Droughts around the world have led to ancient discoveries as water levels recede and long-lost mysterious items are revealed.
Around two-thirds of Europe is facing drought alerts and warnings, a report from the Global Drought Observatory found. The European Commission said the recent findings indicate “the current drought still appears to be the worst since at least 500 years,” per the BBC.
The United States is feeling the heat as well. This month, the Dinosaur Valley State Park in Texas discovered dinosaur tracks that are typically hidden by water and other materials. The Paluxy River is low, which resulted in Acrocanthosaurus dinosaur tracks being visible, ABC News reported.
Jeff Davis, a parks superintendent at Dinosaur Valley, told ABC News these markings could be millions of years old. Davis said that Sauroposeidon tracks can also be seen on the other side of the park. The tracks will likely be hidden by water in the near future due to heavy rain in the state, Davis said. However, that could be a good thing.
“It’s the river that will bring in silt and sediment and pile those on top of the tracks. That’s what preserves them, that’s why they’re still here after 113 million years or so,” Davis said.
In Spain, a drought has revealed a Spanish “stonehenge,” which can be entirely viewed for the second time since water shielded it in the 1960s.
Photo by Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Contributor/Getty Images
The spectacle is called the Dolmen of Guadalperal, and dates back to 5,000 B.C. It is a circle of many megalithic stones that was first found by Hugo Obermaier, a German archaeologist, in 1926, although it is unknown who constructed it. In 1963, the area was flooded during a project implemented under the rule of dictator Francisco Franco.
The findings have also spread to Europe, where a drought resulted in more than 20 Nazi ships breaking the water’s surface on the Danube River close to Prahavo, Serbia. Authorities explained that the ships were in Nazi Germany’s Black Sea fleet in 1944 and were intentionally sunk while pulling back from the approaching Soviets. The authorities added that many of the vessels still have bomb devices and ammunition, so shipping in the area could be dangerous.
The dry conditions are not just impacting the West, with China’s Yangtze River revealing Buddhist artifacts that used to be underwater. The statues are considered to be 600 years old. According to China’s state media, authorities believe the pieces were constructed in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Warnings from previous droughts have also resurfaced in Germany. “Hunger stones” have appeared along the River Rhine and contain initials and dates, according to Reuters. The dates include 1947, 1959, 2003, and 2018.
Photo: Sebastian Kahnert/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa Photo by Sebastian Kahnert/picture alliance /Contributor via Getty Images
A 2013 study regarding Czech droughts discusses the “hunger stones,” explaining, “One of these is to be found at the left bank of the River Elbe…chiselled with the years of hardship and the initials of authors lost to history. … The basic inscriptions warn of the consequences of drought: … [‘If you see me, weep.’].”
“It expressed that drought had brought a bad harvest, lack of food, high prices and hunger for poor people. Before 1900, the following droughts are commemorated on the stone: 1417, 1616, 1707, 1746, 1790, 1800, 1811, 1830, 1842, 1868, 1892, and 1893,” the study noted.