The Biggest History News Stories Of 2019, From Tut’s Tomb To The Knights Templar

Whether it was archaeology, ancient monuments, or extinct animals, history news and discoveries ranked with the most fascinating stories of 2019.

Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty ImagesIn 2019, the gilded coffin of King Tutankhamun was removed from his tomb for the first time in 3,300 years. It was in desperate need of restoration.

The year 2019 has seen some of the most exciting historical discoveries in a long time, owing to recent technological advancements.From the shocking reconstructed face of a Viking warrior who lived 1,000 years ago to the terrifying discovery of Hitler’s plans for a North American Holocaust, these are the most incredible history news stories of 2019.

Scientists Explored The H.M.S. Terror Shipwreck — 174 Years After It Sank To The Arctic Floor

Canadian scientists used underwater drones to explore the doomed H.M.S. Terror earlier this year.

For the first time since the ship’s mysterious disappearance 174 years ago, scientists from the Parks Canada used underwater drones to explore the wreckage of the H.M.S. Terror.The ship carried Sir John Franklin and his crew on an ambitious expedition to locate the mysterious Northwest Passage, but disappeared months after it departed from England. Another ship that was supposed to sail alongside it, the Erebus, also went missing.

A total of 129 men boarded the state-of-the-art vessels only to never be seen again. Graves and human remains from the shipwrecks that have been discovered over the years paint a grisly picture of poisoning, malnutrition, and cannibalism during the ships’ last days.Skeletal remains of the crew were cracked in half, a sign that Franklin’s men had eaten each other before dying from the elements, and an autopsy of a crew member John Torrington — his corpse remarkably well-preserved in the Arctic ice — suggested he was extremely malnourished before he died.

They also found lead in his system, which came from the crew’s poorly canned food supply. It’s likely that he and others were killed by lead poisoning and not starvation.

But one mystery remains: How did these modern ships tank in the first place?“There’s no obvious reason for Terror to have sunk,” archaeologist Ryan Harris declared. “It wasn’t crushed by ice, and there’s no breach in the hull. Yet it appears to have sunk swiftly and suddenly and settled gently to the bottom. What happened?”

Nevertheless, the joint dive conducted by Parks Canada and Inuit captured a treasure trove of well-preserved artifacts from the Terror’s wreckage, likely due to the ship’s cold and dark environment sealed with sediment.

Scientists Reconstructed The Mutilated Face Of A 1,000-Year-Old Female Viking Warrior

National GeographicIt’s unclear whether this wound was the cause of death, since a scientific exam showed signs of healing.

A lot of incredible advances in archaeology were made in 2019. Most notably was the cutting-edge facial reconstruction of a woman believed to have been a Viking warrior some 1,000 years ago. The stunning 3D reconstruction included a life-like gash the woman had on her forehead.

Archaeologist Ella Al-Shamahi led a team of researchers to reconstruct her face. Some have contested her warrior status because of her gender. But an arsenal of weapons was found inside her grave, a typical find for warriors.Examinations of the woman’s skeleton, which was uncovered in a Viking graveyard in Solør, Norway, found the woman’s head injury had healed slightly, suggesting that it was an older injury and did not cause her death. Scientists believe the head wound came from a sword.

“I’m so excited because this is a face that hasn’t been seen in 1,000 years,” said Al-Shamahi. “She’s suddenly become really real.” The high-tech 3D facial reconstruction has not only given us a look at a human being who lived one millennium ago, it has also given archaeologists more proof that Viking women were indeed warriors.

According to Caroline Erolin, a senior lecturer at the University of Dundee who worked on the reconstruction, the results of the reconstruction weren’t perfect, but they were as close as we’ll ever get with today’s technology. The process was done by adding faux muscle tissue and layering faux skin on top.“The resulting reconstruction is never 100 percent accurate, but is enough to generate recognition from someone who knew them well in real life,” Erin explained. As more evidence of women fighters from history are uncovered and technology to support such evidence becomes more advanced, hopefully the antiquated notion that women warriors didn’t exist in ancient times will finally be put to rest.