125. A 4,000-year-old Board Game Uncovered in Oman
Location: Qumayrah Valley, Oman
Year Discovered: 2022
Est. Value: Unknown
For thousands of years, humans have come up with games and other pastimes to entertain themselves. In January of 2022, archaeologists working in the Qumayrah Valley in Oman found a 4,000-year-old board game made of stone.
A 4,000-year-old Board Game Uncovered in Oman @sherrychwalinsk/Pinterest
This rare artifact has gridded markings (potentially indicating fields), as well as holes for cups. It was one of many different finds at the Qumayrah site that shed light on how people lived in the 2,000-B.C.-ish era. The area has been so archaeologically fruitful because it was once a major trade route between multiple Arabic cities, and many people lived there and left settlement traces for us to find, thousands of years later.
126. Pot of Gold Found Under Italian Theater
Location: Como, Italy
Year Discovered: 2018
Est. Value: $400,000*
In 2018, workers were demolishing the Cressoni Theater, an abandoned theater in Como, Italy, when they stumbled upon a shiny, golden discovery. Underneath the theater was a soapstone amphora holding 300 coins, all of which dated back to the Roman Imperial Era of 474 A.D.
Pot of Gold Found Under Italian Theatre @ancient_civilizations_1 /Instagram
The coins were stacked together in rolls. According to Maria Facchinetti, a coin expert, whoever buried the jar there hid it in such a way that, if there was danger, he or she could easily retrieve it. Life must have been easy for this treasure-hoarder, as these coins were not uncovered until centuries later.
127. Rare 17th Century Painting Found Behind Wall of Oscar de la Renta’s Office
Location: Paris, France
Year Discovered: 2019
Est. Value: $1.5-$3 million*
Oscar de la Renta is a famous high-fashion designer who has offices all over the world. While opening a new boutique in Paris, France, contractors found a seventeenth-century painting hidden behind a random wall. The 10’ x 20’ painting featured a marquis and his courtiers entering the holy city of Jerusalem.
Rare 17th Century Painting Found Behind Wall of Oscar de la Renta’s Office @TheSunOnline/Pinterest
The painting was likely created by a court painter working for the French monarch Louis XIV, and it was hidden from Nazi looters who ravaged France during WWII. The painting may have been done by court artist Charles Le Brun, who Louis XIV named the “greatest French painter” in history.
128. ‘Ghost Ship’ Full of Food But Nobody Onboard Found in the Middle of Atlantic Ocean
Location: Atlantic Ocean, Off The Coast Of Portugal
Year Discovered: 1827
Est. Value: $36,513*
This is perhaps one of the creepiest entries on this list. The Mary Celeste, a double-masted ship, set sail from New York to Italy in 1872. One month later, a Canadian ship spotted it near the Portugal region. The Canadian sailors boarded the other ship after noticing no one was aboard.
‘Ghost Ship’ Full of Food But Nobody Onboard Found in the Middle of Atlantic Ocean @JoBlo Horror Trailers/Youtube
They found a very strange discovery. The Mary Celeste was stocked with six months’ worth of food and water, but no one on the ship. The ship had just one missing lifeboat; everything else was unscathed. To this day, what happened to the people onboard remains one of maritime history’s greatest (and creepiest) mysteries. Stories ranged from carnivorous seaweed to a pirate attack to sea monsters.
129. A Statue of Jesus Found at the Bottom of Lake Michigan
Location: Little Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan
Year Discovered: 2019
Est. Value: $40,000*
If this article has proven anything, it’s that you can find unbelievably strange things lurking at the bottom of lakes. In Lake Michigan, one of the largest freshwater lakes in America, divers found an eleven-foot-tall statue of Jesus Christ on the cross.
A Statue Of Jesus Found at The Bottom of Lake Michigan @boredpanda/Pinterest
The white marble statue was submerged beneath twenty feet of water and ice on the floor of Little Traverse Bay. The statue, as you can imagine, is the only freshwater-found underwear crucifix. After its discovery in 2019, the statue was left at the bottom of the Bay, visible only to spectators brave enough to venture out there.
130. Spanish ‘Ghost Village’ Re-Emerges After 30 Years Underwater
Location: Aceredo, Spain
Year Discovered: 2022
Est. Value: N/A
It’s not shocking to see a village found underneath the water—at least, not according to horror movies, but to have one reemerge? That’s a little more unusual. In February of 2022, Aceredo, a Spanish village, reemerged after spending thirty years underwater. It was flooded in 1992, but as droughts have increased, Aceredo is back.
Spanish ‘Ghost Village’ Re-emerges After 30 Years Underwater @euronewstravel/Twitter
The ruins have shocked people who used to live there, with one pensioner saying that it felt as though he was “watching a movie.” In the newly-emerged city, collapsed roofs, abandoned cars, and wooden debris are all visible, creating a chilling reenactment of what life was once like in this abandoned, formerly flooded city.
131. ‘Time Capsule’ Apartment in Paris Found Untouched for 70 Years
Location: Paris, France
Year Discovered: 2013
Est. Value: $2 million for the Boldini painting*
Found in Paris, France, in 2013, this apartment is a true time capsule. The woman who owned the apartment was named Mrs. De Florian, and she fled in the late 1930s amid the turmoil of WWII. She never returned, and the apartment remained untouched for seventy years.
‘Time Capsule’ Apartment in Paris Found Untouched for 70 Years @TheHouseofTuscany/Facebook
When De Florian died at age ninety-one, the apartment was excavated, revealing a treasure trove amid thick layers of dust. Experts had to draw up inventories of her many possessions, one of which included a valuable painting by Giovanni Boldini, a 19th-century Italian artist. The Boldini painting alone sold for $2 million, and the rest of the apartment, together, was likely worth far more.
132. Eight-Year-Old Girl Pulls a 1,000-Year-Old Sword Out of a Lake
Location: Lake Vidostern, Sweden
Year Discovered: 2018
Est. Value: $200-$500*
Young Saga Vanacek, age eight, was playing in Sweden’s Vidostern Lake in the summer of 2018 when she stepped on something that felt like a stick. She felt around near her feet, pulling on the item until she removed it from the water, calling to her dad to tell him that she had found a sword.
Eight-year-old Girl Pulls a 1,000-year-old Sword Out of a Lake @CBC/Pinterest
The Vanaceks had the sword appraised, and the Jonkopings Lans Museum deemed that the sword came from 400 or 50 A.D., predating the Viking Era. Saga kept her amazing story secret for a while, but, when she told her grade school class, they celebrated her amazing find with a fun party.
133. Lost Rembrandt Discovered After it Falls Off a Wall
Location: Rome, Italy
Year Discovered: 2021
Est. Value: $33.25 million*
Rembrandt remains one of the most famous painters of all time, even though the Dutch artist passed on centuries ago. In 2021, a masterpiece that people thought was lost resurfaced after it fell off a wall. A family in Rome, Italy had the painting, which was completed in 1632, hanging in their home.
Lost Rembrandt Discovered After it Falls Off a Wall @thetimessunday/Pinterest | ©Antonio One/Shutterstock
When “The Adoration of the Magi” fell off the wall, the family sent it to an art restorer to fix the accidental trauma. There, the restorer realized it was an authentic Rembrandt painting, a realization she deemed “beautiful.” “The Adoration of the Magi” was valued at $33.25 million shortly after the discovery.
134. Archeologists Uncover 2,000-year-old ‘Slave Room’ at Pompeii
Location: Pompeii, Italy
Year Discovered: 2021
Est. Value: Unknown
Unfortunately, slavery was a huge part of the ancient Roman economy. These enslaved people held a range of jobs, from menial labor to highly-skilled professions. Even physicians and accountants were often actually slaves.
Archeologists Uncover 2,000-year-old ‘Slave Room’ at Pompeii @Reuters/Youtube
In 2021, archaeologists in Pompeii unearthed the remains of a “slave room” in a Roman villa that had been partially destroyed by the 2,000-year-old volcanic eruption that buried the city. The slave room housed slaves who had been tasked with manning the chariots, and archaeologists deemed the find exceptionally rare. It allowed them to see inside one of the major, if inhumane, pillars of the Roman economy thousands of years ago.
135. Four Teenagers and a Dog Stumble Upon a Prehistoric Cave
Location: Vezer River Valley, Montignac, France
Year Discovered: 1940
Est. Value: Unknown
In a tale that seems straight out of a Goonies sequel, four teenagers and a dog discovered prehistoric, invaluable cave paintings that had never been seen before. In 1940 in Montignac, France’s Vezere River Valley, four teenage boys followed their dog into a narrow cave entrance.
Four Teenagers and a Dog Stumble Upon a Prehistoric Cave ©Prof saxx/Wikimedia
There, they found cave artwork that dated back to the Paleolithic Period. The cave had been used for religious rites and hunting, and its walls were decorated with six-hundred animals and 1,500 engravings that told many stories about ancient peoples. Among this artwork were aurochs (wild ox that are now extinct, but used to roam Europe) and an eerie painting of a human being with the head of a bird.
136. 8th-Century York Helmet Discovered in Shopping Mall Construction
Location: 1982
Year Discovered: York, England
Est. Value: $6,298*
The York Helmet, also known as the Coppergate Helmet, is one of just six Anglo-Saxon helmets that have survived to this present day, and the York is the best-preserved of them all. The battle gear was found in 1982 during excavations in York, England. It was discovered at the bottom of a pit that may have, in the Anglo-Saxon Era, been a well.
8th-century York Helmet Discovered in Shopping Mall Construction @JorvikViking | @NorwichCastle/Twitter
The crested helmet was one of many found in Scandinavia and England from the years 600 A.D. to 1100 A.D. This particular headpiece dates back to around 700 A.D. Now, the York Helmet is housed in the Yorkshire Museum.
137. 2,400-Year-Old Baskets Still Filled With Fruit Found in Submerged Egyptian City
Location: Thonis-Heracleion, Abu Qir, Egypt
Year Discovered: 2021
Est. Value: Unknown
For years, researchers excavated the sunken metropolis of Thonis Heracleion, which is located in Abu Qir, a bay in Egypt. They have discovered many precious artifacts that have shed light on how ancient Egyptians in the fourth century B.C.E. lived.
2,400-Year-Old Baskets Still Filled With Fruit Found in Submerged Egyptian City ©Memphis Tours/Flickr
In 2021, archeologists recovered wicker fruit baskets with grape seeds and doum nuts (fruit from the African Palm Tree once considered sacred to ancient Egyptians) still in them. The baskets had been stored underground, likely as a burial offering, as they were found next to a massive burial mound with an array of Greek funerary goods next to them. The goods were likely left by passing mercenaries and merchants who had paid their respects to whatever dignitary was buried in the tumulus.
138. An Amateur Treasure Hunter Finds Iron Age Chariot
Location: Pembrokeshire, Wales, U.K.
Year Discovered: 2018
Est. Value: $1.152 million*
Amateur treasure hunters sometimes find precious things, though those occurrences are few and far between because the hunters aren’t overly experienced. Treasure hunter and history lover Mike Smith set out with his metal detector to probe for treasures in a Pembrokeshire, Wales field.
An Amateur Treasure Hunter Finds Iron Age Chariot @artnet/Pinterest
There, he made an extraordinary find. Smith found a 2,500-year-old Celtic chariot that was the first-ever chariot of its kind found in Wales. The detectorist believes that a queen or chieftain would have been buried with it, as was the custom in the Iron Age. Smith had been a metal detectorist for thirty years, and his diligence, in 2018, paid off handsomely.
139. Mexico Earthquake Leads to Discovery of Ancient Temple
Location: Morelos, Mexico
Year Discovered: 2018
Est. Value: Unknown
Every year, the country of Mexico has around 30,000 earthquakes. It is one of the most quake-prone regions in the world. Sometimes, these earthquakes unveil hidden treasures. In 2018, when an earthquake hit Morelos, a state in Mexico, archaeologists worried about damage to the Teopanzolco Pyramid.
Mexico Earthquake Leads to Discovery of Ancient Temple @ancientorigins/Pinterest | ©Kåre Thor Olsen/Wikimedia
While scanning these ancient ruins for damage, the researchers uncovered the remains of an ancient temple dedicated to Tlaloc, the Rain God in Aztec lore. In the 20’ by 13’ temple, excavators found ceramic shards and an incense burner, further proving that this was definitely a religious site. Tlaloc was a benevolent god when he brought rain to end a drought, but he could be incredibly unforgiving when he sent lightning and fierce storms.
140. 1 of 12 “Secret” Treasures Unearthed in Boston Park
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Year Discovered: 2019
Est. Value: $1,000*
Byron Preiss wrote and published The Secret in 1982, and people have been hunting for Preiss’ twelve-part treasure ever since. The author, who died in 2005, buried twelve treasure boxes in twelve locations across America, and his book has clues to finding them all. So far, only two have been found.
1 of 12 “Secret” Treasures Unearthed in Boston Park @ohohohmar10/Pinterest
One was found in a park in Boston, Massachusetts by a family who was super-into treasure hunting. The Krupats followed the clues and found a box of jewels buried in a North End baseball field. They managed to succeed where many, many other treasure hunters over the years have failed. The precious gem inside the box was valued at $1,000.