Curso:
C1 Advanced
LESSON 34: GREATEST UNSOLVED MYSTERIES OF ANCIENT HISTORY – PART 2
Lesson 34: Ancient History - Part 2 (The Final Secrets)
You are an underground collector. Hover over the artifacts to appraise their mystery value. Discuss with your partner: Which one would you buy if you had unlimited money?
The Voynich Manuscript
The Yonaguni Monument
The Paracas Candelabra
The Cusco Citadel
In our class today we’ll uncover the final stories of the unsolved mysteries.
Which mysteries do you think we’ll watch today?
Which one do you consider to be the greatest mystery of all? Why?
Show the first three videos (Sacsayhuaman, Voynich, Yonaguni). You may play it once without subtitles and play it again with subtitles, only if you consider it necessary.
Official transcript records for the first three locations. Read carefully.
In Cusco, Peru, lies a structure so large and architecturally advanced, it's a mystery as to how the Incas were able to build it way back in 1438. The Sacsayhuaman citadel was created by stacking stones that fit so perfectly together, they didn't even need to use mortar.
The blocks were finely cut into polyhedrons using nothing more than bronze tools. Then the stones—many weighing over 100 tons—were moved into place through the manual labor of 20,000 builders. Even more impressively, the sloped walls ensure the structure is resistant to earthquakes. To replicate this today would be immensely difficult, even with modern technology.
In 1912, rare books dealer Wilfred Voynich purchased a mysterious manuscript written in indecipherable code. Believed to have been written at the end of the 15th century in an unknown language, it features elaborate drawings of plants and constellations not known to exist.
Split into six sections—botanical, astronomical, biological, cosmological, and pharmaceutical—the language, author, meaning, and purpose of the book remain completely unknown to this day.
Underwater Stonehenge, rock formation Atlantis, or just a naturally occurring pile of plain old rocks? No one can decide what the Yonaguni Monument is. Discovered in the 1980s near Japan, it is 165 feet long and 65 feet wide.
Some experts believe it is the remnants of a city sunk in an earthquake 2,000 years ago. Others say it's common geology for sandstones in areas with tectonic activity. And others believe it could be the remnants of Mu, a fabled lost Pacific continent.
ROLEPLAY: You are the Global Heritage Committee. You have to debate the following questions based on today's and yesterday's evidence (like Cleopatra's Tomb).
What do you think about these mysteries?
Do you consider it important or noteworthy worrying and spending time and money trying to find Cleopatra’s tomb?
Did you ever consider being an archeologist?
Do you think their work is important for humanity?
Keep on playing the last stories and tell them to take notes.
A massive geoglyph shaped like a candelabra is carved two feet deep into the side of a hill on the Paracas Peninsula in Peru. The geoglyph stretches 600 feet in length, and can be seen from the air and from sea. Ancient pottery found nearby dates the area back to 200 B.C.
Researchers are unsure of the original purpose of the geoglyph. Some believe it was used for navigational purposes, others hold theories that it was built by pirates or a 19th-century hero. The truth remains unknown.
Use the notes you took while you were watching to write a short article about these mysteries. Pretend you write for a famous magazine (like National Geographic) and this is an important assignment you got from your editor.
When you finish your article, share it in the WhatsApp chat of the class!
Share in Class ChatOut of all the 9 mysteries we explored... which one do you hope gets solved in your lifetime?
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