Top 10 Most Mysterious Historical Discoveries: That Leave Experts Aghast

History is replete with mysteries of discovery. From the outset, archaeologists and historians have unearthed things that would not be explained even by the simplest logic: artifacts, monuments, and sites prompting endless debate, theory, and curiosity right up to this day. Here are the top 10 most baffling historical discoveries that still confound experts and fuel imaginations.

1. The Antikythera Mechanism: An Ancient Computer

This ancient machine, found in 1901 in the shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera, is said to be the first computer of the world. Complex gears and dials of the Antikythera Mechanism hint at using the positions of astronomical bodies and eclipses. What's puzzling is that technology level attained by their creators living more than 2,000 years ago. Which modern tools were available at that time?

2. The Voynich Manuscript: A Code Yet Broken Till Today

This mysterious book, later known by the discoverer in the 20th century as Wilfrid Voynich, remains undecipherable since the earliest existence in the early years of the 20th century. Text written with an unknown script shows plant illustrations, astronomical symbols, and peculiar diagrams. So far, nobody has found the origin or purpose for this Voynich Manuscript. The cryptographers and linguists still work with it without giving a definitive explanation.

3. Stonehenge: Monument to Mystery

The most recognizable of all the prehistoric monuments is probably Stonehenge in England, built more than 5,000 years ago. The colossal stones hauled from miles-away quarries do not reveal what the monument was for, whether it was a burial ground, a religious center, or an astronomical calendar; still unknown after many years of research.

4. The Nazca Lines: Messages in the Desert

The Nazca Lines are giant geoglyphs carved into the desert plains of southern Peru. It represents animals, plants, and geometric patterns. Only from an aerial view do such lines exist. The lines were made 2,000 years ago. How exactly the Nazcans drew the figures without using technology has long been a mystery. The purpose for which the drawings-the ritualistic, astronomical-was pure speculation.

5. Terracotta Army: Silent Guardians of the Afterlife

Probably, Terracotta Army was one of the archaeological discovery history produced on earth. It was revealed during 1974 by three Chinese farmers who were constructing a well. The excavation revealed thousands of life size and to-scale clay soldiers, horses, and chariots were estimated buried with China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang in order to protect him in the afterlife from evil spirits. It is marvelous that each one of them stands unique with very high accuracy but at the same time poses so many unanswered questions—how they managed to achieve such giant scales in sculpts and the other mystery perhaps lying within this emperor's tomb.

6. Gobekli Tepe: The World's Oldest Temple

Gobekli Tepe in modern Turkey has changed the face of our view of ancient civilizations. This archaeological site is more than 11,000 years old, thousands of years before Stonehenge was built. It probably holds a ceremonial center with massive stone pillars elaborately carved. Recent discoveries have challenged the belief that complex societies emerged only when people started practicing agriculture, thereby questioning our notion of what prehistoric human could do.

7. The Shroud of Turin: Holy Relic or Elaborate Hoax?

The Shroud of Turin is a linen cloth bearing the faint image of a man who has been crucified. Many consider it to be the burial shroud of Jesus Christ, while others reject it, although they question its authenticity. Radiocarbon dating, which appeared in the 1980s, concluded it to be a medieval forgery, but further studies refute such results. Its origins and how it was created are highly disputable.

8. Piri Reis Map A Glimpse into the Past of Cartography

Drawn in 1513 by the Ottoman admiral Piri Reis, it is infamous for showing the Americas and parts of Antarctica-long before they were officially discovered. Precision and details on this map that were unknown at the time of early 16th century lead people to speculate about Piri Reis's sources for these lost ancient maps. Could it hint at forgotten advanced civilizations?

9. Baghdad Battery: Ancient Electricity?

This was discovered in the 1930s just outside of the city of Baghdad. This artifact contains a copper cylinder and an iron rod, which both rest within a clay jar. Many scientists believe that maybe this "Baghdad Battery" was some sort of ancient precursor to a galvanic cell or electric cell that these early people used to generate electricity; others think it could have been for scrolls or rituals.

10. Indus Valley Civilization: A Puzzle of the Old World

The Indus Valley Civilization is one of the first urban cultures ever found in the world. It existed as far back as 2500 BC in what is now Pakistan and northwest India. To date, most things that have been discovered about this civilization are still unknown. Its script remains undeciphered to date, so historians have nothing on the governance, religion, and how they lived their day-to-day lives.

Conclusion

All these discoveries remind us of the vastness of how little we still are ignorant about our ancestors and what they could do. They also pose a challenge to the historical imagination we have adopted regarding what was possible at any given time in history. Probably, some of these mysteries will be disentangled when new technologies appear. For now, they keep our collective imagination enthralled.

Ever have an historical mystery pique your interest? Let's share our thoughts and suspense in the comments below!