Month: April 2020

Did the Romans travel to ancient Japan? Historians will tell you the answer is “NO”, but an archaeological find in Japan suggests that once again, historians have got it wrong.

Ancient Roman coins were found in December 2013 in an excavation of Katswen Castle on the island of Okinawa. The castle was known to be a major centre for trade with other Asian countries, but the coins found in 2013 were actually Roman.

The 5 Roman coins are the first evidence of any European connection to Asia at that very early date.

Read more here:

https://theconversation.com/how-did-4th-century-roman-coins-end-up-in-a-medieval-japanese-castle-66417

An archaeological team have been excavating sites in the Kenyan village of Mambrui, looking for evidence of the Muslim Sultanate of Malinde. Until now, history books said that Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama was the first outsider to reach the area.

But those archaeologists found an astonishing Chinese coin on the site, dating from the 1420s, decades before the first European ships reached the area.

The coin is believed to be evidence that the renowned Chinese Fleet of Zheng He reached this part of Africa, and not just Indonesia and Pacific islands as historians previously thought.

You can read more here:

https://www.livescience.com/27890-chinese-coin-found-in-kenya.html

The Mysterious Beast of Gevaudan

In late 1764, reports emerged from the French provincial area of Gevaudan that a monstrous animal was terrorising villages and killing people.

Read the fascinating story by clicking on this link:

http://ancient-mysteries.uk/monsters-and-legendary-creatures/the-strange-animal-that-terrified-18th-century-france