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In Pictures: Ten “Out of Place” Artifacts

by Joseph Green
by Joseph Green
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So-called “out of place” artifacts are often able to offer a fascinating insight to lost cultures and forgotten technologies. That is, when they aren’t baffling researchers. Here are ten of the most well-known “out of place” artifacts:

1. The Antikythera Mechanism

The Antikythera Mechanism was recovered from a shipwreck off the coast of Antikythera in 1901. It appears to be a computer dated to the Dated to around 100 BC, it appears to be an ancient analogue computer powered by hand, designed to predict astronomical observations. (Zde / CC BY-SA 4.0)

2. The Coso Artifact

The Coso Artifact appears to be a modern spark plug encased in a solid rock geode. Some have suggested that the rock in which the sparkplug is encased could be 500,000 years old. How did it get there? (Pierre Stromberg / CC BY-SA 4.0)

3. The London Hammer

Found in London, Texas, the London Hammer appears to be a modern lump hammer encased in solid limestone. The rock the hammer is encased in is consistent with that created in the Lower Cretaceous period, some 100 million years ago. (S. J. Miba / CC BY-SA 4.0)

4. The Maine Penny

The Maine Penny is a coin found in Maine depicting an 11th century Norwegian King. It seems likely that this is proof that the Vikings crossed the Atlantic centuries before Columbus, utilizing frozen land bridges in the far north to reduce the distance of the sea crossing. Many now believe that the Vikings were the first Europeans to reach America (Stenersen, L. / Public Domain)

5. The Dropa Stones

Perfectly circular and covered in tiny hieroglyphs, the purpose of the 700 Dropa Stones found in China so far is obscure. They are believed to be 12,000 years old, and a Chinese man named Tsum Um Nui  claims to have deciphered the hieroglyphs and found that they come from a race of aliens called the Dropa, who crash landed in the Bayan Har Mountains of China (Unknown Author / CC BY-SA 3.0)

6. The Baghdad Battery

Found in Iraq in 1936, the Baghdad Battery’s purpose is unclear. But the ancient components, which consist of a ceramic pot, a hollow copper tube and an iron rod, appear to contain all the elements of a basic electrical power source when fitted together. Modern reproductions of the battery have proven it can work, but it may simply be a coincidence (Lenny Flank / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

7. The Lake Winnipesaukee Mystery Stone

Found in New Hampshire in the United States in 1872, this small carved stone is unlike anything else known in the area. It appears to have been mounted as the head of a staff and contains detailed carvings of wheat, traditional Native American dwellings, and abstract designs. But the truth is nobody knows who created it, or why (John Phelan / CC BY-SA 3.0)

8. The Kensington Runestone

In 1898 a farmer from Kensington, Minnesota in the United States found a stone with Viking runes carved in its surface. The runes state the stone was carved by explorers from Scnadinavia in 1362, Could this, like the Maine Penny, be evidence of Viking settlement of the US? Some however believe the stone to be a modern hoax, based on errors in the text. (George T. Flom / Public Domain)

9. The Iron Pillar of Delhi

The Iron Pillar of Delhi apparently dates from the 4th century AD. Nobody knows where it was originally built, but it is suspected that it came from the Udayagiri Caves, the site of some of the earliest Jainist temples in the world. Strangely, despite being over 1,500 years old the iron does not rust, the reason for this resistance to corrosion is unknown (Hridya08 / CC BY-SA 4.0)

10. Helicopter Hieroglyphs

Hieroglyphs found on the wall of the temple of Pharaoh Seti I in Abydos appear to depict a modern helicopter, a tank and a blimp. How could the ancient Egyptians have known about such technology? (Olek95 / Public Domain)

Top Image: The Kensington Runestone travelling under guard in 1932 (Hjalmar Rued Holland / CC BY-SA 4.0)

By Joe Green

Joseph Green is editor for Historic Mysteries, which combines his background in English Literature with a lifelong fascination for the strange and the unexplained. Read More

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