1. Formation

In geology, a body of rock that has a consistent set of distinct, physical characteristics. It must be different enough in appearance from surrounding rocks, that a geologic mapper can distinguish it. Some of the well-known formations in the United States that contain fossils are the Morrison Formation (Jurassic period) Hell Creek (Cretaceous period), Green River (Eocene period). More details on the eras and periods within the geologic timescale.

2. Fossil

Body fossils and trace fossils

Body fossils are the fossilized remains of an animal or plant, like dinosaur bones, shells and leaves.

Trace: The second type of fossil records the activity of an ancient organism or animal while it was alive. Trace fossils include footprints, trackways, burrows, nests and coprolites (fossilized dung).

3. Holotype or type specimen

When a new species is found, the specimen upon which the description and name is based, and about which an original published description has been written is called the holotype. All other specimens are only referred to the species. (pictured: Homo habilis)

4. Jacket

A jacket is the protective shell used to cover and transport a fossil from the field to the fossil prep lab. After fossils are excavated from the ground, a layer of protective paper or material is placed to cushion and protect the fossil. This protective material is then covered in either plaster bandages or burlap sealed with plaster which is left to harden before transporting. Jacket is both a verb and a noun. Fossils are “jacketed” in the field and transported in fossil jackets.

5. Matrix

Matrix is the rock or sediment in which a fossil is embedded. Matrix can be as fine as sandstone that can be swept away from a fossil using a brush or for sediment that’s so hard that jackhammers and airscribes are needed to expose the fossil.

6. Prospecting

The term used by paleontologists for the search for fossiliferous (fossil-bearing) deposits in a particular area.

7. Quarry

Fossil quarries are large, deep pits from which fossils can be extracted. Some well-known fossil quarries in the United States include Stonerose Interpretive Center in Washington, with an abundance of Eocene plant and insect fossils and the Green River Formation in Wyoming with Eocene fish fossils.

8. Taxon (taxa plural)

The unit used in the science of biological classification using a hierarchical system. Taxa are arranged in a hierarchy including, in order: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species)

Bonus term: Species

The last rank in the taxonomic hierarchy. Species are organisms that have one or more diagnostic characteristics that make them capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding. Formal naming includes the genus and species names, such as humans: Homo(genus) sapiens (species) and dog: Canis (genus) familiaris (species).

9. Stromatolites

The oldest known fossils on the planet Earth are layered rocks called stromatolites. They are about 3.5 billion years old and they represent some of the earliest life on this planet. They can be found in such places as Marble Bar in Pilbara, Western Australia and in the United States in Wisconsin, Michigan and Montana. Amazingly, living stromatolites can still be found today in Australia. They form in extremely salty lagoons, where microorganisms trap sediment.

10.Taphonomy

All events that happen to a living organism after its death which include burial and removal from the ground. This can include transport, surface weathering, displacement by animals and in regard to paleontology, this deals with the processes of fossilization.

Top 10 reasons to take your family on a dinosaur dig

1. It’s a physical activity with a dash of fun

An active kid is a healthy kid. All paleontology digs by their very nature are outdoors and require some physical activity. Usually there is a little hiking involved. And when it comes to the excavation itself, you and your family will be chipping away at rock with an awl or rock hammer and brushing dirt just like you see on TV. But don’t worry. For the most part, the work isn’t too strenuous (unless you really want it to be.)

2. You’ll contribute to science

Going on a research-based dig means you and your family will be working alongside the scientists to help them accomplish their research goals. The time you and your family put in will directly impact real life science and our understanding of the world and our place in it. Just make sure to find a non-profit paleontology dig and not a commercial based dig.

3. Digs are educational

Working on a fossil dig is not only interesting; it’s also educational. You’ll learn about the geology of the area and site and why fossils formed there. Curiosity is encouraged! The scientists who will be guiding you are eager to share their knowledge and enjoy answering your kids’ questions.

4. You’ll enjoy the great outdoors

Get your kids away from their screens and outside to enjoy beautiful scenery. The motivation to do something as cool as digging up fossils will overcome even your most stubborn couch potato. As a parent, you’ll enjoy the fact that the family is not only getting fresh air, but also a front-row seat to the local flora and fauna.

5. You can make digs part of a longer vacation

Although many digsites are remote, most can be worked into a longer vacation to a national park or outback adventure. The digs that accommodate children usually have 1–3 day options to choose from, making them easy to include within a longer trip.

6. It’s family bonding time

Excavations are something the whole family can do, making this a rewarding experience you’ll do together. Share your finds, discoveries and learn together — all while experiencing a shared sense of accomplishment at the end of each day.

7. Digs are affordable

The cost of a fossil dig isn’t as expensive as you might think. It’s comparable to a full day whitewater rafting adventure and sometimes a lot less. Dig costs do vary depending on the site, and there are different price points available.

8. You’ll gain instant Cool Mom/Cool Dad cred

The “What I did on my summer vacation” stories your kids will tell will instantly give you cool parent status. Bragging rights are guaranteed.

9. You’ll get to meet new people

You’ll be digging in a small group of people of all ages and who all have an interest in being there. Each person works within their own small part of a larger area, which makes all digs feel like an all-for-one and one-for-all shared experience.

10. You’ll talk about it forever

By now, we know that most of our memories are about experiences and not things. Working to help uncover a fossil or artifact is an experience that you and your family will never forget. You’ll find that you and your family will talk about your shared experience for years to come.

Dig into the adventure with your family and find a paleontology (or archaeology) dig for your next family adventure.

Which dinosaur has the longest name? Which dinosaur is the heaviest? Biggest? Smallest? How long were dinosaurs alive for? How many species have been discovered? So many questions, yet, a definitive list of dinosaur facts is impossible. As dinosaur fossils continue to be unearthed, we continue to learn more about these amazing ancient creatures that once walked the Earth. So, for now…

1. How long?

Dinosaurs lived on Earth for about 165 million years.

2. Where in the world?

Fossils of dinosaurs have been found on all seven continents-even Antarctica! But the countries with the most dinosaur fossils are the US, Canada, China and Argentina.

3. It’s all Greek to me

Sir Richard Owen invented the term “Dinosauria”. The term comes from the Greek words “deinos” translated to “fearfully great” and “sauros” translated to “lizard”.

4. Our feathered friends?

Did you know that modern birds are descendants from dinosaurs? That means there are still relatives of dinosaurs roaming the planet. Recently, evidence for feathered non-avian dinosaurs has been discovered showing that feathers are no longer unique just to birds.

5. It’s all in the name

The longest dinosaur name originates from Chinese paleontologist Dong in 1978 who named a dinosaur “Micropachycephalosaurus” meaning “tiny thick-headed lizard”.

6. Rock and roll

Dinosaurs often swallowed large rocks to help them digest and grind up food. These stomach stones, called gastroliths have been found with dinosaur fossils.

6. The smallest

The smallest fully-grown dinosaur is the Lesothosaurus, which is a bird-hipped plant-eater about the size of a chicken.

7. The biggest

The heaviest and longest dinosaur is the Argentinosaurus at 40 meters and 77 tons, which is equivalent to 17 African elephants and four fire engines. This dinosaur is the largest land animal to ever live on Earth.

8. The earliest

The oldest known dinosaur is Saltopus.that lived 245 million years ago in what is now Scotland. Makes you wonder about the origin of the Loch Ness Monster.

9. Just call me “Grandpa”

Some scientists believe that Apatosaurus could live to be as old as 300 years, due to the large size of these mature dinosaurs. It is widely believed that most carnivorous dinosaurs lived to be only 30 years, while herbivores lived to 70 or 80 years.

10. You big baby!

Dinosaur eggs (like dinosaurs themselves) have been found in many sizes. The smallest are only as big as a penny, while the largest dinosaur eggs ever found were about 19 inches long.

For more cool dinosaur facts, check out Dinosaur Facts from the American Museum of Natural History and The Dinosaur Museum’s Dino Facts.

If you want to take part in new discoveries, join a paleontology dig offered at Ancient Odysseys and dig into the adventure!

Hold onto your fedora and fashion your best Indiana Jones sneer. Here are ten key terms used by archaeologists. Get ready to grab your field notebook and start recording!

1. Artifact or Artefact

These are portable objects that have been modified, manufactured or used by a human. Examples include stone tools, pottery, weapons and items of personal adornment such as buttons, jewelry and clothes.

2. Back Dirt

This is the excavated and discarded sediment and dirt from a site that has been sifted for artifacts. Back dirt is presumed to have no further archaeological significance and is not to be confused with Back Fill which is the back dirt is used to restore the former ground surface.

3. Ecofacts

Archaeological finds including bones and vegetal remains that can tell us about past environments and the diets of those who preceded us.

4. Feature

Features are any physical structures, like a wall, post hole, pit, or floor, that is made or altered by humans. Unlike an artifact, a feature cannot be removed from a site and is not portable.

5. Field Notebook

Notebooks an important part of any excavation as they are used by researchers on a daily basis to record descriptions of the excavation process, plans, drawings and lists of objects found. See sample notebooks here.

6. Flotation

This is the process of soaking backfill in water to separate and recover small ecofacts and artifacts, like pollen samples that cannot be recovered through traditional sieving and screenwashing.

7. Formation

In geology, a body of rock that has a consistent set of distinct, physical characteristics. It must be different enough in appearance from surrounding rocks, that a geologic mapper can distinguish it. The geologic timescale provides more details on the eras and periods of different formations.

8. Screen Wash

The process which is used to analyze the soil removed during excavation. Nothing goes unstudied in archaeology. All the soil that is removed from a site is sifted and cleaned with water through screen meshes and sieves to ensure absolutely everything is accounted for.

9. Stratigraphy

The study of the layers of sediments, soils, and material culture at an archaeological site.

10. Taxon (taxa plural)

The unit used in the science of biological classification. Taxa are arranged in a hierarchy including (in order): kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species)

Bonus term: Species

The last rank in the taxonomic hierarchy. Species are organisms that have one or more diagnostic characteristics that make them capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding. Formal naming includes the genus and species names, such as humans: Homo(genus) sapiens (species) and dog: Canis (genus) familiaris (species).

The glossary at the Archaeological Institute of America is a great resource to prepare you for any archaeological dig.

Where to find fossils in Australia

1. Lightning Ridge Fossil Dig

• Where: Lightning Ridge, New South Wales
• Fossils you can find: Plant, marine and dinosaur fossils

Deep in the heart of outback NSW is Lightning Ridge, home to the prized and rare black opal. It’s also home to the Lightning Ridge Fossil Dig~one of the most unique fossil-hunting opportunities on the planet. It’s the only place in the world to find opalized fossils and you can join their week-long fossil dig to learn about and search for opalized plant and animal fossils. Lessons in fossil preservation and casting techniques are included, as are lectures about dinosaur hunting, opals and mining. It’s your chance to be part of a truly significant fossil location.

2. Kronosaurus Korner

• Where: Richmond, Queensland
• Fossils you can find: Plesiosaurs, ancient fish, reptiles and dinosaurs

Millions of years ago, Richmond was underwater and part of a large inland sea. Marine reptiles and fish dominated the sea and their remains can still be found in the area. Kronosaurus Korner is your Richmond fossil headquarters. Start with a tour of the museum which houses over 1,000 marine fossils dating back over 100 million years. Go fishing for fossils by joining the guided Digging @ Dawn tour for guaranteed finds or purchase a permit at the visitor center to try your luck.

3. Australian Age of Dinosaurs

• Where: Winton, Queensland
• Fossils you can find: Sauropod dinosaurs and dinosaur footprints

Dinosaurs used to roam Winton and evidence of their dominance is still being found today. At the Australian Age of Dinosaurs, you can see Australia’s largest, and most complete theropod and sauropod. The center also houses a sauropod tracksite and invites visitors right into the fossil prep lab. For a more immersive experience, the Australian Age of Dinosaurs hosts a yearly dinosaur dig that is hugely popular. If you don’t want to brave the elements and bush flies, you can also get your hands on actual fossils by taking part in their Prep-a-dino lab experience. This aspect of paleontological work is important in the preservation and identification of fossils. Find out more about the Australian Age of Dinosaurs fossil prep experience.

4. Eromanga Natural History Museum

• Where: Eromanga, Queensland
• Fossils you can find: Sauropod dinosaurs and ice age megafauna

The Eromanga Natural History Museum is in a town at the edge of Australia’s ancient inland sea. 100 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed this area, while 100,000 to 50,000 years ago, huge megafauna like Diprotodon — an ancient marsupial bear — called this area home. Fossilized remains of these creatures are being unearthed by the Eromanga Natural History Museum and prepared in their prep lab. Visit the museum to see Australia’s largest dinosaur and to see fossils emerging from the rock in their fossil prep lab. You can be a part of the discoveries by joining their dinosaur or megafauna dig or learning to prepare fossils yourself.

5. Flinders Discovery Centre

• Where: Hughenden, Queensland
• Fossils you can find: Ammonites and belemnites

Anyone and everyone is welcome to hunt for 100+ million year old ammonites and belemnites in and around Hughenden. Go to the Flinders Discovery Centre and Museum first and check out their collection of fossils, including Hughie the Muttaburrasaurus dinosaur and the impressive collection of ammonites from the area. If you’re up for some fossil hunting yourself, ask for a map at the museum and scope out the fossilized treasures close to town on a self-guided tour.

Find more fossil digs at Ancient Odysseys!

Multi-day digs are small groups they sell out

Each dig location is unique, with each lead researcher and scientist deciding what they want your help to accomplish during the summer dig season. Many digs require a commitment of at least a few days and most accept only a few people at a time. Locations like the Triceratops Gulch Project in Wyoming and Montana Learning Center in Montana, accept between six and 12 people. This has more pros than cons.

The pros:

• You will learn the correct techniques and how to use the tools of the trade.
• You can ask lots of questions and talk to the researchers leading the excavation so you can really learn why and how tasks need to be accomplished.
• Small groups are closely monitored, because it’s important to make sure artifacts, features or fossils are excavated correctly to maintain their integrity.
• You get to make exciting discoveries and take part in an actual scientific endeavor.

The biggest con is that small groups mean that space is limited and sell out quickly. That’s why it’s important to book a dig as soon as you can.

Single-day dig options

There are single-day dig opportunities available, many of which are open to kids. Some of these single day options like Stonerose Interpretive Center in Republic, Washington and Penn Dixie Fossil Park in Hamburg, NY don’t require reservations. Regardless, it’s best to check the details of the dig sites that interest you.

Book digs and flights early in the year

Keep in mind that many digs are quite far off the beaten path, so you’ll want to do some planning before you go.

Of course, if you are traveling cross-country or abroad, advance planning is key to not only getting on the dig you want, but also important to booking reasonable airfare. Scott’s Cheap Flights has great advice when it comes to booking airfare. For peak travel periods, always book opposite season. Most people plan their summer travel in April or May and that’s when airfares get expensive, so “when the New Year’s ball is dropping, that’s when you should be thinking about summer flights.” The so-called “Goldilocks Window” for domestic travel is 1–3 months before flying while for international travel, think more like 2–8 months in advance.

If this is the year you want to go on a dinosaur, paleontology or archaeology dig, don’t miss out and book your reservation soon.

Here are our top 5

1. The Oldest work of art is in a cave in Indonesia

Forty-four thousand year old rock art from Sulawesi, Indonesia depicts dwarf bovids, wild pigs and handprints. According to Aubert, Oktaviana and Brumm, the leading scientists, “This hunting scene is — to our knowledge — currently the oldest pictorial record of storytelling and the earliest figurative artwork in the world.”

It had been thought that caves in Europe held this distinction, but this find “had implications for everything from the origins of art, religion, and human spirituality to the movement of Austronesian peoples. Many scholars consider these artistic activities to be the expression of a leap in human cognitive development,” according to an article by Silvio Viviani in Sapiens magazine.

2. Early Japanese camp in British Columbia

Within the forest of British Columbia, a site from the early 1900s was discovered which was believed to have started as a multi-ethnic logging camp that turned into a village of Japanese residents. Professor Robert Muckle and his team spent 14 years excavating over 1,000 artifacts from the site that was “very likely a small community of Japanese who were living here on the margins of an urban area,” according to Muckle. According to Smithsonian Magazine, “The first major wave of Japanese immigration to Canada began in 1877, with many of the new arrivals settling in the coastal province of British Columbia. From the start, they were met with hostility and discrimination.” Muckle surmises the residents were living at this location in secret to avoid racism.

3. A young Bedouin shepherd discovery

In 1947 the Judean Deserts, a shepherd found the first Dead Sea Scrolls while tending to his flock. The Hebrew manuscripts were found encased in jars caves near Khirbet Qumran on the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea. They date from the third to first century CE and are written in Hebrew, with some in Aramaic and Greek. After the discovery of the first seven scrolls, around 900 more were found in the surrounding desert and caves. They represent the earliest evidence for biblical text in the world and are considered a turning point in the study of the history of the Jewish people in ancient times. For a look at the jars that the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in, check out this link from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

4. The fate of the leaders of Jamestown

New light has been shed on the lives of America’s first settlers in Jamestown by forensic anthropologist Douglas Owsley and his team. Owsley unearthed four skeletons of the founders of the first permanent settlement in the New World in Jamestown’s historic 1608 church. The teeth provided clues about how long the men were at the settlement, and how their lives changed by moving to America. For example, Captain Gabriel Archer was only 34 when he died in 1609 during the “starving time” when hundreds perished. National Geographic proves information found during the research of the bodies, which gives us a better understanding of what life was like in the early days of America.

5. Elena Korka’s Lost City of Tenea Discovery

The city of Tenea, founded by the Trojans after the Trojan War, was finally found in 2018 after a 34-year search in the Peloponnese region of Greece. The team, led by archaeologist Elena Korka, found 200 coins at the site demonstrating the incredible wealth of the city that was known through ancient texts. Archeologists have also found burials, jewelry, and massive baths.

There is still so much to be discovered about the past. You have the opportunity to work alongside archaeologists on excavation. Dig into the adventure and find an archaeological expedition on Ancient Odysseys.

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a part of a research-based dinosaur dig, read on.

How the day starts on a fossil dig

Early. The day always starts early. Stumble out of your tent or bed, throw on your long pants, long-sleeved shirt, hat, socks and boots. SPF a trillion is your best bet. Fill your water bottles (and maybe freeze them too-icy cold water — ahhhh) and don’t forget the electrolytes or you will regret it. Down a good breakfast and coffee while packing up your backpack with a protein-rich lunch, kneeling pad, gloves and water. And whatever you do, don’t forget the salty snacks. When it’s really hot, your body craves salt, so bring on the Fritos! Finally, If you’re a woman and you don’t want to drip dry, tissues for when you “go to see a man about a horse” are nice to have too.

Drive to your location

Usually, your site isn’t steps away from where you slept. Prepare for a long ride in a 4x4 vehicle for an hour drive, give or take. At least this gives you time for a cat nap if you’re still tired or to drink coffee to wake up enough to prepare for the day ahead.

Arrive at your dig site

Haul your backpack out, but not before helping to unload the gear needed for work today. This includes toolboxes and bags filled with rock hammers, awls, shovels, buckets, water and brushes of all sizes. Sometimes, these dinosaur bones are encased in backbreaking matrix (rock) that need a jackhammer to pry them loose. Haul all the aforementioned gear a few hundred yards if you’re lucky, a couple of miles if you’re not. Oh, and if you’re in the badlands, you’ll be meandering up and over the sandstone formations, around gullies, sneaking past any rattlesnakes, while trying not to fall flat on your bottom when you hit a slippery slope of loose rock.

Finding fossils

At last, you are where those fossils are just there — waiting to be found. Take in the spectacular view, because as barren as the badlands are, they have a beauty all their own. The colors, the smells and the promise of bones all make for a happy place experience.

Because, let’s face it, being the first person to spot a fossil that has not seen the light of day for 70 million years or more is something that takes your breath away.

Step 1: Overburden removal

Using a shovel or a jackhammer and a whole lot of stamina, you remove rock from above and around the fossils to get to a more level area to access the fossils.

Step 2: Excavating fossils

Once you have reached the right rock strata where the fossils are, the perseverance begins. (To find out how paleontologists know where to find bones, read here) You’ll be using a rock hammer, bucket, awl, brushes and a bucket and dustpan. You can be working for hours and even days and still come up empty handed. But you’re all in this together. You are part of a team of interesting, dedicated people, all with great stories to tell and all focused on the same phenomenal mission.

Then luck strikes and your patience pays off! It looks like the edge of a fossil bone. Is it a fossil or a rock? Give it a lick and if your tongue sticks, you’ve struck fossil gold! You chip away at the rock and dirt with your awl and fine tools to follow the bone. Sometimes it’s a big bone and sometimes it’s a small chunk of bone, but you call out to your team with a feeling of awe, wonder and excitement.

Stop and take it in. You’ve found an actual dinosaur bone. This will be a story you will tell for years to come.

Then, time to take a little break because if you are out in the badlands, it gets really hot. Have a snack, and don’t forget to stay hydrated. It’s hard work in the hot sun, but once those bones start to appear, you want to be able to keep on going because there’s more where that came from…

Step 3: Jacketing fossils

Depending on the number of fossils you find, it could take a day or a few days to get each bone isolated and prepared. For the most part, fossils are not completely extracted from the rock out in the field. Paleontologists leave them encased in some rock to protect them during transport.

The fossils are then “pedastaled” which means that the rock is chipped away to form a triangle of rock under the exposed fossil, giving the whole thing a mushroom-like shape.

At this time, the tops of the fossils are further protected with a layer of toilet paper or paper towels that is layered on the fossils and rock and dampened down into place using a brush and water. Once there is a layer or two of paper, burlap dipped in wet plaster is applied over the paper, forming a hard “jacket.”

Because the fossil is sitting on its own pretty pedestal, once the top plaster jacket is dry, it’s easy to chip away the remaining rock underneath to flip the jacket, much like a turtle turned on its back. Then the bottom of the fossil is jacketed with paper, burlap and plaster.

See the jacketing process here

Step 4: Transporting fossils

Once the fossil has been safely ensconced in its nice white jacket (no tails), it’s carried out to a truck either by hand, using a pulley system, or with the help of a tractor or helicopter! From there, the fossil is transported back to the fossil prep lab, usually located at a museum or university.

Are you ready to dig up dinosaurs and other fossils? Find a fossil dig today.

1. John Lubbock

An important British 19th century figure in the world of archaeology was the polymath John Lubbock. His methods helped establish archaeology as a scientific discipline. To this day, we use the terms Paleolithic and Neolithic, which he coined in his 1865 work Pre-Historic Times. Lubbock was a neighbor of Charles Darwin and during his career, he published many articles in which he used archaeological evidence to support Darwin’s theories. Controversially for the time, Lubbock also went so far as to say that archaeological discoveries proved that human history was older than what the Bible said.

Lubbock also saw the value of prehistoric monuments in England. This led him to purchase land in Avebury to protect an ancient stone circle that was located there. He spearheaded the resulting Ancient Monuments Protections Act to provide legal protections for 68 of the country’s prehistoric monuments. This paved the way for later laws governing archeological heritage in the United Kingdom.

2. Robert John Braidwood

The American Robert Braidwood was one of the founders of scientific archaeology. He was the first to recognize that the story of archaeology was greater than just the study of recognizable artifacts. Braidwood was known to carefully map his sites and was one of the first archaeologists to use carbon dating to determine the age of the artifacts he unearthed. His excavations often included teams of biologists, geologists and botanists, and this shifted the focus of archaeology toward an emphasis on the relationship between man and nature. His significant work in the Middle East focused on the methods of early food production and its ecological consequences.

Braidwood’s excavations in Iraq in particular, gave us an understanding of the time between 100,000 BC when hunter gatherers appeared and 5000 BC when the first farmers showed up. Because of Braidwood’s work, we know that in about 7250–6750 the first societies and buildings appeared in Turkey and Iraq.

3. Louis Leakey

It’s hard to overestimate the impact that archaeologist and anthropologist Louis Leakey had on our understanding of the origins of human life. Along with his wife Mary, an established paleoanthropologist in her own right, the pair rewrote the history of human evolution.

Among the Leakey’s important discoveries is the Proconsul africanus, the remains of a 25-million-year-old ancestor of both humans and apes found in Kenya. In subsequent years, the Leakeys worked at the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania where in addition to animal fossils and stone age tools, their most significant discoveries were unearthed. In 1959, Mary discovered a 1.7-million-year-old skull they named Zinjanthropus. In the next decade, another hominid fossil, that of Homo habilis was also discovered at Olduvai Gorge. It is believed that Homo habilis inhabited parts of sub-Saharan Africa from about 2.4 to 1.5 million years ago. The Leakey’s finds demonstrated that humans evolved not in Asia as previously thought, but that Africa was in fact, the cradle of humanity.

Leakey’s legacy continues. He strongly believed that studying the natural habitats of primates would lead to a further understanding of human evolution. His influence was instrumental in persuading scientists like Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birutė Galdikas to undertake primate field research during their careers.

4. Flavio Biondo

The 2000 year old ruins of ancient Rome were not always in the state in which we see them today. This work began in the 15th century with the historian Flavio Biondo. Biondo was the first person to document the history, ruins and topography of Rome — the very first time that any ancient ruins were painstakingly documented. All subsequent historians and archaeologists of Rome built upon the work first undertaken by Biondo. His writings and work helped establish the study of antiquity as a legitimate field during the Renaissance.

5. Howard Carter

If you don’t know the name Howard Carter, you certainly know his most famous discovery — the tomb of Tutankhamen or King Tut.

The Valley of the Kings in Egypt, was the burial place for Egyptian royalty from the 15th to 10th centuries BC. By the early 20th century, it was believed that all the major tombs had been discovered, with most having been looted in antiquity. But Carter believed that there were tombs that had been missed by previous expeditions,

In 1922, after having searched the Valley of the Kings for six years, one of Carter’s workers literally stumbled upon a stone that was found to be a set of steps leading to the tomb of King Tut. It is one of the best-preserved pharaonic tombs ever found. Carter and his team not only found Tutankhamen’s mummy, but also thousands of burial objects and personal possessions such as gilded couches, chests, thrones, jewelry, clothes and two life-size statues of the boy king. One of the most recognizable objects included Tutankhamen’s golden funerary mask.

Carter was meticulous in his work, and it took him almost ten years to catalogue the thousands of objects found in the tomb. Many of these objects can be seen today in a special collection room of the Egyptian Museum.

Interested in more archaeological facts? Read 5 fun facts about archaeology. Or, find some artifacts of your own by going on an archaeological dig on your next vacation.

1. An 11,000 year old super civilization, Turkey

An important site that is expanding our understanding of the beginning of settled life is Karahan Tepe in Turkey. Although excavations began in 1997, in 2022 researchers now confirm that the location was part of a super civilization that was probably created by the Watchers of “The Book of Enoch.” The site is about 11,000 years old and contains structures that indicate a settled village with hut residences that surround a ritualistic center with more than 250 T-shaped megaliths. Importantly, finds such as arrowheads, scrapers and stone tools made from flint and obsidian, suggests that this was a Neolithic hunter-gatherer or animal husbandry society, as opposed to an agricultural society. Karahan Tepe is evidence of a Neolithic settlement in one location, which is evidence of the construction of a new social order in the history of humankind.

2. Shackleton’s sunken ship, Antarctica

The incredible survival story about the voyage of legendary explorer Ernest Shackleton to Antarctica on the Endurance has enraptured the world for over a hundred years. In 1915, Shackleton and his crew of 27 attempted to make the first land crossing of the continent, when the ship became stuck in a dense ice pack. Endurance was ultimately crushed and sunk under the pressure of the moving ice, but amazingly, all the ship’s crew members survived the ordeal.

Since its sinking, numerous efforts have been made to find Endurance’s final resting place with no luck, until 2022. Finally, in March 2022, historically low ice levels allowed the search team called Endurance22 to locate the ship about four miles from its last estimated position where it sits at the bottom of the Weddell Sea, almost 10,000 feet underwater. The wreck is incredibly preserved, largely thanks to the absence of wood-eating parasites. According to the expedition’s marine archaeologist, Mensun Bound, “Never have I seen a wreck as intact or as clean and fresh as the Endurance.”

3. A hoard of sarcophogi, mummies and statues, Egypt

At the necropolis of Saqqara, newly discovered artifacts and a new pyramid are rewriting the ancient civilization’s history. Saqqara is home of some of Egypt’s oldest pyramids, serving as the burial site for successive Egyptian dynasties.

The newly discovered pyramid includes the tomb of a previously unknown queen of the New Kingdom named Queen Neith. Other finds include a trove of Egyptian artifacts including 300 sarchophogi and 100 mummies, some of whom are believed to be the remains of King Tut’s generals and advisors. According to Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, “The coffins have individual faces, each one unique, distinguishing between men and women, and are decorated with scenes from the Book of the Dead. Each coffin also has the name of the deceased and often shows the Four Sons of Horus, who protected the organs of the deceased.”

Also included among the artifacts is a solid gold mask of a woman, gaming pieces for the ancient game of Senet and a soldier buried with a metal axe in his hand.

4. Neolithic hunting shrine, Jordan

One of the earliest ritual structures ever found was discovered in Jordan in 2022. The 9,000 year old stone shrine in the Khashabiyeh Mountains is located in a Neolithic campsite near several desert kites. Kites are V-shaped traps that Neolithic hunters herded wild gazelles into for capture.

The shrine appears to be a scale model of a kite, and it features two large standing stones carved with anthropomorphic figures, a stylized depiction of a desert kite, as well as a hearth and an altar. According to Wael Abu-Azizeh of the French Institute of the Near East, “One hypothesis is that the stone altar was used for butchering gazelle carcasses in the context of ritual activities carried out within the shrine.”

5. 12,000 year old footprints, United States

A set of 88 footprints belonging to a band of adults and children were found in Utah’s Great Salt Lake Desert in 2022. Scientists surmise that the prints are about 12,000 years old, which came as a surprise. They were formed back when the Great Salt Lake Desert was covered in water; conditions which haven’t existed in Utah for about 10,000 years. Around the time the last Ice Age ended, “A group of people appear to have been walking in shallow water, with the sand rapidly infilling their prints behind them…and under the sand was a layer of mud that kept the print intact after infilling,” said archaeologist Daron Duke.

The bare footprints were so clear that toes and a heel can be made out. The set of prints are in an evenly spaced, alternating sequence and most definitely a track pattern. The site is about a half-mile from a site where an ancient hearth, stone tools and the earliest evidence of human tobacco use was found.

Work alongside archaeologists and contribute to science-join one of the archaeological digs from Ancient Odysseys.