After Redditor nykshow asked the online community, "Archeologists of reddit, what new historical find do you think we may discover in the next 10-20 years?" those in the field and history majors and lovers alike instantly chimed in.
There's always something out there to learn, don't be fooled!
Believe it or not, "most archaeologists aren't exploring untouched jungles in the way you might be imagining, a lot of archaeology converges around known centres of activity," noted one user, and you'd be surprised how much could be around you if you let your curiosity guide you.
"Should the site be discovered..."
The site of the battle of Watling Street. Unless I'm mistaken there is still no confirmed site of the battle, and yet it is supposed to be among Britain's bloodiest battles if Roman records are to be believed (which to an extent they however are not) falling just short of Towton for bloodiest battle fought in Britain.
Should the site be discovered, along with the remains of the battle, it could open so many doors to understanding not only how Boudicca's rebellion failed but also a more general understanding of British celtic battle tactics, including understanding the elusive British celtic chariots.
"Deforestation in the Amazon..."
Deforestation in the Amazon are getting faster everyday. Perhaps in a few years we will come across some archaeological objects and thumbs from the original inhabitants (indigenous people has been living there for more than 13,000 years ago).
"I toured one..."
Hopefully we finally sort through all the artifacts sitting in depositories. I toured one as part of one of my classes and they gave us a behind the scenes tour of the artifact vaults. I'd estimate 95% of the artifacts gathered never make it to the museum displays. Instead, most of them sit in bags and boxes on shelves in climate controlled rooms until somebody gets around to sorting and analyzing them properly. They still had bags of soil samples from the late 90s that needed to be pollen tested, but we're excavating so much faster then we're analyzing so it may be decades before some of the finds get made available to the general public.
"Maybe not a single discovery..."
Maybe not a single discovery, but Lidar scanning in the Maya rainforests is enabling archaeologists to finally take a peak at structures outside of the large cities that are already known. We're already starting to see that there was way more intensive occupation of vast areas that we thought were empty. It's gonna revolutionize our understanding of ancient Maya society, and I'm not talking about "lost city" type discoveries, but understanding rural areas, trade routes, long-distance contacts, large scale infrastructure, etc.
Same goes for the Amazon rainforest.
These rainforests are areas that we still know very little about because most of the people living there were decimated when the Spanish came and are now very difficult to study because of the rainforest overgrowth. I truly believe Lidar technology is going to help uncover whole parts of indigenous histories that were erased and forgotten.
"It was thick and vast jungles..."
More Aztec and Inca temples/lost citys. Mexico and Latin America isn't just desert, it was thick and vast jungles, so thick in fact it's almost impossible to travel in. As technology progresses, we've developed basically an X-ray for the jungle and found stone structures in forms of old buildings. I can't wait to see what's in store.
"I'd say..."
I'd say there'll plenty of pre-human fossils found that will prove humans evolved from earlier life forms but don't expect the nutball religious right to accept them as proof.
"We've just found them..."
We've just found them, but I think over the next decade, as we're finally able to investigate the wrecks of Erebus and Terror, we're going to put together a much more conclusive narrative about what happened on the Franklin expedition.
"I just have this feeling..."
I am intrigued by what has already been discovered in Antarctica due to the global warming and ice melting. I just have this feeling there's going to be something big discovered there. I'll be eagerly awaiting more news from this area for the remainder of my life.
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