also another find.
Hidden among the Dead Sea Scrolls was a curious roll of copper. According to an article from the University of Southern California, “In ancient times the text of a document had been incised on thin sheets of copper which were then joined together. At the time it was found, however, the document was rolled into two separate scrolls of heavily oxidized copper which were far too brittle to unroll. For five years scholars and experts discussed ways of opening the scroll. Finally, they decided to cut the scroll into sections from the outside using a small saw. Working very carefully they cut the scroll into 23 strips, each one curved into a half-cylinder. Before it was cut, one scholar thought he saw words for silver and gold and suggested that the scroll was a list of buried treasure. Sure enough, when it was deciphered, that scholar turned out to be right!”
The treasure described contains large amounts of gold, silver and coins. So why isn’t anybody looking for it? Well, they are, but there is a problem. The message on the copper scroll gave very specific instructions about where various treasures have been hidden. The problem is that it is too specific. Here are some examples:
"In the gutter which is in the bottom of the (rain-water) tank..."
"In the Second Enclosure, in the underground passage that looks east..."
"In the water conduit of [...] the north[ern] reservoir..."
It is unknown where these locations are, and if they even still exist.
The messages are written in ancient Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament. The problem is that much of the language used here is not of a religious nature, and thus the meanings are lost.
Some have speculated that the treasure listed here came from the Temple in Jerusalem some time before that city was sacked by the Romans in 70 AD. Others suspect that the treasure may have belonged to an ancient Jewish sect known as the Essenes. Still others speculate that it may have been an ancient hoax. The location of its finding alongside the Dead Sea Scrolls is certainly odd. Who the treasure belonged to, and what happened to it, we may never know.
Information came from the West Semitic Research Project on dornsife.usc.edu
The Crystal Maiden of the Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave
Our final story today brings us to the small Caribbean nation of Belize. Belize is located just south of the Yucatan Peninsula and shares a border with Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. It is about the size of Massachusetts.
Located in the mountain highlands of Belize is the hidden Actun Tunichil Muknal or “ATM” cave mouth. This is an extensive cave system that continues for more than two miles. The name Actun Tunichil Muknal translates as “Cave of the Crystal Sepulchre.” It is home to some very unique wildlife such as whip spiders, bats, large freshwater crabs, crayfish, and catfish.
The entrance to the ATM cave is partially submerged in rivers and streams. To enter the cave, a traveler must wade up the river for more than half a mile. Then another mile or so over dry ground takes you to a large open room known as The Cathedral.
In the Cathedral is where you will find the skeletons. Dozens of them. The skeletons range in age from one year old to adult. Four of those are infants between the ages of one and three. Some are stuffed into crevices and small adjoining caves.
This site was first discovered in 1989 and still remains difficult to access. The skeletons are believed to be from the Maya period and date to between 700 and 1000 A.D. All of the skeletons show signs of suffering from blunt force trauma. Researchers believe that they were the victims of human sacrifices conducted by the Maya to appease their gods. Another theory holds that they were witches, and thus leaving their skeletons in a cave rather than burying them would insure that their souls remained trapped in the cave.
One notable skeleton is called the Crystal Maiden. It was given this name because the skeleton has actually crystalized and become affixed to the cave floor. The crystallization gives the skeleton a sparkly appearance. Due to its diminutive size, it was believed that this skeleton belonged to a young woman, but recent testing now reveals that it was a young man, perhaps seventeen years of age. Guides are now calling him the Crystal Prince.
Ceramics found with the skeletons appear to date to the same time as their deaths. Many of these contain so called kill holes which were holes that would allow spirits to escape their containers.
Belize is not a wealthy country by any standard. The economy is mostly dependent on agriculture and tourism. The discovery of the ATM Cave and the Crystal Skeleton have spurred tourism income, but it has come at a price. In 2011 one tourist dropped their camera on a skeleton, crushing its skull. The following year another tourist accidentally stepped on a skull, destroying it. As a result, cameras are no longer allowed inside the cave without permission. Also, when visitors reach the dryer part of the cave, they must remove their shoes.
Nevertheless, the discovery of the ATM Cave Skeletons gives us an intimate view of Mayan cultures from over a thousand years ago.
My information came from Atlas Obscura and Wikipedia.
Phil here reminding you to check out our Facebook and Instagram pages @RemnantStewPodcast. Drop us an email at StayCurious@RemnantStew.com just to say hi or to let us know about any topics you would like to hear us cover in an upcoming episode.
Remnant Stew is part of Rook & Raven Ventures and is created by me, Leah Lamp. Dr. Steven Meeker and I research, write and host each episode along with commentary by our audio producer, Phillip Sinquefield. Theme music is by Kevin MacLeod with voiceover by Morgan Hughes. Special thanks goes out to Brandy Nichols, Judy Meeker, and Harbin Gould.
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Until next time remember to choose to be kind…AND ALWAYS STAY CURIOUS!
