Greatest find of the century?

dr gonzo

Was watching an ad for a new show about the recent anglo-saxon hoard find during which said hoard was described as "the greatest find of the century". As a complete rookie im in no position to dispute this but it got me wondering what people with more knowledge then myself thinks is the greatest find of the century?

Is it Tutankhamun or is that merely more famous than it is important?

Anyway i leave it with you guys.

EDIT: My bad, thanks mike65 , since 1910 we'll say.

mike65

Which century?

I'd say Machu Picchu myself. Obviously it was known to the locals but its "discovery" by the West opened up the whole Inca world.

Nebit

I quite like Otzi the Ice man. An Iron age man frozen in the Alps due to the dry air and cold climate.

Piriz

Im gona give my vote to the Homo habilis skeleton (which was named Lucy).

Since 1964, Scientists believe H. habilis (3.2million years ago) is the missing link between the ape-like hominids and the more human-like ones that came after. Thus completing & proving the theory that modern humans evolved from 'apes'. Homo habilis had long ape-like arms but walked on two feet and was capable of creating crude tools.

This find was a key element in us homo sapiens discovering our earliest an-sisters and to quote the phrase "to know where your going you have to know where you came from" (or something to that effect, ahem:rolleyes:). As it was the missing piece of the puzzle makes it the most significant find in my opinion.

dr gonzo

Piriz wrote: »

Im gona give my vote to the Homo habilis skeleton (which was named Lucy).

Great choice but correct me if im wrong, was Lucy not an Australopithecus afarensis?

Piriz

dr gonzo wrote: »

Great choice but correct me if im wrong, was Lucy not an Australopithecus afarensis?

Hey,
You are correct, i made an error (i just read something wrong).

Lucy is an Australopithecus afarensis which was discovered in 1974 and nicknamed after a Beatles song. Lucy lived about 3.18 million years ago and was fully capable of walking and running on two legs.

However, it was the Homo habilis find in 1960 to be the missing link between the ape-like hominids like 'Lucy'(Australopithecus afarensis) and the more human-like ones that came after i.e. Homo ergaster, Homo erectus, Homo floresiensis, Cro-Magnon (35,000 - 10,000 years ago) & last but not least the Neanderthal.

So, Homo habilis gets my vote and not Lucy as Homo habilis was the final piece of the puzzle.
Thanks for helping me clear this up

Armas22

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Maybe it should have said the Anglo Irish hoard. After all, it was worth billions...:mad:

On a serious note, my vote is for the discovery of the Chicxulub crater in Mexico, and the information it supplied about mass extinctions and evolution.

balallyfats

Its the old twenty first century journalistic trick again