The historical and hidden places in the world that were exposed because of the drought
The heat records and the severe drought in the world led to the evaporation of water bodies and the exposure of historical places that had been hidden under water for tens, hundreds and even thousands of years.
Here are some of them
not to be missed
08/09/2022
Thursday, 08 September 2022, 15:54
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Spain's Stonehenge exposed due to drought (Reuters)
As droughts and heatwaves plague the Earth's surface, bodies of water have evaporated and revealed a hidden history.
Dozens of ancient and lost cities, sunken treasures and grim reminders have been revealed for the first time in years - and in some cases tens, hundreds and even thousands of years.
Here are some of the extraordinary real-life places that were hidden there under the water and today they are no more.
Famine Stones in the Czech Republic and Germany
"If you see me, you will cry," is written in a stone engraving at the bottom of the Elbe River in the Czech Republic.
The inscriptions on the so-called "Hunger Stones" date from 1616 and commemorate years of famine.
At the time, the severe drought lowered the river level and exposed the stones, which allowed the inhabitants of the city more than 400 years ago to write about crops lost due to lack of rain.
The drought exposed similar stones in Germany when the Rhine River receded this summer.
Some of the German stones date back to the 1940s
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Spain's Stonehenge
A shrinking reservoir has revealed oval-shaped arranged stones that scientists believe date back to 5000 BC.
The place is called the dolmen of Guadalupe.
An archaeologist first discovered it in 1929, but the government later built a dam on the Tagus River and the stones were left sitting at the bottom of the Valdacnes Reservoir, according to an article published in the journal Science.
The 100 or so stones, some nearly two meters high, are arranged in an oval shape, reminiscent of the layout of the famous Stonehenge in England.
That is why the building in Spain was nicknamed the "Spanish Stonehenge".
The last time the megaliths saw sunlight was in 2018 and archaeologists are now busy studying the stones before the water level rises again.
The Spanish Stonehenge was exposed because of the drought (Photo: Reuters, Susana Vera)
The Lost Iraqi City
Archaeologists have set out to excavate and document a 3,400-year-old city in northern Iraq on the Tigris River.
An extreme drought forced the country to lower Mosul's water reservoir to irrigate crops - exposing the ancient city.
In a press release, scientists named the Iraqi reservoir as the country's most important water storage source.
The German and Kurdish archaeologists in charge of the project think the site may be Zakhiku, the center of the Mitanni empire that ruled large parts of northern Mesopotamia and Syria between 1550 and 1350 BC.
They found a palace, massive fortification walls and towers.
They also located multi-story storage buildings filled with pottery and tablets.
"It is close to a miracle that cuneiform inscriptions made of unburnt clay survived so many decades underwater," said Peter Fahlsner, an archaeologist at the University of Tübingen.
The well-preserved condition of the walls surprised the research team given that they were made of dried mud bricks and had been underwater for more than 40 years, said a press release from the University of Tübingen.
The team covered the site with plastic sheeting and gravel filling to protect it from the water, until the recent rains that fell on the site drowned the ancient treasure again.
Archaeologists have documented a 3,400-year-old lost city in northern Iraq on the Tigris River (photo: official website, Universities of Freiburg and Tü)
WWII bomb in Italy
A fisherman on the swollen banks of the Po River has made an amazing discovery - a 450 kilogram bomb from the WWII era.
The local government evacuated 3,000 people before a bomb disposal squad was able to move and detonate the American-made bomb in a 5.5-meter-deep hole in a nearby quarry, Italian news network Corriere Della Sera reported.
World War II shipwrecks in Serbia
Bomb disposal squads have also been busy in Serbia, where low levels of the Danube River have revealed dozens of German warships, complete with ammunition and explosives, FOX News reported.
Germany sank hundreds of the ships as Soviet forces pursued retreating Nazi forces during World War II.
Officials feared that the explosives posed a threat to shipping lanes.
Drought rediscovers warships from World War II
Extremely low water levels due to drought in the Danube River have exposed World War II warships on the sandy bottom.
600-year-old Buddha statues in China
Three 600-year-old Buddha statues surprised a swimmer in the Yangtze River in China.
The trio is on an island that is usually submerged in river water.
"Because the temperatures are so hot, the lakes and rivers are drying up and look what they've revealed," said FOX Weather meteorologist Amy Freese.
The man who discovered the sculptures lost his shoes while swimming, but was so amazed that he stepped on the boiling rocks with bare feet to explore the ancient monuments.
The giant Buddha pictured below also rose due to the drought and appeared intact in Shanshan, China.
Because of the ongoing drought, the river flow of the Dado River, the Qingyi River and the Minha River has decreased significantly in Shanshan.
The giant Buddha emerged entirely from the water as you can see.
The giant Buddha in Lashan, China (Photo: ShutterStock, Tracy ben)
Dinosaur tracks in Texas
Park visitors in one part of Texas got to walk in the footsteps of 113 million year old women.
The ongoing drought has dried up part of a river in Dinosaur Valley National Park, revealing the massive footprints of a 7-ton Acrocanthosaurus and a 60-foot-tall Saurophoidon.
Apparently the record rainfall in Texas last week filled them again with water and sediment that normally hides them from view.
More on the same topic
The drought revealed a "forgotten ghost town" that was hidden underwater
To the full article
Was the water level this low in the past?
Climatologists say in a recent study published in the journal Nature that the western U.S. is experiencing its longest dry spell (22 consecutive years) in more than 1,200 years.
China has broken its most intense heat wave since records began in 1961, according to the National Weather Service global. In July alone, China's economy lost 2.73 billion yuan due to the drought, according to China's Ministry of Emergencies.
A recent report by the European Drought Observatory and the EU's Joint Research Center said it was the worst European drought in over 500 years.
Almost 50% of the EU is under a drought warning - with another 17% on alert.
It is also the worst drought in French history, according to the report.
Portugal and Spain are rationing water and countries such as Germany, France, Italy, Romania and the UK have issued water restrictions.
According to the report, the low water level also reduces electricity production in several countries.
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