This Week In History News, Nov. 29 – Dec. 5

Published December 4, 2020
Updated January 3, 2021

World's oldest temple unearthed, Amazon "Sistine Chapel of the ancients" uncovered, terrifying prehistoric shark found.

Archaeologists In Turkey Just Found The Oldest Temple In Human History

Excavations At Karahan Tepe Dig Site

DHA PhotoArchaeologists at work at the Karahan Tepe dig site in November 2020.

Archaeologists have been working at Turkey’s Karahan Tepe ever since first discovering this ancient temple in 1997 — without realizing that it’s actually the oldest temple in the history of the world.

Long believed to be younger than its nearby sister site and previous record-holder Göbekli Tepe, Karahan Tepe is now known to have been built much earlier than its more famous sister.

Step inside the first temple ever constructed in human history here.

Archaeologists Found A 12,500-Year-Old ‘Sistine Chapel Of The Ancients’ In The Amazon Jungle

Amazon Paintings Being Filmed

Ella Al-ShamahiThe discovery will be aired as part of a documentary series in December.

Archaeologists have discovered tens of thousands of ancient paintings dating back some 12,500 years in the Colombian jungle. These prehistoric depictions of animals and humans were found adorning cliff faces that stretch across nearly eight miles.

Funded by the European Research Council, the British-Colombian team had no idea what awaited them in Chiribiquete National Park — but they’re now finally ready to share the remarkable discovery with the world.

Dig deeper in this report.

This 370-Million-Year-Old Shark Rotated Its Jaw To Hunt With Its Sharpest Teeth

Ferromirum Oukherbouchi

Christian Klug/UZHThe Ferromirum oukherbouchidates lived on Earth 370 million years ago.

Scientists have uncovered the remains of a prehistoric shark that once lurked in the waters of what is now Morocco. A new study on the shark fossils suggests that it possessed the terrifying ability to rotate its jaw, where a hidden row of sharp teeth jutted outward when its mouth opened to feed.

This prehistoric shark called Ferromirum oukherbouchidates lived 370 million years ago. It was a ferocious predator of the ocean with an agile, slender body measuring about 13 inches long. It had a short triangular snout with unusually large eyes, with orbits taking up about 30 percent of its braincase’s total length.

Learn more here.

author
All That's Interesting
author
A New York-based publisher established in 2010, All That's Interesting brings together subject-level experts in history, true crime, and science to share stories that illuminate our world.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.