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Urn with jaguars and skulls: A 1,400-year-old burial container depicting a deceased ruler's arrival to the Maya underworldAstonishing Artifacts This 1,400-year-old Maya urn features skulls, underworld gods, and a deceased ancestor dressed like a jaguar.
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Battersea Shield: A 2,000-year-old Celtic shield that may have been 'sacrificed' in a ritual in the River ThamesAstonishing Artifacts The Battersea Shield was discovered in the 19th century at the bottom of the Thames. Archaeologists still aren't sure how it ended up there.
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Funeral mask: A 2,000-year-old gold face covering designed to confuse the deceased's spirit so it didn't torment the livingAstonishing Artifacts This death mask is a spectacular example of goldwork from prehistoric Java, Indonesia.
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Ancestral commemorative head: A 500-year-old brass bust depicting an African kingAstonishing Artifacts A striking depiction of an African king wearing coral necklaces and braids is one of the thousands of Benin Bronzes that the British looted from Nigeria in 1897.
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Guldhøj folding chair: The only completely preserved chair from Bronze Age EuropeAstonishing Artifacts The remarkably preserved wooden folding chair was likely a status symbol and was found in the grave of a Bronze Age chieftain.
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Crown of Kerch: A 1,600-year-old gold, gem-studded diadem found in the grave of a Hun noblewomanAstonishing Artifacts This crown depicts two birds of prey and was discovered in the grave of a fifth-century noblewoman in Crimea.
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Front face of a stela: A 1,300-year-old carving of a powerful Maya 'Lady Supreme Warlord' that weighs over 1 tonAstonishing Artifacts This monumental carving depicts a powerful Maya queen called Lady K'abel, who ruled an ancient city in Guatemala at the end of the seventh century.
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Fire-flame vessel: An exquisitely crafted 4,500-year-old pot from a mysterious culture in JapanAstonishing Artifacts Archaeologists aren't sure why prehistoric people in Japan made these elaborate vessels decorated with flames.
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Berlin gold hat: A 3,000-year-old ceremonial headdress that a cult used to track the sun, moon and lunar eclipsesAstonishing Artifacts The pointy gold hat reveals evidence of a Bronze Age sun cult whose leader could predict eclipses.
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