Markings Puzzle Israel Archaeologists

Three 'V' shapes carved in newly unearthed room in Jerusalem
By Dustin Lushing,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 7, 2011 5:03 PM CST
Markings Puzzle Israel Archaeologists
Israeli archeologist Eli Shukron sweeps marks carved in the bedrock in an archeological excavation.   (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

Peculiar, unexplained stone carvings created thousands of years ago and recently unearthed in Jerusalem are baffling archaeologists, reports AP. Israeli excavators discovered them in the floor of a newly discovered room under the oldest section of the city. The three mysterious "V" shapes are about 2 inches deep and 20 inches long.

"The markings are very strange, and very intriguing. I've never seen anything like them," says one of the dig's directors. The symbols were made at least 2,800 years ago. A few ideas being pondered by the dig's archaelogists: They were part of some ritual or maybe just supported a long-gone wooden structure. (More Jerusalem stories.)

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