7 Important Archeological Discoveries Made in 2015

We continue are look back at 2015 today with an interesting article from National Geographic that takes a look at the seven most important archeological discoveries of the year, some of which were quite important in expanding what we know about our own history, and the world around us.

Tops on the list is an item that I've mentioned a couple of times on The Adventure Blog, which is the potential discovery of hidden chambers inside King Tut's tomb in Egypt. It is believed that those chambers could actually lead to the burial site of Queen Nefertiti, who was an influential figure in Egyptian history, but whose final resting place has remained a mystery. Ground penetrating radar has uncovered what could be passages that lead to unopened chambers, which could hold treasures to rival the boy-king himself.

Other major archeological discoveries made in the past year include a lost civilization that was uncovered in the Honduran rainforest, the un-looted grave of a wealthy Greek warrior, and a vast treasure hidden inside a sunken Spanish galleon. Each of these discoveries have given us a look into our past, revealing a bit about our history and culture that helps us to learn more about where we came from a civilization, and how our ancestors lived.

I always enjoy these types of year-end wrap ups, as they are a good reminder of all of the things we are still discovering in various part of the world. It makes you wonder what else is still out there, waiting to be found, and what pieces of the puzzle they can provide in help us to better understand man's journey across our planet. 2015 was a good year for archeologists, and something tells me 2016 could be just as important.

10 Tough Old School Explorers and Adventurers

You think today's explorers are tough? How do you think they compare to some of the toughest in history? All things considered, modern gear, satellite communications, and better training have all helped to give today's adventurers a leg up on those from the past. But lets face it, some of the pioneers of exploration were incredibly resilient, resourceful, and darned near impossible to kill. You'll find a lot of men who resemble that description on Popular Mechanics' list of the 10 toughest old school explorer and adventurers, including a number of figures that we have written about on occasion on this blog.

I won't spoil the whole list for you, but to give you an idea of the type of man we're talking about here, Ernest Shackleton rightly earns a spot amongst this pantheon of incredibly tough men, as does Douglas Mawson, both of whom are polar explorers of course. Others making the list include Tenzing Norgay, who was with Edmund Hillary when they both were the first to summit Everest, and  Hugh Glass, who is the subject of the new movie The Revenant starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Glass is best known for surviving  bear attack while exploring the American west, only to drag himself 200 miles over open country after he was left for dead by his companions.

Of course, there are other great examples of explorers and adventurers surviving incredibly wild experiences to come back and tell their tales. This list has six others that are certainly worthy of mentioning as well. The article is worth reading just to here a brief synopsis of each of their stories, but you'll probably eventually want to just find out more about each of them when you can.

And who did they leave off the list? As one commenter says, what about Roald Amundsen whose polar journeys are the stuff of legend. Or Thor Heyerdahl who sailed across the South Pacific on a tiny boat called Kon-Tiki? Who got snubbed, and probably should have made the cut?