The Antikythera mechanism

An ancient Greek analogue computer used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses for calendar and astrological purposes decades in advance.

The artifact was retrieved from the sea in 1901, and identified on 17 May 1902 as containing a gear wheel by archaeologist Valerios Stais, among wreckage retrieved from a wreck off the coast of the Greek island Antikythera. The instrument is believed to have been designed and constructed by Greek scientists and has been variously dated to about 87 BC, or between 150 and 100 BC, or to 205 BC, or to within a generat... More

The Underwater City of Yonaguni

A submerged rock formation off the coast of Yonaguni, the southernmost of the Ryukyu Islands, in Japan

It was actually by accident that Kihachiro Aratake made the discovery of what scientists are calling, the archeological find of the century. He came across the mysterious find while diving off the coast of Yonaguni Jima, an island located 67 miles from Taiwan, in search of a new spot to view hammerhead sharks from. More

The giant stone spheres of Costa Rica

The stone spheres of Costa Rica are an assortment of over three hundred petrospheres in Costa Rica, located on the Diquís Delta and on Isla del Caño.

Found deep in the jungles of Costa Rica in the 1930's were 300 nearly perfectly round stone balls. They varied in size from a few inches in diameter, to seven feet across and weighing 16 tons. Scientists aren't sure who made them, how old they are or what purpose they might have had. More

The Voynich manuscript

An illustrated codex hand-written in an unknown writing system.

Arguably the most mysterious manuscript that has ever been discovered, the Voynich Manuscript is an astonishing artifact whose origins and language are completely unknown. The manuscript is full of plant life, strange symbols, and diagrams, and it is written in a mysterious language that can’t be traced back to any known civilization. More