Six historical mysteries to which scientists found the answer in 2023

Paleogenetics reveals the amazing secrets of DNA hidden in bones and dirt. Artificial intelligence deciphers ancient texts written in forgotten scripts. Chemical analysis of molecular residues left on teeth, kitchen pots, incense and building materials reveals details about past diets, odors and building techniques. Edition CNN collected six mysteries of human history, to which scientists managed to find the answer in 2023. And another one still makes researchers puzzle over it.

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The true identity of the prehistoric leader

The 5000-year-old skeleton, discovered in 2008 in a tomb near Seville, Spain, along with an impressive crystal dagger and other valuable artifacts, clearly belonged to an important man at one time.

He was initially thought to be a young man based on pelvic bone analysis, the traditional way scientists determine the sex of human skeletal remains.

However, analysis of tooth enamel containing a sex peptide protein called amelogenin revealed that the remains belonged to a woman, not a man.

In other studies, this technique has dispelled the "male hunter" cliché on which many ideas about early humans were based.

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“We think that this technique will open a completely new era in the analysis of the social organization of prehistoric societies,” said Leonardo García Sanjuan, a professor in the department of prehistory at the University of Seville, when news of the discovery became known.

The ingredient that explains the legendary strength of Roman concrete

Roman concrete has proven to be more durable than its modern counterpart, which can take decades to deteriorate. Take, for example, the Pantheon in Rome, which has the world's largest unreinforced dome.

The scientists who published the study said they had discovered the mysterious ingredient that allowed the Romans to make their building material so strong and build complex structures in difficult places such as docks, sewers and earthquake-prone areas.

A team of researchers analyzed 2000-year-old concrete samples taken from the city wall at the archaeological site of Privernum in central Italy and similar in composition to other concrete samples found throughout the Roman Empire.

They discovered that white bits in concrete, called calcareous particles, give it the ability to heal cracks that have formed over time. Previously, white pieces were taken into account as evidence of careless mixing or poor quality raw materials.

The real appearance of the ice man Ötzi

In 1991, tourists found Ötzi's mummified body in a ravine high in the Italian Alps. His frozen remains are perhaps the most closely watched archaeological discovery in the world, showing in unprecedented detail what life was like 5300 years ago.

The contents of his stomach revealed what he last ate and where he came from; the weapons showed that he was right-handed, and the clothes made it possible to see what the ancient people wore.

But new analysis of DNA extracted from Ötzi's pelvis showed in August that his appearance was not what scientists thought.

A study of his genetic makeup revealed that the Iceman Ötzi had dark skin and dark eyes - and was most likely bald. This revised appearance contrasts sharply with Ötzi's famous reconstruction of a pale-skinned man with a full head of hair and a beard.

Owner of 20-year-old pendant discovered

Archaeologists often find bone tools and other artifacts at ancient sites, but it is still impossible to know for sure who used or carried them.

Earlier this year, scientists discovered ancient human DNA in a deer bone pendant found in Denisova Cave in Siberia. With the help of this find, they were able to establish that its owner was a woman who lived between 19 and 25 thousand years ago.

She belonged to a group known as the Ancient North Eurasians, who have genetic connections to Native Americans.

Human DNA was likely preserved in the deer bone pendant because it is porous and therefore more likely to preserve genetic material found in skin cells, sweat and other body fluids.

It is unknown why the deer tooth pendant contained such a large amount of DNA from an ancient woman (about the same amount as a human tooth). It may have been much loved and worn close to the skin for exceptionally long periods of time, suggests Elena Essel, a molecular biologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, who has developed a new technique for extracting DNA.

An ancient damaged scroll deciphered by artificial intelligence

About 1100 scrolls were burned to the ground during the famous eruption of Vesuvius nearly 2000 years ago. In the 1700s, a few enterprising diggers unearthed a huge cache of volcanic mud.

The collection, known as the Herculaneum Papyri, is perhaps the largest known library of classical antiquity, but the contents of the fragile documents remained a mystery until a University of Nebraska computer science student won a science competition earlier this year.

Using artificial intelligence and CT scanning, Luke Farritor was the first to decipher the word written in ancient Greek on one of these blackened scrolls.

Farritor received $40 for deciphering the word "πορφυρας" or "porphyras", which means "purple" in Greek. Researchers hope that in a short time it will be possible to decipher entire scrolls using this technique.

Materials needed to make a mummy

From the fragments of discarded pots in the embalming workshop, scientists discovered certain substances and compounds that the ancient Egyptians used to mummify the dead.

Through chemical analysis of the organic remains found in the vessels, the researchers determined that the ancient Egyptians used a variety of substances to anoint the body after death, reduce unpleasant odors and protect it from fungi, bacteria and decay. Among the materials discovered were vegetable oils from juniper, cypress and cedar, as well as resins from pistachio trees, animal fat and beeswax.

Although scientists had previously learned from Egyptian texts the names of the substances used to embalm the dead, until recently they could only guess what kind of compounds and materials they were talking about.

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The ingredients used in the workshop were varied and came not only from Egypt, which indicates the exchange of goods over long distances.

Beethoven: a family secret is revealed, but one secret remains

Composer Ludwig van Beethoven died at the age of 56 in 1827 after a series of chronic health problems, including hearing loss, gastrointestinal disorders and liver disease.

In 1802, Beethoven wrote a letter to his brothers known as the Heiligenstadt Testament. In it, he asked that, after his death, the composer’s treating physician, Johann Adam Schmidt, investigate the nature of the illnesses of the author of this letter.

Nearly 200 years after Beethoven's death, scientists have extracted DNA from preserved locks of his hair in an attempt to fulfill this request.

The team was unable to make a definitive diagnosis, but Beethoven's genetic data helped the researchers rule out possible causes of his illness, such as the autoimmune disease celiac disease, lactose intolerance or irritable bowel syndrome.

Genetic information suggested that there was an extramarital affair in the composer’s family.

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