The Craziest Discoveries Ever Made At Landfill Sites

Oldest turtle shell

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In a landfill in Poland, a palaeobiologist called Tomasz Sulej found the oldest turtle fossil dating back to 215 million years ago. However, what makes this shell iconic is the fact that it looks relatively new. The landfill has been a repository for archaeological lifeforms ranging from dinosaurs to fish. This turtle shell has helped paleontologists to piece together details that would help us better understand this geological era.

Ancient Dog Burial site

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In Kentucky, USA, there exists a landfill known as the Indian Knoll that was discovered in 1915. Many archaeological artifacts have been recovered from this site, including tools, jewelry, weapons, and banner stones. The area associated with Native American life was also a burial site for their people. Historians are perplexed to learn that the Indian Knoll was also an ancient dog burial site. More than 23 prehistoric dogs dating 5000 BC were found here. It helps us to understand that the dog was so revered by early man that it was deserving of a burial.

Native American Chocolate Drink

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One of the most common pueblos that have existed in North America for thousands of years is the Pueblo Benito. The landfill here has benefited archaeologists who have discovered more than 200,000 artifacts in this trash heap. Recently, clay jars found in the pit have been studied, and an intriguing discovery has been made. The jars were used to store chocolate drinks that Native Americans drank. Traces of theobromine have been found in the cylindrical jars indicating a trade network between the inhabitants of the area and those who lived near cocoa-growing areas thousands of miles away.

The Wine of Negev

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Historical accounts from 1400 years ago reveal that the most famous wine in the Byzantine Empire came from a region in Israel called the Negev. Although the vines of Negev became extinct, archaeologists have unearthed charred grape seeds in a landfill around Halutza and discovered it goes back to the 7th century. At this time, Negev was a flourishing region, and its wine was renowned worldwide. Experts have sought to study these seeds further and establish if the exact vines could be regrown in the region. Could the famous wine return? Let’s hope so.

The Amazonian civilization

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One of the most impressive archaeological expeditions involves recovering unknown details about an ancient civilization with cool inventions and lifestyles. Such an expedition was made to a region near the Western Amazon in a Bolivian Savannah. Archaeologists found artifacts and remains that indicate the existence of an early human civilization during the Holocene epoch. On this site, they found bones, tools made of bones, and bits of pottery. These details revealed that a group of hunters and gatherers lived in this part of the world for thousands of years!

Ichthyosaur fossils

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A paleontologist called Mark McMenamin discovered the fossils of a great prehistoric monster called ichthyosaur at a midden in Nevada. According to scientific estimates, the giant Kraken was about 98 feet long and lived some 228 million years ago. However, due to the bizarre nature of the midden, some scientists have refuted the claims that there was a giant monster like that. Instead, they argue that the midden is a natural phenomenon.

An Extinct Sea Lion from New Zealand

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There has been controversy in scientific circles concerning the ancestry of the New Zealand sea lion. Many scientists believe that the species found in the Southwestern Pacific region today is merely a remnant of another species presently extinct. However, researchers from the University of Otago have discovered the remains of an extinct sea lion in a landfill in New Zealand. Examination of these remains has revealed that there was another species of the sea lion in the region but which became extinct because of regular hunts by the first Polynesian peoples.

George Washington’s trash

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Nobody would imagine that an 18th-century president’s trash would be easily recoverable today. Perhaps they decayed or got lost in the crust of the earth. However, researchers made an amazing discovery in a yard just near what was George Washington’s house. The trash pile belonged to the founding father’s household. The pit was named South Grove midden, and here they found chamber pots, broken tableware, cups, plates, clothing, pipes, decorations, and bottles that were common with Virginian landowners during the 18th century.

Central America's Dolphin Hunters

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Dolphins are the most lovable sea creatures around. However, many years ago, these ocean lords served as a favorite delicacy for tribes living in Central America. Archaeologists discovered an enormous waste of dolphin bones and skulls at a waste dumpsite located on Pedro Gonzalez island near the Panama coast. Thanks to the U-shaped Panama coast, the inhabitants of this island were able to find a herd of dolphins for them to hunt.

A dead man’s ashes

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It is unlikely to imagine that a family would discard the remains of their loved one. In a garbage landfill, a plastic jar containing the ashes of a cremated dead man. The waste management firm that found the ashes sought to find the family. They contacted the relatives using the information printed on the side of the jar. However, the family informed them they had intentionally thrown the jar away. How shocking!

Guns

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One day, workers in a waste management company were sifting through garbage when they found assault weapons. They recovered a large desk that accidentally hit the ground and broke when they arrived at the transfer station. However, a 357 Magnum revolver tumbled from the broken desk, shocking the workers. It was a shocking encounter because guns are supposed to be kept extremely safe, and it would be a disgrace if anyone left them carelessly in a landfill.

Cartoon Drafts of famous artists

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Famous cartoons undergo several drafts before perfection. An artist draws again and again, unsatisfied by rough attempts, which end up in the trash can. Workers in landfills have been fortunate enough to find these drafts from popular cartoons. For instance, when sifting through a landfill near Hollywood, some workers found the animation cels of Buzz Buzzard and Woody Woodpecker. One of the workers, an art enthusiast, found something valuable he could keep.

Body organs

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The world is full of bizarre incidents, from human sacrifices to thrill-kills by psychopaths. It is not surprising, therefore, that body organs should find their way into landfills worldwide. Trash Piles across the world have been repositories for human heads, limbs, and internal organs. Those working in these landfills have had to bear the gruesome sight. According to waste managers, some organs have been found fresh while others have been retrieved decaying.

Cash

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It may surprise you that many people distrust banks and keep their cash in the house. Accidentally, this cash may find itself tossed in the trash. There was a case of local gypsies traveling in a caravan. During their routine clean-up, they lost $4000 worth of cash. The money was finally located in a trash landfill where workers found it and kindly returned the money to them.

Jewellery

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Landfills contain much antique jewelry and priceless ornaments. These are either lost randomly in households or intentionally discarded away. In New York, a woman contacted a trash company hoping to recover one of her lost jewels. A priceless diamond ring. She paid these workers to ravage through the landfill from Manhattan to Fresh Kills, hoping to get her ring back. Fortunately, the exercise was successful, and they found it stacked in the trash pile.

Hospital waste

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This should come as a shocker! Hospitals are expected to uphold health standards in terms of waste disposal. Hospital waste includes biohazard materials that could endanger the lives of people who come into contact with them. However, reports suggest that many hospitals seek to evade proper disposal fees. For instance, a waste management worker in Georgia was surprised to find biowaste in a landfill. The situation worsened, and they had to report it to the authorities. Imagine finding an amputated leg or a bloody syringe!

A Swedish massacre

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Archaeologists in Sweden were surprised to find several unburied skeletons on the floor of a landfill and sought to find out why. On closer examination, the skeletons had signs of execution by clubs and axes. When the landfill was further excavated, they found 26 more skeletons and a basket of half-eaten fish. According to Clara Alfsdotter, a graduate student in archaeology at the Linnaeus University in Sweden, the investigation revealed that the occupants were probably dining one evening before they were attacked and killed in one swoop. A massacre suggests why the bodies were never buried in the first place.

The Clay warriors of China

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In 1974, archaeologists made a shocking discovery in a landfill near a well in China. They found a human-sized terracotta statue of a soldier. Further excavation at the site unearthed many more terracotta warriors, and historians believed they could reach 8000. Moreover, these ‘soldiers’ had weapons, chariots, and horses made of the same clay. Later reports reveal that the clay warriors were made in 246 BC as part of the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang Di, believed to be buried in the same area.

Egyptian Sarcophagi

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Ancient Egypt is known to revere the dead bodies of the departed. The mummies buried in sarcophagi across the Nile Valley have become common lore. Archaeologists in a landfill near Saqqara, South of Cairo, discovered more than 100 sarcophagi inhabited by preserved corpses. The expedition was so shocking, but readers have previously joked about the existence of curses if we should open these painted stone coffins. Maybe they are right!

Zoo animals in Egypt

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You would be shocked to learn that rich people in ancient Egypt, some 5000 years ago, owned zoos where they kept animals that fascinated them. In a site once known as Hierakonpolis in Ancient Egypt, archaeologists discovered the remains of baboons, elephants, and hippos. An intensive study of their bone structure revealed that they were probably healing. Therefore, archaeologists suggest that these animals must have been injured during their capture before being kept in these elites' zoos.

An Alien?

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In a landfill near the Atacama desert in Chile, archaeologists found a peculiar skeleton believed to belong to an alien from outer space. Its features were baffling. It was about six-inch tall and had a sharp-pointed head unlike anything human. However, scientists have claimed it belonged to a little girl who belonged to the indigenous people who lived in Chile. After sequencing the skeleton’s DNA, the scientists also discovered that her peculiar features were attributed to multiple gene mutations discovered in the investigation.

Ancient Viking artifacts

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During an archaeological investigation in eastern Norway, experts unearthed a valuable historical artifact that dates back to 1000 AD. The buckle found in the landfill was made of bronze and covered with gold. Further studies revealed that it was used by the Vikings just before the advent of Christianity in the Scandinavian region. It was made in a fashion resembling interconnected loops, which scientists believe was modeled after an unknown animal.

Horned skull of Sayre

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When excavating a borough called Sayre in Pennsylvania in the 1880s, archaeologists found weird-looking skulls. The bone structure of the skulls looked human, but there was a peculiar protrusion just above the eyebrows, resembling horns. Furthermore, the skulls were also relatively bigger, and research revealed that they belonged to humans about seven feet tall. Some scientists have theorized that the skulls could be extraterrestrial in origin.

Giants

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Many landfills in the American continent have been hiding bizarre remains. For instance, skeletons belonging to possibly giant human beings were recovered in Lompock Rancho, California. Soldiers digging the area in the 1830s reportedly found the 12-feet long skeleton. Later in 1856, near West Virginia, another skeleton measuring 10 feet long was discovered by laborers tilling a vineyard. Could this mean that there were giants who roamed the earth?

Runestones

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Runestones are blocks of stone that contain written passages. Archaeologists digging for artifacts are interested in these stones because they contain important information concerning the past. Most of them are written using strange alphabets because they were not meant to be deciphered. In Kensington, Minnesota, a Swedish-American farmer named Olof Öhman found a runestone while clearing his land. Many years later, a scholar claimed to decipher the writings on the stone, which suggested that Scandinavian explorers had reached the Americas in the early fifteenth century.

Dead rodents

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Rats are considered a normal presence in a trash landfill except when they are dead en masse! A trash collection company was surprised when they found a trash bag hanging from a tree. It had a putrid smell, forcing them to check out what it was. To their surprise, the bag contained 75 rats strung together weirdly. Nobody could establish why anyone would do this and discard the rancid waste in the trash.

Homeless people

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This sounds ridiculous, except that it is not! The waste excavation exercise is so intensive that it may accidentally pick up homeless people lying near trash bags in many cities. Kelly Sarber, a CEO of the Strategic Management Group, reports that on one of the night collections, a homeless person sleeping in a dumpster was picked up and delivered in a landfill. You can imagine how appalled they were to retrieve a sullen guy from their processing facility.

New electronic appliances

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It is common to find pieces of old electronics stashed in landfills, but what would you do if you found brand-new electronics thrown away? This is the case of a garbage man who found laptops and televisions thrown away, especially around retail enterprises like Walmart and Best Buy. The garbage man initially thought that the appliances had little faults but, with time, discovered they were functioning properly. He made some hefty bucks selling these appliances on eBay and furnishing his household with the latest brands.

Porn

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Garbage men have confessed to retrieving massive volumes of porn magazines and other forms of adult entertainment. Moreover, some have even shocked us by revealing that photo albums of naked adults have been a common retrieval. It borders between fascination and disturbing. If someone can release obscene photos of themselves into the open, we can only pray that our garbage men will not find volumes of child porn hiding in landfills.

Illegal drugs

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Landfills receive trash from every homestead or street you could imagine. Undoubtedly, some people would accidentally dispose of their narcotic remains in garbage bags. Homeless people who are addicted to drugs abound everywhere. It only takes a few careless moments to have scraps of Fentanyl, Cocaine, or Heroin getting their way to the landfills. Waste management workers have narrated stories of discovering copious narcotics in landfills. A clear indication of the serious drug problem that lingers within our cities.