7 Amazing Archaeological Discoveries Our Readers Made Possible_1
Published 10 Jan 2019, 09:28 GMT
Dr. Robert Ballard found the RMS Titanic in 1985 with the help of imaging technologies designed by the National Geographic Society. For more than a century, a percentage of proceeds from National Geographic subscriptions has helped fund exploration around the world.
Photograph by Emory Kristof, National Geographic CreativeBetween 1912 and 1915, a young National Geographic Society supported Hiram Bingham’s excavation of the 'lost' Inca city high in the Andes. Bingham’s map-maker went on to become the first cartographer of the Society’s new Cartographic Division.
Photograph by Hiram Bingham, National Geographic CreativeOne of the oldest and most complete human skeletonsyet found in the New World was located by divers deep in a Yucatan cave in 2007. National Geographic helped fund archaeological training for the divers, who recovered the 12,000-year-old remains in subsequent years.
Photograph by Paul Nicklen, National Geographic CreativeNational Geographic partnered with the Smithsonian in the 1920s for the multi-year excavation of Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon National Monument’s most important ruin. The important technique of dendrochronology, which dates archaeological features using tree rings, was refined during the project.
Photograph by Neil M. Judd, National Geographic CreativeA female victim of human sacrifice some 500 years ago, the mummified remains of the 'Ice Maiden' were discovered on a Peruvian mountain by National Geographic Explorer, Johan Reinhard, in 1995. It was the first of a series of Inca mummy discoveries made by Reinhard that shed new light on their sacrificial rituals.
Photograph by Johan Reinhard, National Geographic CreativeNow a World Heritage Site, this wealthy ancient Greco-Roman city has been the centre of ongoing archaeological excavations since the 1960s. National Geographic grants supported scientific research at Aphrodisias for more than two decades, from 1966 to 1988.
Photograph by Joanthan Blair, National Geographic CreativeThe remarkable discovery in 1987 of the Royal Tomb of Sipán may have been unwittingly aided by looters, but National Geographic supported its scientific excavation for the next four years. The richest pre-Columbian tomb ever found in the Americas, it contained numerous elaborate artefacts made from gold, silver, and semi-precious stones.
Photograph by Bill Ballenberg, National Geographic Creative