Uploaded July 2018 | Updated September 2026, 6 hours ago

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From mummies to mammoths there have been some strange and amazing historical artifacts unearthed at constructions sites

15th Century Spanish Hospital, Madrid
Apple Inc. is on a spree of opening new stores around the world. One such store was being constructed in Madrid back in 2013 when a ground-breaking discovery was made. The construction workers found remains of a 15th Century Spanish Hospital. In 1400s, when the plague took over Europe, this hospital was used to treat the victims. This discovery wasn’t out of the blue for the archeologists as remains of church were also found in the adjoining area. As per historians, the church was located right next to this hospital. For 10 months Apple halted the construction of its new stores and held negotiations with the local authorities in order to decide about the future of these ruins. Eventually, Apple came up with a solution to open a window onto the ruins. This allowed the visitors to take a look at this fascinating piece of history.
Roman Eagle Statue, London
In October, 2013, at a hotel development site in London, archeologists found an ancient roman sculpture. The statue had an eagle which was firmly gripping a serpent in its mouth. It was made out of limestone and was around 26 inches tall. According to Archeologists, the statue dated back to first or second century and it was indicative of the craftsmanship of people from the Roman Empire. The eagle was a symbol of good whereas the serpent represented evil. The sculpture clearly highlighted the struggles between good and evil. It has now been placed in the Museum of London.
121-year-old time capsule, Kingussie, Scotland
In August 2015, construction workers from Morgan Sindall Company were working on a £622,000 project of constructing a new bridge in the Scottish Highlands. They uncovered a metal box from the site which was actually a time-capsule from 1890s. This capsule included a folded newspaper, a bottle of whiskey and a paper scroll. The newspaper “The People’s Court” was dated 29th September, 1894. It was interesting how the liquid was still intact within the whiskey bottle. Robert Ogg from the Company said that it was a fascinating discovery for them. This 121-year-old time capsule was donated to Highland Folk Museum.
Ancient Roman Villa, Wiltshire, UK
Mr. Luke Irwin, who had the intentions of getting electricity work done for his home near Tisbury village in Wiltshire, stumbled upon one of the largest remains of an ancient Roman Villa. He is a rug designer by profession and he wanted to get a few lights installed for his kids in the backside of his house. A section of a Roman mosaic became visible when the construction workers were only 18 meters below ground level. Mr. Irwin called in a team of Archeologists who examined the site. It was found that the villa was built somewhere between 175 and 220 AD. It had around 25 rooms and it belonged to a wealthy family. Amongst the artifacts that were unearthed, there was a Roman well, a child’s coffin, discarded oyster shells, Roman coins and heating pipes under the floor. Interestingly, as the cost of excavating and preserving this massive site is close to hundreds of thousands of dollars, archeologists have re-buried these ancient remains.
700 year old mummified woman, East China
In 2011, in the city of Taizhou in East China, few road workers were digging the ground in order to expand a road. It was just like any other construction day and they were digging around six feet below the ground level. What they didn’t know was that hiding beneath the layers of mud was a coffin. Within that coffin lived a 700-year-old mummified woman. According to Archeologists, the mummy belonged to a high-ranked woman from the Ming Dynasty (between 1368 and 1644). She was in excellent condition with her eyebrows and other facial features still intact. She wore a silk and cotton dress and a ring on her right hand. In her coffin, she was immersed in a brown liquid. The workers also discovered two other coffins.