From Iron Age hoards and rare biblical inscriptions, to lost desert cities and even the skeletons of huge sea dragons, the past year or so has brought to light some dazzling discoveries from long ago. One of the latest finds is a set of dinosaur footprints in Texas, said to be 113 million years old. We reveal the incredible ancient relics that have been revealed recently and the fascinating stories behind them.

Archaeologists working at a dig in Yavne in central Israel made an incredible discovery in October 2021 when they uncovered a 1,500-year-old wine-making complex. Dating back to the Byzantine-era, the sprawling winery consisted of five wine presses and large warehouses. Capable of making two million liters of wine a year, it was likely the largest in the world at the time. The team also unearthed Gaza jars, typically used for wine storage in the region during the Byzantine period, and kilns for firing clay amphorae.

The find confirms that the region was at the center of a flourishing wine trade, with archaeologists believing varietals from the Yavne factory were exported to Egypt, Turkey and Greece, as well as possibly southern Italy. According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, the factory produced ‘Gaza wine’, a light white prestige wine.

Evidence that humans roamed North America between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago has been revealed with the discovery of ancient, fossilized footprints in the White Sands National Park in New Mexico. The new scientific research, conducted by archaeologists and reported in Science in September 2021, found the prints are the oldest impressions ever discovered on the continent. They were found buried in layers of sediment across the ancient Lake Otero and belonged mostly to children and teenagers. It was previously thought that humans arrived in North America between 13,500 and 16,000 years ago.

In April 2021, Chilean scientists revealed they had uncovered the remains of a new species of dinosaur. The actual finding was made in the 1990s in the Atacama Desert, but after decades of research the team revealed the bones were from a previously unknown species of plant-eating titanosaur, which lived in the region during the Late Cretaceous epoch (between 101 and 66 million years ago). The remains of the long-necked and long-tailed dinosaur are now on display at the Museum of Natural History in Santiago.

Set by the River Guadalmedina just north of Málaga, the pretty little pueblo blanco (white town) of Casabermeja has a deep-rooted history. There is plenty of evidence of prehistoric settlements in the area, including cave paintings – and, in 2021, even more ancient relics were revealed. Forensic scientists confirmed human remains found by a member of the public were evidence of a 5,000-year-old necropolis. 

Located in an area of Casabermeja called Piedras de Mitra, the skeletal remains date from the period between the Neolithic and Chalcolithic (or Copper) ages. So far, archaeological excavations have revealed five burial sites housed within small caves, complete with funereal relics.

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Turkish archaeologists uncovered floors that have been described as the “ancestor” of Mediterranean mosaics in Usakli Hoyuk, an archaeological site in Yozgat’s Sorgun district. In September 2021, the 3,500-year-old paving stones were found in the remnants of a 15th-century BC temple dedicated to Teshub, a storm deity worshipped by the Hittites. It marks a huge step towards understanding more about the daily life of the little-understood Bronze Age Anatolian civilization.

Thousands of small natural-colored stones in shades of beige, red and black were revealed using shovels and brushes, and they were found to be arranged in simple geometric patterns of triangles and curves. The extraordinary find goes back 700 years before the oldest known mosaics of ancient Greece were made. Excavations at Usakli Hoyuk began in 2008 and it’s thought the site could be the "lost" ancient Hittite center of Zippalanda.

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Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists working at the City of David National Park in the Old City of Jerusalem discovered what they believe is a missing section of Jerusalem’s outer city wall, part of the original Iron Age fortifications that were built at least 2,700 years ago. Most of the wall would have been destroyed during a Babylonian invasion in 586 BC, which saw Nebuchadnezzar II plunder the city.

The discovery of the missing section in July 2021 supports the theory that a huge wall once protected the entire eastern flank of ancient Jerusalem before the Babylonian conquest. As well as the wall, archaeologists also excavated a range of items at the City of David National Park. They included a Babylonian stamp seal, a bulla (a stamp seal impression) bearing a personal name in ancient Hebrew script, and various vessels.

In May 2021, a rare and bizarre-looking bronze oil lamp was discovered by Israeli archaeologists in the foundation of a building erected in Jerusalem’s City of David almost 2,000 years ago. The Israel Antiquities Authority said it believed the lamp, which is shaped like half a head of a bearded man, was deposited as an offering to bring good fortune to the building’s residents. It’s estimated to be from the late 1st century or early 2nd century. The lamp’s unusually well-preserved wick was also discovered at the excavation site. 

Also in Israel, a biblical-era inscription written in ink on a pottery vessel in Canaanite alphabetic script was found inside a storage pit at Khirbet er-Ra‘I archaeological site in July 2021. Bearing the name of the biblical judge Jerubbaal, it dates from around 1,100 BC and is the first time his name has been found at an archaeological site. The fragment is from a small jug that most likely carried precious liquids such as scented oil. Inscriptions from the biblical period are extremely rare.

Further evidence that Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) were also capable of artistic or symbolic expression – once qualities only attributed to Homo sapiens – was uncovered in July 2021. The toe bone of a prehistoric deer, carved with geometric lines by Neanderthals 51,000 years ago, was discovered in Einhornhöhle, or the Unicorn Cave, in Germany's Harz Mountains (pictured). It is one of the oldest works of art ever found. Also located near the carving were the shoulder blade bones of deer and the intact skull of a cave bear.

In the stuff of treasure hunters’ dreams, archaeologists working at a burial site at the Taposiris Magna Temple (pictured) near Alexandria unearthed ancient mummies with golden tongues, in February 2021. The 2,000-year-old mummies were discovered in 16 burial shafts dating from the Greek and Roman era. Amulets of gold foil, shaped in the form of a tongue, were apparently placed in the mouths of the dead to help them speak to the court of Osiris in the afterlife. A woman’s funeral mask was also found.

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Excavations of a kurgan (burial mound) in eastern Ukraine revealed multi-layered graves from the early Bronze Age, Scythian era and the Middle Ages. The macabre discovery was made during road works in the village of Novooleksandrivka in July 2021. A stone structure, known as a cromlech, was found in the inner part of the ancient mound, created by tall vertical blocks placed in a circle. The mound, thought to be around 5,300-5,500 years old, contained 27 skeletons. One corpse showed traces of mummification while others were accompanied by artifacts such as wolf-fang necklaces and flint tools.

In October 2021, paleofaeces discovered in the Hallstatt-Dachstein/Salzkammergut salt mines (pictured) in the Austrian Alps revealed surprising findings about the diets and food techniques employed by ancient people. The fossil samples were analyzed by experts and found to contain two fungi associated with fermentation techniques. It showed that blue cheese and beer were both made and enjoyed in Europe during the Iron Age. The ancient excrements were left behind by prehistoric miners at the mine, now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been used for salt production for more than 3,000 years.

An extraordinary and extensive network of rock-cut chamber tombs was uncovered in October 2021 by archaeologists working at the ancient city of Blaundos near Uşak in Turkey. The team found 400 tombs that had been cut into the steep side of a canyon around 1,800 years ago. Many of them have multiple remains and feature intricate wall paintings, detailing vines, flowers, mythological figures and geometric patterns, as well as pottery and artifacts. Founded at the time of Alexander the Great, the ancient center of Blaundos later became an important Roman city in Asia Minor.

Fascinating discoveries were made at the ancient Roman town of Herculaneum, near Pompeii, in October 2021, during the first archaeological dig on the site in almost three decades. The remains of a man were found just steps from what would have been the ancient town’s beach (pictured). The mud-encased skeleton was surrounded by carbonized wood, including a roof beam that may well have collapsed on him as he tried to escape the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.

A seaside stroll turned into the discovery of a lifetime for one little girl in January 2021. While walking on Bendricks Bay near Barry in south Wales with her father, four-year-old Lily Wilder noticed an unusual imprint on a rock. They photographed it and sent it off to the experts. Now identified as a 220-million-year-old footprint of an unidentified herbivorous dinosaur that had been preserved in mud, the fossil was extracted from the site of special scientific interest and taken to National Museum Cardiff where it is now on display.

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A rare find was uncovered during excavations for the redevelopment of a piazza in Rome in August 2021 – a large marble boundary stone, known as a pomerium cippus, which marked the sacred limits of the Roman Empire's capital. The inscription places it in AD 49, the time of Emperor Claudius who carried out the enlargement of the pomerium, the sacred part of the city. It would have been laid to mark the new boundary between the historic city and its conquered territory. It's the first discovery of its kind in more than 100 years.

A series of significant new discoveries were made at Saqqara, a vast ancient burial ground south of Cairo known for its stepped pyramid, in January 2021. Archaeologists unearthed the funerary temple of Queen Nearit, a previously unknown wife of King Teti, the first pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty who ruled between 2323 BC and 2150 BC.

Part of the burial grounds for the ancient capital, Memphis, Saqqara also yielded more secrets as burial shafts, coffins and mummies dating back to nearly 3,000 years ago have been excavated. One of the most dazzling discoveries was a series of ornately painted wooden coffins, some with mummies and artifacts, including amulets, funeral statues and masks. Pictured here is one of the coffins being revealed to the public in January 2021.

In an extraordinary case of beginner’s luck, first-time detectorist Ole Ginnerup Schytz discovered a hoard of Iron Age golden treasure just hours after he started investigating a field in Vindelev, near Jelling, in September 2021. The treasure, which contained huge gold medallions, coins and jewelry, has since been dated back to the mid-6th century and was likely buried by an Iron Age chieftain under a longhouse. The Vejle Museum in Jutland, which worked on the excavation, described it as “one of the largest, richest and most beautiful gold treasures in Danish history so far”.

Now known as the Vindelev Hoard, the incredible haul weighed almost one kilogram (2.2lbs) – an enormous hoard that shows Vindelev was a powerful center in the late Iron Age. Quite why it was buried remains a mystery, but experts at the Vejle Museum suggest it was perhaps to keep it safe in case of war or as a sacrifice to gods. Among the treasure was a much older coin from the Roman Empire, at the time of Emperor Constantine the Great (AD circa 285–337), suggesting countries were closely connected through both trade and war. The hoard is set to go on display at the museum in February 2022.

Thought to be the most significant archaeological find in Egypt in the past century, a 3,000-year-old city known as Rise of Aten was uncovered under the sands near Luxor in April 2021. Described by Egyptologist Zahi Hawass as a “Lost Golden City”, it is the largest ancient city ever found in Egypt and it dates to the reign of Amenhotep III. The pharaoh ruled in the 1300s BC, during an era renowned for its wealth and power.

The excavations, which began in September 2020, uncovered the well-preserved mud-brick structures of a sprawling royal city. A bakery and various residential and industrial districts have so far been identified. Among the rooms were an abundance of significant objects, including jewelry, pottery and mud bricks bearing the seals of Amenhotep III. One especially intriguing find was a vessel filled with what archaeologists believe is boiled or dried meat. 

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Many people relished opportunities for outdoor exercise during lockdown in 2020 – but few were lucky enough to stumble across historic treasures. That’s exactly what happened to Jim Irvine, who was strolling across land owned by his father Brian Naylor in Rutland, when he discovered pieces of pottery and clay tiles on the ground. After getting in touch with a local museum and realizing he had found a historic artifact, the job of excavating the site was handed over to archaeologists from the University of Leicester.

In November 2021, the team announced the discovery was in fact a rare Roman mosaic depicting scenes from Homer’s Iliad. Experts from Historic England have described the mosaic, which was part of a larger villa complex owned by a wealthy individual, as the first of its kind to be found in the UK.

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At a gravel quarry near Swindon in the Cotswolds, the remains of five woolly mammoths, dating back to the last Ice Age, were unearthed in December 2021. While single examples of such creatures have been found before, to find five of the 200,000-year old skeletons in such pristine condition was “incredibly rare” according to evolutionary biologist Professor Ben Garrod. They were the subject of a documentary presented by David Attenborough (pictured).

Another recent ancient discovery made in Rutland, England was the fossilized remains of an ichthyosaur, also known as a sea dragon. The impressive and well-preserved skeleton was first found in February 2021 during a routine draining of a lagoon at Rutland Water Nature Reserve, which is owned and run by Anglian Water. Not only is it the biggest and most complete skeleton of its kind found in the UK, scientists also believe it's the first of its species, known as Temnodontosaurus trigonodon, to be discovered in the country.

The sea dragon has been hailed as one of the UK's greatest fossil finds. After excavations in August and September 2021, the skeleton was revealed to measure around 33 feet (10m) in length and is thought to date back 180 million years. It's not the first ichthyosaur to be found here. In the 1970s, two much smaller and incomplete skeletons were uncovered, but the well-preserved nature of the most recent discovery makes it much more important.

In August 2022 archaeologists and volunteers from the Hyde900 charity unearthed a medieval water tunnel, dating back to King Alfred the Great's reign. Located near Hyde Abbey, Alfred's final resting place, the 'extraordinary discovery' likely supplied water to the refectory, kitchens, infirmary of the abbey and latrines of the monks' dormitories.

As well as locating the vaulted channel, the team identified Roman pottery shards, medieval tiles and window glass and bones. These were found in the uncovered remains of a two-story building previously found in a garden in 2020, also close to Hyde Abbey (pictured).

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Following severe drought conditions in Texas, USA, in August 2022, huge dinosaur tracks were discovered in a dried up muddy riverbed at Dinosaur Valley State Park. Said to belong to an Acrocanthosaurus, a 15-foot (5m) tall, seven-ton early cousin of the T-rex, the tracks are around 113 million years old. Another species, the Sauroposeidon, measuring 60 feet tall (18m) and weighing a whopping 44 tons, is also likely to be responsible for some of the footprints, according to experts. Although the park is famed for its dinosaur tracks, this is the first time these particular footprints have been seen.