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Top 10 - History's Most Overlooked Mysteries


Viggen

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Interesting list of overlooked mysteries, according to LiveScience...

 

10. Rongorongo

9. Lost City of Helike

8. The Bog Bodies

7. Fall of the Minoans

6. The Carnac Stones

5. Who Was Robin Hood?

4. The Lost Roman legion

3. The Voynich Manuscript

2. The Tarim Mummies

1. Disappearance of the Indus Valley Civilization

 

...so your opinion? ...all of you havent overlooked those mysteries? ;)

 

cheers

viggen

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I didn't think the fall of the Minoans was all that mysterious. Every book I read suggested a combination of natural disasters and invasions finished them off, only the precise details are unknown.

 

As for Robin Hood ...is this really a big deal? I would think King Arthur would be a more intriguing history.

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Interesting list of overlooked mysteries, according to LiveScience...

 

10. Rongorongo

So mysterious I've never heard of it.

 

9. Lost City of Helike

Not heard of that one either.

 

8. The Bog Bodies

Religious sacrifices or criminal executions. Whats the mystery there?

 

7. Fall of the Minoans

The Island of Santorini, which was a volcanic cone, exploded following an earthquake/eruption. The reulting depression wave caused a devastating tsunami that took out the minoan sea trade, and their empire collapsed into primitive cannabalism. Its been well researched and I don't see any mystery there either.

 

5. The Carnac Stones

Ok... slightly mysterious, but thats only because its not clear what the stones are there for.

 

5. Who Was Robin Hood?

No mystery there either. He has this romantic legend that has developed into the story that the heir of the locksley estate was dispossed and started a rebellion against king john and his tax-huingry minions. Its a great yarn but essentially rubbish. Robin Hood wasn't all that unique a name, there are several robin hoods mentioned in medieval records. The reason we don't know who he was is because he wasn't a great hero. He was a common thief, a nobody.

 

4. The Lost Roman legion

Its that china thing again isn't it? It wouldn't suprise me if the whole thing was bunkum, but you never know, and it is an intriguing possibility.

 

3. The Voynich Manuscript

Never heard of that one.

 

2. The Tarim Mummies

Mummification isn't unusual in ancient societies, so that isn't mysterious. The tarim basin was occupied by the chinese until an army from india made it impossible to stay there.

 

1. Disappearance of the Indus Valley Civilization

Yes... A little bit mysterious. But then I guess the way things are going in a few years we'll be studying the disappearance of the Indus Vally.

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10. Rongorongo

Never heard of it. :blink:

 

5. Who Was Robin Hood?

What's so mysterious about it?

 

4. The Lost Roman legion

Ah ha! I remember this. Has it been overlooked? I don't think so...

 

Interesting list. Thanks for sharing, Viggen.

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Rongorongo... Like everyone else, I don't think I've ever heard of that. Sound like some sort of fruit drink like Um Bongo - still it sounds very interesting. The whole Robin Hood thing has been done too much; there were lots of petty bandits in England during that time so it is near impossible to discern if he's real or not. Even if he existed, he would have probably been a really great thief, not a guy who gave away riches to the poor.

 

The Live Science journal is a great website, thanks for posting it Viggen. I like the section they've created for Alexander the Great, never thought I'd see something like that for a science website.

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I think Ronogorongo refers to the people who built the big stone sculptures on Easter Island. The writing from that island, I know is called Rongo Rongo script.

 

Helike is cool. It is a Greek city that collapsed into the sea after a powerful earthquake. There are some accounts of it in classical texts but I'm not near a library and can't recall where the references might be. In an archaeological magazine I read once, I remember that the Greek antiquities ministry (or some organization like that) is trying to excavate the site.

 

The Fall of Minoans isn't really a big mystery, like Ursus said. Actually, it is used as a case study of archaeological timelines (at least it was for me).

 

The lost Roman legion. Which one? If it is the Romans in Asia mystery, there seems to be some evidence that survivors of Roman defeats in the Near East were taken to the far ends of the Parthian/Sassanian empires to lend their skills to defending those frontiers. Crassus's legion(s) come to mind but also Emperor Valerian's legions may have been taken to central Asia.

 

I thought a mystery that might make the list would be the Etruscans. We have two accounts of their origins. Could they really have come all the way from Lydia or those parts?

 

Like Primus Pilus, I thought Roanoke Colony is a mystery that could have made the list. I read in some travel book that there is some legend that survivors od Roanoke moved (or were removed) to some area of the Appalachian mountains. When more people moved into the Appalachians they found a group of "white" indians. Probably untrue, but Roanoke is still a mystery.

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Salve!

 

"There is no history of mankind, there is only an indefinite number of histories of all kinds of aspects of human life."

Karl Popper

 

"To know the truth of history is to realize its ultimate myth and its inevitable ambiguity."

Roy P. Basler

 

"History consists of a series of accumulated imaginative inventions."

Fran

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I'm with Ursus hear, King Arthur is far more interesting.

 

I would also put the mystery of Troy on that list, Did the actual battle happen!!!!!!! Would you believe the sam man that wrote odysseus and cyclops etc. I know the place existed but were the trojans gullible enough to take a wooden horse inside the gates?

 

Or heres a mystery: (please delete this if offending, I definitly do not wish to be rude) the tomb of Jesus Christ.

 

Atlantis?

 

I agree that the Indus valley civilisation is intriguing and deserves top spot.

 

vtc

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I would also put the mystery of Troy on that list, Did the actual battle happen!!!!!!! Would you believe the sam man that wrote odysseus and cyclops etc. I know the place existed but were the trojans gullible enough to take a wooden horse inside the gates?

 

I am not really good at it but I'll try. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I believe the Trojan War did take place. The Lion Gate at Mycenae is said to be built to celebrate Spartan victory over Troy, is it not? Anyway, Homer's wooden horse was probably just a tale, also the story of the beautiful Helen, I presume. *laughs* Looking for more professional ideas.

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I believe the Trojan War did take place. The Lion Gate at Mycenae is said to be built to celebrate Spartan victory over Troy, is it not? Anyway, Homer's wooden horse was probably just a tale, also the story of the beautiful Helen.

 

Homer was blind and as you suggest couldn't have seen how beautiful Helen was in the first place. If Troy did happen, i would guess that helen did exist though. The horse must be fake if Odysseus is.

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I've always been intrigued by the disappearance of Roanoke Colony.

 

Same. All I've heard is that they set up the colony but all the men went back to England for provisions saying they'll come back in 6 months but were delayed by 3 years due to the Spanish armada. Sir Walter Raleigh said if there is any trouble carve a cross into a tree. They found the word Croatoan the name of a tribe. Here's the interesting part, the word was not completed as if someone interrupted the writer. People will say then obvioulsy it was a Native American tribe but it was the friendliest tribe in the area and when asked by the colonists, they didn't hear about what had happened.

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4. The Lost Roman legion

Its that china thing again isn't it? It wouldn't suprise me if the whole thing was bunkum, but you never know, and it is an intriguing possibility.

 

Or would it be the 9th Hispania, that supposedly marched north of Hadrian's Wall and dissapeared?

 

Or maybe this? http://www.thedungeons.com/en/york-dungeon...st.html#content

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I'm with Ursus hear, King Arthur is far more interesting.

 

Remember the initial title, emphasis on "overlooked", i dont think anyone has overlooked King Arthur, so deservingly not on the list :D

 

cheers

viggen

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