Some things never change. Apparently one of those things is how we fish. Pieces of a fishhook were found in the Sakitari Cave, which is located on Okinawa Japan. What makes this fishhook so unusual is the fact it is over 50,000 years old. Experts have said they don’t really know much about the technology used to catch fish in that period. This find is so outstanding because of the fact we didn’t think people that far back in time had the ability to fish this way. A couple of different fishhooks were found which had been created from sea snail shells. When the contents of the cave were examined, archaeologists found evidence of the charred remains of different animals such as eels, frogs, fish, birds and small mammals. Human remains were also found in the cave and what many believe to be a grindstone. As incredible as this sounds it seems the cave was occupied for at least 35,000 years. One of the reasons this was such a surprise was the fact experts had thought there was not enough resources to sustain a stable population in that area.

One very famous shipwreck known as the Antikythera shipwreck was previously in the news, because of an ancient clockwork computer found in it. What made this find so incredible was the fact it was believed clockwork’s didn’t appear before the 14th century in Europe, but the Antikythera computer was from at least 100 BC. Now there has been another discovery in the shipwreck and that is the remains of a human. Scientists want to see if they can coax DNA from the bones of a person who was buried under the sea for over 2000 years. The ship has also yielded what is called a war dolphin, which is basically a battering ram. More than one human skeleton has been found which has amazed researchers since it is unusual to even find one in a wreck this old. Some of the ancient ships carried passengers and slaves and it is said one of the reasons skeletons are found in shipwrecks is the fact that some people were chained and couldn’t get out.

Archaeologists were very surprised to find the remains of stone houses just off the coast of Western Australia. These houses date back between eight and 9000 years and are the oldest houses in Australia. The houses were found on the Dampier Archipelago which is a group of 42 islands. When the islands were being investigated a team found knee-high rock walls. When Rosemary Island was excavated evidence of domestic structures were found which were the oldest ever found in or near Australia. Scientists claim the houses were very sophisticated and were not merely one room huts. The houses contain a sleeping area and a working area and there is evidence of people grinding seeds on the rocky floor. Rising sea levels at the time cut the archipelago off from the mainland as sea levels rose 130 meters at the rate of 1 meter every 5 to 10 years.

We seem to be constantly finding things in the general area of Jerusalem and Galilee. Recently archaeologists went into a cave in Galilee called Hilazon Tachtit. When they examined the contents of the cave they were shocked to find remains of a 12,000 year old female Sharman. She had been well preserved. Her bones were surrounded by 86 tortoise shells, an eagle’s wing, a leopard’s pelvic bone, a deer, the tailbone from a cow and many other objects. The cave was just North of Israel. This discovery has shed light on how human society lived during the late Natufian era of 10,800 to 9,500 BC. Archaeologists have discovered the age of the Sharman was around 45 years old which in those days would have made her an elder. One thing is for sure, even in those days there was respect for at least some of the people who died.

Archaeologists have unearthed a marble statue. What makes this statue so unique is the fact it is at least 10,000 years old. It depicts what many believe to be fertility goddess. It is not very large being only slightly less than 7 inches high and weighing about 2.2 pounds. It was believed to have been part of a ritual and the date of 10,000 years old is not firm. Scientists suggest that date could be anywhere from 5500 to 8000 BC. The statue was found at Çatalhöyük, which was a large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement which existed in southern Anatolia, Turkey. It is thought the site existed from about 7500 BC to 5700 BC and in its day was one of the largest cities in the world. The city had no public buildings and was composed entirely of domestic ones.

If one was to find the remains of a sea monster, in what country would it be found? It seems the answer has turned out to be Scotland. Scientists have uncovered the fossilized remains of a 170 million year old ichthyosaurs. These creatures in their day were considered to be the rulers of the sea and one species even survived until about 90 million years ago. They grew to be a length of almost 53 feet and had features which resembled modern fish and dolphins. What makes this find even more interesting was it was discovered in 1966 by an amateur paleontologist and was dubbed the Storr Lochs Monster. I’m sure it is easy to understand why it was called that. The find had been transferred to a Museum where it had been left in a concrete case and locked in a storage room and forgotten. It makes one wonder how many other incredible finds are just sitting in museum basements everywhere.

Scientists have discovered the oldest physical evidence of life on earth, it was locked up in rocks which were 3.7 billion years old. There was no fossilized life inside the rocks, but rather evidence that this life had existed. The evidence was structures carved in the rock by bacteria called stromatolites. These findings were also confirmed by independent researchers who proved this life was at least 220 million years older than any other evidence of life ever found. One of the only clues as to the type of bacteria is the fact they had to have come from water, otherwise sediment found inside the rock wouldn’t have existed. The rocks were found in Greenland by a team of Australian and US researchers. The site they were found on is said to contain rocks which are up to 4.2 billion years old and are the oldest rocks on earth.

One never knows what is still left to find. What is even more incredible is the fact we still find things in areas which have been examined for hundreds of years.