Category: By Amara Shorts

  • Amara Andrew

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    275 Items Saved From Missing Shipwreck!

    A few months ago, 275 artifacts were saved from a shipwreck that’s been missing for over 160 years!

    The Franklin Shipwreck happened in the 1800s. Basically, what happened was the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror both set out from England in 1845.

    They set off, they were headed toward the Northwest Passage, and they never returned. It’s a huge story, so go check it out.

    Nobody was ever found, no ship was ever found either, neither of the ships, until 2014.

    And that is where we are joining up with our story today.

    So the Erebus–like I said, there’s the Erebus and the Terror–the Erebus was found just off the northwest coast of King William Island in Nunavut, and the Terror was found shortly after.

    One of the divers said that the Erebus looks like it’s in really good shape. Drawers and doors were even all closed, which is fun because then it’s kind of like, oh everything is like nice and neat and tidy.

    So far, 275 artifacts have been removed from the Erebus and brought up to land, and these include stoneware plates, platters, serving dishes, drafting implements, and a leatherbound notebook.

    Read More: 275 Items Saved From Missing Shipwreck!

  • Amara Andrew

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    Ancient Roman bath house found in ancient Egyptian temple! 🏛️

    An ancient Roman bath house was just discovered in an ancient Egyptian temple! 😱🏛️

    Transcript

    An ancient Roman bathhouse was actually found in an ancient Egyptian temple.

    The temple of Khnum, which is located in Esna, sits in Lower Egypt. It’s along the Nile River and it’s about an hour south of Luxor.

    This temple is dedicated to the ancient Egyptian god Khnum. The town, Esna, actually has a lot of significance in ancient Egyptian society and culture.

    There were a bunch of different structures that were built there and they’ve been written about and captured in various different formats, but the only one that actually still survives is this temple.

    In the temple, there was revealed a Ptolemaic-era building, artifacts, and then the ancient Roman bathhouse.

    So this ancient Roman bathhouse, it’s believed to have been fed by water that flowed through channels into the basin. So it’s like right by the Nile.

    This structure also contained a hypocaust, or a Roman central heating system that produces and circulates hot air from below the floor of a room.

    Read More: Ancient Roman bath house found in ancient Egyptian temple! 🏛️

  • Amara Andrew

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    Oldest weapons in the Americas found! 🤯

    Archaeologists at the Cooper’s Field in western Idaho found 14 stemmed projective points that were created more than 16,000 years ago!

    Transcript

    This past week, 14 stemmed projectile points were discovered at the Coopers Field excavation site in Western Idaho.

    So when I say stemmed projectile points, it would be like a spear or something like that.

    These points range in size from half an inch to two inches long, and these were allegedly created sometime between 13,200 and 16,000 years ago.

    This makes these 2,300 years older than stem points previously found at the site.

    Not only are these the oldest weapons that have been found in the Americas, but what’s also amazing about these is that these are apparently similar to different points that were found in Hokkaido, Japan that date back to 16,000 to 20,000 years ago.

    This further adds significance to the hypothesis that people from the Ice Age period located in Northeast Asia and North America actually shared early genetic and cultural connections.

    Read More: Oldest weapons in the Americas found! 🤯

  • Amara Andrew

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    Guess how much Christie’s auction house made in 2022! 🤑

    In 2022, Christie’s auction house made a WHOPPING $8.2 BILLION! 😅 Here are a few ways Christie’s was able to achieve that ridiculous amount of money!

    Transcript

    Guess how much money Christie’s made in 2022? You got your number? Err!

    Christie’s auction house, in total for 2022, made $8.4 billion. You might be asking yourself, how did they get to the $8.4 billion? I will tell you.

    So I’m about to break things down a little bit with just a bunch of facts and figures, so get ready, it’s really interesting.

    First, I have to talk about the Paul G. Allen collection. The entire collection was slated to bring in about a billion dollars. It actually brought in $1.6 billion.

    There were also two huge artworks that were sold. The first one is Andy Warhol’s “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn,” and that sold for a record-breaking $195 million.

    The other artwork that was sold that made a huge splash was Man Ray’s “Violin D’Ingres” and that photo sold for $12.4 million.

    Read More: Guess how much Christie’s auction house made in 2022! 🤑

  • Amara Andrew

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    Giant ancient kitty found! 🐈

    A group of 168 ancient geoglyphs dating between 100 BCE and 300 BCE were just uncovered in Peru’s Nazca Desert! Among the images are depictions of humans, camelids, snakes, birds, and this 33-foot kitty! 😻

    Transcript

    What is cuter than a little kitty? How about an ancient kitty that’s about 33 feet in diameter? It’s huge!

    A couple weeks ago, a group of 168 Nazca geoglyphs were identified in Peru’s Nazca Desert.

    This particular group of geoglyphs that was just found date between 100 BCE and 300 BCE and included depictions of humans, camelids, birds, orcas, felines, and snakes.

    These geoglyphs were created by removing black stones from the Earth’s surface to expose the white sand beneath. So it was this harsh, kind of dark and light contrast of sorts.

    This recent finding adds to the nearly 190 previously identified geoglyphs that were found in this area in Peru between 2004 and 2018.

    Scholars have posited a lot of different purposes to these geoglyphs, like whether they be to depict deities or served as a form of irrigation and they just happen to be really pretty as well, or that they’re actually a calendar with astrological alignments.

    Read More: Giant ancient kitty found! 🐈

  • Amara Andrew

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    RETURN of the BOG BODIES! 😵‍💫

    In October 2022, the remains of a 5,000-year-old bog body was found!

    Transcript

    In October, a new bog body was found!

    Archaeologists on a dig in Egedal in Denmark found the legs, pelvis, and jaw of a person who lived 5,000 years ago. Bog bodies are not anything new in the history field.

    In case you aren’t familiar with what the hell a bog body is, it’s a human cadaver that has been mummified in a peat bog, and then it just looks like the person’s just asleep.

    The fact that this body was not intact, though, it was just a skeleton and fragments of the skeleton is really interesting.

    I wonder what happened and what was different and what made that actually happen versus having the body be perfectly preserved.

    So, what’s interesting also about the skeleton is that there were no signs of violence. So no knife marks, wounds, breaks, anything like that in the bones that they found.

    Because of this, it’s believed that this skeleton was also part of ritual human sacrifice.

    Read More: RETURN of the BOG BODIES! 😵‍💫

  • Amara Andrew

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    200+ PRE-COLUMBIAN ARTIFACTS RETURNED TO MEXICO! 🥳

    The Netherlands successfully returned over 200 pre-columbian and pre-Hispanic items to Mexico! 🥳

    Transcript

    Our something borrowed/stolen this week, is yet another successful case of repatriation.

    This time, though, we’re talking about the Netherlands and Mexico. So this past week, the Netherlands returned 223 pre-Hispanic and pre-Columbian artifacts to Mexico.

    The items that were returned from the Netherlands span the time periods of the Mesoamerican Pre-classic period all the way to the Post-classic period. So that’s a big f***in’ time span!

    And these items are also from a wide range of areas in Mexico and a wide range of cultures. The return of these items is part of a larger issue where pre-Hispanic and pre-Columbian artifacts are being illicitly trafficked around the world.

    Read More: 200+ PRE-COLUMBIAN ARTIFACTS RETURNED TO MEXICO! 🥳

  • Amara Andrew

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    Van Gogh owners sued because of painting’s history!

    Three of Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s legal heirs are suing a Japanese holding company, Sampo Holdings.

    Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was a German-Jewish banker who was forced to sell his amazing art collection (including Picasso, Monet, and Vincent van Gogh’s painting “Sunflowers”) to avoid persecution by the Nazis.

    Transcript

    Three legal heirs of a man by the name of Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, are suing a Japanese holding company.

    Apparently, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, who was a German-Jewish banker, was forced to sell his art collection to avoid persecution by the Nazis.

    Some of the artworks that were in his collection included pieces by Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, and Auguste Renoir, and these were sold sometime within the mid-1930s.

    Another piece that was part of his collection, though, which is part of this whole legislative lawsuit sort of thing, was Vincent van Gogh’s 1888 painting “Sunflowers.”

    So Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s heirs filed this lawsuit December 13th, and they alleged that Sampo Holdings ignored and was “recklessly indifferent” toward the painting’s provenance when it was sold in the late 1980s at public auction.

    In return, though, Sampo Holdings, of course, is denying any and all allegations that are being brought forth.

    Read More: Van Gogh owners sued because of painting’s history!

  • Amara Andrew

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    11,000 year old man holding his wiener! 🙋‍♂️🌭

    Archaeologists in Turkey recently discovered an 11,000-year-old stone carving of a man holding his wiener while fighting off leopards…yes, you read that right.

    Transcript

    We’re gonna be talking about the oldest narrative scene we have in documented history and it’s of a man holding his wiener. Yes, I said wiener.

    Apparently, the stone two-panel carving was discovered by archaeologists in Turkey in an 11,000-year-old complex. This engraving of a man holding his wiener was found on benches that lined the walls in a communal area.

    So this guy holding his dick, though, wasn’t the main focal point of this engraving. There were two panels. Both panels, though, portray a person in the middle facing dangerous animals and this is where the narrative scene comes into play.

    So on the left panel, we see a squatting male figure who holds something like a snake kind of in his hand, and he’s going up against a bull.

    The right panel, with the man grabbing his schlong, has leopards approaching him from either side. It’s supposed to be a very, like, scary kind of scene a little bit.

    These Turkish panels, though, are believed by archaeologists to be the first known progression of a story narrative.

    Read More: 11,000 year old man holding his wiener! 🙋‍♂️🌭

  • Amara Andrew

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    Art insurance prices skyrocket with climate change! 🎨 🌳

    As climate change continues to take a toll on our planet, art insurance is becoming increasingly expensive!!

    If you visit a museum or buy an art piece from a gallery, these expenses will trickle down to you, the consumer.

    Transcript

    Art insurance around the world is expected in conjunction with climate change. Art insurance is typically bought by art museums, galleries, and collectors to help protect not only against theft and damage to the piece, but also for natural disasters.

    Between 1980-2021, there was an average number of 7.7 weather and climate disaster events. That’s just in the U.S.

    So, because of this, premiums are expected to rise consistently to match the denser quantity of weather and climate-related disasters.

    The worse climate change gets, the more expensive things will be in the world.

    Read More: Art insurance prices skyrocket with climate change! 🎨 🌳