7 amazing archaeological discoveries

2,600-year-old pots of cheese found at the ancient necropolis of Egypt's pharaohs

Another 2022 discovery came in the form of something many of us enjoy during the festive season: cheese.

Insider's Alia Shoaib reported that archaeologists in Eygpt discovered 2,600-year-old cheese in the Saqqara necropolis.

The halloumi cheese was found inside pottery during a new round of excavations, which researchers believe dates back to 688 and 525 BC.

You can read the full story here and see what else researchers found on the site of Egypt's oldest pyramid.

Sausage dogs could have been made to fight bears in the Colosseum of ancient Rome, archaeologists said

Insider's Alia Shoaib reported that researchers in Rome had discovered the remains of small dogs similar to dachshunds while excavating the drains of the iconic 2,000-year-old amphitheater.

"They were less than 30cm [11.8 inches] in height. We think they may have been used to perform acrobatic tricks, just as you would see in a circus today. Or it may be that they were used as part of staged hunts or even pitched against bears and animals like that. We don't know for sure," researchers said.

Archaeologists have full-color portraits of Egyptian mummies in ancient Philadelphia

A late entry to the list of archaeological discoveries comes from Egypt, where archaeologists uncovered full-color portraits of mummies in early December – the first to be found in over a century.

Researchers found the two full portraits of Egyptian mummies and fragments of others at the Gerza excavation site in Fayoum, Egypt.

Largest-ever stash of mummy-embalming tools found in Egypt, may have been for lavish funeral 2,600 years ago

Insider's Marianne Guenot reported that 2022 saw the discovery of the largest-ever stash of mummy-embalming tools in Egypt — maybe not something you're hoping to find o=under your Christmas tree.

The find offers clues into a lavish funeral that likely took place about 2,600 years ago.

Wojciech Ejsmond, an Egyptologist from the Warsaw Mummy Project, told Insider, "This is a really exciting and important discovery," and will help fill in the gaps of knowledge of the embalming process.

Ancient humans used the oldest-known drinking straws to sip beer out of communal party bowls

2022 taught us that beer parties with pals are hardly a modern feat. Early this year, Insider's Morgan McFall-Johnsen reported that the oldest-known straws on Earth — which were three-foot-long silver and gold tubes — were possibly used to drink beer out of communal pots.

These straws were discovered in an ancient burial mound called Maikop kurgan in South Russia.

Study found the Black Death permanently altered the human immune system, leaving a vulnerability that persists 670 years later

We lived through the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, but new research has found that a prior pandemic continues to impact human health.

Insider's Marianne Guenot reported that a pioneering study found that people who survived the Black Death plague, which ravaged Europe 670 years ago, are much more likely to carry a specific genetic mutation that increases one's risk of increased risk of chronic and potentially debilitating conditions like Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

You can read all about the "price paid" for surviving the Black Death here.

Dead rats found on an ancient shipwreck provide clues to its voyages 1,400 years ago

Skeletons of dead rats on the ship labeled the Ma'gan Mikhael B, dated between 648 and 740 C.E., have helped the team learn more about the life of the vessel that once sailed the Mediterranean.

Speaking to Insider, Sierra Harding, a zooarchaeologist on the project, said the remains are the oldest and only direct evidence of a ship rat infestation on an ancient shipwreck in the Mediterranean.