CONTENTS Introduction CHAPTER Vanished Civilizations NEW EVIDENCE REVEALED White City of the Jaguar CHAPTER 2 Unexplained Deaths and Disappearances NEW EVIDENCE REVEALED Anastasia CHAPTER 3 Creatures of Myth and Legend NEW EVIDENCE REVEALED Van Lierde's Giant Snake CHAPTER 4 Freaky Phenomena NEW EVIDENCE REVEALED Solway Spaceman CHAPTER 5 Mystifying Monuments NEW EVIDENCE REVEALED Stonehenge CHAPTER 6 Cryptic Codes and Lost Languages NEW EVIDENCE REVEALED Shugborough Inscription CHAPTER 7 Treasure Troves NEW EVIDENCE REVEALED Lost Fabergé Eggs More Mysteries Sounds That Stump Scientists Solving Mysteries An Interview With Archaeologist Chris Fisher Afterword Index Index Illustration Credits 6 8 22 24 46 48 62 64 86 88 106 108 122 124 146 148 152 154 156 159
Archaeologists investi gate the excavation site of the famous Dead Sea Scrolls ancient writings discovered more than 60 years ago in a cave in Israel and estimated to be 2000 years old see page 134 Top left Searching for the fugitive D B Cooper Top right Sponge divers discover the world's first
INTRODUCTION WHETHER YOU RE TAKING A PEEK OUTSIDE the bus window as you head to school or staring down at Earth from a plane 25,000 feet 7,620 m in the air you probably already know that our world is a pretty awesome place It's been around for billions of years It's beautiful It's colorful It's full of surprises And it's big really big In fact our world is so vast that there are still many places yet to explore secret spots to be discovered buried treasures yet to be unearthed and sunken ships that hold clues to our past Although we haven't even come close to solving all of the world's mysteries not to mention mysteries we don't even know about yet we investigate Like detectives we sort through clues to figure out as much as we can And who knows maybe you'll be the next famous archaeologist to discover a treasure So what are you waiting for The world is waiting for answers These mysteries aren't going to solve themselves
We can't travel back in time but artifacts like these bones of a Coelophysis dinosaur ancient rock formations and statues give us captivating clues about how people and animals lived long before our time
