Mental Floss

STONES, BONES, AND WRECKS

Courtesy of Ardboe Gallery

Fishermen Caught a 10,500-Year-Old Giant Irish Elk Skull—Antlers and All

The species has long been extinct.

iStock

Construction Workers in Italy Uncover a Jar of 5th-Century Gold Coins Potentially Worth Millions

They were found not far from the site of an ancient Roman town.

Antarctic Heritage Trust

11 of the Oldest Foods and Drinks Ever Discovered

A pat of bog butter, anyone?

Archaeologists on site at The Theatre during the 2008 excavation

The Long-Buried 16th-Century Theater Where Shakespeare's Earliest Plays Were Performed Will Reopen

It hasn't been seen by the public in more than 400 years.

Heritage Auctions, HA.com

A Pocket Watch From the Titanic Surfaces and Sells for $57,500

The watch belonged to a Russian immigrant who planned to settle in the Bronx and become a dentist. He didn't make it.

A hunger stone in Dresden, Germany

Hunger Stones Bearing Ominous Messages Have Resurfaced in Drought-Stricken Europe

One contains the eerie inscription: "When you see me, weep."

Shipton et. al,

Homo Erectus Might Have Been Really 'Lazy'

All that stood between them and better stone tools was a little hill. And yet.

iStock

Intriguing New Theory Might Explain the Fate of Easter Island's Civilization

It's calling into question what we thought we knew about the mysterious culture.

The Roman dodecahedron Brian Campbell found in East London

The Mysterious Bronze Objects That Have Baffled Archaeologists for Centuries

They've been discovered at Roman-era sites, but no one knows what they're for.

iStock

German Court Awards Farmer $1 Million for 2000-Year-Old Bronzed Horse Head Found in His Well

He was originally paid $55,946.

iStock

Teen Archaeologist Finds a Tooth That's More Than 500,000 Years Old

It belonged to a human sub-species.

iStock

Snorkeler Discovers Gold Nugget Worth $65,000 in Scottish River

Talk about striking gold.

Z thomas, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0

After 20 Years, the Largest Dinosaur Foot Ever Discovered Has Been Identified

The foot spans 3 feet across.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The Bones of an Early Jamestown Settler May Soon Be Identified

Archaeologists think it's a leading citizen.

Steve Dockrill

Thousand-Year-Old Anvil Still Has the Smith’s Handprints on It

And knee prints, too.

Romano D’Agostini, Giorgio Cargnel, Soprintendenza Speciale di Roma

Utility Workers May Have Found One of Rome’s First Churches

They were doing routine work on a bridge.

Alexis Pantos, University of Copenhagen

Scientists Just Found the Oldest Known Piece of Bread

It's a little like a pita, but grittier.

iStock

Drought Reveals Ancient Sites in Scotland That Can Only Be Spotted From the Air

Surveyors are taking advantage of the uncharacteristic weather.

iStock

New Website Lets You Sift Through More Than 700,000 Items Found in Amsterdam's Canals

The discoveries came from the construction of the city's new metro line.

A 2016 reconstruction of Pӧmmelte, a henge-like structure in eastern Germany that was originally constructed about 4300 years ago.

Human Sacrifice May Have Taken Place at the 'German Stonehenge'

Researchers found the dismembered bodies of 10 women and children who appeared to have been thrown into burial shafts.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Archaeologists Excavate the Field Where Woodstock Was Held

They found a lot of beer can pull tabs.

Blue Water Ventures International

Gold Artifacts Discovered in 19th-Century Shipwreck That Was the ‘Titanic of Its Time’

The wreckage of the <em>Pulaski</em> was lost for almost 180 years.

Evening Standard, Getty Images

$2.5 Million in World War II-Era Cash Discovered Beneath Winston Churchill's Former Tailor's Shop

The hoard would have been worth a fortune in the 1940s.

Jonathan Daniel, Getty Images

A World War II Bomber Lost with 11 Servicemembers Has Been Found After 74 Years

Project Recover tracked down aircraft in a bay near Papua New Guinea.