ArtefactPorn

In 1731, the dey of Algiers, Baba Abdi, presented King Frederick I of Sweden with a lion, one of the first lions in Scandinavia. When alive, the lion was kept in a cage near Junibacken. When the lion died, it was stuffed and mounted. There are two main theories that give insight into an explanation of the exaggerated features of the restoration. A popular theory is that the taxidermist and the museum-keepers may have never actually seen a lion before, and did not know how they were supposed to look. This explains the liberties taken with the lion.

The badly stuffed lion has been widely mocked for decades.

Few are as intriguing as the hundred or so Roman dodecahedrons that we have found. We know next to nothing about these mysterious objects—so little, in fact, that the various theories about their meaning and function are themselves a source of entertainment.

^ This ancient dodecahedron found in Avenches, Switzerland, once the Roman city of Aventicum. Woudloper/Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_dodecahedron

Earliest known rock drawing

In 2011, archaeologists found small rock fragment among spear points and other excavated material. After extensive testing for seven years, it was revealed that the nine red lines drawn on the rock were handmade and from an ochre crayon dating back 73,000 years. This makes it the oldest known abstract rock drawing. The geometrical markings are an astonishing example of creative behaviour.