Archaeological Discoveries Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun's coffin was the first of the pharaohs to be found undisturbed, although there was evidence of two grave robbing episodes. It is not clear how he died. Complications from a broken leg, genetic defects due to inbreeding and malaria may all have contributed to the demise of this 19-year-old some 3,300 years ago.

Egyptian mummies and curses seem to go together. The death of the dig financier Lord Carnarvon a few months after the opening of the tomb, started this one. The deaths of perhaps a dozen others are blamed on Tutakhamun's curse, although no curse was inscribed on the tomb.

Answer: The island where the wreck was found

What is unusual about the mechanism is the complexity and quality of workmanship which was not to be in evidence again until 14th century Mediaeval Europe. The instrument appears to have been designed to predict astronomical movements and eclipses, and had at least 30 bronze gears in a complex mechanism and astronomical inscriptions as well as a timetable for athletic events including the Olympics.

The wreck itself has been identified as a Roman galley and the largest ever discovered, possibly as long as 50 metres. It was carrying a cargo of luxury Greek treasures, possibly looted. The depth of the wreck has placed it at the limit of air-diving and, apart from a brief visit from Jacques Cousteau and his dive boat 'Calypso' in 1976, it was over 100 years before any more archaeological diving was done on the site.

Answer: Dead Sea scrolls

There were just under a thousand different texts found in the Qumran caves during this period. They date to the second century BC and were a thousand years older than any Hebrew text found up to that point. Of those texts identified, around 40 per cent are found in the Hebrew bible, 30 per cent didn't make it and the remainder are secular documents.

Answer: Asphyxiation

The noxious fumes emitted through the cave were harnessed by the priests for ceremonial purposes. Writers such as the ancient Greek geographer Strabo recorded how any animal passing inside the cave would perish. Pilgrims could buy small birds to test out the powers of the cave themselves. They could also sleep at the nearby pools and obtain visions through the hallucinogenic effects of the gases. The location of the cave was discovered in 2013 by Italian archaeologists.

Answer: First Palaeolithic art identified

Up to this point, the primitive Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer was not considered mentally or technically capable of such art and Sautuola's conclusions were ridiculed. He was even accused of fraud and died a broken man in 1888. It was not until 1902 that the archaeological establishment accepted his conclusions after further finds, especially those at Les Combarelles in 1901, supported Sautuola's view. The paintings at Altamira were made at different times between 11,000 and 19,000 years ago.

Answer: Beer

Biological archaeologist George Armelagos made this discovery when examining Nubian bones under the microscope for signs of osteoporosis. It appears that storage of grain under damp underground conditions led to contamination by the mould-like bacteria streptomyces. The mould produces antibiotics in order to kill off competition.

Nominal amounts of the tetracycline remain when the grain is used in bread, however fermenting the grain produces large amounts of the antibiotic. The Nubians used fermented grain in their beer and also in a gruel with the result that large amounts of tetracycline have been found in mummified Nubians as young as two years of age. This suggests that Nubian children were weaned on to gruel (or possibly weak beer) from that age.

Answer: 'Iliad' by Homer

Homer is credited with two epic poems: the 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey'. The first describes the ten-year war and the second covers the journey home of Odysseus after the fall of Troy.

When Schliemann found Troy, he rapidly dug a trench down to the level where he believed the Homeric Troy and its treasures were located, in the process destroying much of the archaeological material in the intervening layers. It turned out that his Troy and the jewels he found were a thousand years older than the Homeric Troy. It has been observed that he was more successful in levelling Troy than the Greeks were during the Trojan War.

Answer: Community hunting tools

With some dating to 10,000 years ago, the builders displayed good knowledge of animal behaviour and migratory routes of target species. Groups of hunters would corral the animals between the walls which, although not big enough to prevent them escaping, funnelled them towards a trap. The trap was typically a pit or a stone enclosure. The walls would often build on landscape features to form the trap

These conclusions have been supported by ethnographic records in some cases. The kites appear to have been abandoned several thousand years ago, possibly due to over-use of the traps killing off the animals in the region.

Answer: It was a forgery

It was a composite skull, consisting of a mediaeval human cranium, the jaw of an orangutan and fossilised chimpanzee teeth. However, it seemed to fill the need for the missing link between apes and humans. It also supported some nationalistic and cultural prejudices. It lead evolutionary scientists down a blind alley, meaning claims based on subsequent genuine finds were dismissed or regarded as tainted. It took 40 years before the fraud was revealed although many had expressed doubts before then.

Another example is that of Japanese amateur archaeologist Shinichi Fujimura who, over a 20-year period, planted stone artefacts at some 180 archaeological digs in order to extend Japan's palaeolithic history. Although people had suspicions, his fraud was not exposed until 2000 when a newspaper published a photo of him burying his next 'find'.

Answer: Minos

Discovered by the aptly-named Minos Kalokairinos, the site became a major part of the life's work of archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans, who named the associated civilisation 'Minoan' even before he had begun excavating. Inhabited since Neolithic times, the Bronze Age civilisation lasted about 1,300 years until its abandonment roughly 3,000 years ago.

Some of the finds linking this site to the myth include the Linear B tablets (written in Mycenaean Greek, an early form of Greek and successor to Linear A script, an as yet undeciphered Minoan writing system), numerous Roman coins (with the word Knos or Knosion on one side with a minotaur or labyrinth on the other) and labyrinth symbols.

Labyrinth was the name the Greeks gave to the palace. The word 'labyrinth' is derived from the Lydian word for double-edged axe, a symbol of royal power. The double-edge axe symbol is found throughout the palace and other Cretan palaces. Although Evans was of the view that the palace was the labyrinth, others have looked for evidence of a maze-type structure instead.