A world of buried treasures
5 Battle helmet, Sutton Hoo, UK K
6 Pakal’s burial mask, Palenque, Mexico
2 Handprint, Altamira cave, Spain
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Silver tigre
Hoxne Ho
Silver tigress, Hoxne Hoard, UK
1 Tutankhamun’s mask, Luxor, Egypt
3 Terracotta Army, China
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Buried treasures
There are many thousands of years of human history all around us. Buried in the ground are tombs, bones and tools. These things can help to tell us about how people lived.
Sometimes people buried treasures and objects they valued, intending to come back and dig them up. Sometimes they hoped to journey on to an afterlife and thought they would need these things again.
When we find these left-behind treasures, we are given a glimpse of our ancient past. We can begin to understand more of our shared human history.
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This is the burial mask of an Egyptian king called Tutankhamun – buried over 3,300 years ago.
Tomb of a pharaoh
Archaeologists had been searching for hidden treasures in a valley in the Egyptian desert for years. It was known as the burial place of Egypt’s ancient kings – the pharaohs. But all the tombs they found were robbed, and most of their contents had been taken.
Then, in 1922, workers found steps leading down into the ground. They dug further. The steps led to a sealed doorway, and beyond it to a hidden tomb. It was one of the most spectacular discoveries of ancient treasures ever made.
The tomb was stacked with treasures. The glint of gold was everywhere.
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The rule of Egypt’s pharaohs lasted for nearly 3,000 years. Much of what we know about them, and life in ancient Egypt, is because of their writing called hieroglyphs.
This gold and jewelled scarab beetle was found in the tomb. It is holding a dung ball! tomb. It
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