Seventy-Seven Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2024, From a Mysterious ‘Anomaly’ Near the Great Pyramid of Giza to a Missing Portrait of Henry VIII
The year’s most exciting discoveries included musket balls fired in the early days of the American Revolution, a lost composition by Mozart and a medieval chess piece
By Meilan Solly, Senior Associate Digital Editor, History, Smithsonian Magazine
Image Credit: Fascinating finds unveiled in 2024 ranged from a jade Maya funerary mask to a Roman dodecahedron. Illustration by Meilan Solly / Full photo credits at bottom of article
In a year marked by political polarization, violent conflicts in the Middle East and Europe, and other crises, not all news stories presented a bleak portrait of the current moment. These accounts of surprise discoveries delighted our readers, leaving all of us to ask what awaits us next year. Spanning disciplines, historical eras, geographic locations and cultures, some of the artifacts highlighted below were first unearthed years ago but only documented now, while others were identified more recently. From Ramses II’s long-lost sarcophagus to the world’s oldest deep-sea shipwreck, these were 77 of the most fascinating finds of 2024, as covered by Smithsonian magazine.
Click here to read the full article: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/seventy-seven-fascinating-finds-revealed-in-2024-from-a-mysterious-anomaly-near-the-great-pyramid-of-giza-to-a-missing-portrait-of-henry-viii-180985718
Photo credit for top image: Illustration by Meilan Solly / Photos, clockwise from top left: brooch via Gildings Auctioneers; stingray-shaped rock via Helm et al. / Rock Art Research, 2024; gladiator figurine via English Heritage; jade mask via Francisco Estrada-Belli / Tulane University; Charles I coin via Duke’s Auctioneers; gold coin via Notion Archaeological Project, University of Michigan; dodecahedron via Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group; Neanderthal hand ax via Worthing Museum; paper cuttings by National Trust Images / James Dobson; dolphin mosaic via Paul Belford / Heritage Innovation; chess piece via University of Tübingen / Victor Brigola; Ming vase via National Cultural Heritage Administration; and marble statue via Dobrin Kashavelov / AFP via Getty Images
