2024 has been a remarkable year for archaeology, with incredible stories from humanity’s distant past being uncovered. From the dense jungles of Brazil to the ancient squares of Egypt, these discoveries offer insights into the lives, cultures, and history of our ancestors. Each piece of the finds tells a unique story, enriching our understanding of the human journey through time, according to the website "ancient orgnins".

             The most important archaeological discoveries in the world 2024


Archaeologists discover 11 Middle Kingdom burials in Luxor:

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient tomb containing 11 burials near the legendary historical site of Luxor, Egypt. They also found an impressive array of grave goods in the tomb, highlighting the wealth of the individuals buried there.

The Middle Kingdom (1938-1630 BCE) tomb was discovered in the South Asasif Necropolis and contains coffins of men, women and children. The site likely served as a family cemetery for several generations during the 12th and early 13th Dynasties.

The new discoveries came as a result of the work of a joint archaeological mission between Egyptian and American archaeologists. The newly discovered tomb is located near the Temple of Hatshepsut on the West Bank of Luxor, and is the first tomb dating back to the Middle Kingdom to be discovered in this area.

                                                    Funeral goods

9,000-year-old human skeletons and more than 100,000 artifacts discovered in Brazil:

Engineers in Brazil were assessing a site identified for a new housing complex. They dropped their tools and called in archaeologists when they started finding bones and pottery shards. Now, a multi-layered archaeological site has been uncovered that has yielded 43 human skeletons and thousands of artifacts.

A team of construction workers were planning to build a new housing complex in the coastal city of São Luís, the capital of Maranhão state in northeastern Brazil, when they found human bones and pottery shards, which have been dated to around 9,000 years ago. Lead archaeologist Wellington Lage said the discovery could “rewrite the history of human settlement in Brazil.”

                                                     human skeletons


'Flat-furnished' Roman funerary bed found in London:

In 2019, the UK's first 'flat-furnished' medieval house was written about, and now archaeologists in London have announced the discovery of a remarkably well-preserved flat-furnished Roman funerary bed.

In a national first, a Roman funerary bed has been unearthed from a former Roman cemetery near Holborn Bridge in central London. The Roman funerary bed was found alongside five oak coffins, adding to a collection of only three other Roman wooden coffins ever found in London. The funerary bed features carefully carved feet, while the joints are secured with small wooden pegs.

                            Flat-furnished Roman funeral bed in London

75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman’s face discovered:

The discovery of a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman’s face after being reconstructed represents a major breakthrough in our understanding of our closest extinct relatives.

The discovery, made deep within Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan, reveals the ‘Secrets of the Neanderthal’ team led by the University of Cambridge and the University of Liverpool John Moores as they return to Shanidar Cave to continue excavations.

In 2018, a Cambridge-led team made a groundbreaking discovery inside Shanidar Cave – a site previously known for its trove of Neanderthal remains. This particular cave has not yielded any new Neanderthal finds for more than fifty years, making the discovery of what has been dubbed Shanidar Z particularly significant. The excavation did not reveal any Neanderthals and its preserved state provides a unique window into their lives and deaths.

                                75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman's face