Uploaded July 2019 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
From lost paintings, to historical marvels thought lost forever, join me as I reveal to you 10 incredible, yet accidental, historical discoveries.
10. Lascaux Cave
There are many caves in the world today, and many of them are unexplored. So it's not surprising when a group of teenagers wandered into a cave and found art that was truly historic. This particular accidental discovery happened in France in 1940, which given the time period is actually quite extraordinary, as that was near the peak of World War II.
These particular kids weren't looking for a cave, rather, they were roaming around the forests near Montignac. Suddenly, one of their dogs got a scent of something, and the teens followed it until they found the entrance to a cave. The nose of a dog is incredibly sensitive, but to pick up a scent of what they found is truly intriguing. One of the teens went into the cave that they found, and to his surprise, he found himself looking at thousands of cave paintings. That must have been a truly unique sight and experience.
Being teens, they decided to keep this secret to themselves for a while so they could explore it. But eventually, they told their schoolteacher (which makes a lot of sense when you consider they were teens and didn't know who else to talk to about this), and that teacher informed an expert about it, and the cave was later verified as very real and authentic.
After some research and study about the place it was later labeled the "Sistine Chapel of the Prehistoric Art", and made open to the public for viewing. Even more fascinating though is that estimates on the art put it at 15,000-17,000 years old. Which is incredible because it means it lasted through many events that could've destroyed it, but instead, remained perfectly intact, and just waiting to be discovered.
9. New Sea Scrolls Cave
Without a doubt, the discovery of the Sea Scrolls is one of the most important finds in the history of archaeology. Because not only was a great find in terms of the Christian religion, it was some of the oldest texts found within that religion ever. Plus, those were found by kids too! 11 caves contained many scrolls and parchments and other artifacts linked to the scrolls. And then, in 2017, another accident led to another discovery concerning the scrolls. Mainly, a new cave with new scrolls had been found.
To be clear though, another remnant from the Sea Scrolls wasn't technically found. Rather a scroll that was clearly prepped to be written on soon was found. However, with such a cave existing, it proves that other remnants of the Sea Scrolls could be out there right now.
“This exciting excavation is the closest we’ve come to discovering new Sea Scrolls in 60 years,” said Dr. Oren Gutfeld, an archaeologist at Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology and director of the excavation. “Although at the end of the day no scroll was found…the findings indicate beyond any doubt that the cave contained scrolls that were stolen.”
The search is now on to see where other fragments or pieces of the scrolls could be.
8. The tomb of Childeric I
The date was May 27th, 1563. A man was working at a church of Saint-Brice in Tournai. As he was doing his work and digging in the dirt, he came across something he didn't expect: gold coins. Naturally intrigued, he went and kept digging, and while he did find more gold, he also found a tomb. One filled with treasures. One of which was a ring that revealed that this was the tomb of a former king, Childeric the first.
He was the king of the Salian Franks, and he was put to rest around 481 CE. And remember what I said about the gold he found? Well it wasn't just a few coins, it was actually: a hundred more coins, gold and garnet-ornamented swords, horse fittings and buckles, a solid gold torc, a gold bull's head, 300 gold bees and a gold signet ring.
Sadly, this accidental discovery doesn't have a happy ending. For 200 years after it was discovered, some thieves decided to break in and steal just about the entire treasure trove. Only a few pieces were left when they were done.
Still, for a few hundred years, it was a magnificent thing to behold. And proof that history is sometimes just waiting to be dug up.
Before we continue, be sure to like the video and subscribe to our channel so you don't miss our weekly videos!
7. The Venus de Milo
If you didn't believe me in regards to history just waiting to be "dug up", here's another great example of that happening in history. On the Greek Island of Melos, a couple of men were digging for antiques on an ancient ruin on the island.
1. Rosetta Stone
History is filled with important discoveries and finds that changed the game if you will in terms of how the world looked at itself. And when it comes to the Rosetta Stone, this is a top tier find. Which makes it all the more incredible that it was found completely by accident.
From lost paintings, to historical marvels thought lost forever, join me as I reveal to you 10 incredible, yet accidental, historical discoveries.
10. Lascaux Cave
There are many caves in the world today, and many of them are unexplored. So it's not surprising when a group of teenagers wandered into a cave and found art that was truly historic. This particular accidental discovery happened in France in 1940, which given the time period is actually quite extraordinary, as that was near the peak of World War II.
These particular kids weren't looking for a cave, rather, they were roaming around the forests near Montignac. Suddenly, one of their dogs got a scent of something, and the teens followed it until they found the entrance to a cave. The nose of a dog is incredibly sensitive, but to pick up a scent of what they found is truly intriguing. One of the teens went into the cave that they found, and to his surprise, he found himself looking at thousands of cave paintings. That must have been a truly unique sight and experience.
Being teens, they decided to keep this secret to themselves for a while so they could explore it. But eventually, they told their schoolteacher (which makes a lot of sense when you consider they were teens and didn't know who else to talk to about this), and that teacher informed an expert about it, and the cave was later verified as very real and authentic.
After some research and study about the place it was later labeled the "Sistine Chapel of the Prehistoric Art", and made open to the public for viewing. Even more fascinating though is that estimates on the art put it at 15,000-17,000 years old. Which is incredible because it means it lasted through many events that could've destroyed it, but instead, remained perfectly intact, and just waiting to be discovered.
9. New Sea Scrolls Cave
Without a doubt, the discovery of the Sea Scrolls is one of the most important finds in the history of archaeology. Because not only was a great find in terms of the Christian religion, it was some of the oldest texts found within that religion ever. Plus, those were found by kids too! 11 caves contained many scrolls and parchments and other artifacts linked to the scrolls. And then, in 2017, another accident led to another discovery concerning the scrolls. Mainly, a new cave with new scrolls had been found.
To be clear though, another remnant from the Sea Scrolls wasn't technically found. Rather a scroll that was clearly prepped to be written on soon was found. However, with such a cave existing, it proves that other remnants of the Sea Scrolls could be out there right now.
“This exciting excavation is the closest we’ve come to discovering new Sea Scrolls in 60 years,” said Dr. Oren Gutfeld, an archaeologist at Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology and director of the excavation. “Although at the end of the day no scroll was found…the findings indicate beyond any doubt that the cave contained scrolls that were stolen.”
The search is now on to see where other fragments or pieces of the scrolls could be.
8. The tomb of Childeric I
The date was May 27th, 1563. A man was working at a church of Saint-Brice in Tournai. As he was doing his work and digging in the dirt, he came across something he didn't expect: gold coins. Naturally intrigued, he went and kept digging, and while he did find more gold, he also found a tomb. One filled with treasures. One of which was a ring that revealed that this was the tomb of a former king, Childeric the first.
He was the king of the Salian Franks, and he was put to rest around 481 CE. And remember what I said about the gold he found? Well it wasn't just a few coins, it was actually: a hundred more coins, gold and garnet-ornamented swords, horse fittings and buckles, a solid gold torc, a gold bull's head, 300 gold bees and a gold signet ring.
Sadly, this accidental discovery doesn't have a happy ending. For 200 years after it was discovered, some thieves decided to break in and steal just about the entire treasure trove. Only a few pieces were left when they were done.
Still, for a few hundred years, it was a magnificent thing to behold. And proof that history is sometimes just waiting to be dug up.
Before we continue, be sure to like the video and subscribe to our channel so you don't miss our weekly videos!
7. The Venus de Milo
If you didn't believe me in regards to history just waiting to be "dug up", here's another great example of that happening in history. On the Greek Island of Melos, a couple of men were digging for antiques on an ancient ruin on the island.
1. Rosetta Stone
History is filled with important discoveries and finds that changed the game if you will in terms of how the world looked at itself. And when it comes to the Rosetta Stone, this is a top tier find. Which makes it all the more incredible that it was found completely by accident.
